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The Surfnsprint Interview
Prologue by surfnsprint:
".....you look at the car inventory of the 360's versus the 410's, doesn't take a genius to figure out that eventually it's all going to be 360's. It's just a matter of time. How long can I hold onto the 410's with the lack of car count and the lack of huge fan support, I can't answer that question."
Don, what is your sprint car program for 2011?
As of right now, we are staying with USAC/CRA 410s. There havent been any official changes to that. I dont know how many shows well have this year, I am in preliminary talks with USAC and I dont expect to release a schedule probably until mid-December. Historically I have always released the schedule on Saturday night of the Oval Nationals but with everything thats going on between the economy and everything else, Im going to wait until the middle of December to release the schedule.
Do you hope to have more shows next year or might it be less?
Odds are that its going to be less. What Im looking to see is where USAC can place more dates with other racetracks with the 410s. Its been tough to book 410 shows. I think well get into that a little further down, but, you know the economics of the 410s as far as the events isnt working for the other promoters. Half the time it isnt working for me and there is a whole set of issues there. So, I expect to meet with USAC by next week, Kevin Miller will be here and we will be talking about all of the aspects of the shows from the purse structure, from the sanction fees, to the end of the years points fund for each show and well look at the whole thing and see what we can come up with. The purse itself, it probably needs to be cut for tracks to survive. Paying a purse thats basically on a thirty two to forty car field for a twenty two car field doesnt work; the pit revenue isnt there to offset the purse. I know that the car owners and drivers arent eager to cut the purse, but its a fact of reality. Its just the way the times are. But again, as of right now, I have no other plans than to bring in the USAC/CRA boys next year, ten, twelve times maybe maximum and thats including the three days of the Oval Nationals. So it will probably be once a month and I dont plan to open the race track until the middle of March next year, Im not going to run in February.
That was a reduced schedule this year, did that help?
It actually helped more last year, because we went to the reduced schedule actually two years ago and the attendance was up more than this year. I think the economy is hurting people more this year than last year and were seeing it both at the back gate and the front gate. Three years ago when we ran every other week, that was a total disaster because it gave the fan more of a chance to miss the show and know that they could come back in two weeks and see the guys again. It gave them more choices and the attendance was down even further at that point. Now if they miss a show, now theyve got to go another month so theyre going to go two months in between seeing the USAC boys. One of the aspects thats hurt the USAC show by running twenty two to twenty five events a year, the stars have gone off and run other series. Youll see them at Victorville or Santa Maria or Ventura, Hanford, Tulare. The days of the USAC/CRA of going back to SCRA, of going back to CRA, of this is the big leagues, this is where the stars are, isnt there anymore. And thats also hurting USAC/ CRA because you can go see these guys race anywhere else. You cant blame them, because if there are only four to twenty races a year where they used to race forty two, they gotta make a living. You know some of these guys are looking at this as a source of revenue; they gotta go run forty two times a year. But the days of 2003, 2004, going back to 2003, the last year CRA was running forty two to forty four 410 shows a year, theyre over. Theyre over. There arent enough racetracks to run them. Weve lost Manzanita, we used to run them seven, eight times a year. Guys dont want to travel that much. One racetrack cant support it. I tried it in 2006 was the last year, in 2008 was the last year I tried to run twenty two to twenty four 410 shows for the year, it did everything but break me. Tough economics.
Where do you hope to see sprint cars and Perris in two years, in three years?
I want the sprint cars to return to be the A show, to be a special show, to be something that people are looking forward to. I think this industry is going to go through some major changes in the next two to four years. I think its only a matter of time before 360s become a reality here. Im one of the last tracks running a continuous 410 non-wing program. I dont know if it can survive. Whether its the economy that gets it, the lack of sponsorship gets it, lack of support from the fans, or the car count. Realistically, there is probably only thirty to thirty five 410 cars inventory in this market place now, where five years ago, there were probably sixty. And then you look at the car inventory of the 360s versus the 410s, doesnt take a genius to figure out that eventually its all going to be 360s. Its just a matter of time. How long can I hold onto the 410s with the lack of car count and the lack of huge fan support, I cant answer that question.
My next question was Are 410s viable in the current economic conditions? I think you just answered it.
No, no they are not. Weve run to date, what, I think twelve shows, weve lost money on eighty percent of the shows, theyre not economically viable. Thats why the other promoters, when we went from SCRA to USAC in 2004 I had Manzanita on board, I had Jimmy Naylor on board, Keith Hall was still promoting at Manzanita, he had agreed to take seven dates, Jimmy had agreed to take his four dates at Ventura, we had Bakersfield on board, we had Santa Maria on board, we had Hanford on board, we had Tulare on board. Three years after running USAC, there was no Manzanita, there was no Bakersfield, there was one day at Santa Maria, there was one possible day at Ventura every other year and I was left holding the bag. Thats when I went from fourteen events to twenty two trying to take up the slack. And that was the biggest mistake I ever made, the biggest mistake. The reason why the guys quit running, they lose money. Every other track has got a 360 division now or some type of 360 sanctioning body to go to. As a promoter, whats a promoter going to do, hes a businessman. Hes going to bring in the 360s knowing hes going to make money, or break even, or lose a little, or bring in the 410s and know hes going to get killed. Its a tough scenario; it just became uneconomical to run them. Ive tried to explain that to the car owners and the drivers of USAC, its just a fact of life.
