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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Kentucky Speedway – July 2011

The Trip

I had the pleasure of making the trip to Kentucky Speedway last weekend, and yes I did make it into the race. I’ve been wanting to see some of the fans’, fellow sports writers’, and track officials’ responses to the chaos that ensued this past weekend at Kentucky before I jumped to any conclusions about my experience in the Bluegrass State.

[media-credit name=”Matt LaFlair” align=”alignright” width=”235″][/media-credit]I made the trip with my dad and a few fellow NASCAR fans all the way from Buffalo, NY to be in attendance for this historic event. We left Buffalo Wednesday afternoon, making a pit stop in Cleveland for the New York Yankees/Cleveland Indians game in hopes of seeing Derek Jeter inch closer to the 3,000 hit mark. After the game, we drove further on in our journey, catching some drinks with some quite hospitable folks in the home of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Mansfield, Ohio, and caught a quick nap before continuing on towards Sparta.

On Thursday, we met up with some friends in the Cincinnati area who graciously allowed us to stay in their Winnebago with them at the track. Upon arrival, we discovered that the ‘Edge of The Speedway’ campground, was nowhere near the edge of the speedway. Dragging our feet too long in booking a site, we found that the speedway camping was ‘sold out’ months in advance – Mistake #1 on our part, and mistake #1 on the speedway’s part. The Edge of The Speedway campground would put us about a 3.5 mile walk away from the front gates of Kentucky Speedway, a bit of a hike when lugging 30 to 40 pounds of camera and computer equipment.

I did not make it into Kentucky in time to cover the NCWTS race on Thursday, but that experience in the stands helps me to write this column from both the journalist and the fans’ point of view.

The Track

My jaw dropped as I walked through the gates and stood below the Indiana Tower right at the start/finish line. The track was truly a sight to see the first time I laid eyes on the 1.5 mile circuit. The grandstands were almost overwhelming as to how well they were set up for fans to watch the on-track action. Built with a ‘buffer-zone’ between the outside wall and the start of the grandstands, row number one is built approximately 8-10 feet above the top of the outside walls. This gives fans almost a bird’s-eye view of the action below.

I can’t complain much about the fan experience inside the gates of Kentucky Speedway (except that I did hear that concessions were about out of food 2 hours BEFORE the green flag Saturday night). This is the first track that I have been to where fans are not allowed to carry their own beverages into the stands, a big disappointment to many.

It was outside the fan gates on speedway property that needed some help…After trudging 2.5 miles to get remotely close to the track, we spotted a shuttle stop on Speedway Boulevard, Thursday before the truck race that looked fairly promising in getting us to the front gates.

We waited about an hour while bus after bus came by, packed to the brim with race fans. Now this shuttle stop was FURTHEST from the track, and yet it came past us at full capacity. After about an hour of this, we decided to cut our losses and hoof it the last mile (uphill by the way) to the front gates.

So my first word of advice for Kentucky Speedway, figure out a shuttle route that benefits the fans. The shuttles should not be picking people up a quarter mile from the front gates and riding them the entire route. Shuttles should travel to their furthest stop and travel towards the track, picking up fans at designated stops, not the other way around.

The Media Hospitality

Last weekend, Kentucky Speedway did everything they could with the resources they had to accommodate the influx of press to cover the NASCAR weekend.

Upon arrival on the infield of the track, I found that the Media Center was not the largest one I had ever been in, but not the smallest either. I had heard through the grapevine that the track had issued somewhere around 200 working media credentials for only 40-some seats in the Media Center. Luckily, SpeedwayMedia.com was granted a seat in the deadline room so I had a place to set up shop for the weekend. I did have a bit of an issue finding food to eat around lunch-time in the Media Center as they had run out around 12:30PM – but, I used my experiences as a college wrestler to help me through my grumbling empty stomach.

My only other issue while covering the races at Kentucky Speedway came during the Pre-Race Ceremonies of the inaugural Quaker State 400. It seemed like all of the fans that were supposed to be in the stands, somehow got down onto the track and pit-lane during pre-race, and their mission was to make a photographer’s life a living hell. I don’t know if I could put an exact number to the people allowed down on the track during pre-race, but if I had to guesstimate, it would have to be somewhere around 20,000 – or at least it seemed like it.

There were children running all over as the drivers made their way to the intro stage, pushing though mass crowds of people to obtain an autograph or a picture. The crowd plowed their way out onto the track and the Ford Mustangs designated to carry the drivers around the track for their pre-race introduction, had merely the width of their cars to navigate through the massive crowd of race fans. If you check out my photos for the weekend, you will even see one fan going for an autograph while Kevin Harvick is already seated in his Mustang.

I did hear a fellow photographer mumble to me during the mayhem that was the pre-race ceremonies “They have lost all control out here”. I could do nothing but shake my head in disbelief and carry on my duties.

Other tracks that I have covered have been locked up tighter than Fort Knox when it became time for the pre-race ceremonies, and your first-born was required to gain admittance to the area around the pre-race stage. This was by far not the case on Saturday Night. Word of advice #2 to Kentucky Speedway – get control over the pre-race ceremonies, there’s no reason to have that many people out there.

The Race

Well, there’s not much to say about the cup race…it was boring. Kyle Busch dominated the entire night, and with only a one or two lap window after a caution for passing, there was little chance the #18 would surrender the lead. At one point, I believe I heard that Kyle had the lead by almost eight seconds over the second place car.

As for the trucks and Nationwide series races, they were a little more exciting. Watching Kyle Busch come from dead last in BOTH races, was truly a sight. He diced up both fields like they were tied to a fence-post. Even though he did not win the Nationwide race, it was still a sight to see him come from the back, at a track that did not foster much passing throughout the course of the weekend.

