Ohio Valley Speedway, tucked away in the rolling landscape just outside of Parkersburg, West Virginia, has always been one of my favorite Saturday night getaways when I have an off night at Eldora. Even though it's over three hours away, the long straightaways and ultra-tight corners of the 1/3-mile oval lends itself to some really phenomenal racing. Because of this, it's always been a track I highly recommend for someone who truly wants to see exciting, side-by-side racing.
Last weekend, I made such a trip to visit The Valley. Tagging along with me were my father, my brother-in-law, my four year old son, and my four year old nephew. With "Racing" advertised to start at 7:30pm, we arrived at 5:00pm thinking Hot Laps would most likely start between 6:00pm and 6:30pm.
Anyone who's a parent will tell you that keeping a child entertained is a tough task, especially when that child is under the age of five. With that in mind, imagine the impression we got when the first actual race of the night didn't hit the speedway until 9:35pm. There were no rain delays, no equipment failures, and no power outages. They simply started two hours late.
As usual, the racing at Ohio valley was top notch...despite the fact that the Late Model feature (the first A-Main of the night) wasn't over until 12:40am. The two kids were long asleep by that time, having only watched three heat races before falling asleep shortly after 10:00pm.
Why did they start late? A few reasons. Now running transponders, The Valley feels a need to qualify every car in the pits. Despite rock solid car counts last year, they are group qualifying (four cars at a time) this year. Ironically, their average car counts are almost identical in every single division thus far in 2014.
Most folks sitting around us in the stands were getting pretty tired of seeing groups of four Hot Lap/Qualify. Folks wanted to see racing, and that wasn't happening.
The people sitting directly in front of us were at The Valley for the very first time, having made the two-plus hour trip up from Beckley, WV. Even with the solid racing, these fans were extremely disappointed in the lateness of the hour. To top it all off, they took a 15 minute intermission shortly after midnight.
Starting late seems to be a common problem in our sport and I haven't figured out why that is. All other sports start their programs on time. Church starts on time. Work starts on time. Everything else in the world around us starts on time, yet there are some race tracks where time doesn't seem to matter.
If you've never done so, try visiting Attica or Oakshade or Florence or Limaland or Lawrenceburg. These tracks start on time every single week and get their fans out at a decent hour (Attica and Eldora have only had one show run later than 10:30pm all year). As a matter of fact, Oakshade's Late Model feature was finished BEFORE the first heat race even hit the track Saturday night at Ohio Valley.
By the way, Oakshade had 110 cars. Ohio Valley had 111.
In closing, track promoters need to realize they're in the business to entertain. Starting over two hours late because you qualified anything in the pits that had a motor isn't my idea of entertainment.
The Valley is one of my favorite tracks...I'll be back. I'll give them a second chance. However, there are others that may not be as forgiving as me. Tracks need to treat every night like it's a first impression.
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