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

Wow

I hear ya. Here in Pa the Grove cancelled a race recently because of smoke from a wildfire in another country.

Currently about 95 degrees with a heat index of hell. High heat + high humidity usually means a lower car count and even lower fan turnout. 

I-90 Speedway at Hartford, about 20 miles west of Husets cancelled last week because of the heat. They ran last night in the heat and got rained out.

I hope it's not like this on nationals week. Southeast iowa today was brutal, humid as hell. 

Excellent call on their part. 

Good call.   No need to have a race that is going to be tough on fans, drivers and equipment, and be a money loser for the promoter.   

They were thinking of other peoples safety, not just about you. It was just awful here today. 

Not to mention all of the track crew, concessions workers, custodians etc. 

Inclement weather and dirt track racing rarely mixes well. About the only time it can potentially work is if enough advance tickets are sold and/or there's a backup date for the event.

I still remember in the 90's being at Knoxville for the spring outlaws 2-day race and the Saturday show got moved to Sunday afternoon from severe spring storms on Saturday.

But the back side of the storm Sunday was so brutal, 30's, sleet and wind straight out of the north at 30mph. It was so bad my friend Patty was trying to light her cigarette covered with two heavy blankets and still couldn't get it lit.

There literally were 38 people in the stands. 

Knoxville never tried that again.

Which is exactly the point with Huset's. They pay out well in excess of $40,000 a night on just a regular show...which is in the top 2 or 3 tracks in the country. 

Similar to that Knoxville example, yes there will be people that can handle the weather, but a lot of people won't even consider it. So from a business and safety standpoint, that call was a no-brainer. 

Which brings me to my last comment.

Do any of you old timers remember how Ascot Park used to handle their purse? It was actually pretty innovative - and it had a built in catch-all for weather. The only purse structure they posted was 40% of the grandstand take. Drivers wouldn't know what they were racing for til after the ticket count was known.

That way if weather was a factor, or some competing event of whatever nature came into play, it all worked out from a business standpoint. And that model worked there for many many years.

Good news: weather forecast looks much more seasonable this coming weekend, so that shouldn't be a problem.

100%!  All this talk about the safety of the fans, drivers, yada yada.  I've been to 24 straight Knoxville Nationals.  I feel like we had extreme heat warnings about 6-8 times during these shows.  The show went on.  Why?  The crowd was gonna be huge regardless and many years Saturday night was already sold out.  

None of you would go to work on Monday if you knew you were going to lose money.  Why some expect a track to run shows when it's almost a guaranteed loss is beyond comprehension. 

My car read 100 degrees this afternoon. While I don't agree with all the cancellations, I also know there are factors that I am unaware of that affect the decision. 

Keep It Real

When its well over 90+ hard to get a crowd.Easier to call a rainout. With live streaming i think there are people that prefer comfort of own home. Last Saturday watched WOO.HL and Knoxville features live on FLO and DV. Havent seen any actual figures but the track receive some of the revenue. Suppose to cool off Friday.

Plus a a Dew point in the 70s and Heat index of around 115. All i did was sit on my AC vent naked

The grove did cancel because of smoke and it was not only from another country it was our wildfire smoke in the USA as well but it was terrible on Thursday and was suppossed to be worse on Friday but it was actually better than Thursdays smoke but it was Eldora I mean they were going to lose their asses so defintely a good call in my opinion! 

Currently driving across the country from PA to WA. Stopped in Sioux Falls for two nights with the explicit intent to attend Husets on Sunday night. Bought tickets online about two hours before they canceled. That sucked. 

I played 18 holes at the Brandon Golf Course Sunday afternoon. It was overcast and not too insanely hot for the first 15 holes, but then the clouds parted and the temperature rose fast. It was uncomfortable for those last three holes. 

Got in my car and drove about five minutes to Husets. I figured I might as well take a look. I got fortuante that one of the gates was open and I drove in. All the way down to the track and around to the pits. Got out and took a selfie from the pit lane onto the track. There was one due in a large black pickup that drove by, but I didn't have any contact with him. He closed the gate (not locked) when he entered. It sort of sucked that I had to get out of my car when leaving to open and then shut the gate again.  The sun was out and it was HOT. I didn't want to be in that sun for very long. It was a bit creepy seeing the place totally empty. There were a few campers out in the back, but otherwise totally empty. Beautiful facility. Really bummed about the outcome, but oh well. 

I don't blame them. The heat was about 100, but the index was much higher with the humidity. My phone said "feels like" 115. I couldn't argue that. 

Last note, there was a severe wind storm the night before. The golf course had a tourney on Sunday morning, but it was canceled because of the amount of wind damage. They shut the course down until noon to try to clean it up. I saw the wind damage at Husets as well. Lots of stuff knocked over and signs partially ripped up. 

I was just in the area as well on Wednesday of last week.  I thought about stopping at the track on my way by since my previous attempt to see a race there was ruined by Chucky.  As it turned out it was 20 minutes out of our way, and my wife was ready to be home, so we skipped and continued our trek.  It will give me a good reason to try again when I can see a race!