That’s that for the race…nothing exciting to say the least.

The Traffic

By now everyone has heard the stories about the traffic at the track. My story with the traffic is: it was all gone by Sunday morning.

By camping at the track, I avoided the mayhem on I-71 and it was smooth sailing all the way back to Buffalo on Sunday. I do have a heart and feel bad for all the folks that did not make it into the speedway on Saturday Night. In these times, it’s tough to have hundreds of dollars shelled out in tickets to a race that you can’t even make in time.

It needs to be addressed, there were hardly enough signs directing folks where to park, parking attendants were less than helpful at best, and there was no order to the traffic in and around the track. Bruton Smith knows how to put on events, I think he just fell short on the details, traffic being one of them.

The Aftermath

I find it hard to call this past weekend a success after reading the countless stories of folks trapped on the interstate, walking in the sweltering heat, and hearing stories of never going back.

I do commend SMI for their efforts in trying to make what was done, a little more acceptable to the fans. Offering tickets at any other SMI race this season is the least they can do for the fans that were trapped with nowhere to go Saturday Night.

I am skeptical in the sense that all those in attendance Saturday Night at Kentucky Speedway will return to the track next season (if Kentucky is on the Sprint Cup schedule next season). I would like to think that changes will be made to how to handle the crowds, getting them in and out, and how to handle them inside the fences of Kentucky Speedway. I had fun, and was extremely pleased that I was in attendance for the inaugural Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway…

Stay tuned tomorrow for Matty’s Picks where I brag about picking the Inaugural Quaker State 400 race winner!

July 14, 2011
Jason White Hits Lottery Again for Joe Denette Motorsports with Best Team Finish

With his Mega Millions lottery winnings in hand, Joe Denette has been living the NASCAR dream , creating his own Camping World Truck Series team, Joe Denette Motorsports, this season.

But Denette’s driver, Jason White, behind the wheel of the No. 23 BunBroker.com Chevrolet, hit the lottery again for him, scoring the team’s best finish ever at Kentucky Speedway this past weekend.

[media-credit name=”Photo credit joedenettemotorsports.com” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]After battling eventual race winner Kyle Busch in the final restart, White was able to score his first top-5 finish in 2011 and a career best finish for Joe Denette Motorsports.

“It’s huge,” White said of his finish. “To drive for Joe Denette Motorsports is awesome.”

“The guy was a huge NASCAR fan and hit the lottery and now for his first season to be able to come out and be competitive and to have a chance to win a race was big for him and us,” White continued. “It’s exciting for the team.”

White credits the career best team finish with testing that he and his crew did at Rockingham the week before, along with fellow driver and competitor Ron Hornaday.

“We went testing the week before with Ron Hornaday and we learned a lot, what not to do and what to do,” White said. “I ended up being just as fast as him so the team was all excited about that.”

“We took what we learned there and took it to Kentucky,” White continued. “So, with the setup we came up with at Rockingham, we just fine tuned it.”

White practiced in the top-10 and told his team that he thought they had at least a top-five truck and potentially could win the race.

“I ended up qualifying ninth and even took the lead, going back and forth with Austin Dillon,” White said. “So, that was pretty exciting.”

Unfortunately, White and his team had a problem with the jack during one of the pit stops later in the race and came out in seventh. He was, however, able to charge back to the front of the field, before the caution flew yet again.

“That last restart, we were fourth and so basically went to second in the first turn and came up to Kyle (Busch) and was about to pass him for the lead with three to go and the caution came back out for that big wreck,” White said. “I was like ‘oh, man, I didn’t need that.’

White also knew that the bottom of the track had limited grip and was very slick. On the restart, the young driver spun his tires, allowing Kyle Busch to go on to win the race.

“I would have been OK but Elliott (Sadler) made it three wide and that really hurt us bad,” White said. “He was doing what he had to do, but looking back, if he would have just pushed me or stayed in line, we could have both had a chance on Kyle (Busch).”

“We ended up fifth but it was a great weekend for the entire team,” White continued. “To be able to compete for the win was definitely exciting and we will be able to continue that throughout the rest of the season.”

White was also pleased that he got to lead a few laps at Kentucky Speedway. And, although he has led before, particularly at Bristol, this meant a lot to the young driver.

“I’ve led laps the last couple of years here and there but this year, we’ve got better equipment and better stuff,” White said. “We’re trying to be able to continue on with that for the rest of the season.”

As for race winner and competitor Kyle Busch, White and his team are just a bit tired of continuing to run behind him.

“I learned from him, but I’m just ready to beat him,” White said. “I’m at the point now that I can beat him.”

“If we could have restarted the race the time before, I think we could have gotten him,” White continued. “We had a lot of fun and we learned what we did wrong and will fix it for next time.”

White is definitely looking forward to his next chance, which will come this weekend in the Camping World Truck Series Coca-Cola 200 presented by Hy-Vee at Iowa Speedway.

“I always liked the track,” White said. “We’ve always been fast there.”

“I think we’ll be top-five and contending for the win,” White continued. “If we’re not, I’ll be disappointed.”

“I really believe that with what we learned last week, we should be able to go out and continue to do what we did last week.”

While Joe Denette most definitely feels like he won the lottery twice now after the team’s best career finish, White has reserved his judgment.

“I don’t necessarily feel like I’ve won the lottery yet,” White said. “I need to win a race first.”

“This weekend was a great shot in the arm, it was great for me and it was great for the team,” White continued. “But I want to be able to win. We need to win.”

