New pit rules over the top?

[straight up]

bottom line is , racing is supposed to be fun , a family sport . when you take that away , you have empty pits and grandstands . this isnt about stopping beer in the pits , its all about making a profit from food and drink sales . anybody who would charge for a pit slab is an idiot . first come , first serve . this crap is why short track racing in florida is dying , nothing but a bunch of greedy people running these tracks that dont care about the racer . sugarcoat it all you want , we know better .

[tom77hmstd]

Straight Up I may not know you but I sure agree with you.
Tom S.

[Jane]

For one year, we did rent our pit slabs at Orlando but it was a mess. We had Friday shows and Saturday shows and when the Saturday people would race on Friday nights and their slabs had the Friday night people on them, well, it was no fun. So after that year, we did not even try that again.

I totally agree with the beer part in the pits but it is a hard thing to stop. You can check all the coolers but if they want to bring beer in, somehow they will do it no matter what you do. But as long as there is no drinking during racing and they wait until everything is over, that is okay. There were alot of cups floating around though that you knew was not coffee but most of the time it was a non-racer with them.

As for no food in the pits of bbq, well, sometimes that is the only way people get to eat because they just don't really have the money to buy track food. Back in the era when my family raced, we brought our grill alot and cooked hamburgers and hot dogs so the kids could eat. We could afford that and afford to get in the pits but just didn't have alot of extra money for buying the track food. But I am not so sure that I agree with forcing people to buy the track food at all. Part of the fun in racing is those bbqs at the track with your friends.

A few years back, I had a friend who raced at Desoto and he was eating a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken and he said it was taken out of his hand and thrown in the garbage and he was told that was not allowed. I don't agree with that at all. You can't nickel and dime the drivers too death or they will just plain stop coming and we have seen that. It makes more sense to let them bbq and bring their food and they may even bring more people in the pits for the bbq.

But we are not track owners therefore we have no say in what a track does or does not do. You can suck it up and go or get mad and not go. It is all up to each individual.

[Darren]

Just a thought

I wonder if those 4 nature bars that Mark Martin ate during one of the delays at the 500 was brought in or had to be bought at the track, or if he had ate a dinner that he said he wish that he had ate, same deal? How about that sandwich that JR. ate?

[ronabneysr]

Osf You Killing Me There Buddy

i would have loved to have been sitting there eating the chicken and some one tried to take it out of my hand

or my fried bolagna and egg bacon and tomatoe sandwich

i thought people came to see entertainment if they don't get it and drivers ain't happy ain't no body gonna come watch 4 pick up trucks ride around the track or five compact cars run 30 mph

what a way to start out a season put them pbj sandwiches in your pocket

[straight up]

since all these tracks are catering to the rich daddys these days this is the result . daddy can afford high rediculous track food prices . i can get a far better burger at mcdonalds for a buck , why would i want to pay $ 4.00 or more at the track ? i wouldnt and i wont . obviously these tracks are trying to run off the little guy ,[ real racers ] .and from what ive seen and keep hearing they are doing a very good job ! and the real sad part is , they all hear it and see it every week , they just dont care .

[Jane]

Like I said before, have the fun in racing is the bbqs in the pits and friends having hamburgers and hot dogs together. Heck, my ex, fixed shrimp that we had caught ourselves for everyone and that was about 20 lbs. or more of shrimp we brought to the track for everyone. My kids were younger then and we brought chips and cookies and junk food for them because we could not afford to race and then buy everything at the track.

But we aren't the owners and there is nothing we can honestly do to change their minds except not go there. Don't know if you know Roxanne, Alan Bruns's sister, but she always cooks at the tracks where Alan races for the whole crew and anyone else who might be hungry. Seen Mary Jane McLeod do her fair share of cooking also for everyone. Yes, these guys can afford to buy track food but they don't. Even some of the media I worked with at Volusia, from all over the country during DIRTcar Nationals, brought their own food to the track and so did Alex and I a few times.

I understand why they don't allow coolers in the grandstands that much anymore but I have seen a number of people at Volusia with drinks they bring in or maybe a Subway sub or McDonald's bag. I also see them buy ice cream later or popcorn or peanuts. But with today's economy and hard, hard times, why make them harder on everyone than they need to be. But I don't own any track and can't make that call.

Just have to go by the rules if you want to go and race and that is the only track you can afford to travel to. Just the way it is anymore.

Have a great weekend no matter what you do.

[dscopano]

Going to search the big haulers?

[Jane]

That is how it sounds, that they will search all haulers no matter what size or who they are. And that would be the fair thing to do is to treat them all the same.

[straight up]

sounds like the beginings of a ghost town in punta gorda . maybe they can sell tickets to tourists to see what a racetrack looks like after its closed !

[Trash Inturn4]

Will cavity searches be next ?

[Hired Gun]

THIS IS THE F.B.I.

DROP THE QUARTER POUNDER OR WE WILL TAZZ YOU!

And get that kid with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich outside the gate NOW!

You Have Been Warned - signs at all gates!

HEY Lady - is that a pack of crackers you're hiding? You Know The Drill -Assume the position!

Next week we will be having a vehicle search at the bottom of the exit ramp coming off the interstate - And We Will Shoot Food/Drink Violators On Sight. AND, we will have the back roads observed with undercover vehicles - so don't even try it!

LOLOLOLOLOL
Wow I almost fell out of my rollie chair. That was funny

[Todd McCreary]

Going to search the big haulers?

or a van or the back of a crew cab pickup or the big crossover tool box in the back of the tow vehicle?


this isn't feasible and everybody knows it. there are too many places to stash things. and if somebody puts their mind too it, there will be some hidey spots fabricated explicitly to smuggle stuff in.

either that, or they'll just go someplace else.



If you saw some of the people drinking in the pits you'd understand.


i've been in pits where you can smell the maryjane ( note - i haven't smelled this a CCMP, this is elsewhere i'm talking about ). if they can't be bothered to bust the pot smokers why would alcohol concern you?

the "ban" on alcohol in the pits is fairly typical. it's also fairly typical that everybody ignores it after the checker falls on the last race. i haven't got any sympathy for somebody busted before the races are over.




i can get a far better burger at mcdonalds for a buck , why would i want to pay $ 4.00 or more at the track ?


two years ago, OSW actually had a pretty good burger in the pits for around 4 bucks. excellent fixins too. i would rather have had that than that swill that McDonald's serves.



$30 per person in the pits is insane, then you throw the pit slab fee in... COME ON MAN............... I won't make that trip


*scratches head*

i thought from your trip down there last fall that you liked Punta Gorda?




i would have loved to have been sitting there eating the chicken and some one tried to take it out of my hand


the rule is "no fast food and no BBQ-ing".

as far as i can tell, they didn't say anything about home prepped food or microwaves in the hauler.

i suppose, in today's litigious society, you could consider a BBQ as a safety hazard.

[Winger]

i suppose, in today's litigious society, you could consider a BBQ as a safety hazard.

I've seen track food that could be considered a safety hazard also. I'd rather take my chances with a BBQ.

[Edm]

[



$30 per person in the pits is insane, then you throw the pit slab fee in... COME ON MAN............... I won't make that trip


*scratches head*

i thought from your trip down there last fall that you liked Punta Gorda?

I did, but I didn't pay $30 per person and I brought in my own snacks, soda and water.