IHRA Cancels Cayuga National Event
They said it would happen if committments were not honoured and guess what....??
http://www.ihra.com/article/2762.html |
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i heard the owner of the track is a real f%$#@ hole,and now that is fact,I.H.R.A let a few things slide last year,not this time,comunity will take a little hit.
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That is more bad economic news we really don;t need.Our economy needs these events and our local racers support it greatly.I hope this can be settled for 09.
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how about ny international raceway park????
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They added a Sportsnational at Pittsburgh in conjunction with the Divisional. The SN will be Sunday, double pro-am on Fri& Sat.
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This could also be a result of no sponsors for the event...As the prices go up it is more difficult to keep hobbies afloat.
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Please don’t take my racing away,
The recent announcement regarding the dropping of the IHRA National Event in September leaves a black eye on the Canadian drag racing fraternity. It is a true shame that both parties here could not have come to a better resolve. It does however cast doubt on the integrity of Toronto Motorsports Park as well as the ability of IHRA to lead track operators with a clear path to sound physical plant management leading to a brighter financial future. The shame is that all of this falls on the backs of the ones who can least afford it, that being the drag racing fan. I wonder what help IHRA has provided in mapping out a plan for success with the ownership/management, notwithstanding the ownership/managements inability to ensure completion of these requirements. I imagine Mr. Polburn feels no other way but to pull the event and I am sure Mr. Bieri feels the “list” is financially too difficult, I wish that there could be transparency here but fear that we will hear two distinctly different stories, somewhere in the middle will lay the truth. As a fan and a racer I am sad to see this event scrubbed and implore both parties to fix this problem. The fans that sit in the seats on Saturday night spend a lot of money to be treated in this manor. As racers it is also unfair that we lose another “playground” As for the bleed off business of the event I am sure the tills will be ringing a sour note on that September weekend. Being a novice traveler and having enjoyed some of the great American venues I have to wonder is TMP really that bad or are we just pawns in a game of egos? I have customers who have invested in the sport of drag racing what with motor homes, race cars, trailers and equipment. They will be truly unhappy in this recent event, ironically the event that brought home to them the point of how great drag racing can be. I am asked in the bank and at the grocery store “when is the big race?” My answer as always is “you have to see the show that is put on by the IHRA and TMP at the national event. These same people would not be interested if it wasn’t for the energy that a national event brings to the area. I fear that the IHRA might be turning their backs on TMP what with no announcement for reinstatement for the 2009 year. This lack of information leads to a lot of unanswered questions. Will the list of upgrade requirements be published to prove that the requirements are fair and in the best interest of the racers? Does this list of “must haves” fit all national event tracks? If the track comes through with the upgrades what will be the process for re instating the event? Does IHRA expect so much that the ownership is not willing to jump through the hoops to secure the event? The point I am making here is there is a credibility gap with both parties and this should be addressed in a timely manner. Making an announcement stating TMP is not ready and offering no plan or policy to follow is unfair to the racers and the fans. Likewise it is also unfair that TMP has not taken the IHRA position seriously enough to sit down and make it happen. I find it hard to believe with the seats that are filled for this race that both IHRA and TMP cannot make this event happen, everybody loses... |
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new york would be perfect im in
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I have to say that this smells fishy to me, or I just totally don't understand IHRA's thinking. Assuming IHRA's revenue stream is heavily based upon the spectator gate like NHRA's, then reducing the number of events isn't going to help their financial situation. They've already lost Norwalk and Mansfield was DOA, Pittsburgh's not going this year, and now they cancel this event because the improvements weren't being made to their level of satisfaction. But, who's to say that those improvements wouldn't have been done in time for the event?
Right now, there is an NHRA national event scheduled for September 11 - 14 in Charlotte for a track that isn't anywhere close to the level of completeness that TMP is currently (don't get me wrong, when it's done, I know Charlotte will be nicer than TMP, but as of a week or so ago it was all still dirt). So, is IHRA telling me that there's no way that these improvements could have been made for a race that was supposed to take place a WEEK AFTER the event in Charlotte? And why CANCEL the event altogether, even if that's true? Why not reschedule it for some other location? I'm sure NYIRP, Grand Bend, or a HOST of other IHRA tracks would jump through hoops to be able to get that race. But instead they just cancel it outright? I don't believe we're hearing the whole story here. I know TMP has been slow to implement improvements, but there has got to be more to the story than just that. I feel bad for the racers in WNY and Southeastern Ontario as this was the biggest race in the region. I'm certainly disappointed as well, but for me this clears up the schedule conflict on my calendar, and I will now go to the Jeg's SPORTSNationals in Columbus instead. |
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Jason, your argument holds true considering the announcement of the National Event Payout on the third day of the Pittsburgh race! So now they are making a sportsman payout, yet wont have any gate at all.