“This is the momentum we needed to continue for the next few races so we can prove we can go out there and do it,” White said. “Once I win a race, then I’ll say ‘I’ve won the lottery.’

July 11, 2011
Kentucky Speedway’s inaugural race; Will fans return? Ask Bobby Farvour, he was there!

Kentucky Speedway hosted its inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup race Saturday night. To say that things did not go as planned might be the understatement of the year.

Kyle Busch’s third Cup win this season should have been the big story but all anyone can talk about is the traffic. Countless fans were stuck in traffic for hours as the race began without them. There are even reports of ticket holders who were turned away due to inadequate parking.

[media-credit id=24 align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]Everyone agrees that this is completely unacceptable and Kentucky Speedway issued a statement Sunday promising to make sure that “this never happens again.”

But the real question is this. Will fans give Kentucky Speedway a second chance?

I found my answer on Facebook as one of my friends shared his experience. He’s a long time NASCAR fan and always speaks his mind, so I knew he would “tell it like it is.”

This is his journey.

After dropping off the kids at his Mom’s house, he and his wife were on the road to the track a little before 3:00pm.

“We stopped for a sandwich and drink at the drive through and were on our way. We’re on I-65 about 2 hours south of Sparta, so leaving at that time should be fine, even for traffic. I’ve got Claire B. Lang (on the radio) keeping us posted on what’s going on at the track and the traffic.”

The problems began when he hit Louisville, KY and decided to drive straight through on I-65 to I-71 which would take them to Sparta and the Kentucky Speedway.

Unfortunately, the exit to I-71 was closed because a chemical truck had overturned and spilled its cargo all over the highway. After a detour that took them in the wrong direction, finding an exit to take them back in the right direction, a lot of wasted time and a few expletives later, they were finally heading towards the speedway again.

The anticipation was building as they were getting closer to the track when all of a sudden his wife’s smile was replaced by a frantic look as she screamed, “Noooo, you just passed our exit!”

After turning around again, finding the exit again and a few more expletives, they’re once again heading towards the speedway on I-71.

If only they had known that this was just the beginning of their traffic nightmare.

“Off to Sparta. We drove problem free for about the next hour. Claire B. is worrying me with all the traffic talk. I thought surely we’d still make it. Green flag isn’t for over two hours.”

“We hit the traffic 20 miles south of exit 55, the exit that leads to the track. Kentucky Speedway is right off of I-71. You can see it plainly from the Interstate. We’re now 19 miles south of that exit going between 3 and 10 mph. But as long as they keep it moving, we’ll still make it. We sat in this for about an hour, maybe a little more.”

At this point he decided to take a chance on an alternate route. He took exit 44 which took him down a two lane road to Carrollton.

“Excellent decision. It was problem free, 55mph. From Carrollton we took US 42 straight over to 1093, the road the Speedway is on. We turned onto it, drove about a mile down it and then hit the traffic again.”

“We know we’re close. We can’t see the speedway yet. But we’ve passed campgrounds full of NASCAR campers and now there is a scalper walking down the middle of the road. Excitement sets in.”

“Eventually, we start noticing people are parking on the side of the road and walking. We must be close. I say we’re gonna drive a little further and if we don’t see it, we’re parking and walking. The walkers are moving much faster than us.”

“So, off the side we go. Park the car along beside a highway and hope it doesn’t get towed or ticketed. We don’t worry much about theft around here.”

“Some lady in a car rolls her window down and says ‘Hey, you know you got 4 miles to go?’ Then some guys pull up in the ditch beside us and ask if we know how far it is. We say they told us 4 miles, he says ‘Yeah, our GPS says 5.’ So we look at each other and ponder if we want to walk that far.”

“The wife says ‘No.’ I say we ain’t gonna make it in time if we stay in the car. We have a chance if we walk. So off we go walking.”

So they walked and walked and walked some more in over 90 degree temperatures with the bright sun blazing overhead. An hour later, they hear the cars racing.

After about three miles, some farm boy on a four-wheeler comes by and they offer him ten bucks to take them to the gate.

“That air felt great on that four- wheeler. That boy made a killing I bet because there were lots of people walking. There were cars parked all over the side of the road. As late as we are, there are thousands still behind us.”

Tired, hot, thirsty, blistered and angry, they arrive at the gate. But then they look at the track and realize, they’re not there yet.

“Standing at the gate, we see the track, still a mile away, a mile away up a hill! The race is 30 laps old and we hear them stop for the competition caution. Thousands of people are still flowing into the gate.”

“We finally get to the top of the hill, get on the tram and ride the last 200 yards to the ticket gate.”

After all this you might think they would be too tired and too mad to enjoy the race. But like most NASCAR fans, they don’t mind putting up with a few inconveniences to see a good race. Granted, these circumstances were extreme and certainly not the norm for most NASCAR races.

But things could have been worse. They could still be stranded in traffic or worse, sit in traffic all day and then get turned away because there wasn’t enough parking. So with all they went through, they were luckier than some.

“We had a little trouble finding our seats because they aren’t labeled very good, but we found them. They were excellent seats but from the looks of things, every seat is an excellent seat. Pit road is right in front of us and the start/finish line is about 100 yards to the right. You can see the whole track from anywhere.”

“The race was exactly what I expected from a mile and a half oval. Long leads, little passing, stretched out fields, and most cars a lap down. Why anyone wanted to build another mile and a half oval is beyond me. But its racing, NASCAR style. It’s loud, fast, and all the super stars are out there, so I’m cool with it.”

After the race, they began the long walk back to the car. A man stopped and offered them a ride so they hopped up onto the tailgate. They were soon joined by some fellow walkers who also hitched a ride. They sat together, talked racing and in just a few minutes were back at their car.

