Promoter's Page
NOTES FROM BRUCE:
5/1/08: First off, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who worked so hard on their race cars for the 2008 racing season. Your cars all look very nice and we can see the hard work that has been done. At the same time we have been very busy working at both Albany-Saratoga and Devil's Bowl Speedways making many improvements.
We have added more purse money to the back of the purse for just about everyone. We understand that costs have gone up for everything. Now more than ever we must work within the local community to take care of our own racers.
With that said, it seems some race fans and press people have put us on the spot. CVRA has taken an even stronger stance on race cars that are not paying attention to their one way radio. We reported earlier in the year that everyone needed to have a radio and ear plugs so that the driver could hear the control tower at all times. Cars getting lapped by the leaders and not responding to radio control has been an on going issue! In years past we did not start as many cars in the features. Because we are blessed with full fields of cars, several of you complained about this, so we have been starting (and paying!) more cars than ever before. Wrecked cars cost teams tons of money and nobody today has any extra money to burn... Fact is a bent up race car can park a race team for several weeks or even put them out of racing!
Bottom line is have a radio that works... And listen to the control tower... Thanks for your understanding on this matter.
Lots more to talk about but time to go. Stay tuned...
Bruce
4/3/08: Top gun program... Our loyal fans have spoken and we have listened to them. With that said, the Modifieds will race heats as they always have in the past. The rest of the divisions will have a change in their program. The Sportsmen, Budgets, Pro-Stocks and Limiteds will all use the new " Top Gun" program:
The first week's top 10 will be determined by a series of time trials on practice day.
Then the top 10 in time trials will be locked into the top 10 starting spots in the opening day feature event at Albany-Saratoga.
The top 10 from the prior week's feature (not the top 10 in points) will then be locked in and will not have to run a heat race. This will give everyone a fair shot at the "Top Gun" program.
Thanks to all of you who emailed us and to Dirt Track Digest for working with the race management. We have given the race fans and race teams a real chance to join race management in decision-making. This will help shape the future of racing not only on the CVRA but in the Northeast.
We have seen many signs of spring... but mother nature has not been helping with the warming in the Saratoga Springs area. As it stands right now, by early next week we will know if crews will have a chance to shape up the grounds of the Albany-Saratoga Speedway. With continuing snow, ice and rain we have wet grounds and have not been able to start working on the grounds at the speedway. Now the weatherman says rain today and into Saturday. This is not good news for our opening schedule. We will keep everyone informed here, stay tuned for updates about opening day events.
3/30/08: More ways to save the racers money... As was reported at the winter meeting and everyone seems to agree. One of the biggest expenses a race team has is wrecked race cars. With that said there will be some adjusting to how the feature races are lined up. Sportsman, Budget Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Limiteds will all see some changes. Management wants everyone to have a chance to visit victory lane. But the fact remains that there are racers that just need more "seat time" to improve their driving skills. Race management will be meeting today to work out a new handicapping procedure.
DRIVING CLINICS: Albany-Saratoga and Devil's Bowl will both be hosting driving clinics to help those that want to improve their driving skills. The cost will be your regular pit fee of $20 this money will go to the track. All instructors have said they would not charge for their services. Our feelings are that if you really want to improve... the people that are going to help you need to receive something for their time. So with that said there will be a $50 tutoring fee for each team that joins the clinic. The $50 will be paid at the gate when you pay to go in the pits. Then the track will pay the instructor $50 for each student he or she helps tutor. The bottom line is... don't cry to the race management team when you are starting in the back. We are doing our part to try to help you have to do your part and come for the help we are offering!!!
SUMMER DRIVING CLINICS: Albany-Saratoga will be offering Saturday driving clinics. We hope to have one Saturday a month that the track will be open to practice and tune your driving skills.
Money $$$$$ While several Northeast promoters are opting to add more BIG MONEY to the top of the purse, Albany-Saratoga and Devil's Bowl will be adding more money to the bottom of the purse. Race management will be meeting next week to iron out the new purse for all our racers. Trust us we feel your pain and the good news is we have been working hard to secure more new sponsors. At Albany-Saratoga it looks like we will now have a second row of billboards on top of the row that is now there!!! Devil's Bowl racers will benefit as well thanks to more sponsors. With their help we can add more money back to our racers.
