Let me begin with once again,,,thanking Bill ( my hometown guy ) for this site where we can all come together as dirt fans !!!!!!!

Now,,,are we blessed or cursed ?

I'm am growing weary of all the complaints with good/bad track conditions,,,good/bad car counts...

How many times have you read JUST THIS WEEK from people who drive HOURS to Indiana because they don't have what we have ?

I just learned ( from this site ) about the Whitewater/ Burg ) weekend. Aug. 1& 2...
I had never heard of Whitewater...

Wow.....This is added to the 9+ dirt tracks I have within a short drive..

I consider myself dusty,dirty, & BLESSED.

Yes , you indiana residents r blessed!

Just speaking for myself here....it generally takes a lot of aggravation from a track/event for me to complain about it on a website, i.e., I have to be pretty upset.

Case in point - the fiasco several years ago at the USAC opener at Eldora....that to me was worth ******** about - and enough people did, and ended with Tony Stewart making things right.

I don't think it is all bad when folks air a legit complaint about tracks/organizations, fans, etc. Sometimes positive changes can come about. I know from the posts on IOW that the promoters of my favorite tracks, Waynesfield and Lawrenceburg, are open to suggestions on ways to improve. They care and listen, and try to help.

But you're right, we are blessed to live here in the heart of some great racing!

Even though I'm in winged country I'm still blessed. I've got 5 good dirt tracks and a road course I can get to in 2 hours or less. Most of these tracks have good to great car counts and I've got good friends to meet up with and BS about racing every week I'm at a track. I've got ARDC midgets to get me by until USAC comes east each year too to help with my wingless fix.

I lived in the south east for 5 years and there was one track within two hours of were I lived, they ran 6 to 7 stock car classes with 50 to 55 cars total each week.

Certainly, continual negativity can get tiresome and counter productive. However, let's don't get too "Polyannish" and think there is not a place for constructive criticism and evaluation. There is always room for improvement and sometimes the only way to know what to improve is to identify the shortcomings and try to fix them.

anytime I see something I don't like about a track I will mention it, otherwise its likely to continue to go un-noticed. also I certainly see nothing wrong with voicing one's opinions as to what changes and or additions they'd like to see. there's nothing wrong with making a good thing even better

BLESSED I head off to Indiana 3 or 4 times a year to get my nonwing fix. Wish here in west central Illinois there were more non wing sprint racing. We run a wing car but would have no problem pulling the wing off anytime. Growing up with non wing cars that is where my heart is, but now we got a lid on ours. If I can't get a non wing fix Knoxville is three hours away. Indiana you are blessed not only with tracks and cars but also with the fan base. Our home track barley fills the stands on a sat. night.

I have said many times that we are so blessed with what we have here in Indiana. If you don't like what you see here, venture out and follow the other forms of racing and see how that grabs you. The economy has taken a toll and you can see it with lower car counts and the number of fans in attendance. Certainly not a great time to be a track owner/promoter.

Too many folks look at what isn't there instead of what is there. Mainly a quality field of cars rather than the quanitity of cars. More isn't always better. Complainers on here certainly don't understand how things work. If you have a legitimate complaint, contact the track directly and tell them. Many promoters don't read IOW so spilling your guts to the world certainly can fall on deaf ears. If you have a better idea, offer a solutions. I doubt any promoter would not at least listen to your problem.

Just a few things to remember before you hop up on that soap box.

#1-It's a dirt track and yeah you might get some dust and dirt on you. It will wash off so don't sweat it. You loved playing in the dirt as a kid, enjoy some of it now.

#2-No promoter purposely screws up just to make you miserable. Things happen. The best laid plans sometimes go south. Some of the worst days for me at the race track have beaten many of the best days I had working. Kick back and enjoy the time and maybe meet somebody who also isn't happy so you can complain together.

#3-If racing makes you so miserable that you can't say a good word once in a while, maybe you should stay home and take up a hobby. Unless of course your better half pushes you out of the house because you are a cantankerous old fart that even she can't stand you.

#4-Before you take a promoter out behind the wood shed, I suggest that you walk in there shoes to see exactly how things operate. Offer your time to help at the track and maybe you won't really have anything to complain about. Ask them how YOU can help. In fact, you might even say thank you to them for even opening the gates every week.

So to answer your question. I'm certainly blessed to be living in Indiana where we have so very many choices to spend a race night each week. So many others are cursed with little or no racing to speak of.

You may have heard of Union County Speedway. Same track but new name (or recycled name).

Amen!