The best part about Volusia tonight was the new operator, Ken Sands! That guy worked his customers the way a business owner should. He made it to every victory circle, and took lots of trips through the stands to meet his customers. He was almost always visible and accessable to anyone. Twice he came over to see people near me to say “hi”.
At one point, I was sitting next to a well known sprint car driver who would normally have been in the show. Mr. Sands climbed the stands, greeted that driver, shook his hand and spent a minute or two with him. I did not listen to their conversation, but I guarantee you it went something like this, “Good to see you! Where is your car tonight? Did you know we have 17 more sprint car races this season?” Love it!
At the FASCAR tracks where I race, there are friendly staff members who often greet and thank racers: Donnie, Butch and Barbara for example. I thought this was so cool tonight because it was the boss out there mixing with his customers and racers. I spoke with him briefly, and he seemed genuinely interested.
VSP has embraced sprint cars in a big way in 2011. Sprints were the main reason I went. Tonights race started 25 cars, while the mini sprints showed up with another 20.
Also on the show were 5 local divisions that started a total of 48 cars. None of them had an outstanding car count, but only the 4 cylinders had 5 cars. The racing was good, and I like the presence of loud, partisan fans! In fact, I saw the biggest, pinkest group of race fans I’ve ever encountered. I guess there must be some good ole’ local rivalries up there.
Hey, I even saw my first helmet throw for several years! This was point-blank, high powered and pretty accurate. Fortunately it was right in front of the stands, so all the fans loved it.
I know you breathlessly await my report on the bathrooms, so I made a point of visiting both mens rooms. Even at the end of the night, they still had hot water, soap, towels and an attendant. They were well lit, and as clean as a track bathroom can be. The only thing that kept them from winning a “Golden Bone” medal for a perfect score was the size. They are too small for a facility of that size and need to be expanded so there are more pots to…well, you figure it out.