We cannot control the weather. All we can do is adapt to whatever it does, and sometimes that includes getting out of the way. Each region of our country has weather extremes, and those extremes have an effect on racing in those regions. Here in Florida we deal with weather constantly whether it is heat and humidity or rain. Florida is the lightning capital of the world, and we deal with almost daily thunderstorms during the wetter, summer season.
We have learned to adapt with the weather, and usually by being adaptable and smart, we can get around whatever nature wants to throw at us. That is how it is with race tracks all over America. Each adapts to the weather in it’s own way, and racing gets accomplished in a way that is unique to the weather of the region. But even so, we are mere human beings and the weather is something much bigger than us. That means that sometimes we get the bear and sometimes the bear gets us.
When promoters are getting ready for a night of racing at their speedway, they have tools such as weather forecasts and high tech radar via the internet, to assist them in making choices. You would think that with such tools that they would be nearly perfect when guessing which would be the best moves, but remember that the weather can be unpredictable. The bottom line for owners and promoters is making money.
Racing is a business, and as with any business profit is paramount. But when weather is part of the equation the owners and promoters have to shift gears and stop looking at profit, and start looking at loss prevention. This is because when bad weather moves in, it is inevitable that the track will incur some losses, as will the drivers and the fans as well.
A fine example of how it can all go wrong happened at Ocala Speedway on Friday, September 21. The official forecast for the evening was a 60% chance of thunderstorms, but as the afternoon progressed no storms seemed to be forming. In Florida you can easily get in a night of racing with a better than 50% chance of storms, and it has been done over and over by many tracks.
The choice was made to go ahead with the planned night of racing, and even as practice laps began at 5 PM there still was no indication of widespread rain developing in the area. To cancel racing at that point would have seemed idiotic to say the least because absolutely nothing was indicated to be happening anywhere nearby or where it would eventually move over the speedway.
But this is Florida, and the weather here can change extremely quickly. By the time the driver’s meeting had ended at about 7 PM and heat races were beginning at 7:30, there were a few small cells of rain to the south that were moving northward. While it appeared that the track might have a brush with part of those showers, it would not be much of a bother. Rain is a constant in Florida, and race fans and drivers know that showers can pass quickly, the track can be dried within an hour, and racing can resume. The radar was monitored and racing went on as planned. At worst there might be a slight rain delay, but a full night of racing was not threatened. At least not yet.
As heat races progressed, so did the rapid development of that rain to the south. With in 20 minutes, what had been a few isolated showers merged into a much larger area of rain with embedded thunder and lightning. Now the track was looking at a different situation as the storms moved closer on radar and continued to develop. And by now the fans in the stands and the drivers in the pits could see it coming, as lightning flickered in the distance. At this point the heat races were two thirds done, so an attempt was made to complete those races and hunker down for the storm. There was still no plan to cancel racing, and the speedway staff was being told that we would wait it out, dry the track, and go back to racing.
The rush was on to get the heat races done before the rain arrived, and that was accomplished within a matter of seconds before serious rain hit the track. But something was amiss and most there could sense it. The storm was still intensifying and now it was bordering on severe limits. There was frequent lightning, gusty wind, and torrential rain, and what was assumed to be the annoyance of a rain delay was now becoming a safety risk to fans and drivers alike. With the wind and the intense lightning it was too risky to have people standing around under any cover that they could find, so a quick decision was made to evacuate the grandstand area and get people to go to their cars.
Racing was officially over for the night for safety’s sake. And as it turned out, the track endured torrential rain and intense lightning for about an hour before the storms moved north and out of the area. Parts of the infield were flooded and the grandstand area was awash with water as well. Even if racing had not been canceled when it was, it would have been canceled anyway after the storm. There was simply too much water left behind. In just under 45 minutes of time we went from virtually no rain in sight to a washout.
Most tracks will cancel racing ahead of time if it appears that large amounts of rain or severe weather may be inevitable. This saves the drivers, fans, and employees, a trip to the track, while it also stops food prep, and other expenses from being incurred. And most importantly in the case of severe weather, it is a safety issue as well, keeping everyone at home and not out in the open. However, woe unto the promoter or speedway owner who makes that call and the bad weather fails to materialize.
Drivers do not like to have their night of racing taken from them unnecessarily, and they waste no time making sure that whoever made that call gets an ear full! This had been an issue earlier in the season at Ocala Speedway, and looking at the radar before racing began there was no indication that things would turn as nasty as they did. A choice to race was made, then nature took a quick turn for the worse.
Some racers and fans are certain that promoters and speedway owners intentionally begin racing in these situations in order to “rip off” the drivers and fans, but this is usually not the case. Almost every race track in the country has a rule that states that if heat races are completed, then it is a complete night of racing. No rain checks are given, and pit passes are not honored the following week. And what drivers and fans sometimes forget is that the owners and promoters are losing money when the rain comes. Once the gates are open money is being spent, and if you cannot complete the night and recoup what has been spent, then it is gone.