Smells like Pro Stock Truck Would this have happened with the "OLD" IHRA? |
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i e mailed neale armstrong director of track operations and asked if they lost this event for next year also,he replied to me saying there will be a press release soon about this decision .
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How could there be such a lack of support from the racing community for the facility at Cayuga.
I find it particularly interesting that our fellow American racers think that the event should be moved to a track nearer to them. I suppose this is only because of the price of fuel? This track has been in business since the late 1950's It seems to me that there is more to this than what the IHRA considers to be non compliance on their list of improvements that they mandated last year. There are lots of race tracks that have the same if not worse conditions, especially in the pits. I dread the hidden message that the IHRA will be releasing a news bulletin in the near future as to whether the event will be permanently cancelled. I think it is time to rally behind the management at TMP before it is too late. |
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On Sept 10 2007 Competetion Plus had a Major story about Toronto Motorsports park.It tells you why IHRA cancelled this race this year.If I could past and cut, I would post the link.
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IHRA is full of it. This is just another dumb move on their behalf, the fact that the Pittsburgh Pro AM was announced so soon after cancelling the TMP National event just made it clear to me they had this planned from the get go. You don;t pull a divisional out of NO WHERE in 3 days.
This BS that they put out there about the track not making the proper upgrades is garbage!. I have raced at a few of IHRA's National tracks and their telling us TMP is not good enough?? I'd like to use Rockingham as an exampkle. The pits are hardly any better then TMP's, many Pro teams when we were there were parked on grass. the sportsmans pits for the most part where un-paved and dusty roads, (Atleast at Cayuga all sportmans pits have PAVED return roads with some Paved pitting area!) Rockingham washrooms looked like Cayugas old ones just with paint! (Cayuga has a new washroom facility with showers! on both sides of the track for racers and spectators) and the tower (as far as I was able to see) had no where near the sophisticated VIP and control area that TMP has. INFACT if you go on to YouTube you can find the IHRA management team and announcers enjoying the use of one of the VIP rooms to play the INTERNATIONAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CUP IN BALL Tournamant during the sunday rainout last year..... you look at that and tell me that tower doesn't look nice, ALL the VIP rooms are like that. NOW! I'm not saying Rockinham is a dump, very far from it!. I enjoyed racing at the ROCK and would love to go back, its a great facility run but a outstanding gentleman who does an excellent job promoting and operating his track, but compared to Cayuga on many levels it doesn't stack up, and viewing it from the position of IHRA I can;t see how Rockingham would have an event if Cayuga is Sub Par..... If TMP is that bad why not step in and help? why turn your back on one of the BIGGEST MARKETS in the world!?!?! I work in the marketing business and if I suggested to my boss that we turn our back on one of our top potenital revenue sources because we had some difficulties I would be laughed at then probably fired... exactly in that order ! Sorry for the long post jsut figured it needed to be said! Andrew Stirk |
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i feel really, really bad for all of our canadian racers. i'm sure lancaster would have been happy to take a sportsman nationals if it was offered.
just my 2 cents |
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I have to agree with Andrew that there has to be a lot more to this decision than meets the eye.
In my more than 30 years of drag racing, I've travelled to and raced at many different tracks.Yes, there are some nice facilities, but there are also a lot of top name tracks that certainly aren't as good as TMP, especially for the sportsman racer. Do I need to name names? I do believe there is a lot more to this story, and we are not being told the whole truth. As Andrew said, why would you walk away from one of your largest markets? An extremely poor business decision at best. I fear we as Canadian racers and fans, we are being deliberately abandoned. Come on IHRA, 'fess up. FJ |
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Sportsman nationals at Lancaster(now Dunn Tire Raceway) would be great.Call Scooter and Lobby for it
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Maybe IHRA is prepareing for the possible leaded fuel ban.
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Now if anybody thinks Lancaster can hold an event over TMP, then in no way can the issues be the facility.
FJ |
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I talked to Skooter today twice via email and he said that there were 5 things in the contract that needed to be fulfilled and nothing was done yet. Drainage, paving, lighting in the pits, lighting on the return road, and washrooms. And it seems like it always rained on that weekend for some reason.Basically, instead of doing 3 months of work in three days AGAIN, they will pospone the race untill a solution can be made. He wouldn't say that Cayuga was dropped...all he said was "We can't afford to loose a race because we all have to eat". I personally think that the drainage should be adressed for safety but i've never had a problem with the lighting and I like the way TMP is right now. Its a mix of modern with that 70's vibe. Call me old school I guess. As far as the pits go, if Don Prudomme, Don Garlits, and all the rest of the greats could pit in the stones and tough it out for 4 days "for the love of the sport" then we all can too. Everyone thinks they need a perfectly paved pit spot so they can feel like there at there state of the art shop. Too many hotshots, not enough hero's. Hero's went out with Modified Production.