What are your personal feelings about 360s versus 410s, theres a lot of 410 puristsâ¦
Im a 410 purist. Thats where my family came from when we were car owners. I think a long as they dont run together, on the same night, Im not saying on the same racetrack but weve done it here before where weve run 360s and then you run the 410s, I think from a purist eye, yeah, you can tell the difference between a 360 and a 410. Come main event time, you cant tell any difference, theyre running the same track times. You know once the track slicks off a little bit, then the 360 can hook up, they can get that car hooked up, its the same show. Do you hear the same rumble of the car, maybe not. Are they still racing side by side or three abreast in the corners, yes. The two ASCS shows we had here this year, they were great shows. From the heat races to the main events, they were great shows. From a 410 purist, I would still like to see 410s.
What is the basis of your 410 purism?
Its the extra power, its knowing its the best, the most powerful piece of equipment you can put on the racetrack. But, like I said, when your pushing the corner, eventually youve gotta make a decision. Being the last 410 non wing sprint car track that I know of west of the Mississippi, you know, its tough! Its tough.
Are you considering a 360 program?
Theres been discussions. You know Ive talked to everybody from Emmet Hahn, Ive talked to Jim Naylor, Ive talked to Chris Kearns, Ive talked to USAC. There hasnt been anything put in concrete in this point or any proposals, but I think Id be a fool not to listen. The problem with the 360s is its too fragmented right now. Thats the problem throughout all short tracks, starting from factory stock divisions, through Modifieds, through street stocks, all the way to sprint cars. Theres too many choices. Theres too many classes. Theres a pool of x number of racers out there in the marketplace, whether its a hundred or a thousand. When we started this racetrack in 96 we had a street stock class. That was it and we averaged close to sixty street stocks a night. From there we went into five different stock car divisions. We took the same pool of racers and spread em over five divisions. The same things happened in sprint cars. Theres x number of teams out there in sprint cars and sprint car drivers. Then we fragmented. Youve got ASCS over in Arizona which now basically controls Arizona. Back in the good ole days Arizona boys had 410s and they come run here and the California drivers would go over there. Those days are gone. You dont get Arizona guys coming into California any more. You got Jimmy up in Ventura with his stand alone set of rules, that dont conform to anything. So hes got his toys to stay within his backyard. You got Chris Kearns that started the West Coast 360s under USAC with a set of rules that, ok, yeah, the ASCS guys can come and run and yeah, the USAC guys can go run ASCS, in reality thats not happening. Theres no cross pollination there. When we ran ASCS here, we had a few of his USAC 360 guys come down, we had guys from Victorville come down, of course we had as many as twenty two Arizona cars show up. So that was the first time we had any cross pollination of sprint cars, its just way too fragmented and specifically the last night we ran ASCS here we had I think twenty nine cars here, Jimmy had twenty nine or thirty and Chris Kearns had about equal the same. That one night we had eighty three 360s running in California, within five hours of each other. Now, as a promoter, that tells me that if you could get everybody to work together, which is tough to do in this business, Id be happy to have eighty sprint cars here once a month. Thats a dream! Knowing that without one person sitting in the grandstands, youre going to be profitable, youre going to make some money. It takes the pressure off you to get the fans in, which is a tough deal right now. You see it in Nascar all the way down to the short tracks. People arent letting go out of their wallets right now. The 360 deal needs to be consolidated to make it successful, otherwise its going to be in the same boat, everybodys going to be fighting over not only the race cars but the fans. And nobody wins.
So is there going to be coordinated sprint car rules and schedules with Perris and Ventura and Santa Maria? Will you be meeting with those track operators?
Ive talked to Jim a couple of times, I will meet with him if he wants to meet, I know he wants to meet. Ive talked to Chris Kearns numerous times and Ill be talking with him this afternoon, not only on 360s, I want to find out how his spectator races are going, where hes actually allowing people to come out of the stands and race a couple of laps on match races. Do I think it can happen? At best, I think the West Coast USAC 360s, and if I run 360s next year on a limited basis or full time basis, I know I can get together with Chris. My goal is to not only get together with Chris but also with Arizona cars under ASCS somehow. I think Jimmy is going to be a tough sell, he always has been. Ill be blunt; Jimmy always does whats good for Jimmy. Hes got a decent thing going there with his 360s and I dont blame him. You gotta do what you gotta do. But I just think hes going to push his hard tire on everybody, I dont think thats the answer. But well see, well see.