In a situation where the rain arrives after heat racing is done, the track has prepared food, turned on the lights, and employees must be paid. Also, since heat races are done and it is considered a complete night, pay outs to drivers also must be made at some point. Most tracks try to reschedule the feature races and do the pay outs then, but some will go ahead and use an alternate payout system on the heat race results and never run the features at a later date. Which ever system might be used, that money is spoken for and does not go into the owners’ pockets. Again, money is spent when the gates open. If the track cannot remain open and recoup that money, then it is a loss.
The argument heard most is that the track gets to keep the money from ticket sales and pit passes. That is true, and it is that money that allows payouts to happen later on or on the same night, depending on how your particular track does it. But do not forget that half of a night of concession sales are lost, plus the employees must be paid. At best it’s a break even sort of deal, or a situation where the potential profit is greatly reduced. And again, racing is a business and the object of operating a race track is to make money. If the drivers and fans have a problem with the operators of their local speedway profiting from their enterprise, then something is definitely wrong with that mindset.
And in cases where the rain arrives before heat races are completed, it is an even less profitable deal. Again, food prep is begun, employees are working, and money is being spent. Payouts to drivers are not an issue, but where the real pinch is felt is a week later when all of those rain checks have to be honored. A huge chunk of the fans and drivers now have what amounts to a free pass for the following week, or even weeks into the future in some cases depending on how the track honors the rain checks, so sales at the ticket booths and pit gates suffer. So keeping the payout money is no big boost. That is because money made becomes money lost the following week when the ticket sales take a nose dive when most people are coming in on last week’s admission. No matter when the rain arrives, it is not a good thing for the track no matter what the drivers and fans might think.
Fans and drivers naturally assume that owners and promoters are stuffing their pockets with cash when weather strikes or otherwise. As stated before, racing is a business and the object of any business is to make money, and any driver or fan who would not allow an owner to make a profit is living in a fantasy world. The assumption that track promoters and owners deliberately use the weather in order to make more money is false, and it is a myth propagated by disappointment when rain causes cancellations. The truth is that everyone is losing time and money on the deal, and no side of the coin is being hurt worse than another.
Track owners and promoters will tell you that no matter how they handle the situation, that drivers and fans will complain.
And in the case of some owners and promoters, they feel as much, if not more, frustration as the fans and drivers do. In their eyes it becomes a situation that no matter what you do it is going to be wrong, and that frustration versus their bottom line can lead to harm for the track and racing in general. If the track is losing money thanks to weather woes, and when fans and drivers are finding fault with every move that the owners or promoters use to get around the weather, then this leads owners and promoters to question why they do what they do at all. The weather is out of everyone’s control, so do not blame the owners, promoters, drivers, or anyone else when weather causes complications. Everyone tries to find the best route around the weather situation, and all of us may not agree as to what that route should be. We need to remember that the track needs to make money, the drivers need to race, and the fans want to see some action. None of that is happening when the track is shut down.
As drivers and fans, the rest of us need to first learn that the owners and promoters are not out to rip us off as much as possible. For some this is a concept that they cannot seem to grasp, but if they would stop complaining and take a deep look at what is really going on the answer would be obvious. No one wins when the weather forces a cancellation of racing, and even if racing is called off ahead of time the bills must still get paid.
Accusations of a conspiracy to take from the drivers and fans are baseless at best, but some insist in going that route and throwing around all sorts of accusations. Whether racing is canceled early or late, the accusations and assumptions will fly, so no matter what choice is made the same sort of reaction results. Cancel racing early or attempt to get the racing in and fail. Either way some folks will find fault and turn it into another example of how the tracks are out to ruin the drivers and fans.
Instead of assuming that the owners and promoters are deliberately lining their pockets with cash, why not take a closer look at what is really going on and try talking to the track instead? Drivers and fans sometimes have very valid points that the owners and promoters might have overlooked, so it is important to express those thoughts openly. But there is a difference between complaining and expressing an opinion to the owner or promoter, and one is negative while the other is positive.
Constant complaining about every issue does not make a promoter or owner happy, nor does it make their job easier. Most welcome constructive opinions and want to know what everyone else is thinking. What they do not want is whining, complaining, and false accusations. By using our heads and thinking before we react, some of us might do our sport and our local tracks a favor. And let us never forget that tracks, drivers, and fans, all must work together in order to keep racing. We all depend on each other for the survival of our sport.
No matter where a track is located, at some point the weather will play a role in how the facility is operated. And since the weather is beyond our control, we humans have to adapt in order to get around that which is above us in order to go racing. Track owners and promoters are not weather forecasters, nor do they deliberately use the weather as a tool to increase profits. Such myths continue to persist, but there is no truth in them except in isolated cases.
While owners and promoters adapt and change to get around whatever the weather throws at them, drivers and fans need to adapt and change as well. Instead of finding fault and making accusations, why not attempt to be positive instead? Have a little trust in whoever is in charge at the track, and help them make the best choices possible in uncontrollable situations. The weather is going to do what it is going to do, and none of us can change that. But we can change how we react to it, and we can change how we react when the weather causes our local track to have to hit the brakes.
BJ CAVIN currently announces and writes for Ocala Speedway in Florida. His personal blog is on MySpace.
His Column, “A Closer Look with BJ Cavin†appears on Real Racin USA each Tuesday.
