Boyd's: tried to make everyone happy

[Hoosier]

In response to all the attention to the controversy from the Sportsman race last week!

Boyd's Speedway management would like to apologize to all the fans and participants for the outburst and danger that everyone was exposed to during and after the pile up on the second attempt at the first lap of the sportsman late model heat race.

The two cautions on the #1 car is what lead to parking him from competing in the remainder of the heat race.

The outburst and speeding through the pit area endangering the people around the scales area and almost colliding head on with the wrecker is what lead to the decision to ask the #1 team to leave the facility.

Next issue was brought to the management’s attention when there was a protest on the #75 car MICHAEL ARP for being allowed to compete after his outburst as a result of the pile up when he got out his car immediately after the wreck and showed intentions of wanting to approach the #1 car.

Even though the rule of getting out of your car is intended for yellow flag cautions and not red flag cautions then all traffic is stopped, Boyd's Speedway management has choose the ban the driver of the #75 car MICHAEL ARP from competition for two weeks in response to the negative publicity that has arose from the event.

Everyone knows that the #75 car is owned by the owner of the facility and it's hard not to get emotionally involved in a situation like that.

I apologize for any decision that was made in the "heat of the battle" so to speak, that appears to have been made with prejudice or malice during the event.

As a result of the protest on #75 MICHAEL ARP car we are going to pay any of the Sportsman class cars that finished behind the #75 car the difference of one finishing position brought forward that finished the race or that was effected in a possibility to finish and didn't as a result of the #75 car.

Last but not least, we want to address the cutting short of the "Steel Head" race by 3 laps after the wreck in turn 1 where the car rolled over and brought out the caution.

All the drama and lengthy cautions made the race event run over our time limits and management made the decision to call the event with 3 laps left to run in an effort the get the last class of cars on the track and get them started before the curfews made us stop the event.

There was definitely no favoritism or malice that was part of that decision even though after the decision was made that it was discovered that the #5 car was putting down oil that possibility lead to the caution and rollover of the car.

To all the cars behind the #5 car, we apologize for shortening the event but there is no way to anticipate the results of the event if we had restarted the race and therefor there will be no adjustments in the finishing order of the "Steel Head" race and/or moneys payed to participating drivers and teams.

It was a trying night to say the least. First thing we had a broken finger on a gate, fight in the pits, two drivers injured in the "Sportsman" wreck, and another driver injured in the "Steel Head" rollover.

At last report they are all doing well.

We left the emergency room at Erlanger Medical Center at 3:30 after the last driver from the "Sportsman" race was released to go home and hopefully everyone is still doing well.

The Management at Boyd's Speedway knows that not everyone is going to agree with every decision that is made during the running of an event at the facility.

I can honestly say that we have never ran a race and everyone leave happy.

Trust me when I say we have tried to make everyone happy and it is impossible.

Please understand that we have an open door policy and we welcome comments and advise on how we can make it better for the fans in the stands and the race teams but first is the safety of the people at the facility during an event. Management will always consider your suggestions and evaluate the results before we make any changes.

Thank You for being a fan of Dirt Racing and for coming to Boyd's to spend your evening with us.
NEXT EVENT FRIDAY MAY 26th $4000 TO WIN SUPER LATE MODEL

Your support is appreciated.

Management

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Very well said. He!!, I feel bad for them, sounds like it was a complete nightmare.

[Forward Bite]

Very well written statement. It sounds like Boyds speedway really cares about it drivers. Where is Boyds speedway located ? , I would like to attend a race there.

[84GLHTurbo]

Ringgold GA 1/3 mile track. Just south of Chattanooga TN on I75. Dale McDowell is co-owner. Racy track.

[B_K]

Very well said. He!!, I feel bad for them, sounds like it was a complete nightmare.

Sportsman was when the front row starters of the heat couldn't keep away from each other on the start and the inside car turned right on the front straightaway stacking up the rest of the field. One of the drivers in the ensuing wreck looked to hurt his shoulder/rib area. Guy that started the wreck got sent to the pits, but only after swerving at the track owner and trying to throw dust/mud on him with his car. Must have almost took out some people in the outside pit area too.

Limited was RJ putting on a driving clinic, but began to smoke with about 6-7 to go. Was hard to see what he was putting down, but must have been oil. Guy spun getting into one, another guy clipped the front of his car and went over.

We left right after that. It was 11:25 and they have a curfew. Figured they were done for the night. Seen where they did get that last sportsman feature in. Congrats on that win to Colten Jackson. Young kid who looks pretty good so far.

On a different note, UCRA crate and limited feature were outstanding. Track was good.

[zach51]

Props to this track. Sometimes the best way to handle multiple fluster clucks at one time is to put it in the books, take a couple days to breathe, take in feedback from all involved, make decisions on how to move forward.

[MaverickSprints]

Wow, I wish more tracks were run like this, reminds me of Dixie/Rome back in the 80's only a couple of steps better. Kudos. Keep it up.

[MI Dirt Fan]

I've seen some tracks recently go to 1 spin rule in the heat race and 2 spin rule in the feature. Seems like the first bad thing for a track is the track owner owning a racecar driven by someone else.

[Chris Thomason]

Ive always been interested in race track promotions....since I was knee high, strangely enough. The little I know about Boyds, it sure seems that those guys are a good example for other places to follow. Especially in their caution clean up. All those guys on atv's look choreographed anytime the yellow flies. It's no secret that holding fans attention is key, and there isnt an easier time lose it than a slow caution. Thanks for what you guys do at boyd's.

[kazual]

Gutsy press release, good for em. With social media someone always wants to take a swipe at most anything put out there by a promoter or business owner in spite of how well intentioned.

[formercrewguy]

Was there a full moon? Were people eating peanuts in the pits?

[Fordtrucker]

So if the owner of the track has a race car that races thers ,looks like that could be a problem even if theres no funny business. Are you saying they stopped the race so the car leaking oil could win ?

[dirty bert]

Don't think they stopped it so RJ could win I believe it was going to take awhile to clean wreck up an track was out of time,they have a curfew there.

[B_K]

So if the owner of the track has a race car that races thers ,looks like that could be a problem even if theres no funny business. Are you saying they stopped the race so the car leaking oil could win ?

No. Ronnie was leaking oil, but when the guy went over late in the race I believe they had maybe ten minutes max and an entire feature to go. Guess they called the limited feature complete and got the Sportsman feature on track during cleanup of the flip.