It is now Monday and two days after the completion of the very first NASCAR event in Canada.
Cayuga Speedway had a great crowd and for the Fans it was a great and exciting race to say the least.
For the racers it was a whole whack of money being spent after a record amount of yellows and cautions proved a whole new meaning of the phrase- over driving the race cars. Everyone wanted to win the first NASCAR show in Canada, and fitting enough it came down to the guys who always put the show on, with Don Thompson winning, follwed by Dilley and Gibbons who bumped, tapped, and drove there hearts out, putting on one of the best shows every at Cayuga.
Even though we had our fare share of problems and were forced to park with fuel pressure problems, the first NASCAR show was a hit according to the thousands of spectators.
Speaking of Spectators, and that is the format of this storey, Hamiltons biggest newspaper, which would be considered the local paper to cover the Cayuga event, either missed the show or had there eyes closed as Monday's paper made no mention of the Canadian history making first for Auto Racing.
In the Sports section there was no mention of the Canadian Tire Nascar event, but there was plenty to read about with storeys about the Nextel Cup event, the F1 event, and the Indy 500 event.
Every storey put to print was written by the Associated Press, which is basically free press releases.
The Spectators racing reporter, Tim Miller, was at the track on Saturday and we talked for a short time about the race and I figured he was there to cover this historic event. Tim writes about 90% of the in house racing storeys for the Spectator, and his presence made me think, finally we are going to get some live media coverage in the papers which is badly needed.
Instead I open the paper to see nothing, not-ah, zilch, zero.
Tim- you were there- it was a good race- the fans loved it- the finish was great- the track did a great job- there were several local teams involved- the local sponsors were many- the Tiger Cats were on a car- the local girl who did the anthems was winning Canadian Idol material- the teams looked Nascar professional- even with weather delays the fans stuck it out- even with weather delays we got the whole race in- a local Hamilton Man won the very first NASCAR event in Canada....
I can go on and on about what you could have wrote.
I can go on and on about what you should have written.
I can go on and on about the fact that the everyone else in the media covered this storey.
Why didn't you.
If you cant write the storey call me and I will write it for you.
If its a case that the HAMILTON SPECTATOR does not consider Racing to be worthey of there paper and refuses to give you a column then find a paper that does.
The longer the Spectator continues to not write about racing in there own back yard, the more I will encourage people to buy the Toronto Star, the Sun, or even USA today.
As racers, we need the media to continue racing. We need it for our sponsors and we need it for our fans.
If you cant get your head out of your lower portion of your body surrounded by to cheeks, then just tell the readers that you no longer cover racing. Instead of using the Associated Press for all of your racing news why doesn't the Spectator give Miller a bigger chance to cover the events that happen locally. Think about your local readers Spectator as they don't just follow Hockey, Football and Golf, they also love racing and you guys are misssing the boat.
For you race fans- the Local Media is a big reason that racing has dropped off here in Ontario, and is a bigger reason that race tracks have to charge more money due to the lack of support in newspaper coverage. If they write about it- you the fans will follow it and support it.
If the Spectator continues to bash local racing I suggest everyone to stop buying it, or if you have no choice, buy a bird and line the cage with it. It would only be fitting- Tit for tit/ Sht for Sht.
I checked the online edition of the Toronto Sun and the Star and saw little if any coverage either which is sad. Cause as you mentioned Mid America without the media attention to draw others attention it just won't help the series build which then means the racers lose in the end. Did anyone see any coverage on tv about the event or the newspapers?
It was mentioned on the Ch sports I think thursday nite. The Spectator doesn't cover stock car racing in general very well. Tim Miller's stories cover more dirt and drag racing than pavement. They do have the Wheels section in the Thursday editions and Tim Miller usually has a write up near the back after the advertising, the car clinic questions and some woman writing about her life stories involving cars. Nothing about back seat experiences tho..lol. So check out Thursdays Spec.
I did find this article .
(CP) Hagersville Ontario. After much hype the new Canadian Tire Nascar Series held its inaugural race at Cayuga Speedway with a crowd that was less then half capacity held at a track who's glory years are many decades behind it . The small field of 23 cars began to beat and bash at the drop of the green flag only interupted by constant caution flags that fell for almost 100 laps of the scheduled 200 lap race.
After 2 hours and 18 minutes the carnage was halted by the throwing of a checkered flag declaring Don Thompson the winner of the demolition derby over the other 12 participants that were left and managed to stagger the distance. The winner collected the historically low purse of $ 5150.00 and was awarded a 1979 Chevrolet Chevette and a a pack of smokes. NASCAR Canada declared the event a great success.
I'm impressed you managed to type all of that without spelling something wrong. Genius.