Dawn, I realize that this may be water under the bridge now, BUT here goes: I left a phone message with a top ROAR official months ago as well as sending an e-mail regarding Hobby Chamber's troubles (10-27-04 to be exact). Below is a copy of the e-mail:
[Name withheld], you'll want to look into HC [Hobby Chamber]. A few guys and I were there this past weekend for the RC Driver race. I ended up TQ and winning the event and enjoyed the track (it's nice and big), but had some reservations that I thought you should know about:
1) The driver's stand is *ultra high*--you end up looking over the track and craning your neck to drive. Also, your antenna cannot be fully up as it hits the rafters and pipes in the ceiling.
2) The driver's stand is right on the track. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought ROAR rules state there needs to be some distance between the track and the stand. What happens is guys have to lean forward making driving way more difficult?
3) Heat--the owner, George has a terrible reputation for not turning on the heat. He didn't do it for this race giving excuses (as I'm told he always does). It was as cold in the building as outside: 56 degrees.
4) Pit space--there simply is not enough pit space for hundreds of guys.
You're going to hear about these complaints before the race, so I figured you'd want to hear about it sooner than later. Let me know if you have any other questions. If you'd like I can take a trip up there and take some more pics of the track. (It's a two hour hike, so it would probably have to wait until I'm racing there next.) [end of message]
I checked through my Inbox and cannot find nor do I remember receiving a reply to this e-mail. It seems that two of the four suggestions were worked on, but #3 (which pertains to the person in charge) was never addressed and neither was my phone message to the official regarding potential problems with the owner. I even confided in several members of my team something to the effect of: "Watch. There's going to be problems. I let ROAR know and still nothing's going to be done."