Hello to all,
I have a problem with drag racing in southern Ontario. The drag racing fans are getting ripped off. We have 3 of the best tracks around, all within 2 hrs of each other, that we used to be able to brag about, not many people in North America could do that. We have an IHRA national event that is the best thing to happen around here in a long time. We couldn't get it any better. PERIOD.
WRONG. There are 25 other weekends during the racing season that have turned into a fiasco.Let me try to explain. We have some of the best Pro Mods, alcohol funny cars,top sportsman and top dragsters in North America running in this area, all capable of qualifying in there class and dominating in it. Our three tracks try to run major events on the same weekends(Cayuga, St Thomas, and Grand Bend)
I realize that they all have a business to run,and business means customers,and business means stealing competeters customers. Two years ago when the tracks were running there Pro Mod and funny car shows on opposite weekends you were getting 21 Pro Mods showing up for an 8 car field. Now you run 8 and 16 car fields and are lucky to get 4 and 5 cars show up. One track is getting 8 cars if there lucky. The fans are showing up and paying 60 and 70 dollars for a weekend pass, get inside, and find out you only have 4 Pro Mods or get to the gate and find out that the race has been rescheduled because the car count was low. I go to all the tracks with my two sons and friends chasing the best shows. I have talked to a lot of other fans and they feel the same way. The track owners must see this going on,they must be getting complaints from fans.
The drag racers must be hearing complaints from thier fans.Something has to be done or we are going to lose our races and tracks. The fans and racers deserve more. You can't gain new paying fans if you can't keep the old ones.
The three track owners need to get together. I don't claim to know how to solve the problem,but i think they need to go back to the drag racing series they had at each of the tracks two years ago. I think the track manager that did it back then put on great shows, but somewhere the series went wrong. Probably fights over who gets what weekends,egos got in the way, who gets the most races,who knows. I think one person should step forward and try to organize a series and try to accomidate the tracks, the racers and the fans the best way possible.
If the tracks cannot get together, the Pro Mods, Funny Cars, Top Dragster, and Top Sportsman should all get together and organize a series and offer it to the tracks. I don't understand as a fan why you guys fight over the long weekends anyway, when everybody is up in "Outhouse" Ontario killing bugs on the long weekends. A lot of my friends don't come to the races i go to because they are up north on the long weekends. So why fight over them. Just pick a weekend, get the cars, and the FANS will come, as long the same race is not being held an hour away.
Thanks,
Ted(from the grandstand)Barrett
tbarrett3@home.com
