Posted on the South Jersey Dirt Racing board by Series/Race promoter Brett Deyo.......
For those of you that have a few minutes, give this a read. It gives a better understanding of what happened yesterday and in the days leading up to the Gobbler. Here is a look back at what happened yesterday at Accord Speedway from our perspective…
On Wednesday, the snow storm hit the speedway. Throughout the day, Gary Palmer and I spoke frequently on the phone. By nightfall, as the snow subsided, we had a conversation regarding the status of the race. He felt we would be able to race so the plan was to go ahead with the event – I was encouraged to hear his enthusiasm knowing that as the facility owner, he would have to handle the hard part of getting the track and grounds ready. As such, I left my wife behind on Thursday (Thanksgiving, she stayed back in PA to have dinner with her family) and headed to New York to get ready. At the same time, the Palmers canceled their Thanksgiving so Gary, with some help of volunteers, could clear the speedway of snow with a skid steer and plows. Meanwhile, Gary’s wife Donna and son Gary Jr. shoveled off the grandstands.
Friday morning dawned and I was at the track by 8 a.m. shoveling in the pit and grandstand areas while Gary continued his long hours of not only clearing snow, but fixing broken/frozen pumps and kitchen equipment that comes with running at a facility of this type that late in the year. By late afternoon on Friday, the track was, we felt, ready. Equipment had been on the track Friday and it was firmed up just as it had been the year before. I left the speedway Friday night feeling that we would be in great shape for the next day, and the publicity for the race reflected as such.
Saturday morning arrived. At 10 a.m. I walked from the turn two pit gate to the frontstretch, on the racing surface, with no problem, not even picking mud up on my shoes, to position some sponsor banners on the infield (some of the early arrivals to the track, including Street Stock racer Gary Ronk, can confirm this, as he helped me carry some of the signs down). This is how firm the track was at the time we opened the pit gates. Again, even at that time, as we had a line of cars coming into the speedway, I felt very good about the day’s events. Honestly, I was smiling at the large turnout of race cars we had (133 was the total).
Moments after I went back off the track, Gary began treating the track for the day just as he did a year ago. However, this year was actually just a bit warmer. The calcium used on the speedway did its job, but it did it too well. The warmer temps and no sun at all led to the moisture to be pulled to the top of the surface. The more he ran in the track, the more it got sloppy. We would not have known it would react this way because 1) he prepared the track exactly the same way last year and 2) it was so firm in the days prior to the event.
When we have events at Accord, the Palmers and I are 50-50 partners on the promotions, it isn’t a promotional fee or track rental, we all have a part in the event. Typically, Gary handles the track, Donna handles the concessions, Gary Jr. works the pit gate, their daughters Melissa and Sara handle the ticket booth and I handle the promotions and running of the races. Very often, once gates are open, we go our own ways. This was the case on Saturday.
At about 11:25, Mike Ricci called me over and told me I needed to take a look at the track – it had taken a very bad turn. I hadn’t seen the surface personally since the time the pits were opened at 10 because we had started registration, the draw, etc. and it became hectic. When I walked to the turn-two gate, saw Gary was struggling to run it in. He stopped and told me that he would try to scrape the slop off the top of the surface with a skid steer. So, the skid steer began to work the track.
At that point, it became evident the skid steer would not be enough. Gary and I spoke at that time about canceling, but he felt, since people were already there, he should try working the track with the grader (even though he made a tremendous amount of work for himself by scraping off clay that will now have to be put back on the track before spring). As he got the grader going, I held a drivers’ meeting to tell them what was happening and poll their opinions. The overwhelming response was to hold the event in the spring, but we left it as giving Gary some more time in the grader.
After about 40 minutes more, it became evident that even the grader, at its weight, wasn’t able to hold a straight line on the track. It was sliding down the banking. Gary stopped on the track, we spoke, and decided we had to postpone. There was no way a race car would even be able to get on the track without immediately sliding down the banking and getting stuck, so calling the cars to the track wasn’t an option. And I am not a big fan of putting our racers through the process of using a $50,000 Modified as a packer vehicle.
Because of the shape the track was in, we didn’t feel it would be possible to even attempt the Dec. 6 weather date.
At the point where we postponed, not only had two of the ticket takers used for the busy time gone home, but the money brought in had already been placed in individual envelopes for payout later in the day. Gary was still on the grader trying to fix some of the mess that had been created and Donna was still cooking as there was a line out the concession.
I spoke with racers personally in the pit area as they left and explained we would work with them on refunds. It was announced for fans to hold onto their wristbands. This is one area where I feel better communication would have helped greatly, and it’s now in the notebook for the future.
Once the chaos of canceling settled down, Gary, Donna, Melissa, Sara and I were able to meet. The policy at Accord, and most Northeast tracks, is simple: no refunds. There are even signs at the Accord gates stating there are no refunds – this was visible to all who paid to get in. However, we all agreed this was a unique circumstance and we needed to rectify it. After some discussion, we opted for the mail-in refunds. This allows people who are coming back in April to do so and those who would like their money back to get it.
This was not an everyday situation and it required some discussion. Most fans were patient; a few weren’t.
Earlier this year, in August, we had rain during the second consolation for Modifieds at the Battle of the Bullring. We opted to finish the event the next night at no cost to the folks who had come the day of the rain out because we felt it was the right thing for racers and fans. We could have picked another date, scheduled a new division or two and charged again to see the same main events that were already paid for. But we didn’t. Instead, we charged everyone once and had our overhead doubled: track prep, lights, insurance, ambulance, staff and more. This was a huge financial loser for all of us but it was the right thing to do for our customers, the track and my series.
Believe me: the same people who took it on the chin for our supporters did not set out to screw the same people a few months later.
If I had to sum up yesterday, I would call it a series of unfortunate events. I’ve been on both sides of the cancelation issue. The outrage and complaints I received for trying to race yesterday mirrored the uproar after we canceled an event at Big Diamond at 9 a.m. with 80 percent chance of rain to save people money and it never rained.
We don’t always make the right call, but we always try.
Thanks for reading and happy holidays. We will announce the reschedule date as soon as it is approved by the town board.
Refund Information: Tickets or wristbands: mail to Accord Speedway 299 Whitfield Road Accord, NY 12404 prior to Dec. 13.
