Post by Chris O'Neill on Jan 17, 2013 12:27:20 GMT -4
Atlantic Pro Tree Series (APTS) AGM Meeting Minutes 15-January-2013
The APTS held its 2013 AGM at the St. Hubert restaurant in Moncton, NB at 11:00am on Saturday, 12-January-2013. The following is a summary of this meeting.
• The meeting was chaired by Bernie Corscadden and began with awards being handed out from the 2012 season. Plaques were also handed to the participating tracks, series sponsors and to Trevor Cowie (8.90 Quick Rod points champion). The tracks and sponsors were thanked for their support for a very successful inaugural season, and we hope to see them again in 2013.
• Long time racer & local legend Dave Warman (who passed away 10-January-2012), was remembered by those present.
• Mike Sargent (Treasurer) reviewed the series’ financial report and the current financial status of the organization in his report.
• It was agreed that the Championship round will be eliminated in the upcoming season‘s events. There will be a run-off to the finals in each of the three classes at each event, which will then crown three class winners per race weekend. This will accomplish two things: first, it will assist the track operators a bit by streamlining eliminations make it a bit easier to administer, and second, it will eliminate staggered trees and also provide equal footing for each of the class winners with regard to the stature of their class win.
• The points structure will have some changes incorporated in an attempt to eliminate the majority of the points total ties experienced in the first season. Various models are being reviewed to see what the best solution will be to accomplish this.
• The prize money which previously would have been awarded in the Championship round will be used to provide an enhanced qualifying program, with the top qualifier in each class receiving a $100.00 cash bonus as well as a yet to be determined points bonus for achieving Top Qualifier status. Bye runs will be based on initial qualifying performance, not round per round performance.
• During the discussion with the racers of the 8.90 class who were in attendance regarding the choice between .400 and .500 trees, it was a split decision. Prior to putting this to a final vote, Bernie indicated that he would contact each of the track operators to determine their opinions. If the incorporation of a .400 tree is unanimously acceptable to the various track operators, then it will be put to a vote (to be held at the next meeting). If it is seen as something that the tracks are not overly-optimistic about, then all classes will continue to race on the .500 tree for this season, which when discussed with the floor, seemed to be not as much of an issue as last year at our inaugural meeting.
• When polled at the meeting, the large majority of the 9.90 racers in attendance (which was not that substantial a number) were in favour of keeping the .500 tree for this class. As Ray Bourque pointed out, a large percentage of the class is made up of Super Pro racers who do not have the equipment in their car to run this specific form of competition, and have little interest in converting to a "proper" tree on a full-time basis. It was also pointed out that the lack of actual 9.90 pro tree racers who physically attended the meeting was very telling, even though it was pointed out well in advance as to just how important this meeting would be for this particular class. It was also noted by a number of racers that the majority of sportsman or pro tree racers have delay boxes in their vehicles and the transition from a 0.400 tree to a 0.500 Pro Tree is a simple matter of putting an additional .100 or so into the box to accommodate the slower tree. The final consensus was that most of the support received for the for this class in the initial year has been from Super Pro racers trying their hand and the majority would rather have use a 0.500 Tree
Bernie indicated that he would check with each of the track operators to see how many of the tracks have the auto-start program available to them. If it is possible, we will try to incorporate it into the program wherever possible. Barring this, we will be implementing an at-the-track program with the race directors & track management, & most important, starters, to try to eliminate some of the inconsistency issues experienced last season.
• Three new class representatives have been selected, who will be sounding boards for both the series organizers & racers, and will be the “conduit” to pass information back and forth in a consistent streamlined fashion, which will aid in getting timely solutions for our competitors as well as track operators;
• 8.90 Class Representative; Lorne Buchanan
• 9.90 Class Representative; Josh Goodwin
• 10.90 Class Representative; George Estabrooks
Each of these reps will be receiving a list of their class participants, along with contact information for each member under their jurisdiction. It will be important to channel any concerns, questions, suggestions, etc. to your respective class representative & a good portion of correspondence that you will receive from the series will be channeled through these individuals as well. Unfortunately, one of our unfulfilled goals for this meeting was to get a baseline of track reps, or race directors volunteered, nominated and/or elected, but unfortunately we were unable to fill any of these positions at this meeting, but we did receive a few positive responses which will hopefully lead to future commitments. This is something that we absolutely have to have in place for this season to make the show run a bit smoother. It was probably one of our only unachieved goals from last season & one that is critical for the upcoming one.
The tentative schedule for the 2013 season was announced (pending track operators approval). For this season we will attempt to balance the events a bit more evenly, while providing a comfortable space to allow racers to participate in Miramichi Dragway’s ‘All Out’ Event if they should choose to, and also providing an extra seasons-end event to accommodate potential rained-out events through the season. The points series will, as last season, be determined by the racers best three of four events, & hopefully this season we will be able to get the full schedule in without issues from Mother Nature. Here is the tentative 2013 Schedule;
Race 1; June 8th, PEI (as last year, possibly an eight mile event)
Race 2; July 6th; Greenfield
(August 4th -5th, Miramiche All Out Race – non-points earning race)
Race 3; August 24th; Sydney (ADRA event)
Race 4; September 7th; Miramichi
Alternate; September 28th, Miramichi; (rain-out makeup event)
• The next meeting of the APTS is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of the car show in Moncton, 19-21 April-2013. Please check on the Maritime Drag Racing Message Board for details.
