Granite City

[chathamracefan]

Between the pit gate discussion & the late afternoon shower cancellation, another bad day for Granite City yesterday. Admittedly they have had horrible weather luck the last couple years & their location a mile from the river probably doesn't help, but it sure seems that track has lost a lot of it's luster in the last few years. I know Kevin wanted to try to sell a few years back.

It kind of seems ever since then they don't have their heart in it quite like they did at one time. Have definitely developed a rep for looking for a reason to cancel instead of looking for a reason to race. Hard to shake that rep once a track gets that rep. I was not going last night but read the drama online. Wonder if anyone close to the deal has light to shed on it.

They really put a lot into that place over the years (shortening the track to a 3/8 was a huge improvement, built nice concessions, restrooms, etc). Just sad to see it seemingly fall off recently.

[reid boys]

They got a lot of rain, see DOD picture plus I seen videos of app of the stuck hauler. I've been there twice, once it rained out after a heat race and the other they races until 2am.

I heard that they lost the lucas support. I'm wondering if that has anything to do with the lucas races always raining out way earlier.

I read what Feger said and what Gordy said off of another person's Facebook. I didn't read what Fegers crew guy said. Seemed pretty thin-skinned from Gordy. I don't get why promoters feel like they do no wrong. If you go to a restaurant and get food poisoning you're probably going to leave a bad review and not go back. If a race track doesnt doesnt entertain you promoters to expect you to shut up and enjoy it. If they mess up they blame it on social media because people complain for getting a bad product.

[chathamracefan]

There is also a vibe from some owners/promoters that if you dare complain, they respond with "why don't you buy a track then". I've never understood that. Kind of a cutting off your nose to spite your face sort of thing.

As to the whole thing with the pits being opened, I really think dirtcar is not as involved as they need to be. They should have a list of standard expectations that are to be met to host a summernational. I'd thinking having the gate opened by sometime in the AM would be on the list. Excluding weather issues preventing cars from going to the pits. IMO, the sanctioning body is way too hands off on many things for the tracks on the series. Gate openings, how many classes are being run, which order the program should follow (late models should always be first feature), etc. It's like they just slap the summernationals name on it & collect the checks.

It's a big enough series they could put some standards on tracks & if a couple fall off, so be it. The series is maybe a tad bloated anyway & a few underperforming tracks dropping off wouldn't be the worst thing.

[Pennsboro32]

Don’t have a dog in the fight. But, GGs post was ignorant to me, telling people not to come. Feger has a right to complain about the gate issue imo. As far as random peoples comments in the replies, you have to look past them if you’re a business owner. 99% of people don’t get it, or are too stupid to understand and that’s fine. Be the bigger man and ignore them.

[golddirt]

Yep Gordys comments will definitely hurt the track. Was about the stupidest thing that could have been said as sure most will take his advice as I know I will. Plus Tammy doesn’t seem to be able to react in a professional manner so I guess I see where Gordy gets it.

[chathamracefan]

They definitely have seemed to get more confrontational in tone in the last couple years. I've never had an issue there & like I said it used to be a really good track with some big events.

Telling the customer to "go buy a track & run it yourself" really isn't a good approach IMO. Be like if you got a burnt pizza the manager told you to go buy your own pizzeria & do it yourself.

Seems they've crossed the threshold of being tired of owning a track & wanting out but wanting to keep it operating so it maintains it's value before it's sold. I just know you never see the really good tracks like FALS getting into pissing matches on social media with their customers.

[zyoung25]

IMO it is stupid to leave these guys sitting outside the gate like that, they know all of them personally.

The gundakers of all people should understand the grind of this tour.

[fryefan]

I read somewhere that the drivers were told at Springfield what time the gates at Granite City were going to open. The track may have valid reasons for wanting to open later than the drivers/teams would prefer.

Also, the comments directed at the habitual whiners buying a track and attempting running it, usually come from other race fans that understand that running a track is not an easy thing.

The habitual complainers have led many tracks to not allow comments anymore.

