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View Full Version : Freak Storm Postpones Lancaster To This Saturday



RGeeProductions
07-01-2007, 11:33 AM
FREAK STORM POSTPONES LANCASTER TO THIS SATURDAY….MEETING HELD TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF MODIFIED RACING….OSWEGO LABOR DAY WEEKEND RACE MOVED TO SATURDAY

With a big crowd on hand and twenty - four Race of Champions ( RoC ) Dart Asphalt Modified Tour racers ready to race and a predicted ten percent chance of rain. Everyone was looking forward to a great evening of racing entertainment at the Lancaster Motorsports Park on Saturday night.

However Mother Nature threw a large curve ball into the mix just after practice ended Saturday night. What started as sprinkles at six o'clock turned into a wind driven monsoon five minutes later and lasted a grand total of 35 minutes.

Lancaster track promoter Jim Reid went to work with his staff to start the track drying process to get this big racing program in the books. The sun came out and the wind kicked up but there was one big obstacle that has hampered the track on these types of days. The dreaded turn three water seepage reared its ugly head once again at Lancaster and this problem forced officials to postpone the racing program at eight o'clock Saturday night.

Track management did offer refunds to paying customers who can't make the rescheduled date of this Saturday night. The same time schedules that were used on Saturday will be used this week with gates opening at the three in the afternoon and racing starting at 6:30 Saturday night.

This sets up a big weekend of racing for the Race of Champions Dart Asphalt Modified Tour as now they have two events in the same region. The Spencer Speedway will host Combination race # 2 on Friday night and the next night less than one hour away the Lancaster Motorsports Park will host North Region race # 3.

The heat race lineups from Saturday at Lancaster will remain the same with any new cars not in attendance on Saturday being added to the rear of a heat race. RoC Dart officials do know that both Matt Hirschman and Eric Beers will be in attendance at both races this weekend.

“ It was a no win situation for Jim on Saturday “ stated RoC owner and promoter Andy Harpell. “ No matter what decision he made on Saturday someone would have been upset. Jim could have easily canceled when it was raining at 6:30 with sunny skies in the back ground. But he wanted to try and get the show in because many people traveled a long distance to get here. He tried and had 95 percent of the track ready to go and you can't race safely if the track isn't 100 percent ready to race on. Because there is no sense trying to race these cars with a big wet spot on the inside of turn three. RoC doesn't need the Modified drivers putting themselves in a dangerous and very expensive situation while racing on a wet race track. “

During the rain delay on Saturday a closed door meeting was held between RoC Dart officials and Modified drivers who were in attendance. The main focus of this one hour meeting was the state of not only RoC but also asphalt Modified racing in general.

“ The Race of Champions Dart Asphalt Modified Tour will be here next year “ stated Andy Harpell of RoC. “ I love asphalt racing, I'm committed to the Modifieds and we're going to make some rule changes that will help the sport for 2008 and in turn should increase the car counts. “

All in attendance were asked to think about ideas and solutions to help revive asphalt Modified racing. Many drivers and car owners spoke up at the meeting and gave ideas on how things could be better and less expensive. A majority of the focus was on tires and the expense of them along with motors and opening up of some of the rules.

“ The young guys need to speak up and voice an opinion “ said Jan Leaty. “ It's not about me, Sege, Pete, or Buck. Because we only are going to be racing for a couple of more years. I'll admit we have pretty good right now but I think all of us have to think about this as a whole, instead of thinking as individuals. “

By request of the Oswego Speedway a date change for the fourth RoC Modified show at the track has been made. The scheduled Friday August 31st North Region race # 5 has been moved to Saturday September 1st, the same 125 lap feature paying $5,000 to win will be run.

“ Oswego has been a big supporter of RoC since day one “ said Andy Harpell. “ Oswego wanted to switch the Saturday ISMA show to Friday night and move the Modifieds to Saturday. They felt the switch would help them with car count for the International Classic on Sunday. Along with getting more fans to see the Modified race on Saturday who would be unable to make it on Friday. Anything that RoC can do to help the tracks out we're willing to do that. “

Anyone already holding Friday Modified tickets please call the Oswego Speedway for a ticket exchange.

JR KENNERUP/RoC Asphalt Modified PR