Right about now you’re probably asking yourself, “Will they go back next year?” The answer might surprise you.

“Overall, the experience was less than stellar. Too much time spent getting in and not enough time spent enjoying the race experience but the facility is good.”

“NASCAR is as much about the camaraderie as it is the racing. To be fully enjoyed, and I knew this before hand, one has to go set up camp and stay a few days. Traffic sucks at all of them, though not at this level. Driving in, watching a race, and going home isn’t the way to enjoy NASCAR. But, it wasn’t in the cards to do that this year, and I wasn’t missing the inaugural.”

“Many people said they won’t return. I will.”

Thanks to Bobby and Kim Farvour for sharing their story.

*Monday, Kentucky Speedway issued an apology and outlined a ticket exchange program. For more details please click on the link below. http://www.kentuckyspeedway.com/newsline/news.aspx?newsID=1038

July 11, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Inaugural Kentucky Quaker State 400

The bluegrass state, known more for its horse racing than horse power, hosted its first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the Quaker State 400. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the inaugural running of the cars at Kentucky Speedway.

[media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Surprising: It was a bit surprising to find the biggest complaints of the fans echoed the complaints of the drivers on this historic night. And it was all about the traffic, on and off the track.

Many fans never even made it into the race because of the traffic. This situation was so bad that both the track management and NASCAR had to issue statements of apology.

Several drivers also complained vehemently about the traffic on the track as well, especially about not being able to pass. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, was most vocal about the both sets of traffic situations.

“When the green flag dropped, I was surprised with how little grip there was because we had so much grip throughout the weekend,” Gordon said. “It was so impossible to pass here.”

“I think the only thing that made this a great race today was the green-white-checkered and the excitement and energy of the fans,” Gordon continued. “I think when Bruton (Smith) is looking at how to get the traffic in here, he’s going to have to look at the race track as well.”

“It’s rough and it’s really hard to pass.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising to see one driver yet again prove his versatility and driving skills, especially with the spotlight shining on the inaugural run in the bluegrass state.

That driver, Kyle Busch, proved that he can not only drive from the back of the pack to the victory, as he did in the Camping World Truck Series race, but also start from the pole, lead 125 laps of the 267 laps in the race, and win the first ever Cup event at Kentucky Speedway.

“This is cool man,” the driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota said. “This is right up there with the best of them.”

“I haven’t won the big ones, so this is as good as it gets right now,” Busch continued. “I can’t put it into words. The way we ran tonight was awesome.”

This was Busch’s 22^nd victory in 240 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his third victory in 2011. The victory also catapulted the 26 year old driver into the lead in the Chase standings by 4 points over Carl Edwards.

Surprising: David Reutimann, driver of the No. 00 Tums Toyota Camry, surprisingly not only starred in the Tums commercial with team owner Michael Waltrip, but also starred in his best career finish, runner up to race winner Kyle Busch.

This was only Reutimann’s second top-10 finish for the entire 2011 season.

“It was a great race man,” Reutimann said. “It was a phenomenal race.”

“We got a run on top and got it pointed in the right direction,” Reutimann said of the final lap as he battled five-time champ Jimmie Johnson. “Jimmie gave me enough room up there and we ended up getting a decent finish.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising that the winner of the Kentucky Speedway Nationwide race was the closest contender in the Cup race as far as laps led to the race winner. Brad Keselowski, winner of the Nationwide race at Kentucky, led three times for a total of 79 laps in the first-ever Cup race.

Unfortunately for Keselowski, driver of the blue deuce for Penske Racing, the late restarts did not work in his favor and he ended up finishing seventh in the inaugural Cup run atKentucky.

“It was an incredible Miller Lite Dodge Saturday night,” Keselowski said. “I led a bunch of laps and I have to thank my team for that.”

“But I would have liked to have gotten a better finish from where we ended up.”

Surprising: Old five time Jimmie Johnson made a surprisingly uncharacteristic mistake behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. He lost count of the laps and thought there was one more lap to go in the race instead of it being completed.

“I didn’t see the white flag,” Johnson said. “I saw some type of flag when we were coming, which was the checkered, but I didn’t see the white for some reason.”

“I think the 18 was going to be the winner the way it was,” Johnson continued. “It didn’t change the outcome of the race by any stretch of the imagination.”

Johnson finished the race in the third spot. He also moved up one spot in the point standings to fifth place.

Not Surprising: While Juan Pablo Montoya, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, may be known as a fiery, aggressive driver, it is not surprising that he and his crew chief Brian Pattie are calculating their every move with the Chase fast approaching.

Montoya had a good car at Kentuckyand was up in the front lurking for much of the race. Although he finished 15^th after qualifying for the outside pole, Montoya has inched ever nearer to Chase contention, moving up one spot to the 13^th position in the point standings.

Surprising: Jamie McMurray, driving the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet, is having a surprisingly bad run of motor failures for the season. The engine gremlin struck him again at Kentucky Speedway and it blew up, exuding a tremendous amount of smoke that forced him to a dead stop on the track.

“Yeah, I got a little freaked out because I felt the motor start shaking and blow up and the smoke came in the car so fast I couldn’t see,” McMurray said. “That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me.”

“I’m really frustrated,” McMurray continued. “I can’t believe we broke three engines in 18 races or however many we’ve run so far. I don’t know that I’ve blown up three engines in the last five or six years.”

“So, it’s unbelievable that we seem to keep getting the engine that breaks.”

