Misc. Sprint/Midget Racing

gnomesayin said:
Ridiculous and inexcusable. From Jacksonville Speedway last night.

Click to expand...

Here is what Jacksonville Speedway had to say about it today. They admitted the dropped the ball big time.

From their Facebook post

Needless to say I've had a full inbox the past few days. Here's what I have to say about it. Jacksonville Speedway is fairly unique in that it is one of the very few tracks where by its nature everyone is in the middle of the racetrack. Officials and flagman alike - meaning that everyone's back is turned to half of the track. Typically not all backs are turned to the same direction - in this instance they were. There were a series of events that allowed that to happen unexpectedly. No doubt I can recite a long list of things that by coincidence had backs turned to the front stretch and people out of position at a time a car was wrecking on the front stretch.

But... there is one set of eyes from the grandstand who's job it is to see the whole race track - because the grandstands is the one place you can see it all. That person is me. Typically during a race I am positioned near the stage with radio in hand because we know there are blind spots from the infield. I'm sure you've seen that when a car stalls outside of turn 1 and those on the infield can't see it. Friday night I was out of position at the time when all backs were turned. Other things going on Friday night had me run down to the Queen's Room to print out Sportsman checks instead of being the eyes from the grandstand side for a situation like this as I usually am - particularly during the Sprint Car portion of the event.

No doubt we all could have done something a little different and we have internally taken many steps over the past few days to prevent this type of situation from happening again. I have spoken to our team and all drivers alike identifying what contributed and how to put a process in place to create more eyes and voices, more "specific area" responsibility and most importantly for those who have no responsibility for officiating a race to know that they are empowered to use their radio for any red flag or potentially dangerous situation we need to be aware of.

So if you must and if it makes you feel like you are doing a service by pointing out what we already know - then feel free to share your wisdom in a comment below. But the truth is that more than anyone, I myself was out of position and if I hadn't been - the incident would have been immediately called to race control's attention as I would have had the best view of it. Our staff knows I'm there - and I wasn't there. It's hard to point fingers at anyone else when you yourself could have solved it by being where everyone assumes you are.

The buck stops here. And yes, I've heard the opinions you've shared with me and I've spent the weekend responding to most. I'm confident we have addressed this situation as an organization in the right way. I'm moving on, confident that this reminder of how we must divide our attention and focus will make us better. Nobody was hurt. We were caught with our pants down in a very public way. I'm now moving on and hope you can let our staff do the same.

As for our announcer Tommy Cook... nobody feels worse than him - and he shouldn't. Several years ago I moved the announcer from the infield to the grandstand side for the very purpose of being more connected with our fans. He's not there to announce in the light most favorable to us - he's there to make your experience better and to share in your emotions and perspective. I have zero problem with Tommy having shown his emotions about the situation and calling a spade a spade from the perspective everyone in the grandstand had at that moment. I hope those sharing his call out there on social media aren't doing it to mock him or laugh at him - but are doing it out of respect for telling it the way it was.

Tommy is simply one of the best local announcers in all of racing. He does it in a way that makes a night feel even better than it is. Nobody works harder at preparing to have the facts in place to make our shows way better than they would be without him. He's our boy - and I appreciate the emotion and passion he has for what he does. We are a better race track with Tommy Cook on the mic. If as a group we ever need to be thrown under the bus, I don't mind Tommy doing the throwing when deserved. That call is something we will laugh about some day. A memory of our time together at the Speedway. Help us keep his head up!

Regardless, don't for a minute think we have ignored it. To a person we have owned it and fully addressed it internally. No doubt it was a very public bad look. That goes with being willing to broadcast your events nationwide. The world sees you at your best - and occasionally when your pants are down. But the team we have here are the ones I'll do this with as long as we are doing it. To a person they are fully invested in providing a safe, fun and top-shelf experience every time we open the doors. As always - I can be reached at 217-371-3653. Have a great week. -KD
 
kkfan91 said:
Here is what Jacksonville Speedway had to say about it today. They admitted the dropped the ball big time.