[kidrock]

Do promoters make mistakes Yes they do but It's not easy running a track. They also know they can't please everyone. If you please 1/2 the people you've done a good job. You can only take so much negativity before you have to say something. That's what happened in Gordy's case. He had heard enough. It's just impossible to please everyone. I've been in the shack after the races are over when drivers, crews and fans come in and bitching and complaining about the night or about other drivers.

I will never say nothing about Gordy responding. Until you walk in a promoter/owners shoe and run the show week in and week out then you really don't have a clue how hard it can be. Some of these tracks are running on a thin margin others not so much. Yes various reasons to why that is. I've been in the shack and have heard about loosing money some nights. Some of these tracks just hope for a good showing on their big shows just so they can keep the gates open.

Why do some tracks cancel early because they can't take a chance or don't want to lose money on those nights. It's a gamble if cars and fans are going to show knowing the rain might be coming. I would rather cancel and have people complaining then have the races and 1/4 or 1/3way though it rains. Man people are on social media just ripping you to shreds when that happens. The ones that will be bitching because you canceled will be the same one bitching because you didn't.

[blncfn57]

I will never say nothing about Gordy responding.

His response was not a bit surprising. Guy is a jacka## 90% of the time they put a mic in front of him. Sounds like he is the life of the party when the races are over and the wobble pops are aplenty though.

[kidrock]

His response was not a bit surprising. Guy is a jacka## 90% of the time they put a mic in front of him. Sounds like he is the life of the party when the races are over and the wobble pops are aplenty though.

I don't know Gordy personally so I won't comment on if he is a Jack--- or not, but like I said one can only take so much and then you have to vent. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do but we have all seen others do the same thing. If you would have people always complaining about your mom and dad on how they run things you probably vent as well. That's all I'm saying.

[Pennsboro32]

I don't know Gordy personally so I won't comment on if he is a Jack--- or not, but like I said one can only take so much and then you have to vent. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do but we have all seen others do the same thing. If you would have people always complaining about your mom and dad on how they run things you probably vent as well. That's all I'm saying.

You don’t have to do anything. Business owners are their own worst enemy. Just keep your mouth shut and keep it moving is the best case of action

[kidrock]

You don’t have to do anything. Business owners are their own worst enemy. Just keep your mouth shut and keep it moving is the best case of action

Easier said than done sometimes. Do you run your own business? I do and I also helped at a race track so I know how all the negativity wears on people. In a perfect world yes if everyone would just keep quite and keep moving forward would be great but that's not reality for everyone.

[chathamracefan]

No doubt there are people that complain about everything and always complain loudly. I do think it's reasonable to complain reasonably & respectfully same as people do with other businesses. Personally, if I find something good, I like to tell people about it. If I find something bad, I like to give people a heads up as well.

I know based on recent circumstances there, I would not travel the 90 minutes from home for a race at Granite City if there was even a marginal chance of rain. I know it rained Wednesday & I wasn't there so can't say right or wrong, but they have demonstrated enough times that they will cancel in recent years if conditions aren't close to perfect. On the other hand, I wouldn't think twice about going to say FALS on a 50/50 shot & have done so there a few times. I know they are gonna give it the extra effort to get a show in (not just the PDC either). They've demonstrated it on many occasions.

[kidrock]

No doubt there are people that complain about everything and always complain loudly. I do think it's reasonable to complain reasonably & respectfully same as people do with other businesses. Personally, if I find something good, I like to tell people about it. If I find something bad, I like to give people a heads up as well.

I know based on recent circumstances there, I would not travel the 90 minutes from home for a race at Granite City if there was even a marginal chance of rain. I know it rained Wednesday & I wasn't there so can't say right or wrong, but they have demonstrated enough times that they will cancel in recent years if conditions aren't close to perfect. On the other hand, I wouldn't think twice about going to say FALS on a 50/50 shot & have done so there a few times. I know they are gonna give it the extra effort to get a show in (not just the PDC either). They've demonstrated it on many occasions.

It's one thing to have constructive criticism but it's another to be a dik about it. I've seen both.

When it's your money you're losing it's a different story. You tend not to want to take a chance of losing more money..