Shortrackfan you have to chill a bit on saubles new track owner. Have you ever owned a short track? As a race fan I am impressed with your commitment visiting many tracks each year. You must have a blast! I have read some negative and positive on sauble and the 150 late model feature run this past wknd. Yes...I am still tired from a late night but hey I wouldn't have missed it. First of all lets be constructive, thank the Thoms for owning a speedway, welcome them to the sport we love, and encourage them. Dumping on them right out of the gate is not good for anyone. All tracks dirt or asphalt are experiencing good and bad. Whether car counts, attendance, etc. The reality of sauble is they are based in a smaller populated region that relies on tourism and tourism doesn't fire up until Canada day. You would be hard pressed to find a small crowd in the summer unless the weather was crappy. As for car counts at sauble, give the new owners time. You don't think they they would like larger car counts? Of course they would. Let them work on this. Do you know they have a 4 cylander rental program for this year. I am sure it is done to encourage newbies to try it and hopefully they get hooked, buy a car and start racing. And charging less at the gate may not be a good business decision. As I said hard pressed not to have a good crowd in the summer. Sure maybe a cheaper gate fee in May or June.
As for the 150 late model feature...I was there..and loved it. Yes the crowd was maybe a few hundred but the pits were full. It was an awesome atmosphere. Heck...Kirk Hooker flew into a local private landing strip so he could get there. It was a great field of cars. Sure, didn't need the driver intros and pre-race stuff but that was a small part of it. I've read many dumping or commenting on Sauble cars at the 150...who cares...these guys want to race and some of them have good equipment and as we saw ran with the best of them. I sure agree with the race starting late and taking much much too long. But in the end I bet Jason and Aimee learned a lot and I am sure they were just as frustrated but at the same time probably were very pleased and thankful of the turn out of late models. It has been a long time since a field of that quantity and caliber has showed up at Sauble or any track for that matter. (I sure miss Alstar) It was too bad the weather from 5-7 was rain because that kept the fans away. 7:45 the sun was shining! Sauble is one of the nicest facilities going and the new owners are solid local business people with a racing history. I hope they keep the Strawberry Ice 150 going for years to come...it can only get better. Remember there is another late model feature coming up in august sometime and I hope to see another solid field there. As a racing fan who relies on sauble for my shortrack racing fix..I am just fine with it all.
Thanks to all the race teams for travelling to sauble...fuel costs suck right now! Thanks also for maybe missing your local track race (ie; Flamboro adding to the purse and extra points if you stayed home to race...mmm)
And thanks for giving the fans who were there a great experience. There is nothing better when Ontarios best late model drivers all show up at the same venue (still miss Alstar)
So...lets encourage the new sauble owner, the new sunset owner, the new barrier owner. Thank you to them for stepping in and buying these historic tracks and thanks to the previous owners for everything you did.
Hey...my guess it's not any easy business to be in!
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