Not Surprising: After several drivers experienced challenging runs at their first ever attempt at Kentucky Speedway, it is not at all surprising that the last words out of the mouths of these drivers is how much they cannot wait to get to the next race in New Hampshire.

“That was a tough night for the NAPA Know How team,” Martin Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Good To Go Toyota Camry, said. “We started slow and then it looked like we were going to get a good finish but our car kind of plowed there at the end.”

“I’m looking forward to New Hampshire.”

Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, echoed Truex’s sentiments.

“It was a fight,” Hamlin said of his inaugural Kentucky run. “We couldn’t make any moves, especially when it came night time and it seemed like our car went away from us.”

“I’m looking forward to going back to a short track likeNew Hampshire.”

Hamlin finished 11^th and moved up to 10^th in the point standings. Truex, Jr. finished 18^th and held steady at 23^rd in points.

July 10, 2011
Fans used as game pieces in power play of greed and arrogance

Up until this weekend NASCAR’s biggest debacle had been the Indy tire disaster of 2008. This weekend made that look tame. 15,000 – 20,000 people were turned away from the track that were holding valid tickets. Traffic was backed up for miles. The track was not ready for a cup date. The track knew it was not ready for a cup date in May of last year. But two words motivated the weekend. Two words that resounded loudly through every statement from the General Manager, Mark Simendinger and track owner, Bruton Smith’s mouths; those two words are arrogance and greed.

[media-credit name=”Brian Douglas” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Kentucky Speedway was not ready for a Cup date. They said so themselves in May of 2010 when in a press release they stated, “a 2011 cup date at the Kentucky Track, may not be feasible because of a variety of capital improvements needed to the track.”

Kentucky added 40,000 seats to accommodate the Cup race but they did not expand parking or bathroom facilities to match that. Lines for Port a Potties were 20 to 50 people deep and mostly located inside the facility not in parking areas. By the time the green flag flew parking lots were full and fans were walking as far as three miles to get to the track.

At the drop of the green flag traffic was still backed up for 20 miles. Traffic advisories posted by the Kentucky State Highway Patrol read, “Traffic backed up for 20 miles and at a stand still. Avoid area.” Rather than apologize for the situation, track owner Bruton Smith said, “I 71 sucks. Blame the state of Kentucky.”

About halfway through the race officials began turning people away from the track regardless of the fact that they had a paid ticket. Track owner Bruton Smith stated, “15 – 20,000 ticket holders were turned away when the traffic pattern was reversed to allow flow of traffic out of the track.” By that time they were being turned away anyway, because all the parking lots were over flowing and cars were double and triple parked. The track general manager stated in response to questions on the parking/traffic situation, “It was the number of cars that threw us, not the number of people.”

The General Manager of the track Mark Simendinger estimated the total number of fans in the stands to be 97,000 people by ticket scan. But the capacity of Kentucky Speedway is 107,000 people. The numbers given by both GM and Owner lead one to believe that the track was over sold by 5 – 10,000 seats.

The truly sad part is people in the area said, “We knew it would be bad. But this is way worse than we anticipated. This is a nightmare.” There appeared to be no rhyme or reason to the traffic patterning. There appeared to be no communication between Kentucky Speedway and other SMI tracks that handle Cup date traffic on a regular basis. It appeared for all practical purposes to be a power play by both the state of Kentucky and Bruton Smith who used the traffic fiasco to leverage his bid for highway and road improvements by failing to utilize 4 lanes of road leading into the track in favor of using only 2. Perhaps sadder still paying fans were used as the pieces in a game of mine are bigger and I’ll show you.

In temperatures and humidity that reached critical points, the speedway was unprepared to fill the hydration needs of it’s patrons with several sections running out of food, water and ice during the race. Interestingly enough, Kentucky is one of the few tracks remaining with a no coolers policy which leaves spectators at the mercy of the track in regards to prices and availability. Reports of four dollars for a bottle of water and nine dollars for a cheeseburger, two dollars for a cup of ice were reported by fans on Social Media sites like Twitter and Facebook. It should be noted that it is illegal in Kentucky to allow coolers according to Smith.

The track itself was in need of improvements and repair as well. Former series Champion, Tony Stewart stated on Friday, “They don’t have enough SAFER barriers yet. Not near enough SAFER barriers for what we’re doing here and how close the wall is to the race track. Hopefully, none of us will have to test that out and see anything.”

Four time champion Jeff Gordon echoed his sentiments saying, “I was just making a comment after last week’s announcement by Richmond(International Raceway). ‘I wonder why other tracks don’t have Safer Barriers.’ Then I came here and saw the inside wall. Hopefully that is the only time I notice it this weekend. You understand that they have put a lot of effort, you can tell they’ve put a lot of time and money and effort into getting this race track ready. Hopefully it’s not an issue. We’ll see. There is definitely some areas out there that could be addressed. Right now, the way that this track is, I see that the inside is not as much of an issue as maybe it is at some other tracks. But, we’ll have to get through a race and I’m hoping I’m not the crash-test dummy this weekend.”

The track itself showed deterioration with bumps all around the track. Dale Earnhardt Jr stated, “Well, the last time I tested here, the track was in a whole lot better shape. It’s kind of deteriorated a ton since we tested here last time. I think it was a couple years ago.” Bob Pockgrass of Scene Daily who participated in the pace car ride with former driver Brett Bodine at the wheel stated on twitter, “Pace car ride showed me that track has lots of small bumps. Not many big bumps but it’s the number of bumps that is issue.” When asked if the bumps were worse than those often talked about at Charlotte, he responded, “definitely more of them and no way to avoid them.”

