May 20th In Review

[TRP]

First off, we want to thank all of the racers for attending last Saturday. We had the largest car count to date but the smallest fan count thus far. We know that the threat of weather issues and a few other events in the area had an impact on the fan count. We had 27 Pure Stocks, 22 Dwarfs/ Mod Lites, 23 Street Stocks, and 14 Limited Mods. We heard from a lot of folks who were planning to make the race, but were very worried about the chance of rain and opted out. A great show was put on by a lot of very good drivers. The track was very smooth , thanks to the hard work by Mark Bundren and Justice Hart over the week leading up to the race. The track really came in for the feature and those who figured out the line were very fast. Across the board in all classes it was a great show by everyone. Again, we are thankful and appreciative to everyone who makes Texana Raceway park their Home track and every single one who pays a visit to race one or more times. This facility is growing to be recognized as one to not miss!

 

Congratulations to the feature winners who all did an outstanding job, Colt Beaver in pure Stocks, Mike Walling in Dwarf/Mod Lites, Anthony Gordon in Street Stocks and "the George Strait of dirt track racing" Lawrence Mikulencak in Limited Mods.

 

Each event there are so many different people who make a show possible we would undoubtedly miss someone if we started attempting to name everyone. However, we want to say a special thank you to Cody Beddoe for what he does for limited modified racers across several dirt tracks in South Texas and a big thank you to him for encouraging racers to attend our event last weekend. It is very heartwarming to see the support that racers are showing for all of the tracks in this area. That encourages others to put cars together and that is good for the sport overall in our area.

 

Now, a couple of housekeeping items. Please remember that with the exception of a couple of people, the entire TRP crew is new to operating any component of a dirt track racing facility. Many of the crew have raced, but only two have helped or worked with a track in the past. What the team lacks in experience they make up for in their love of the sport and dedication to making this a top-notch operation. This team continues to learn with each passing week and please remember to show all of the staff including the pay window ladies your respect and they will reciprocate. This team is dedicated to continue the learning process and dedicated to continuing to make TRP a respected venue where racers want to race. This does not mean that 100% of the teams will leave happy every week because we are realist and the majority of us have raced and we well know that anything that happens on the track and any decision at tech could never be our own fault as a driver. While we know that everyone cannot be happy every night with the end result, we highly suggest everyone think long and hard before posting anything negative on social media. We have talked about this in the drivers meetings. Further as realists, we know even when an upset driver or car owner talks with a staff member it will not always make things better but we can promise you, we utilize every piece of logical information to plan and adjust for future events. We want to stress again that the life and death of a race track these days can many times be driven by what people post on social media. It only takes a Google search or two to figure out how many tracks have died across the nation due to that very situation.

 

Probably the most undesired thing by any racer is to get a DQ. And, we had a few last week. In a situation where that occurs, we encourage you to own it if you have an infraction, remedy it, and come back stronger the next time. Do not let it be the end of the world.

 

The support and volume of competitors has been well beyond what we could have ever imagined. We are so thankful to everyone who competes at TRP and beyond thankful for everyone who has helped to get this venture launched and continues their support as we have the four races under our belt . We are conducting post event assessments after each night and utilizing lessons learned to continue improving and making this a well respected operation. To further the success of the track, we are now expanding our efforts to further embark on a number of approaches to start increasing fan attendance. We want to attract fans who may never have even realized TRP exists. . Our strategic approach to dedicate efforts to four specific classes is working and producing great car counts which make for fan pleasing races. Now, we set our sights on several efforts to increase the fan base.

 

We are very excited about hosting the two day show on June 16th and 17th and ask everyone to help spread the word about that event. Our next regular race will be June 3rd and we look forward to seeing you there. Becky should have the points and results posted possibly later today.

 

Thank you again to everyone as we continue to make TRP great again.

[NickHolt]

My recommendation would be for the track to use LSSZ and your website as your "official" communication platforms and at the same time administratively limit the abiity of irate folks to post to your FB and Twitter accounts. Make FB and Twitter a "one-way" tool to get information out to your followers and make LSSZ the only "two-way" internet-based platform.

 

As someone who has been directly involved on the track management side of the racing coin for many years, I can assure you that someone with a chip on their shoulder can do irreparable harm to a track and make life so miserable for the track management that it becomes very easy to just put a lock on the gate on go fishing. I offer LSSZ absolutely without charge to tracks and Texas-based stock car racing organizations to make their life a bit easier if that's possible...

 

Of course, anyone who really wants to blast a track will do it anyway on their own social media pages, but if the track is not responding to the garbage posted on the social media it takes some of the wind out of the sails of the bashers.

 

Just saying...

 

Nick

[TRP]

Thank you Nick for that sage advice. We definitely appreciate the opportunity to utilize Lonestar Speedzone. We do want to stress that things are going extremely well and especially for a novice team we are extremely pleased with where we are to date. We do monitor what is written on social media and would not be able to prevent someone from writing something on their own page. But, from a historical perspective having seen what can happen we are being proactive in talking about that subject more so as a reminder.

 

With that being said we want to focus on the bulk of our post above in that things are moving in the right direction with the rebirth of this operation. We have a number of supporters and positive feedback each night but as we all well know, one negative can wipe out 100 positives. Again, we are very very pleased with the direction of this operation and are very excited about the remainder of the season. Lots of fun ahead for fans and drivers both!!

[arob]

Bravo TRP! I feel you are going to be fine because you are doing a lot of things the right way. It is sad that so few that get on social media can mess it up for the majority. Supporters have to post often and in numbers to try and offset I suppose. Keep up the great work!

[RacerX03]

No matter what tv channel you might turn to, you will find the daily negatives being reported. Media has assumed this position to bring us the Breaking News. It is unfortunate that the Breaking News is never something positive in nature. People using social media have taken to the same norm probably believing this will improve thier personal ratings as networks falsly believe works for them. Race promotors and thier personel need to know where their visitors might believe they can improve on presenting a venue. However, a simple recommendation or point of view can easily be delivered without social media. I have never seen a track promoter that wasn't willing to hear of recommendations directly. Then deliver a professional conversation towards the matter allowing his or her view as a promoter. TRP has stepped up and has displayed a willingness to hear all complements an complaints to insure all are being recognised and appreciated.

Rules are printed for each class at every track. As a racer we all attempt to push those grey areas to get that little advantage. Sometimes track tech disagrees with our assumed grey area. If and when it happens, just smile!!! Social media is not the place to try and prove innocents. It is what it is. Correct the issue and try again. You will maintain your dignity and respect by admitting you tried and tech disagreed.

Lastly, Don't complain about the track surface! Again, it is what it is. We all have to run on the same track we are delivered for that night. Each surface being wet, muddy, dry or dusty is what we are very fortunate to have available. I have raced at numerous tracks across Texas and can honestly say they all are different each visit. TRP seems focused on delivering the best with what weather allows. It is beyond difficult to work a track all week long and be able to deliver the surface that 80+ drivers are hoping for. TRP has delivered a very raceable and fast surface from day one and only getting better. I heard 4 drivers complain about the early track conditions last race. 1 of them won his feature. Look for the positive in life and in racing. Its out their but probably wont always be found through media. Thanks TRP and LSS