Phx. Dbl. Nat. Canceled

[ghickman]

Anyone planning to make the trip to the Phoenix Dbl. National don't bother, it's been cancelled.

According to what I was told late this afternoon the SCCA National Office had deemed the track UNSAFE.

I guess when Carl Edwards went thru the catch fence last season it messed up the concrete etc. The track manager was making all the needed repairs but according to what I was told today the SCCA didn't like what they saw.

Big time bummer for me and my fellow F1000 guys.

I see Chris Page already posted something in the Gen. Track Info....sorry for being redundant

Gary Hickman
FB #76

[Matt Conrad]

Truly unbelievable...and unfortunately true!

The Edwards incident wasn't at PIR so I'm not sure why they would be fixing the catch fence 3 days before the biggest SCCA event we have here all year.

There's supposed to be an SCCA announcement today and I'm very interested to hear what they say.

Matt Conrad

[SteveLevin]

This is the picture CalClub posted on their website...

Steve

[Matt Conrad]

I was going to withold judgement until I read the SCCA statement, but the picture says a thousand words. It appears evident that PIR doesn't give a s&%t about the SCCA. Why else would they be doing a major reconstruction of the catch fencing (I'm sure a mandate from SmashCar) during the time of our event? Unreal....

Matt Conrad

[Matt Conrad]

Attached is the letter from SCCA regarding this issue...again it seems that PIR dropped the ball here...and the AZ Region and the SCCA members suffer the consequences.

Matt Conrad

[Richard Dziak]

In regards to the cancelation of the recent AZ National event at Phoenix International Raceway and a member of the AZ Region it is easy to cast blame.

From the photo here on ApexSpeed and the same photo posted on the AZ SCCA website it is clear that perhaps both PIR and the AZ SCCA lacked vital communication between the track and the SCCA regional organization. First of all it was impossible for us racers who may have registered to know that construction was in process, as therir was no evidence via website postings or news of pending and current construction.

This project of rebuilding the catch fence had to be in progress and planned for some time as it is a major project. There had to be a lack of follow up between the two entities. Appearently no one from the AZ SCCA inspected the track in the weeks before the weekend dates of Jan 16th, 17th, 18th. It is also appearent that PIR personel was perhaps not upfront with the AZ SCCA region to alert them well in advance that the project could not be completed. As a racer at PIR the catch fence which is down the main straight is a vital safety measure of the track.

The blame most likely goes to a lack of communication between the two organizations. The people who lost out are the racers who had planned to attend this major event.

The track at PIR will eventually be finished and will be safer, but this last minute cancelation with 2 to 3 days left for registration and just days before travel, does not bode well for the AZ Region and its organizers or PIR. I am sure that this will not happen again, as both organization lost revenue, the local business's lost revenue, and damaged their images.

Bottom line, in this sport..... safety MUST come first, then fun and then the competitive spirit of motorsports. I am sure there are many racers who were disappointed as the event was shaping up to be an understanding field of both Formula open wheel cars and closed wheel cars.

Life will go on and so will racing at PIR and the AZ SCCA. I am sure that a lesson was learned by both organizations. Certainly someone dropped the ball, but I am sure we will never know who.