Track owner Bruton Smith, made light of the drivers concerns, stating, “If they just follow Kyle Busch and drive where he drives they will be fine.” When he was asked about possible repave before next year, he stated, “That is all talk. We will look at it maybe after the 2013 race.”

The race itself didn’t rescue the venue from the arrogance of its owner; the long drawn out lack luster race was boring to say the least. Even TV commentator Kyle Petty concluded the broadcast with, “This wasn’t the most exciting race. But some guys really made something happen here.” Unfortunately for Petty it wasn’t the TV broadcast people. With poor camera work and too many specialty features the race was mainly silent. Many commented that after having watched the whole race they still were not sure what exactly had happened. Sadly, TNT went from the best broadcast of the season in Daytona to the worst broadcast in Kentucky.

The follow the leader racing on a two groove track was drawn out. The lack of cautions turned it into a mono tone recital of the same song that most, not all, of the1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks have fallen into. Track position was everything. Fuel mileage was a must. And aero and handling were premium. In short the drivers raced the track and the inherent disadvantages of the car of today rather than other teams and drivers. When it is viewed in light of the full day test on Thursday, the true impact of the poor race becomes clear. Changes are needed to the car if we are to ever return to the type of racing that made that NASCAR a household word.

The final observation of this disaster of a weekend is the obvious passing the buck of responsibility in regards to the Kentucky. NASCAR says it’s our job to bring the show. We brought the show we put on a race. The track says roads are not our responsibility our responsibility is to provide the track and the date. The state is responsible for the roads. The state says we gave you millions in tax abatement’s and you built seats without making accommodations for the people who would sit in them.

All three seem to be missing the point here. People who worked hard for the 170 dollars for a ticket to see the race were left out in the cold in some cases literally. The disappointment of children and adults across the board for this race is huge. Many are saying they will never go to Kentucky again.

This is the heart of racing country. With the current situation of ratings and empty seats, can NASCAR truly afford to have another half empty cookie cutter track on its schedule? Can the state of Kentucky afford the hit it will take in the department of tourism over the black eye for their highway system? Can Kentucky Speedway truly afford the loss of revenue and to start its life in Cup racing with the reputation of being the race weekend that never happened and the track that should never have had a date? In my opinion, the answer to all of the above is NO. But only time will tell how the fans will be compensated for this fiasco, will arrogance and greed take precedent over loyalty and devotion? Tune in next year to find out. Same traffic jam channel same traffic jam time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * * * * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Congratulations to Kyle Busch on his Camping World Truck Series win and his Sprint Cup victory.

Congratulations to Brad Keselowski on his Nationwide Series win.

That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

Many Thanks to Jim Utter and Bob Pockgrass for their contributions to this piece via Twitter, you guys are an inspiration.

July 10, 2011
Kentucky Race a Disaster for Fans

NASCAR does a lot of lip service saying that this sport is for the fans. It’s everywhere in advertising and in driver comments. That didn’t happen at Kentucky Speedway this weekend.

Adding 40,000 seats and not developing adequate ways to get in and out of the track are tremendous mistakes that fall on the shoulders of Speedway Motorsports and NASCAR. What were they thinking?

[media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Fans in the area had long coveted a Sprint Cup race at the Sparta, Kentucky speedway. Never mind that is was of the cookie-cutter variety. You’ve seen them all by now and they don’t differ much from the others. Tri-oval, low banking and, unfortunately, boring racing. For long periods, the drivers seemed to resemble a long freight train with no one passing. That wasn’t the worst part.

Fans had to deal with so much adversity that I’d be surprised if they could sell half the tickets they sold this year. I consider myself lucky that I considered heading to Kentucky for the race, only to be convinced that a colleague was closer and would take the job. He couldn’t attend and I once again considered traveling to the track. I’m glad that I didn’t.

If you have a twitter account, you know what I mean. Stories of people being stopped in traffic for hours and one lady actually walking three miles to the track only to see her husband after the race started were common. Many never got to the race. I’ve been to Rockingham in the old days and spent hours in traffic, but always got out in an hour or two. I’ve heard about Texas in 1997 and have lived Atlanta way back when, but never have I heard stories like this. NASCAR fans are loyal to their sort, but with the faltering economy and things the way they are, can we really expect them to support a track that was so indifferent to getting people in and out of the facility? Can we expect fans to continue to watch racing that is somewhat mediocre at best (at one point, Kyle Busch had an unbelievable 8-second lead and many cars already a lap down) and put up with the long trip back home on a Saturday night?

A close friend who lives in Cincinnati, just up the road from the track, emailed me (oh, the glory of smartphones) that he was going across the interstate and heading home after sitting still in traffic for over two hours with the green flag only an hour away and finding himself 50 miles away. The $300 he had spent was not worth it even in these troubled times.

We have to hope that next year things get better for the Kentucky track, but one thing is certain. Before NASCAR and SMI make the decision to add a track, adequate roads need to be there for people to get to the track and get out. That didn’t happen here. It’s something that happens far too often in this sport. And it’s something that wouldn’t happen in the other major sports. That’s what separates our sport from the others. Money talks, as they say, but these days it’s going to take more than having an event and expecting folks to put up with anything to see the event. Those days are gone.

Yet, another lesson learned, I hope.

July 10, 2011
The Inaugural Debacle at Kentucky

At one point early in the Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway Kyle Busch has a lead of over 8 seconds. Busch, who started on the pole by being the fastest in happy hour practice after the qualifying session was cancelled due to rain, gave up the lead for a while to Brad Keselowski held off David Reutimann in a 3 lap shoot out at the end.

