No time for Showtime

[tom77hmstd]

After being told we would race next clear day, we took a chance and went to St. Pete for the race on very bad looking weather. $500 fuel $20 tolls $612 tires which are now practice tires that we do not need. Yes he did refund entry fee and pit passes.
It was supposed to pay $500 to start, ran 4 laps shock broke oh well then no start $ and we have to go back in August. No thank you. No wonder tracks do not get cars how many times can you pitch a grand and still keep going. Not really complaining just stating facts. Breshnahan you are looking smarter all the time. (he stayed home)

[zerofor]

i think he pissed off a lot of people thursday night

On both sides of the pit gate.And you wonder why the pits and stands are empty.Hmmmm.Let me see if theres any connection.

[Matt Albee]

Maybe one day the track owners will wake up to the fact that tires and gas should be offered ONLY as a convenience, not made mandatory so the track owner and tire and fuel vendors can soak the racers for some more money. Yoho should have refunded the money for the race tires and gas he forced everyone to buy. The tires and gas the racers didn't want, didn't need, and never got a chance to use.

[Boneman]

I've raced there 5 times since they reopened, and have always been treated fairly and well paid. Its a cool track to race on too.

[Bill_E]

Tom, I feel your pain and appreciate the effort you made to go to Showtime.
That sucks to be out that kind of money.
I heard an interesting story, kind of a fairy tale story. A guy took over a racetrack, put up some good money, got a pit with alot of cars (23 SLM, seen that anywhere lately?), had a bunch of folks in the stands. Wow this was how it should be......but it RAINED and so thats all it was just a story.

[scottgarrity07]

I can't understand how this deal happened. Everyone knew that the threat of storms was huge on the 4th. The pits were full, the entry fees were paid, the mandatory tire and fuel purchases were made and the grandstand was full with beer drinking, hot dog eaters. So, in effect, the bills were more than paid. Why on earth would you not push the Late Model feature up to just after time trials? Run one division of support class cars and start the Late Model race. Starting the show an hour late with the weather looming is unexcuseable. Starting the Late Model show later in the night is ludicrous. Yoho has no one to blame but himself for this debacle. Sounds like there were a lot of hard feelings on both sides of the fence. Fans feel cheated since they came for Late Models and got support classes with no rain check after paying an elevated ticket price. I can't argue with Tom above. Yes, it was nice for Yoho to refund pit passes and entry fees, but then again he didn't have to pay that huge purse either. Running a handful of laps in the main makes those expensive Late Model tires "practice tires" without any purse being returned to the teams. $1000+ is a bitter pill to swallow when they could have gotten the show in with a more efficient program. I don't think these promoters understand how much us racers are out when we incur all the expenses of getting to the racetrack, they don't make the correct effort to get the show in and we go home without a dime. Yoho could have impounded the tires and ran the race on Friday or Saturday. That would have been the right thing to do (especially if racers were told that the race would be run on the "next clear day" like Tom said). Looks like Yoho walked away from the night with a boatload of cash, but at what cost?

[zerofor]

It could have and should have been run friday

Case closed.You lose some cars and fansbut not the majority.Most everyone elsewould appreciate the effort,and understand the circumstances.But not in the way he chose to do it.As a racer you understand you will have monetary losses and accept it because its your hobby.Or your livlihood.As a fan you pay for the ADVERTISED entertainment.

[Frasson118]

At this point, it will be interesting to see how many teams return for the 'make-up' date (which should have been Friday from the get go). And also how many fans will return to pay a $5 discount for a show they already paid for.

Robert is new at this, and hopefully he will find a way to smooth things over. Otherwise, I'd have serious doubts about spending a dime there if the weather looked anything less than perfect.

I still think my $5 to get in next time, makes a LOT more sense than a $5 credit next time.

I ain't leaving my driveway for a $5 discount, and I don't have $1000 invested like the Late Model teams do.

[8modified]

The rains came back on Friday as we'll, you would have spent more money on another night and still got rained out. We are in Florida. Tell me the last track you went to and got rained out and they covered your expense NONE.

If you can not afford to race stay home, no one is guarantees a win just like there is no guarantee it might go home in pieces.

Yoho and the staff have been great to race with and they do listen to the racers. You might not like the call but every track has some issues.

By the way the pits were full and the stands were at least 60 to 70 percent and the back stretch was full. Get your facts right.

[exnyer]

I know this much

you cant please 100% of the people 100% of the time, Yoho tried, was it the right or wrong thing to do, it is not for me to say, I was there for 2 days through the rain, personally I just wanted to go home and dry out. I will say this if it wasn't for Yoho, there would not be a Showtime Speedway to complain about.

Just think honestly for a second, if this situation had happened at any other track in florida, do you think the promoter would have given the drivers/owners their money back and the crew band cost or would he have held it and told you to come back on the makeup date?

[zerofor]

The crowd was good but the stands werent exactly elbow to elbow

And the majority of the classes had pretty good car counts,(the mods were a little light with 13 being the figure announced.)So when your making progress getting the crowd and cars to show youwant people to go home with a taste of that in their mouth ?If so let me know where ya'll eat so i can buy the place and feed you dumpster steak.

[tom77hmstd]

The rains came back on Friday as we'll, you would have spent more money on another night and still got rained out. We are in Florida. Tell me the last track you went to and got rained out and they covered your expense NONE.

If you can not afford to race stay home, no one is guarantees a win just like there is no guarantee it might go home in pieces.

Yoho and the staff have been great to race with and they do listen to the racers. You might not like the call but every track has some issues.

By the way the pits were full and the stands were at least 60 to 70 percent and the back stretch was full. Get your facts right.

Get YOUR facts straight. I am glad you are a rich guy that can race with no return.
How would you know if tow money has been paid at other places, what other tracks do is their business.
If all cars that could not afford to race stayed home you would not have many as most of us are over our heads with this disease.I did not expect to win I just expected the track to do as they said.$500 To start, all started none were paid (for the race). Stands were full as you say where is the start money? I made the trip in good faith we would race SOMETIME this weekend as stated that did not happen either. I have ran at St. Pete since 1974 and will more than likely come back again sometime. Yes every track has issues but what is told will happen needs to happen.
And for BillE Citrus had 24 cars for the Powell race for a lesser payoff.
Just like Joe Friday nothing but facts.