How Not To Put On A Sand Drag
| How NOT to put on a Sand Drag St. Lawrence Co. Fair Sand Drag |
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This past summer the Connection was invited to see a new event at the Gourverneur/St. Lawrence Co.,NY Fair. Their standard ATV Pulls was to be replaced by NYSATVDRA (New York State ATV Drag Racing Association sand drags on the Fairgrounds horse racing track. We came at the invitation of Mike Harder from ATV Special Events who was putting on the nights show. A couple members from my local ATV club, the Rivergate Wheelers were invited also to help with tech inspection. So I tagged along with them. We arrived at the track and met Mike Harder, third from left, the promoter. At that time he said an interview was not possible because he was too busy getting everything set up but he would find time later. He said he was initially concerned about the pit placement. It was not at the beginning of the drag strip as he wanted, but was located at the finish line. He feared, riders would not be in position for their classes and this would cause delays. As I was waiting outside the control trailer for an interview, a gentleman approached the trailer and inquired if these drags would be run like the drags two weeks earlier because if they were, he might as well go home now! Hmmm!?? Mike informed him that this was their first time at the fair and to cut them some slack. Hmmm, if this event was being run to NYSATVDRA standards, it really shouldn’t matter if they had been here before or not! I decided to wander over to tech and see how the Rivergate people were doing. They were engaged in
pre-tech, checking that each machine had a working kill switch and that race numbers were properly placed. The majority of the ATV’s only had the factory kill switch and not the mandated tether kill switch. One machine didn’t even have a kill switch of any kind! To stop the motor, you just released the throttle! Even this one was allowed initially to pass Tech under Mikes guidelines until there was a protest by the Tech workers directly to Mike. The next problem arose when utility ATV’s with aftermarket sand or mud tires and even aftermarket exhaust pipes wanted to enter as stock and Tech disallowed it then Mike overturned it. This information was taken back to the Tech workers by the riders. Hearing this information, the Tech workers stopped and had an emergency meeting with Mike, where a “new” class was created, Modified Utility. Hmmm, anybody ever hear of modifying a utility machine? Was this the first time this had happened in New York State before? Doubt it! All this confusion takes time. The races were supposed to start at 6:45PM It was now 8:00PM and the riders meeting was just finishing. And everybody was to have three practice stages at the “Christmas Tree”, All 100+ riders.  |
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 Note the “Super Buggy” in the above image. This home-made buggy was one of the fastest ATV’s in attendance, sporting a 4-cylinder Honda SOHC motorcycle engine from 30 years ago!
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Needless to say it was dark as the first class was run. Immediately after that first class, more problems arose. Instead of lining up the next class, in order, behind the start line, there was just a jumble of riders. Machines didn’t have the required number on the front to aid in identification.because some riders moved their pie plate number to the back of the machine. Needless to say, it was not an organized sight, Mike screaming rider numbers into the darkness and riders fighting their way to the front of the pack to be lined up for their race. The majority of the time, there was quite a delay between races as Mike tried in vain to locate the correct riders for each class. Hmmm, why not pre-line up the riders and if the riders are not ready and on the line,
they should be disqualified. I watched the crowd in the stands dwindle from a full house for practice, to 1/3 by 10:30PM. Delay after delay. One race run then everybody stands around for minutes on end trying to get the correct people through the crowd of riders and machines on the track. The races were supposed to be over by 9:30PM, so by 10:30PM, with not even the first heat finished the two Rivergate Wheelers and myself decided this was not how we wanted to spend the evening (and possibly morning)! So, we left, myself without the interview with Mike Harder of ATV Special Events, that I had waited 4 hours for. I really feel bad for the riders, for some of them, this was probably their first drag race. They had to pay for registration, for an entry fee, for the Hot Pits and for a second class if they desired and all they got were rules that were changed as the night went on as well as mass confusion. I hope they don’t think this is the way the New York State ATV Drag Racing Association is supposed to be run. At least I hope this is not how the association is run! Our Feelings as we left that night are best expressed below.
they should be disqualified. I watched the crowd in the stands dwindle from a full house for practice, to 1/3 by 10:30PM. Delay after delay. One race run then everybody stands around for minutes on end trying to get the correct people through the crowd of riders and machines on the track. The races were supposed to be over by 9:30PM, so by 10:30PM, with not even the first heat finished the two Rivergate Wheelers and myself decided this was not how we wanted to spend the evening (and possibly morning)! So, we left, myself without the interview with Mike Harder of ATV Special Events, that I had waited 4 hours for. I really feel bad for the riders, for some of them, this was probably their first drag race. They had to pay for registration, for an entry fee, for the Hot Pits and for a second class if they desired and all they got were rules that were changed as the night went on as well as mass confusion. I hope they don’t think this is the way the New York State ATV Drag Racing Association is supposed to be run. At least I hope this is not how the association is run! Our Feelings as we left that night are best expressed below.