[media-credit name=”Brian Douglas” align=”alignright” width=”273″][/media-credit]The majority of the race was uneventful as the leaders enjoyed the clean air while others struggled mightily with the track. Unfortunately, most of the action was reportedly outside the track as race fans struggled with gridlocked traffic trying to get to the racetrack. There were reports of fans being turned away when they finally made it to the track. Jeff Gordon said after the race, “I think the only thing that made this a great race today was the green-white-checkered and the excitement and energy of the fans. I think when Bruton (Smith) is looking at how to get the traffic in here he’s going to have to look at the race track as well. It’s rough. It’s really hard to pass. The layout needs a little help; but the surface most importantly, to give these fans what they really deserve. You never know how it’s going to go. It was certainly exciting there at the finish, so that’s cool.”

Busch had regained the lead late in the race during green flag pit stops but shortly after Dale Earnhardt Jr., who took fuel only blew a left front tire shredding his fender all over the back stretch. On the subsequent restart Jimmie Johnson was chasing down Busch but Clint Bowyer also appeared to have lost a tire and that brought out the final caution.

Jimmie Johnson finished third , Ryan Newman fourth and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five. Johnson said, “The No. 00 was coming and got by me so i was hoping I had a shot just to fight for second. I felt like the win was kind of gone at that point. But I didn’t see the white and I came around and everybody let off and I was still on the gas and going and I was like wow I guess its over. Great night for the Lowe’s Chevrolet. We had a a very solid race car. Drove up through the field a few times and raced for the win. The No. 18 was a little better than us and we were on equal tires there at the end. We had a shot at him on new tires. That restart went good for me. If I could have stayed along side of him going into turn three and been side-by-side off of four I could have a shot at it but just didn’t work out that way. If there was another lap I think that No. 00 was going to go right by that No. 18, he was coming awfully fast.”

Johnson also made comments about the issues of getting to the track. People who follow NASCAR on twitter (@coombsegater_sm) would have seen that even the drivers and crews were not immune to the traffic issues as they all struggled getting to the track even hours before the green flag flew. Johnson said when informed of Hamlin’s issues, I went home to Charlotte. It was my daughter’s birthday yesterday. I went home. I was going to drive in. I had heard there were some issues with the Nationwide race. So I made different arrangements and helicoptered in. I fortunately didn’t have any issues.

The stories I heard sounds like there’s some upset fans, people that were turned away and weren’t able to get into the event today.

It’s disappointing. I mean, the SMI group knows racetracks and does a very good job at all the racetracks they own. It’s unfortunate we were unable to look ahead and see where these potential problems were.

This is such a great market, so many fans are enthused to come and want to be here. To not get them all in the door is kind of a bummer. Knowing Bruton (Smith), he’ll get it fixed for next year and unfortunately it happened this year.”

During the race the track sent out this statement, “We’ve had an overwhelming response to our inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series “Quaker State 400.” We know we had challenges related to traffic. We’re already planning improvements and looking forward to a much better situation for next year’s event

July 10, 2011
Kyle Busch Claims the Inaugural Win at Kentucky

[media-credit name=”Joe Dunn ” align=”alignright” width=”269″][/media-credit]With his second win of the weekend, Kyle Busch took the honors for the Inaugural Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway. The win marks his 22nd Cup series win and his third of 2011, pushing him into the points lead.
David Reutimann finished second, his second top ten for the season. Jimmie Johnson was third, followed by Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards fifth. Matt Kenseth finished sixth followed by Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon rounding out the top 10.
Busch leads the most laps, leading 7 times for 125 laps. There were 12 leaders, including Brad Keselowski for 79 laps, Kurt Busch for 41, Reutimann for 7 and Hamlin for 5. The race had 6 cautions for 32 laps.
Comments following the race, from the top three:
KYLE BUSCH: “This is cool man. This is right up there withn the best of them. I haven’t won the big ones, so this is as good as it gets right now.”
DAVID REUTIMANN: “We had that restart and you knew Kyle wasn’t going to roll over for anything, and Jimmie Johnson’s pretty intense too, so we just ended up coming in and Kyle threw a block to kill Jimmie’s momentum down the front. I had a little bit of run down the back and Jimmie was either going to go to the top or the bottom getting in and I was not going to go where he was.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON: “I think Kyle’s car was a little bit better than us at the end. The run before that it seemed like he was just a touch better, but I was going to try as hard as I could and got a good restart, was inside of him. My car really didn’t fire off on that last set of tires like I had seen earlier in the day.”
Of the 6 cautions, only one was for an accident, one was a competition caution, one for the #1 car stopped on the track and three for debris on the track.
Traffic was the big story for the weekend as several fans missed the race due to traffic backups and the lack of parking. The staff at Kentucky Speedway apologized for the problems and promised to make then right for the 2012 race.

July 10, 2011
Keselowski’s Fuel Outlasts Harvick’s

Brad Keselowski dominated the Feed the Children 300 at the Kentucky Motor Speedway leading 132 of 200 laps. His closest challenger, Kevin Harvick had an apparent miscue from his crew chief that cost him valuable time as there was some confusion as to whether Harvick was stopping for fuel in the final 10 laps. As Harvick slowed, Keselowski pulled away further even though Harvick’s crew chief called off the stop. That allowed Keselowski to conserve fuel more. The final 61 laps were run under green flag conditions.

Harvick finished second was said he thought that his car was great but there needed to be better communication from on top of the box. Kyle Busch finished in third after starting the field in 43rd as a result of him crashing during his qualifying effort. Busch was followed by Kasey Kahne who drove the JR Motorsport No. 7 Go Daddy car, his first time in that Chevrolet. Pole-sitter Elliot Sadler finished 5th and left Kentucky with the points lead even though he struggled at times during the race to get into the top 10.

