As a first timer to the place I left with mixed emotions. The track was good! Whith the hot lap deal I thought it was a little rough. I walk up with the team to the drivers meating and when it was done are driver went strait to the hauler put his safty gear on rolled him to the push off and got sent back and it took him 10min to get ready maybe. The guy on the P.A. yelled the whole time that was crazy. It was the first dirt shower I have had in turn one wished someone would have gave me a heads up not to sit there.All in all yes I would go back to watch but would not tow the car 2.5hrs to be treated like that

I was extremely disappointed in the track’s decision to penalize the sprint cars by taking away hot laps. We made the 350 mile round trip to Kokomo last night to evaluate the substantial changes we made to the chassis and gain some data for the upcoming sprint week race. Many racers in the pits talked about loading after the call to take away hot laps but only Damion had the integrity to do so. I was among those that wanted to load but was swayed by the fact that loading would cost the team $420 ($200 in pit passes and entry fees and $220 in diesel) and we would not meet our objective of gaining valuable tuning data. The gain in tuning data had to be balanced against the risk that we would start 3rd in a tightly packed heat with a car that may be uncontrollable.

We don’t run Kokomo on a weekly basis and I usually make the car pretty free (safe) for hot laps and then tune (tighten) to the track conditions. Without the benefits of hot laps I had to literally say to Daron that I didn’t know what the car would do in the 1st corner.
Daron’s timeline in his earlier post was correct and I know for a fact that Keith Bloom was the first car in the push off lane and he sat there for 2 to 3 minutes waiting to be pushed before being told to go back to his pits because they had canceled wheel packing and there would be no hot laps. We were rolling on the way to the push off lane when the announcement was made.

As for the pit PA announcer, he begins incessantly making calls for the cars to come to the push off lane way before it is necessary and because of his constant “crying wolf” the competitors have no sense of urgency to comply. The threats and tone of his calls are demeaning to each and every competitor in the pits. I certainly understand the need to keep the show moving and that the fans don’t want to wait between races but I have been at many other tracks which accomplish that goal without being demeaning to the competitors.

As for the KISS coordinator, she initially stated that the pit PA announcer did not have the authority to take away hot laps and she would talk with track management. Everyone can see how effective she was at getting that accomplished.

Kokomo is a great little track and usually well prepped. The fans are terrific and I thank everyone for coming out. I realize that we are there to entertain and I hope every fan feels they received value for the hard earned money they spent last night. I need to balance the money we spend against the value we receive in accomplishing our goals. I certainly don’t need to spend so much and take unnecessary chances of tearing up the car to get one opportunity to tune the car and be treated like I was last night.

Damion had the courage to take a stand and follow through. Until more racers (myself included) find it within themselves to become as principled, we are doomed to keep receiving this kind of treatment. I can express my displeasure in two ways; by letting everyone know about the problem and by not voluntarily returning to the facility until something changes.

Rob Hoffman

As Always, very well stated Rob.

The negative to loading up however, is youll have certain fans calling you "primadonnas" for not racing. Remember the whole MSCS deal at Lawrenceburg?

All in all the decision for the drivers and teams to race is not in our hands. Racing is a business and as owners you arent out to lose money. Trust me, losing money sucks

I'll be the first to tell you I'm not a huge O'Connor fan. It's not a secret they aren't willing to change things on racer or fan based input. I guess we will have to deal with that.
The things that don't surprise me are as follows; that they pulled the plug on hot laps- they just don't care. They have the market cornered on sprint cars here in Indiana on Sunday nights and any other day of the week. It's very cyclical. If they continue to mistreat people and not improve, and yes, everything can be improved, then another track will take the "awesomest racetrack" crown away from them. I remember when Putnamville was the **** man!
Also not surprised that DG took his ball and stomped off the playground last night. Remember when Ballou laid on the air horn last year at the gate? Too bad they opened it so quickly. I enjoyed the sound of a good semi horn.
I'm not sure how they do it over in Illinois, but here in Indiana, we view the internet as a viable source for media. I guess late model guys don't understand the qwerty concept of a web based lifestyle.
On the flip side; most people hate change. And cutting out hot laps is a time/money saver. Let's look at this a different way. On a regular show, the sprint cars warm the motors, and then go out to qualify in groups. No hot laps there. So really.....what's the difference? Still hammer down and speed and time still dictate the outcome later on in the night, right?
Let's not go to slamming my beloved KKM SPDWY just yet. I hope a sprint car group buys the track next. Nothing against the O'Connors, but fenders seem to close in minds just like the enclose wheels. Then, again, the flip side of this is; they didn't get successful by being rolled over on and easily swayed.
Let's give them one more shot. Maybe the guy in the white pants just need a hug?
That annoying nasally voice gives the speedway more character anyway. I can't stop going and neither can you.....

Think, sometimes, how quick you can make the wrong decision, and how much longer it takes to make the correct one. I don't know how many times I've had this happen to us, and the first time, it's their fault, the next time, It's mine!!! Bob!

I value Daron and Rob's take on what happened. Even heard a couple of their concerns repeated by track staff. Hopefully this will be a one and done problem.

Sprint car racing is the only form of intertainment where the clowns build the stage , put on the show and pay money to be in the show. And then sometimes be treated like were the problem and talked down at, or shouted at like children. You got to love racing .

Love Kokomo.... but that pit PA announcer is annoying, the O'Connor's need to get rid of this guy.

Its the same guy featured in Follow the Corn isnt it?