The APTS held its 2013 AGM at the St. Hubert restaurant in Moncton, NB at 11:00am on Saturday, 12-January-2013. The following is a summary of this meeting.
• The meeting was chaired by Bernie Corscadden and began with awards being handed out from the 2012 season. Plaques were also handed to the participating tracks, series sponsors and to Trevor Cowie (8.90 Quick Rod points champion). The tracks and sponsors were thanked for their support for a very successful inaugural season, and we hope to see them again in 2013.
• Long time racer & local legend Dave Warman (who passed away 10-January-2012), was remembered by those present.
• Mike Sargent (Treasurer) reviewed the series’ financial report and the current financial status of the organization in his report.
• It was agreed that the Championship round will be eliminated in the upcoming season‘s events. There will be a run-off to the finals in each of the three classes at each event, which will then crown three class winners per race weekend. This will accomplish two things: first, it will assist the track operators a bit by streamlining eliminations make it a bit easier to administer, and second, it will eliminate staggered trees and also provide equal footing for each of the class winners with regard to the stature of their class win.
• The points structure will have some changes incorporated in an attempt to eliminate the majority of the points total ties experienced in the first season. Various models are being reviewed to see what the best solution will be to accomplish this.
• The prize money which previously would have been awarded in the Championship round will be used to provide an enhanced qualifying program, with the top qualifier in each class receiving a $100.00 cash bonus as well as a yet to be determined points bonus for achieving Top Qualifier status. Bye runs will be based on initial qualifying performance, not round per round performance.
• During the discussion with the racers of the 8.90 class who were in attendance regarding the choice between .400 and .500 trees, it was a split decision. Prior to putting this to a final vote, Bernie indicated that he would contact each of the track operators to determine their opinions. If the incorporation of a .400 tree is unanimously acceptable to the various track operators, then it will be put to a vote (to be held at the next meeting). If it is seen as something that the tracks are not overly-optimistic about, then all classes will continue to race on the .500 tree for this season, which when discussed with the floor, seemed to be not as much of an issue as last year at our inaugural meeting.
• When polled at the meeting, the large majority of the 9.90 racers in attendance (which was not that substantial a number) were in favour of keeping the .500 tree for this class. As Ray Bourque pointed out, a large percentage of the class is made up of Super Pro racers who do not have the equipment in their car to run this specific form of competition, and have little interest in converting to a "proper" tree on a full-time basis. It was also pointed out that the lack of actual 9.90 pro tree racers who physically attended the meeting was very telling, even though it was pointed out well in advance as to just how important this meeting would be for this particular class. It was also noted by a number of racers that the majority of sportsman or pro tree racers have delay boxes in their vehicles and the transition from a 0.400 tree to a 0.500 Pro Tree is a simple matter of putting an additional .100 or so into the box to accommodate the slower tree. The final consensus was that most of the support received for the for this class in the initial year has been from Super Pro racers trying their hand and the majority would rather have use a 0.500 Tree
Bernie indicated that he would check with each of the track operators to see how many of the tracks have the auto-start program available to them. If it is possible, we will try to incorporate it into the program wherever possible. Barring this, we will be implementing an at-the-track program with the race directors & track management, & most important, starters, to try to eliminate some of the inconsistency issues experienced last season.
• Three new class representatives have been selected, who will be sounding boards for both the series organizers & racers, and will be the “conduit” to pass information back and forth in a consistent streamlined fashion, which will aid in getting timely solutions for our competitors as well as track operators;
• 8.90 Class Representative; Lorne Buchanan
• 9.90 Class Representative; Josh Goodwin
• 10.90 Class Representative; George Estabrooks
Each of these reps will be receiving a list of their class participants, along with contact information for each member under their jurisdiction. It will be important to channel any concerns, questions, suggestions, etc. to your respective class representative & a good portion of correspondence that you will receive from the series will be channeled through these individuals as well. Unfortunately, one of our unfulfilled goals for this meeting was to get a baseline of track reps, or race directors volunteered, nominated and/or elected, but unfortunately we were unable to fill any of these positions at this meeting, but we did receive a few positive responses which will hopefully lead to future commitments. This is something that we absolutely have to have in place for this season to make the show run a bit smoother. It was probably one of our only unachieved goals from last season & one that is critical for the upcoming one.
The tentative schedule for the 2013 season was announced (pending track operators approval). For this season we will attempt to balance the events a bit more evenly, while providing a comfortable space to allow racers to participate in Miramichi Dragway’s ‘All Out’ Event if they should choose to, and also providing an extra seasons-end event to accommodate potential rained-out events through the season. The points series will, as last season, be determined by the racers best three of four events, & hopefully this season we will be able to get the full schedule in without issues from Mother Nature. Here is the tentative 2013 Schedule;
Race 1; June 8th, PEI (as last year, possibly an eight mile event)
Race 2; July 6th; Greenfield
(August 4th -5th, Miramiche All Out Race – non-points earning race)
Race 3; August 24th; Sydney (ADRA event)
Race 4; September 7th; Miramichi
Alternate; September 28th, Miramichi; (rain-out makeup event)
• The next meeting of the APTS is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of the car show in Moncton, 19-21 April-2013. Please check on the Maritime Drag Racing Message Board for details.