I think the ironic part re the food problems is that track owner JP runs a catering company in nearby Bridgenorth (Olde Smoke House or something like that). You think he could bring in some of the portable catering equipment to handle the larger than normal crowds. Definitely should be separate venues for hot and cold beverage sales.
the wait times between each race was crazy...varney has one pit gate and runs it better...the flagman walking all over was idiotic...on saturday they changed them 1/2 way or something and then the new guy has probs with his radio, walks down to the pit gate walks back to meet someone with another radio, gulps some water then throws the water bottle towards the stands cuz he is still pissed, then he takes it out on the drivers...lol...the food concessions needs a separate line just for drinks and candy/chips...a few of us missed 3 races just waiting to get coffee and hot chocolate while they cooked burgers...that is brutal...credit the drivers for being the only ones to put on a show and the only reason people will be back.
Better yet, why not have some people selling Coffee, Pop, Chips, etc.... throughout the stands just like a Blue Jay game.
I've been to every Autumn Colours event and, in my opinion, it's in a huge downward spiral with little chance of recovery. The amount of time wasted at this event is absolutely mind boggling! I know there are a lot of cars at this event and having everything organized is a challenge, but, quite frankly, I don't care; that is neither the racer's nor the fan's problem. If JP and his staff can't handle it (and evidently they can't) then maybe it's time for them to give up on it. It's incredibly frustrating seeing what should be THE premiere event of the Ontario (and maybe all of Canada) short track season turned into 12 hour marathons each day with most of the fans long gone before the racing is finished. I realize the Friday was lost due to rain, but really that's no excuse. As long as the weather holds for the rest of the weekend, which it did, two days is ample time to get the show in - for 14 or 15 years it was a two day event and unless it rained the whole program always got in. Adding another day just dilutes the show and enables JP to jack the price up to $55 for the weekend - how is that justifiable, nothing was added to the show, it's just a two day program stretched over three days?!? What do I feel they need to do?
Get help!!! If anyone went to a regular event at Peterborough this season, it was obvious Autumn Colours was going to be a problem as they struggle when they have a 10 car LM field. They bring in Spenser Lewis and Glenn Butt because the regular announcer can't handle it ,why not try to bring in officials from other tracks to help out? Kawartha runs an extremely tight show, Mosport's is also pretty well run - these tracks are minutes from Peterborough, talk to them and try to get some (competent) staff in to help out. Simply having another starter and assistant so they could rotate them throughout the day rather than having to wait while one runs to the washroom would save alot of time. Maybe having a few (competent) scorers could have helped some of those issues as well.
No down time between races! When one race goes off the track, the next one should be ready, lined up and coming onto the track. A five or ten minute delay between races may not sound like much, but multiplied by the amount of races run over the weekend, it quickly becomes hours lost. Also, please explain the need to double the cars up in their proper order on the backstraight, only to have them come onto the frontstaight and have the starter put them single file to drive around the track for a few needless laps before doubling them up again; it's simply more needless, wasted time.
Give up on the "lucky dog"! The scoring staff has a difficult enough time without adding this wrinkle. Half the time it seemed like they were just choosing a random car rather than the first car a lap down. In the LLM feature at one point the 99 car was one lap down while the 53 was several laps back, yet the 53 was given the lucky dog. If you don't know how to do something, don't do it.
Be consitent! The ridiculous "three strike" rule has already been discussed, so I'll leave it alone, but what about the LM feature? They announce to the teams there will be a competetion yellow, then when the time comes for it, arbitrarially decide not to have it! And then they're suprised at the angry reaction of the teams who fueled their cars based on a stop around half way?!? You simply cannot change the rules midstream, it's ridiculous.
That's just a few of the things that need changed as far as I'm concerned, but since this has gotten rather long winded, I'll leave it at that. The bottom line is the current management and staff at Peterborough Speedway seem incapable of running a well organized, timely show and many fans and drivers are losing patience with it. Right now Autumn Colours is still getting by on it's reputation, but that can only last so long.
well put. I just think the back gate mentality (getting as many cars in the pits as possible) is killing this kind of show. You know I drove by the track twice on the Saturday on the way to and home from a family function in Ennismore. In years past, I would have brought the woolies and turned into the track for the final features but just kept motoring back to Burlington.
The crowd photos don't look too bad but I found in years past there was a huge migration from the pits (as the pit grandstand couldn't handle the number of folks with pit passes). The length of the program scares away families especially those with younger kids. Too many meaningless consis when damn near everyone makes the show, and on that thought, maybe too many cars starting for the size of the track.
There seems to be no MAJOR sponsor for this event and in retrospect, maybe no sponsor would sit through something that long.
Wondering if you know why the late model feature was 109 laps???