I was the intention for the #99 drive by Jake Ott to run in the GCR however with the difference in the rules we just couldn't see justifying the idea. We did our best to find some parts but we fell short. We did support the event by crewing on the 33 team. A blown clutch however shortened our race day.
The race was some what underwhelming but as a full support of Delaware Speedway we will continue to be apart of the show whenever possible.
We definately appreciated the help, with all the issues we had on Saturday we needed all the helping hands we could get.
Hello All,
I wanted to take a PR moment and talk about this past weekend. I am going to try to address a few of the points that came up in this thread and offer the speedway’s perspective on the Great Canadian Race.
Was it not $10,000 to win and $ 35,000 for 3 years running prior to this ?
The speedway would like to make clear the nature of the payout for the event: Yes -- the payout on the event was adjusted. The posted awards for this race were $28,500 and when the qualifying bonus was added onto this the available money to drivers at the race was $29,000.
The winners payout was lowered to $5,000 which freed up money to be reallocated further back. (Ie. second place receiving $3,500). The money that was taken away from the Great Canadian Race Payout (Approximately $5,000) was reallocated to the year-end drivers points fund. No payout from previous years was simply taken in by the speedway - - it was reallocated back to the drivers.
Holly cow Worst I have EVER seen, ready to have a Nappa at lap 50
This will be one of those points where we will have to agree to disagree. There is little that I can do change anyone’s mind about the event, but I will offer this for consideration:
When this year’s event goes down in history there is a great deal to remember; hard battles between Pritiko & Urlin, Urlin & Gresel, Kennedy out front early on, Stephen Richmond running strong, Steve Robblee getting behind the wheel at half-way, the list goes on. Car count becomes a historical footnote with battles that were seen on Saturday.
While I appreciate ChoirGuy’s comments that Oshweken runs an excellent program (hats off to their team), this really is not the point. Oshweken runs many great events, as does Delaware Speedway. There is no rule that fans must pick one race track and never attend another. Typically fans are especially loyal to their local track, in no small part because of geography. In the London area, I feel we are very fortunate to have a great track like Delaware - - likewise, dirt track fans in the Hamilton region have reason to be proud of their local tracks. Strong tracks throughout the province give life to our sport. Inter-track rivalries do nothing but catch fans and competitors in the middle.
I am like I think most people were yesterday, disappointed by the lack of cars and crowd. It did turn into a hugely competitive and very entertaining race. I sure don't think it was the brightest idea in the world to move it to May, but I guess they had to accomodate the Whelan Modifieds on Labour Day.
It is no secret that the Great Canadian Race was moved to accommodate the Whelen Modified show. For major shows like that dates are hard to come by - - we are fortunate to have been chosen by Nascar to hold the first-ever Nascar Whelen Modified Race ever outside of the United States. I can think of no higher recommendation of our facility and our fans then that. Is there room to improve? Absolutely. Anyone who has sat in on a drivers meeting will know the speedway has long-term plans with regards to the facility, but such plans cannot happen overnight.
I agree that Delaware is NOT the only track with lower car counts. Poor economy, and lets face it.... Race car parts are not getting cheaper.
Economy plays a part in this - - but is admittedly only one of many determining factors. The speedway is responsible for placing the event on the Saturday and responsible for what came of that.
To conclude, Delaware Speedway is very aware that Saturday’s event did not go as planned. The event will be reviewed and improvements will be made. Anyone who has met our management team knows that we do not take it lightly when an event does not live up to its full potential. Our promise is to review everything that was learned this time around and to not make those same mistakes again.
It is my hope we can continue to count on the support of our loyal fans and drivers when both when things don’t go as planned (as on Saturday), as well as when things go right: as they will later this season. We have many other great events planned for this year and there is reason to be excited. Such events include the Nascar Canadian Tire Series, Maple City Tire 100, ISMA, Whelen Modifieds and more - - not to mention the best weekly racing show around. Our schedule is here: http://www.delawarespeedway.com/schedule
Great things are happening at Delaware Speedway - - however like a racecar driver, we can’t win every event... But also like a race car driver, we are working on it!
-John Houghton
Public Relations / Announcer
Delaware Speedway
(519) 652-5068 Ext 201
It is no secret that the Great Canadian Race was moved to accommodate the Whelen Modified show. For major shows like that dates are hard to come by - - we are fortunate to have been chosen by Nascar to hold the first-ever Nascar Whelen Modified Race ever outside of the United States. I can think of no higher recommendation of our facility and our fans then that.
As a racer I wasn't too pumped about the idea of dropping the late models biggest race, you can call the May 2-4 race whatever you want, BUT it has nowhere near the history/importance that the Labour Day Sunday races had.
It is my hope we can continue to count on the support of our loyal fans and drivers when both when things don’t go as planned
The way that day panned out was EXTREMELY predictable with everything else that was going on that weekend, and a Friday night points race happening this Friday, nothing shocking happened at all on Saturday.........It was fun on the track since it was cleaner for the part I was out there for, but to keep talking about the history of the race and wondering where things went wrong is kind of strange in my opinion.
Just my opinion, but having the GCR200 at the end of the year made drivers usually a tick aggressive. This is why I love the year end race, as oppposed to early season. The "I have all winter to fix it" mentailty usually played a role in Labour Day runnings. You're right John, no need to bash your team for the scheduling.... you already felt that pain. I can say, I wish it was a larger crowd, and car count... but left knowing I enjoyed the race. Hopefully, and maybe next year it can be put back to September.... and we get the Whelens again as well.
Is there any reason you cant cobble something together that weekend like a dash for cash or something?? I'm sure you could fit it in there possibly.
As I've stated before, I had a great time at the race. But if it were up to me, I would have had the race on the sunday of a long weekend. For example, I would have had three nights of racing. On Friday night, the chaos cars, the trucks, and the mods would have run with one of the classes, or two, running a slightly longer feature. On Saturday night, i would have run the Street Stocks, the losc, and qualifying for the lates. Would have gone like this, time trials for losc, heats for streets, time trial for lates, feature for streets, then feature for losc. Sunday would be the 200.