Forum: SCRAFAN.COM Forum (go)
Moderators: ljennings

Thats not a strong statement that is the plain truth.

Fords crew chief was suspended for the offense mentioned above. The Ford Motorsports team chose to support Mr May by racing elsewhere.

Those are the facts.

Actually, it is a pretty arguable point- the point that is not arguable is that the most of the classes at Ventura are down in counts this season, for a variety of reasons.

You can break the season into segments- 1st segment being pre-purse lowering. The car count was very steady and averaged 28 cars over 5 races, high of 31, low of 27. The All Coast race should have been an outlier, but the weather was really bad that day and only 27 cars ran the show.

2nd segment- post purse lowering- There are two outliers in this range, the All Coast (33 cars), and the Vendors Cup (32 cars). Excluding those two, there were 9 other races- high car count was 26 (after almost a month off, and with 7 cars that usually run seniors in the field), low car count was 17, with an average count of 22.

Last segment- Post Jimmy May Suspension- 4 races, high of 17, low of 14, average of 16 cars. With Josh not returning- a team that typically brought 2 cars, and Derek Buckley, who was also suspended the same evening not returning, that is a 3 car loss.

Also missing the last race was Steve Conrad, who was second in points when he wrecked in his heat race on 10/1, decided it was not worth repairing the car to run the main that night, and gave up his claim to second in points. Or the Kershaw kids who are not running Ventura for the rest of the season- that has little or nothing to do with Josh Ford not returning. Or Troy Rutherford, or Kevin Kierce- the list goes on- all of these really good teams have their own reason for deciding not to run on a full time basis- and as the year has progressed, the attrition has been just that much more noticeable.

I've posted a few times this year what I have perceived as the problems plaguing Ventura Raceway this season. I wish I had a magic solution that would fix everything, but in truth- the economy problems and the pit area problems have been festering over the past few seasons- this season its gone from festering to full blown bleeding.

Back in September I posted about the apathy in the pit area- amazingly no one responded or took offense to that- obviously the apathy is so deep that I didn't even strike a nerve. Well, as the apathy grows, racing becomes less relevant for many- the fans stay home, the low buck guys stay home. And if it isn't apathy. then people are wearing there emotions on their sleeves- instead of being a fun place to be as it has for years, people are ready to have a reason to argue, fight, curse someone else out, or drive over someone on the track. Seeing Cory take someone out blatantly in the midget race, and tearing up alot of other cars was not typical. Seeing Greg Taylor make an absolutely brutal slide job that led to the altercation that tore up other peoples cars was not typical. And Shawn Kautz's post on this thread, and everything that led up to it- it is not typical and just should not happen.

The thing that scares me most, is there has been no reaching out to the teams that left to find what can be done better that would help make these guys want to come back. The promoters are throwing up their hands in disgust, the track crews are throwing up their hands in disgust, and the racers and fans are throwing up their hands in disgust.

Sprint car racing, and racing in general is a very expensive hobby- if it is not fun, people are going to park their equipment and find something else to do 20-30 weekends a year.

We all- Promoters, track crews, racers, and fans really need to work together and get through this. Bitching, moaning, whining, and complaining was a good start- but many wise people told me that you need to move on from there quickly.

We know what we have right now- lets help the promoters make money to keep the tracks in business, lets help the racers put extra money in their pockets so they can keep racing, and lets get the positive feeling back into our sport, so that people want be part of the great shows that we put on and the grandstands fill up once again!

A great start would be doing everything you can to support the All Coast Challenge on the 29th, and the Oval Nationals the week after. Mike, and everything he does for this sport deserves to see a full pit area and grandstand for this race. I hope the guys who decided to not return to Ventura, return for this show, at least out of respect for all Mike does for us. Besides- it is an all open wheel show with sprints, midgets, and fidgets just for Rob!!! The Focus cars and the go karts will add very little time to the show, and with 2 outstanding classes running- it may be a long time before it happens again, so don't miss it.

As for the Oval Nationals- do everything you can to support the preliminary nights as well as the final evening. It would be nice for Don and Jim to make some money on these shows, especially after the way this year has gone.....

@ SBR ... Well said !

The above Comments are satire & for entertainment
purposes only

Cliff ..I know this is off subject ...but how would Mr. Kautz go about getting his strap approved,since those things aren't sfi certified....thanks.

+1

Drama , Controversy , Rivalry 

Drama , Controversy , Rivalry 

Man, I gotta to read up on the rules. Walking through the pits yelling obscenities used to be a sanctioned class, right along with the steering wheel toss and family pit feud.