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No more Steak dinners at the Vanni Pit
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I think its a very smart move on IHRA's part, there is never any kind of car count there anyway, and with the car count down this year due to fuel prices or what ever, there would have been even fewer cars there, so good move IHRA,
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San Antonio 44 Rockingham1 126 Tulsa 30 Edmonton 24 Grand Bend 77 Martin 130 Epping 92 Milan 106 Cayuga 79 Budd's Creek 119 Rockingham2 154 It's not about the car count, as I believe the Nitro Jam Tour returns in 2008 to the 3 venues with fewer entries than Cayuga in '07. Is your magic number 100? Let's cut expenses and have 5 events. No one really buys a theory that successful events are measured by the number of Sportsman entries through the gate.........do they? |
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All this sounds like is exactly what I was talking about earlier When I said IHRA was full of it. First off the drainage looked to be working fine when we were there last weekend. It rained HARD friday night atleast till 1 am when we went to bed. I was up again at 7 and the track had no major puddles or pools of water from starting line to atleast 200 feet past the finish line that I could see. Second. how was TMP to get the paving done before the may 31st deadline??? No paving company in Southern Ontario starts paving on any of the major roads till atleast june or when the weather is stable, dry and warm enough to do a quality paving job. What did IHRA want them to do? Throw away $100,000 paving job just so it was done before May 31st but would be broken up again before August? This still all sounds like just a HUGE money game to me. If you look NHRA dropped the Torco title sponsor from the Virgina National event. It sounds like Torco has not paid up and fulfilled the contractual obligation for that event. Now if they won't pay NHRA for one event how well do you think the IHRA is doing right now? What class or shootout in the IHRA ISN'T sponsored by Torco??.... Package that with IHRA'S lack of ability to attract a title sponsor for the TMP National event and their HORRIBLE scheduling of the event (honestly what are they thinking putting a National event in Southern Ontario in late September????) and it seems more like TMP was cut due to costs then it was because of Sub par facility amenditys. Why do you think this event was never rescheduled to another track? Like Grand Bend, Milan, Martin ect ect. Theres no title sponsor thus no guarentee of making the money they would normally bring in from the other events that do have the title sponsors. Really all this tells me is that IHRA's internal marketing department that is in charge of finding these sponsors is doing a poor job when they cannot find a company in Southern Ontario, the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) willing to step up and sponsor this event. Andrew Stirk |
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I was at TMP last year and It was a dump period. It was by far the worst national event track I have seen in my few years of racing. I still can not belive there are people that wanted to go back. Thanks IHRA for making the right call.:D
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Andrew Stirk |
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Andrew and others,
It would appear to me there is a total difference of opinion between those who race at Cayuga regularily ( as you do Andrew) and those who compete at only the national event. Andrew, I was at the event last September for only the third time in 11 years. TMP aka Cayuga was my home track for over 20 years prior to my move West. Steve and I talk every week during the year and I am aware of what has transpired at the facility. IHRA appears to be "pulling some political punches" but Uli must take some responsilbility for some of the inadequacies at the facility. He was told 3-4 years ago some things needed to be addressed. The pit pavement (cracked and incomplete) is the same as it was 11 years ago when I left! In the end, the two must resolve their differences and move on. It would be a shame to see the event disappear as the GTA can certainly support the event very well. The cross border experience "perception" appears to be keeping car counts low at the event. Just my .02 cents! Mike Ferstl Calgary, AB |
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Torco is no longer
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Again this is my opinion, but if the the race doen't generate enough to bring 75-100 cars per class, then I highly doubt any one will "go in the hole" over not having it, I actually think the Pitt. sportsman national event will have more cars per class than would have been at TMP.
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I commend IHRA for sticking to their guns. Last year was the first year I attended TMP and was a little disappointed in the facility. Some of the pit roads really sucked and the lighting was the worst I've ever seen anywhere. I had to have someone lead me to the staging lanes at night, I couldn't see anything. Something I also noticed was the amount of trash laying around the place, definately was not up to national event facility standards!! The washrooms, however, were very nice. They make Milans look like a whole in the ground, oh wait, they are. It does suck that I won't get to defend my 1st national event win, and the fans up there were absolutly awesome, eah. Hopefully they can get something worked out for next year. The thing I don't fully understand is why they don't make some of the other tracks upgrade certain things also, like Milans bathrooms, and some of the few paved pit roads at rockingham (potholes as bad as TMP) . Just my $.02
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the be all and the end all is that this sucks for everyone! to me, it wasnt bad enough for me to-not race there. it also has to do with whos complaining. example if they cancelled edmonton instead, how many of us would care?? cmon now really. im bummed because this event was in my backyard .so if you live down south it dosent affect you.(as much) also i am a sportsman racer not a top fuel car. pitting a team in a potholed track is another story. now, who will the top brass pay more attention to? im hoping that it can be worked out in the very near future for the good of the motorsports aspect. how many more tracks can we lose?
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Your expectations for an IHRA event are a little optimistic, I think. |
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Dave turner... were you once known as "too tall" and worked for PI ?
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