hpt...so how was it this year

[gonecrazy]

i miss not being able to go, how was the turn out?

[raven21]

Not too bad, but this was my first year racing there.

[stlrainman]

Turn out was better than last year. Good turn out of St. Louis area riders. We had a blast.

I never cease to be amazed by the things that get missed and dismissed when it comes to the officiating of the actual racing. Recently I've witnessed two separate bad calls by officials that resulted in unfair final results. On both occasions the person late for the grid was rewarded while the people that were on time got penalized. Apparently when the officials make a procedural mistake they void out basic starting procedures and are confused on what to do with this person when the arrive late for the show. Although these things are clearly in the rule book. The rulebook is especially clear on the minute board procedures.  The timing of third and final call was brutal as well. Way to much time waiting on the 5 board.
All that being said ...Officials travel, work in extreme conditions and put up with racer b.s. So I guess you gotta take it unless you wish to do it yourself.

Saturday and Sunday were dry but windy and cold in the mornings.

Thanks to everyone who worked to make the whole weekend a success .

[Farmboy]

I wasn't able to go last year, but attendance seemed way down compared to when we went in '08 and '09 (both dates).  The event went smoothly, especially on Sunday, when rain was expected but thankfully never materialized.  Many thanks are due to all the CCS officials and corner marshals; the wind just never seemed to let up for the most part, and we couldn't do our thing if all these ladies and guys didn't gut out the often miserable conditions to do their thing. Kudos! HPT is an awesome track, and it was great to get back out there.

[Burt Munro]

Turn out was better than last year. Good turn out of St. Louis area riders. We had a blast.

I never cease to be amazed by the things that get missed and dismissed when it comes to the officiating of the actual racing. Recently I've witnessed two separate bad calls by officials that resulted in unfair final results. On both occasions the person late for the grid was rewarded while the people that were on time got penalized. Apparently when the officials make a procedural mistake they void out basic starting procedures and are confused on what to do with this person when the arrive late for the show. Although these things are clearly in the rule book. The rulebook is especially clear on the minute board procedures.  The timing of third and final call was brutal as well. Way to much time waiting on the 5 board.
All that being said ...Officials travel, work in extreme conditions and put up with racer b.s. So I guess you gotta take it unless you wish to do it yourself.

Saturday and Sunday were dry but windy and cold in the mornings.

Thanks to everyone who worked to make the whole weekend a success .

Attendance wasn't bad on Saturday....  we had several grids that were around 25 bikes.  The rest were in the 15-20 range.  Some people must have been scared off by the forecast on Sunday as the numbers were down a little.

The weather held off Sunday and it was around 60 with no rain.

Jim,
I was disappointed in several aspects of how things went on Sunday.  We had a skeleton crew of people working the races who had experience with motorcycles.  The track provided the bulk of the staffing and unfortunately many were adapting to our procedures as they went.

Couple of points........

* The decision to issue a Meatball does not come from the Starter or the Grid Marshalls.  If the Grid Marshalls or the Starter see a violation on Start procedures they advise the Referee who makes the determination as to whether or not the penalty will be given.

Verbal abuse of the Grid Marshalls by racers family members does not create any benefit to anyone.

* The procedure we used for the 3rd call was that it went out as soon as we had the Checkered flag on the previous race.

On Saturday I had worked out with Control that we would go with the 5 board when I received word that the last bike on it's cool down lap was at turn #9.  That seemed to work out well.

For some reason on Sunday that didn't happen and I wasn't advised that we had a 'Green' track for the next race until the last bike was on Hot Pit.  I don't know if Control was told by Track Management to discontinue the procedure from Saturday, or what.  That 30-45 second window can make a difference on how long bikes sit waiting for the 5 board.

As the Starter, I can't let bikes onto the track until I'm advised that we have a 'Green' track.

* As you know, because of the weather forecast, we pushed thru the races as quickly as we could - even foregoing a lunch break.   The rain didn't materialize and we finished by 3pm.

Were there challenges involved in the first race weekend of the year at a track that hosts 1 race this year?  Definitely.

Could things have been better?  Most Definitely.

[smoke54]

overall it appeared to me that things went very smoothly during my first visit to Heartland Park.  Had a good time learning another track and managed to post personal bests in every race!  thanks CCS/ASRA and all the workers!
tim

[Farmboy]

Smoke , this was your first time at HPT?!? Man, you are rocking this year! Ya gotta come to BHF!

[Fast Eddy]

I had a great time. It seemed to run smooth from my point of view.
Wish I could have had some dry practice friday to learn the track better but it was still all good.

[stlrainman]

Rick, you are a good man and your take on the days events is much appreciated and respected. I am still curious why the people that showed up on time got penalized and the racer that showed up late and was still moving on the 2 board was rewarded. Between the owner of CCS, the race director and the referee, there must be a hundred years of experience. The bad call was not do to the inexperience of the grid staff.
I stopped apologizing for my brothers knee jerk reactions a long time ago.

[Greeny]

the event was ran very smoothly and consistently for my races and i couldn't have been happier with the weekend.  it was my first time out to topeka and it's definitely not my last!

[steve p]

Rick, you are a good man and your take on the days events is much appreciated and respected. I am still curious why the people that showed up on time got penalized and the racer that showed up late and was still moving on the 2 board was rewarded. Between the owner of CCS, the race director and the referee, there must be a hundred years of experience. The bad call was not do to the inexperience of the grid staff.
I stopped apologizing for my brothers knee jerk reactions a long time ago.

Ben I was watching that race from pit row.  The rider came out of the last turn as the 2 board was up.  As the green flag was thrown he was just coming through the amateur wave and had a rolling start.  I was dumbfounded as I watched the race and no meatball came out.  I heard several people complain.  Otherwise it seemed to be a decent event with outstanding announcing.

[Jack_Brock]

Ben I was watching that race from pit row.  The rider came out of the last turn as the 2 board was up.  As the green flag was thrown he was just coming through the amateur wave and had a rolling start.  I was dumbfounded as I watched the race and no meatball came out.  I heard several people complain.  Otherwise it seemed to be a decent event with outstanding announcing.

I think stlrainmian is another of the Probst clan, I can't see Ben giving up the smites he worked so hard for-LOL!

So was the rider in question an expert and drove through the stopped novice wave?  Was he let out of pit lane after the 5 board, or why was he so slow to come around?  Per the rules, what should have happened?  Have him start at the back of the novice grid or something?