Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I was wondering if anyone else thought that Knoxville gave a very poor and pathetic effort to get the races in on Saturday. I understand that it rained at a bad time but when the tractor was working on the infield it was kicking up dust. They said over the scanner that they would try to run the track in for 30 minutes and see what it does. They did start but no where near 30 minutes and just gave up. Many drivers wanted to stick it out and race, they had already missed two weeks. Very disappointed in their efforts. I was talking to a guy that drove over 600 miles to bring his kids to their first Knoxville race, his comment was, if they don't care anymore than this I ain't coming back. 

I was disappointed in the delay till 9 call and then cancelling at 7-715ish after having sunlight and no chance for rain the rest of the evening. We still made the drive over after the delay call only to have it cancelled once we starting eating in town. With the sun out and the drivers already in the "concrete infield" give it time and work it in and start at 9 or a little later if you have too. Dont send your drivers and die hards home. There were multiple sprint car shirts out and about in resturants waiting for the delayed start time. It wouldnt have been a great crowd im sure but you cant build or keep a fan base with no races.

They don't water the infield like they do the track so it's drier. They haven't raced yet this year so I'm pretty sure they NEED to race. sure it sucks but I think you'd b hard pressed to find anyone more upset than me.

I was supposed to ask my girlfriend to marry me in victory lane during opening ceremonies ever since the 1st night!!  3rd rainout in a row (3 hr drive each way) so I asked her in the parking lot. 

Sounds like mother nature was trying to save your ass. J/K man, congrats.

LOL , if she was I completely missed the sign! 

If she said yes in the parking lot after three consecutive rain outs - I think she is a keeper!

Rome wasn't built in a day......but they sure didn't
waste any time burning it down!

That's what I was thinking too.  Lol.  Congrats and good luck.  

There were two things working against the track on Saturday.  1. There was a drainage problem in turn 4 that that Dunkins were trying to get resolved.  Once that was fixed they tried to run the pushtrucks on the top to "see what the track would."   That was the 2nd issue...would it be a safe track to race on.  I was in contact with several of the race officials and John McCoy plus Chris Dunkin for the entire time from when it started raining to when they called it off.  Both said it would have been much later than 9 to get the track in shape to race on due to the track "balling up".  Meaning as the pushtrucks were running over the track they would drop huge mud clods all over the track, more than normal.  The 9pm estimate was before they encountered the drainage problem (which I believe was fixed) and the push trucks were sent out.  McCoy was worried about the saftey of the track during the rain which was a monsoon downpour for about 15 minutes.  Like everyone else I too was dissappointed they had to cancel.   But please keep this in mind, the raceway tried to get things back into shape and many other places would have cancelled and sent everyone home with much less rain!

  i attempted to attend a race in 2010 and guess what, drainage issue in turn four...never saw a car on the track, think they coud have corrected the issue in five years...

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

Sounds like some of you should open your own race track

Holy shit, were any of you there. Water everywhere. 9 was conservative. Ran in for 20 minutes that did nothing way up top with standing water on the bottom. Second guess huh.

If Knoxville called the Race it was because they could not get the track back in safe racing condition. I have walked away pissed off  more than a couple of times after driving 125 miles to get a Hotdog and watch it down poor only to drive 125 Miles back home with the Sun shining for half they way home! On the other hand I've seen some pretty good rain storms hit the track and they somehow got the races in.  Knoxville is the best prepped Weekly Dirt Track in the World, Who am I to Question their Judgment call! 

Not looking good for this weekend either. Rain everyday through Sunday.

I am sure the Knoxville management wanted the race to happen.Dunkins are one of the best.I remember when new dirt was applied that didnt work and when they decided to cut  costs by having someone else do it several years ago. Asphalt is much easier as it can be dried with jet dryers but dirt is has to be workable. Maybe this week but forecast isnt great.It takes all week to get track prepared starting as soon as races are done starting with grader before cars even leave.

Rain has been forecast every day this week and so far all we have had is some light sprinkles here and there.  Sure hoping and praying we can have some races this week.  I listened to my scanner Saturday afternoon and they were working very diligently to get it in and frustrated they weren't able to.  

My wife told me if I went to one more Sprint Car race 
she would leave me.................I'm sure gonna miss 
that ol' gal. 

I think I've been to every major sprint car track in the country (in 29 different States) and nobody, yes nobody works as hard on their track as this crew.  Tommy H. is a magician at Haubstadt but it's tiny by comparisson and a piece of cake when compared to Knoxville.  John McCoy cares about his drivers and his facility and always puts safety first, you have to respect that!.....

My Opinion is they made the right call on a number of fronts:

Safety -- if the track was going to be un-safe it was a no-brainer

Timeliness -- like it or not, the Raceway has to keep in mind what time the event would end since they are in town (people that don't like the races or don't attend don't raise a stink about late nights for major events (Nationals, 360 Nationals, Late Models, World of Outlaws), but the days of running a "weekly show" until 2:00 AM went the way of the DoDo bird 20+ years ago.  You've got to be a good neighbor.

Drainage -- people can debate that the drainage should be fixed or whatever all they want, the bottom line is it's always going to be an issue (how do you keep it from clogging up when everything headed toward it is mud?) no matter what they do to keep it cleaned out year to year and week to week.

Fan Count -- IF (and that's a BIG IF) they could have started hotlaps by 10ish Saturday, how many fans would have actually came?  My guess is not very many and the show would have been a big $$$ loser.  The track still lost $$$ (tow $$, payroll, insurance, etc.), maybe just not as much as they would have.  The weather forecast (and everyone having a hand-held radar display with them (their phone) nowadays) probably scared away 1/3 of the crowd before the rain came. I'd say they lost another 1/3 when it rained and they stated they were shooting for 9 PM hotlaps.   Hard to justify running late, pissing off the neighbors and then losing $$$ on the show (at least IMO).

Does it suck that it rained out?  YES, but the same people made about them calling the race would have been up in arms had somone gotten hurt due to the track being "too narrow" or thrown a hissy fit because the track was "too fast" and no one passed a car all night.  There is one thing that no racetrack can control, and that is the weather.  Maybe Mother Nature will be kinder going forward through the year (we can hope).

  Tommy's also a full-time farmer. Working the track isn't his only gig.

Chris Dunkin works full-time at Vermeer.

His boys both have full-time jobs.

The other guys that help out all have full-time jobs (one at Pella Corporation).

My point is, it's not like they do track prep for a living like many seem to think they do...

I know one of the Dunkins is a school teacher. Track prep is not his full time job either. Especially in May. Don't know if the other has a job other than the racetrack.