Race track prep and advertising

After a Thursday night, June 3rd, road trip to Columbus to watch it rain, I’m thinking I could be a weather forecaster when I retire. I can be wrong a lot more than I am now and not get in trouble for it. That makes two trips at 234 miles each to: pack track, hot lap and run a heat race; and pack track and hot lap. As much as I want to run double features, I sure don’t like driving all those miles and then not racing! It looked like the track was going to be decent as the massive holes in turns 1 & 2 did not seem to be there any more during hot laps.

Most of the mud got washed off the race car Friday afternoon in getting it ready for Jason to race. Weatherman said 40% chance of rain, so it was wait & see for a bit whether or not he would get to race. Thunderstorm watches were posted until 11 PM for our area, and the weather radar showed some heavy storms between St Joseph and Maryville, Missouri. Normally, that would not have been a concern, but radar showed it was turning and coming back this way. If we’d been going any distance to race, it would have been a sure bet that it would have rained.

Friday evening ended up being a decent night at the races. Even though there was lightning in the distance in all directions from Beatrice, it stayed dry all night! Jason had never been in this car before. He started in the back in both his heat race and the A Feature. The track was VERY heavy, especially in the heat race. After starting 13th in the Feature, he ran a consistent race and missed a couple of spinning cars, finishing 8th. It looks like the worst part this week will be getting the car clean!!

I don’t profess to be a farmer, but Beatrice Speedway needs to look at how the track is being watered. With a 7:30 start time, there should be no problem getting the track ready to race. Most weeks, the track is already being worked on Thursday evenings. Some water on Friday probably isn’t a bad thing, but what’s happening is ridiculous. There was so much water put down that the WATER TRUCK GOT STUCK!! We had 2 ½” of rain on Tuesday night, and more rain for an hour about 2 AM on Friday!

With all the water on the track, it took a lot of extra time to get the track rolled in. By the time the first heat rolled onto the track, it was 7:50 PM. In some circles, maybe starting 20 minutes late isn’t bad, but track officials always want the show to go in a timely manner. If there’s a problem with your car, the show is being rushed through so fast that there isn’t time to get it fixed. I know we have to get the show done in a timely manner, but that starts with getting the show started on time!

In these tough financial times for fans, drivers, and yes, even race tracks, we all need to be mindful of where our money goes. The race fan wants a smooth, well run show that starts on time and is done at a decent hour. If the races run too late, fans get discouraged and may not come back. On another note, people who live near the track may call the police and complain about the noise. If I was answering those calls, I would be in trouble because people who live close knew the track was there when they moved there. But, the track also has a responsibility of being a good neighbor and getting done at a decent hour.

I must say that I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED at the amount of communication, or rather lack of communication, from Beatrice Speedway this season. I have several points to make when I address this. In the past, there were always short rules/organizational meetings for each class in November. For the sanctioned classes, that was nothing more than talking about tentative schedules and registering for the upcoming season. For non-sanctioned classes, rules were discussed and, if needed, changed. Tentative schedules were discussed and registrations were accepted.

At the end of 2009, there was NO INFORMATION put out by Beatrice Speedway about the upcoming season. The first information we got was that the track was going to require all drivers to have RaceCeivers in 2010. They did not have any further information as to where to get them, how much they cost, etc. This ended up being an additional cost to each driver of $105 if they bought one. They can also be rented for $10 a night, but if you race every week, you’re a lot better off buying one.

The Women for Racing organization at Beatrice Speedway is, in my opinion, the saving grace of Beatrice Speedway. They sponsor the drivers’ points fund, and without WFR there would be no points fund. They do fund raising all season long with the goal of providing a points fund for the drivers. They sponsor a Kids Night in August, which includes a coin toss and bicycle giveaways. They have a Casino Night and Bowl-a-Thon before the season, once again to raise money for the points fund. Last season, they donated to the Beatrice/Gage County FOP Charity Race, as did Beatrice Speedway.

I don’t know if Beatrice Speedway has had a falling-out with the local newspaper, but the coverage by the Beatrice Daily Sun has been very minimal at best. Having interesting, informative stories on the race results amounts to FREE ADVERTISING, so why not take advantage of it? Isn’t the Daily Sun sending out a reporter any more?

I have been VERY DISAPPOINTED in the Beatrice Speedway website this year. Results and points are not being posted in a timely manner. If somebody is being paid to do this, they are not earning their keep! Somebody needs to take a look at the Eagle Raceway website. Greg Soukup, AKA Eagle Pit Shack Guy, writes an excellent article each week on the races at Eagle. It is posted on the Eagle Raceway website by 6 AM on Sunday morning, and his results include the complete finishing positions of EVERY heat race, B Feature and A Feature that was run that night. Something like that could be done at Beatrice and posted on the Beatrice Speedway message board on DirtDrivers.com. That would not cost anything except somebody’s time.

I don’t get a chance to listen to the local radio station a lot, so I don’t know if they still have a Beatrice Speedway show. That was an excellent source of information in the past. If they still have it, the word needs to be put out there so everyone is aware of it. Once again, post the times and dates on DirtDrivers.com.

So much for my ranting on that subject - for now!

Friday and Saturday nights at work were fairly quiet. It almost looked like the people who weren’t at the races left town, as the downtown bars were almost empty. With the nice weather, maybe everybody took to camping. One more night before my short weekend starts. I hope everybody behaves themselves.

My call of the night on Friday night was when dispatch tried to send me to Arby's to check on a snake near the entrance.  I am NOT a snake person, and even though it was about midnight, I think maybe that should be a call for Animal Control.  I let dispatch know that I would be stopping for binoculars, and thankfully the Sergeant jumped in and said he was closer.  Ended up being a dead snake that he disposed of.