Busch said about his night, ” I screwed up qualifying today and ‘fenced’ the NOS Energy Drink Camry. But, we had another one in the truck. The guys did a great job putting it together and getting it ready and just in time. Probably didn’t have as much time as they would have liked to have spent on it, but all in all we gave it the best we had. Probably was going to be about a fifth or sixth before all the fuel exchanges and everything going on there at the end. Thank all the guys. They did a great one for me tonight. ”

The win was Keselowski’s 13th in the series. One thing that was overheard in the media center was Keselowski explaining that his beer was better than Harvick’s. Both run in Saturday’s 400 mile race .

“This car was awesome. The boys at Penske Racing spent some extra hours on it and it feels good. I think we got more in the hopper. To see this team start coming along feels great.

“The guys at Discount Tire have been behind me, supporting me. They made this program possible so we could win the championship last year. (We) got banned from it this year, so now we’re just out here having fun.

“If you keep doing the right things long enough, you will be rewarded and today was a day of reward. I can’t wait to see a bunch of the Discount Tire guys this week bring them home a trophy,” Keselowski said.

[media-credit id=12 align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]

July 9, 2011
Andy Lally: From Daytona Lone Ranger to Inaugural Kentucky Wannabe

Andy Lally, rookie driver of the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Interstate Moving Services Ford, is making an interesting transition, from lone wolf without a dance partner at this past weekend’s Daytona race to Kentucky wannabe, having to qualify in on time for this weekend’s inaugural race.

[media-credit name=”andylally.com” align=”alignright” width=”222″][/media-credit]Lally started this journey last weekend with his best qualifying effort to date at Daytona, snagging the seventh starting spot between five time champ Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the sport’s most popular driver.

“This was just a cool little feather in the cap that a small team had come up here and done this,” Lally said. “That was pretty neat.”

Yet, in spite of the excellent starting position, Lally was quite the lone wolf, at least in the initial portion of the Coke Zero 400.

“Yes, I did feel like the ‘Lone Ranger’ a little bit, but it was fairly expected,” Lally said.

“I had spoken to Geoff Bodine before the race about hooking up and getting together,” Lally continued. “But we were starting in seventh and he was back in 35^th or so, so it was going to be a little bit of time before we found him.”

“We just tried to hold on at the front as long as we could.”

Lally acknowledged that it was easier to hold on at the front more so when the race started and on the restarts when there was a bit of a pack. But that quickly changed when the tandem racers started the two-by-two pairings, causing Lally to struggle.

“It was kind of like the old days in the big packs until everybody gets hooked up and single file,” Lally said. “It wasn’t easy to hold on after that happened.”

“I was fighting tooth and nail to do whatever I could to stay in the draft and side draft guys,” Lally continued. “But it was definitely difficult to get off the gas and try to hook up with somebody.”

“This was my third restrictor plate race so I’ve seen the benefits of the hook up every time,” Lally said. “We struggled on our own for about 20 laps or so but once we hooked up with other cars, we were pretty decent and were able to move up through the field.”

Lally had particularly good luck when he teamed up with Terry Labonte, who was driving the No. 32 C&J Energy Ford. The Lally/Labonte tandem was so good together that they were able to push their way forward into the top ten at one point in the race.

“That was not planned,” Lally said of his liaison with Labonte. “That was almost forced by me.”

“Terry Labonte and Robby Gordon were running together and on the restart they got split up,” Lally continued. “Terry was on the bottom with a bunch of fast cars linked together. When I saw it, I moved to the bottom and drove up behind Terry, smashed him in the rear and started pushing him, whether he wanted me there or not.”

“I think Terry was a little hesitant at first but after the first few laps, we started going forward and passing cars,” Lally said. “So, then we got a message over the radio from his spotter that he liked the way I was going and he wanted to stay together.”

“We did that for the next 130 laps and we stayed together as best we could.”

The tandem did indeed stay together, that is until mayhem ensued at the end of the race during the two green, white, checkered attempts at a finish.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t in a position to really capitalize on that mayhem at the end of the race,” Lally said. “We had done a long green flag run but the pit stops weren’t what we needed and we lost the lead draft.”

“And then we went on a long green flag run and the pack pushed by us to put us a lap down,” Lally continued. “If all that havoc had happened one lap prior, we would have been in decent shape.”

“Once we took the white flag, we knew there was no more advancing of positions, so we just kind of backed off and tip toed through the minefield on the way to the checkered flag, passing battered car after battered car.”

After finishing 27^th, Lally admitted he was ready to put the superspeedway in his lone wolf rear view mirror and head to the first-ever Cup race, the Quaker State 400, at Kentucky Speedway. At that track, he will not be alone as he was at Daytona.

“We’ve got a track that I’ve never been to,” Lally said. “But for the first time a number of other guys have never been to it either.”

“A bunch of these guys have done the Truck race or the Nationwide race but from the information I got from the guys who did the tire test, it was fairly similar to Kansas,” Lally continued. “So, I think everybody will unload with their Kansas set up and go from there.”

Lally is definitely a Kentucky wannabe as he currently sits 36^th in owner points, just one position shy of being locked in.

“Right now getting in the show will be the biggest thing,” Lally said. “It’s going to be a big challenge.”

“We actually get a test day so we’ll get some laps on the track on Thursday,” Lally continued. “So, we’ll make some adjustments and see what we got for qualifying. We’ve got 48 cars for 43 spots so that’s a challenge.”

“You’re never not trying to go hard but we’ll do more mock qualifying runs and do more in qualifying trim than race trim,” Lally said. “So, we’ll see.”

July 7, 2011