Breaking News
The MIS Banquet will be January 23, 2010 at The Heights in Verona, Wisconsin. Please check our website or future E-News editions for more details.
If you have any questions during the off season please contact Dave Grueneberg at 608.513.2278.
Fall Classic Falls to the Elements
For the fans, the race teams, and MIS management it certainly wasn't the way anyone wanted to see the 2009 racing season end at Madison International Speedway. But after nearly a month without any significant rain, Mother Nature decided to return to southern Wisconsin this week and force the cancellation of the third annual Fall Classic.
The precipitation began on Tuesday when the speedway received over three inches of rain. "We have places at the track where it doesn't seem to dry very quickly," said MIS General Manager Dave Grueneberg. "I had the pump out again in turn three taking care of the ponding on the low side of the track, but the outer pits were a problem." An on-going issue in turn one once again created a challenge for Grueneberg. "Water gets under the track when it has rained hard. It seeps up through the track and makes racing conditions dangerous."
On Thursday night speedway officials were looking at already wet conditions combined with a less than optimistic forecast. "We knew we had drivers coming from throughout the Midwest and felt like we needed to make the call early. I asked John Wells to get the word out that racing would be pushed back to Saturday or the Sunday rain date," noted Grueneberg. "I wanted to make sure the word got out early to avoid anyone driving to the track on Friday morning since the pits were going to open at noon."
The rain held off until later in the day on Friday, but when it came it stayed around for a few hours. "The problem was it only made the wet conditions in the pits worse and didn't help the leaking issue in turn one."
Grueneberg arrived at the track at 4:00 AM on Saturday and was faced with making the most difficult decision he's had to make in his years at MIS. "It was still very wet plus more rain was in the forecast for both Saturday and Sunday. I wanted to make this decision early so I made the decision to cancel the Fall Classic. I was on the phone with John (Wells) before 6:00 AM so he could get the word out."
"It was the toughest call I have had to make at MIS. I know how much the drivers and fans were looking forward to coming to race here for the Classic. I also had to consider the effects of any rain delays on our curfew in addition to what any further rain would have done to the wetness."
The decision didn't come without its critics. "Any time you have to make a decision like this and it's not raining people are going to question you. I appreciate the drivers and teams who took the time to talk to me about this decision. I was looking out for their safety and the possibility of having a real mess in the pits."
"I am a racer. I'm also a race fan. I know how it is when you are all set to race and then find out it's not going to happen. But in my role as General Manager I also have to consider a lot of other things and that's what makes this job pretty challenging at times."
Fans and teams will now have to wait until May of 2010 for the next racing event at MIS. "I want to thank everyone for supporting us in 2009 and we are looking forward to 2010. We have a very loyal group of fans and teams and appreciate all you do for MIS. I wish we could have ended on a more positive note."
The next event will be the MIS Banquet which will take place on Saturday, January 23, 2009 at The Heights in Verona, Wisconsin.
Fans are encouraged to follow off-season news at MIS by going to the track website at http://www.madisoninternationalspeedway.com and subscribing to the free MIS E-News. Facebook fans can also keep up on the news from MIS by going to the MIS Facebook page.
That's all for now. The E-News will be coming out to announce special events and you can look for it a couple of times a month during the off season.
This article was posted to the website on October 1st, 2009 • Click to view all related content in the following categories