More help for our race teams... Last year we offered our Albany-Saratoga Limiteds and Mini Stocks help in towing to Vermont. In keeping with the theme of helping our own this year CVRA will expand on this help to our race teams. With gas at $3.50 per gallon and Diesel fuel now $4.30 a gallon, Albany-Saratoga Sportsman, Pro-Stocks, Limiteds and Mini Stocks can apply for assistance to tow to Devil's Bowl. All Vermont racers... who want to tow to Malta can apply for assistance to tow to Albany-Saratoga. Call Bruce Richards at his office at 518-587-0220 to ask him about how we can help you cover your tow costs. Don't wait, talk to your race teams and call now.
3/29/08: New pit parking layout at Malta... Last year all the big haulers were moved to the back of the pits at Albany-Saratoga. This year all race teams that were parking in the center of the pits by where you go out onto the speedway will have to move. The only teams that will be allowed to park in the center row now will be the "short open air trailers" no more enclosed haulers of any kind will be allowed to park there any more. The first improvement will be finishing the hot pit area. As soon as the ground dries out we will begin to raise the ground to the right of where the cars go out onto the track. Then we will build 125 new seats for the pit crew teams members of the race that is on the track. A new fence will be added to the back of the current pit bleachers that will go all the way down to the pit concession stand. So anyone that wants to enter or exit the pit grandstands will have to enter the pit seating from down by the pit concession. This will keep anyone from crossing the dangerous pit road by where the cars come off the track. Thus all pit crew members when their race is on will want to be in the hot pit seating. Only people allowed in the new seating will be the crew members of the race that is on the track. Behind the new hot pit seating will be the new pit tower. This will give pit steward Brad Kendall a bird's eye view of not just the action on the track, but Brad will have a good view of the hot pit seating and the hot pits. Then the lower pit fence will be cut open so all the races will enter the track from the lower pit road. This will result in reversing the flow of the cars in the pits. By reversing the flow this will end the cross flow of race cars at the old track gate. And any teams that have to hot pit will now not have to spin their cars around to go back out on the race course. There will now be a 5mph speed limit in the pits any drivers that exceed the 5mph speed limit will not be allowed to return to the race.
Scale house to be moved... Speedway crews will move the scales up by the hot pit area. This will free up space for the new tech area.
SPEC FUEL We are happy to report that we have purchased a fuel tester that will read any gas for octane levels. This machine was not cheap, it cost $10,000 new and we were able to purchase a demo unit for $6,500. This is the same machine that the states use to inspect gas at the gas stations. Now that we have this unit we can test any gas for octane. So the good news is race teams can now buy their gas where they want to. This is going to save the race teams money because if the speedway had to sell the gas it was going to cost the race teams more money because of the fact that there would be a big investment in tanks and pumps. Please take the time to read and understand the rules, as we are taking this very seriously and anyone caught with gas that goes over the approved octane level will be suspended for the season!!! With the unit that we now have to check the gas there will be NO GRAY AREA... If a race team fails a test they will have one retest done by our tech staff. If they fail the retest the race team will have two options:
Option #1 - Suspension for the remaining part of the season and loss of all points to date and loss off any money won that night.
Option#2 - Pay for the entire cost of sending the fuel out to a lab to be tested. From all the research that we have done it looks like the cost for a lab test will be about $300 or better. We will have the exact cost and the lab information for everyone soon.
But if you were wondering, the unit that we will be using for our "field test" is considered 99.995% lab accurate. Like we said above: NO GRAY AREA. Albany-Saratoga and Devil's Bowl Speedways have always been a leader and we are proud to say we will be the first speedways in the United States to have this unit. More than 40 states now use this unit to inspect gas. The unit has been used at speedways "overseas" ... Jack Roush has one, now CVRA has one.
In closing the bottom line is we will be working harder than ever to keep the costs down and keep a "level playing field" for all our race teams. There is much more news that we will be posting here so stay tuned.
3/14/08: CVRA Budget Sportsman Rookie of The Year!!! Competition Director Bruce J Richards is pleased to announce that Shadow Racing Products of Paterson, New Jersey have joined us as a Promotional Partner of the CVRA. The 2008 Budget Sportsman Rookie of The Year will be awarded $1,000 at the year-end points party. New for 2008 in the Budget Sportsman program both Albany-Saratoga and Devil's Bowl Speedways will honor the Budget Sportsman Rookie of the Race... The top finishing rookie will be honored in victory lane. "This is exciting news" states Richards. "We welcome Shadow Racing Products to our family of sponsors". For details on how race teams can take part in this exciting new program check the tech bulletins next week.