Everything you know is wrong.

LOL

You are correct- those are the facts, and most of us are very aware of them. So what do we do knowing those facts?

Ventura Raceway was very successful for 25+ years, just how it is. Times changed, people changed, but the track hasn't changed enough- now it needs to.

Santa Maria Speedway made a bold change 3 years ago naming Chris Kearns as the promoter. He is still on the learning curve running a track, but the forward progress during that time is remarkable- hopefully the economy will turn around soon so that he will be rewarded for that forward progress.

The PAS has changed, scheduling less sprint shows and more novelty shows. Hopefully the grandstands are much more full than the past few years, because we need Don and the PAS to become a profit center- securing it as a fixture of auto racing in So Cal for years to come.

VRP has been through much change- Steve Quercio is the new promoter, and has almost done too much change in his first year, trying to make everyone happy. Well I have news for you, HE needs to be happy and making money. People have bitched and moaned to him from every direction, and he has made changes at every request, and we still complain about the changes. If we helped him through some of this change in a more positive manner, maybe the shows cancelled at the end of this season would not have been.

The point is- if you are not happy, what do you do about it?

You can take your cars and park them- if you love racing, then this is the worst thing to do; for many of us who race, no hobby compares to the excitement and thrills of racing. It is worth every dollar I have spent on it.

You have choices- if you do not like Ventura, then run the West Coast 360's, Victorville, and Perris- some people have quietly done this, and though they are missed at Ventura, at least they are still enjoying the sport they love.

You can contact the other people who are disgruntled with Ventura, get a quorum of ideas to get drivers to return, and contact Jim Naylor. He WILL respectfully listen to you. But remember, many voices together are much stronger than yours alone. Also remember, the guys who people perceive as the favorites of management, are also some of the most loyal supporters of the track, both at the back gate, and financially. Seriously- who are you going to listen to- a guy who buys a pit pass 12 times a year, or a different guy who buys 20 pit passes every week, and spends tens of thousands of dollars sponsoring your race track? If the quorum becomes a group that buys 30 or 40+ pit passes a week, or can get a couple of hundred more tickets sold for the grandstand, then you just became as important voice as the track favorite.

But most of all, the ideas need to start turning positive- we all know whats wrong, we all need to get together to fix it. Once again, from promoters, to the racers, to the fans, we all need to help each other to get through this tough time.

We need the promoters to work together to give the best opportunities to the pool of cars at our disposal, and only schedule conflicts during regular shows- give the promoters, the drivers and the fans the opportunity to make the special events, not to have to choose and dilute our pool.

We need the rules to become standard- the ASCS tire will go a long way to make this happen, but like IMCA mods, the drivers need to be able to arrive at the track knowing they are legal, and not having tech nightmares, or having to make wholesale changes to their car during the week to fit within the rules.

We need the shows to be well thought out, with enough open wheel racing for us, and just enough support classes/other entertainment to help pay the purses and allow the promoters to make some money. Full grandstands attract more sponsors, which means better purses for the drivers, better shows for the fans, and the promoter can sleep at night knowing he can pay the bills.

As fans, we need to let the promoters know which support classes we like to see. These days the shows need support classes, so if you like some of them, let someone know. Best thing about the support classes- to most of them $100 is like $1000 to a sprint team. The more cars in the support classes like lightning sprints, dwarfs and focus midgets, the better chance that really great drivers will be coming through the sprint ranks soon. Just think of Mike Spencer, Damion Gardner, Greg Bragg, Seth Wilson, David Cardey... if you add TQ's you get Cory Kruseman, Focus midgets- Nic Faas; and I remember last names like Williams and Gaunt in the Focus class The list goes on and on.

Bottom lines- if we focus our voice and work together in a positive way, we will slowly see the rewards of our hard work. Things will get better, just stay involved and be happy to be part of it.

It's kind of funny how Cliff Morgan responded to the "booted" comment, yet has not said a word about how someone ( Shawn Kautz) could get their product "VRA approved"? I guess it's easier for VRA to lose another customer than working to keep one. Ignoring the racers is what got Jim Naylor in this situation ( low car counts) in the first place.

okay so lets change a lil are the car counts and fan count gonna be up next weekend for the challenge . Who is going ? Srints and midgets can respond also the fans .

We need more sprint car racing at our home track.

Drama , Controversy , Rivalry 

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