Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Rained Out

Rain forecasted out would be a more accurate statement. They can't wait to cancel those local shows.

I am sure that even the great Knoxville raceway has issues with people being scared away with the weather forecasts.   If the forecast is particularly bad, it is only going to keep the fans away.   If the fans don't come but all of the drivers show up, the track is up side down on thier expeneses.   What is even worse is that the fans are scared away and the drivers show up only to have the show rained out.   There are a lot of expenses tied to a rain out that the track never gets back.   

I do not have any issues with a promoter cancelling a race program when the weather forecast is working against them.   Yes, there are times when the 80% forecast for rain does not happen, but for those 2 times out of 10 that they get the program in, there are going to be 8 times that they do not, and all 10 of those experiences are going to be a money loser for the track.   The tracks need to make money or they will not remain open.  

Looking at the current radar it was a smart decision. 

Wow.  Did you really want to go there tonight and sit in 35-40 degree weather where it was drizzly all night?  Also according to what I saw on Facebook earlier it says "Due to cold weather and rain in the forecast, Knoxville raceway officials have cancelled tonight's Busch Light First Responders Night."  So the way I read that is they never said it was rained out, they did exactly what you asked them to do.  Not sure where they lied, but yet here we are with people like you being pissed off.  I understand with the current state of things in the world people are more easily upset.  But try to remember that just one short or long year ago, however you want to look at it, at this time nobody even knew if they'd get to see a race last summer.  Please try not to get so upset about things so trivial. 

Weather channel hourly forcast for Knoxville Saturday night was 93% chance of rain at 7pm going steadily up to 100% at 11pm. I'm 1 3/4 hrs away  and go every night but I will not drive over with those odds. Canceling was the right call. Gave teams a chance to make it to another track if they wanted 

Good grief... it was the right call, give em a break

I was thinking the same.  I know everyone seems to get butt hurt anymore when they cancel before it rains, and I'm not sure why.  They all have a business to run.  I remember in the late 90's or early 2000's we had tickets to Farley for the WoO.  I live over 1-1/2 hours away.  The rain chance was huge.  I called the track and they said the event was still on and we could not get a refund if they didn't cancel----which I didn't blame them, but they could have easily called the event by then.  We waited until the last second to leave and called over again.  They said, "we're still planning on getting this show in-----support cars are getting ready to pack the track as we speak."  So, we start the drive over.  The chance of rain was 80% so I guess that left a 20% chance of getting the show in.  ??????

Anyways, we drove all the way over and even called again 1/2-way there.  Still said the show is on.  Pulled into the parking lot and was met by the haulers leaving the pits as they just cancelled the show-----before a drop of rain had fallen.  They could have done this 2-3 hours earlier if they weren't going to wait for the actual rain----maybe even earlier than that.  So, I like that tracks are more proactive.  

Canceled before the sleet came

We drove down from Forest Lake, Minnesota, about six hours, in the 90's before the internet and phones were a thing.  The forecast was good but a storm blew in from the south contrary to the forecast.  We stopped to use a pay phone to call the track at the rest area just north of Des Moine.  We could see the dark clouds on the horizon.  We decided to turn around and try Jackson but as we headed west from 35 on 90 we started seeing haulers heading east on 90.  A familiar Sprint Car hauler confirmed the obvious.  We had no choice but to head home later finding out that our local tracks all raced that night.

Another reason to like streaming racing channels.  We had about fourteen hours of windshield time in by the time we pulled in the driveway.  What was the problem we were discussing here?

Stan Meissner

The cold temps were going to be a factor if it rained or not.The spectator count has been low.I dont know about the coverage of DirtVision how much of a factor it is.Cancellations after crowd and cars are there are frustrating for everybody.

Not sure about South Central Iowa but over on the East Side it definately not a night for Racing.... I completely expected it to be cancelled and I'm glad they called it early for the benefit of the Race Teams.