Yeah, I had to put a lot of disclaimers in there before I could say we were the only one, including the beer garden, but I do think the beer garden is a cool addition. I know that when I race RC it's mostly to relax and have a good time, and sharing a pitcher of beer with my buddies in between heats sounds really good to me. Plus, more of my 'non-RC' friends will be more likely to come along and watch, since they'd just be sitting in some other beer garden anyway.
Venture is pretty far away from Tinley Park, so I don't see us having much overlap in terms of clientele. A series race would be fun though. We'll have to work something out next summer. Maybe all the Chicagoland tracks can get together and sponsor a series of races (maybe just one at each track), with a points system and trophys at the end. Back in the 80's when I raced 1/12th scale 4-cell electric around here, there was a series race like that. It was a lot of fun.