From their Facebook post

Needless to say I've had a full inbox the past few days. Here's what I have to say about it. Jacksonville Speedway is fairly unique in that it is one of the very few tracks where by its nature everyone is in the middle of the racetrack. Officials and flagman alike - meaning that everyone's back is turned to half of the track. Typically not all backs are turned to the same direction - in this instance they were. There were a series of events that allowed that to happen unexpectedly. No doubt I can recite a long list of things that by coincidence had backs turned to the front stretch and people out of position at a time a car was wrecking on the front stretch.

But... there is one set of eyes from the grandstand who's job it is to see the whole race track - because the grandstands is the one place you can see it all. That person is me. Typically during a race I am positioned near the stage with radio in hand because we know there are blind spots from the infield. I'm sure you've seen that when a car stalls outside of turn 1 and those on the infield can't see it. Friday night I was out of position at the time when all backs were turned. Other things going on Friday night had me run down to the Queen's Room to print out Sportsman checks instead of being the eyes from the grandstand side for a situation like this as I usually am - particularly during the Sprint Car portion of the event.

No doubt we all could have done something a little different and we have internally taken many steps over the past few days to prevent this type of situation from happening again. I have spoken to our team and all drivers alike identifying what contributed and how to put a process in place to create more eyes and voices, more "specific area" responsibility and most importantly for those who have no responsibility for officiating a race to know that they are empowered to use their radio for any red flag or potentially dangerous situation we need to be aware of.

So if you must and if it makes you feel like you are doing a service by pointing out what we already know - then feel free to share your wisdom in a comment below. But the truth is that more than anyone, I myself was out of position and if I hadn't been - the incident would have been immediately called to race control's attention as I would have had the best view of it. Our staff knows I'm there - and I wasn't there. It's hard to point fingers at anyone else when you yourself could have solved it by being where everyone assumes you are.

The buck stops here. And yes, I've heard the opinions you've shared with me and I've spent the weekend responding to most. I'm confident we have addressed this situation as an organization in the right way. I'm moving on, confident that this reminder of how we must divide our attention and focus will make us better. Nobody was hurt. We were caught with our pants down in a very public way. I'm now moving on and hope you can let our staff do the same.

As for our announcer Tommy Cook... nobody feels worse than him - and he shouldn't. Several years ago I moved the announcer from the infield to the grandstand side for the very purpose of being more connected with our fans. He's not there to announce in the light most favorable to us - he's there to make your experience better and to share in your emotions and perspective. I have zero problem with Tommy having shown his emotions about the situation and calling a spade a spade from the perspective everyone in the grandstand had at that moment. I hope those sharing his call out there on social media aren't doing it to mock him or laugh at him - but are doing it out of respect for telling it the way it was.

Tommy is simply one of the best local announcers in all of racing. He does it in a way that makes a night feel even better than it is. Nobody works harder at preparing to have the facts in place to make our shows way better than they would be without him. He's our boy - and I appreciate the emotion and passion he has for what he does. We are a better race track with Tommy Cook on the mic. If as a group we ever need to be thrown under the bus, I don't mind Tommy doing the throwing when deserved. That call is something we will laugh about some day. A memory of our time together at the Speedway. Help us keep his head up!

Regardless, don't for a minute think we have ignored it. To a person we have owned it and fully addressed it internally. No doubt it was a very public bad look. That goes with being willing to broadcast your events nationwide. The world sees you at your best - and occasionally when your pants are down. But the team we have here are the ones I'll do this with as long as we are doing it. To a person they are fully invested in providing a safe, fun and top-shelf experience every time we open the doors. As always - I can be reached at 217-371-3653. Have a great week. -KD
Click to expand...
I watched the video, but honestly couldn't tell where the car that wrecked was. Was it on the track or over a berm? If it was visible to the drivers wouldn't they have slowed down or stopped?
 
All the rumors point to Rico and Ricky Warner joining TSR for next year. If that is right, the details will be interesting. If it's not, the surprise of who it is instead will be.

 
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