Would you include Victorville, Hanford, Bakersfield and Tulare in those discussions regarding coordinated rules and schedules?
Sure, Id love to talk to Mike (Victorville). I dont think, hes not on the same level as those other racetracks. I dont think he can afford a legitimate 360 purse whether its from seven thousand to ten thousand dollars, I dont think his track can support it. All the rest, sure they can. But in a perfect world it would be nice to have one series like there used to be back in the old CRA days, where cars travelled throughout those racetracks and everybody had their dates and nobody was stepping on each other. In reality, its going to be tough to do with all the fragmentation of the different series that are out there. And scheduling is tough.
In regards to sprint cars, you can be USAC/CRA, ASCS or form your own sanction. Do you have any comments regarding those options? Are you interested in your own sanction?
Weve taken a look at it. But I still go back to when we switch from CRA to USAC, to be successful, youve got to have five or six tracks in your sanctioning body. I have no interest in being a Ventura right now, just running my own sprint cars. That doesnt interest me. I dont think in the long term my racetrack can survive doing that. My racetracks got its own set of economic hurdles to get over. You cant compare this track to say, a Ventura, or Victorville, where people say you charge this much in Victorville, why cant you charge this much. Well my electrical bill is different than Victorville, my insurance is different, everything is different. I pride myself on trying to look at the big picture, because we built this place to showcase sprint car racing, Im not putting down VRA or anything, but, to just have a series that runs here only, I dont think long term can survive. You dont develop fans in other regions where you can bring them together two or three times a year for one big show like the Oval Nationals. Otherwise, it just becomes another race.
What are your feeling on handicapping the 410s and running them with 360s?
If it be done and be competitive, I think it a way of possibly allowing the guys to burn their 410s up but I dont think its a long term solution. Everyone that Ive talked to, and Im not a motor man, I mean you can reduce the horsepower and get them on an even keel. But theres the bottom end torque that the 410s are still going to have and on this racetrack, theyre going to be highly superior to a 360. Racetracks like Ventura, you can probably make them competitive, but likely here with the corner speed you need, 410s will always kill 360s no matter what they do. Its been done, its been tried to be done years ago, unless somebody comes up with something new. Like I said, I think its a way of allowing guys to use their 410s up and not pushing them to go out and buy 360s. Whether it will give them a half a year or a year to burn up their 410s, I dont know.
What is the viability of Perris in the face of this recession and these encroaching tract developments around you? Do you feel endangered?
No. From the development..not at all. Weve had one noise complaint in the last ten years. And that was the year we ran the Oval Nationals, I think the checkered flag went down at 12:45! We deserved to get noise complaints running that far past curfew As long as we stay within the curfew, try to stay within the noise limitations; were not going to see any problems.
How about the recession?
Its been tough, real tough, for everybody. Trying to get money out of sponsors, and this business, our business, we pride ourselves on sponsorship revenue, its not there anymore. Out of the thirty-five or thirty-six signs we have up around the racetrack, eleven of them have some sort of revenue source tied to them, the rest are trade outs or favors and the revenue thats tied to those boards is about twenty cents on the dollar compared to what they used to be. Thats tough, really tough, which puts the pressure on the back gate which puts the pressure on the front gate. We dont get any parking revenue here. We have concessions but by the time we pay the fairs percentage, which is twenty-two on alcohol, twenty-five percent on food and then pay my concessionaire, we make about ten or twelve percent on concessions. So people always tell me, why dont you give free tickets away and make more on concessions like a movie theater, its not there. If I sell a twenty dollar ticket at the front gate, I have to give the fairgrounds twenty percent of that. So they get four bucks, so I got sixteen dollars left over. To make that sixteen dollars in concessions, that person has got to spend one hundred and forty to one hundred and sixty dollars in concessions. So it isnt there, its not there. Concession sales this year are way down. We have given a lot of free tickets away through sponsors and through promotions whether we are at California Speedway or Route 66, I mean theres some nights well have ten thousand free tickets out. Do we see them back, were lucky to get less than ten percent or maybe five percent. When we get them here people arent spending money, theyre not buying concessions, concessions are down over fifty percent from historical numbers. Yeah, I mean, its tough. The only to survive is if you keep cutting your costs and overhead and your support staff and everything you can down to the toilet paper and paper towels. You look for the best deal you can! Thats the only thing you can do. But is this track going to be profitable this year? No way. Last year it was, this year, no.
Is the track going to survive?
With the support of my family, primarily my father and myself, yeah itll survive. There are five Kazarians in this company. Without myself or my father; this track wouldnt survive, because the other three Kazarians have not supported it in almost eight to ten years.
"...... there's always that hope that maybe there's a partner that comes along, maybe there's a Tony Stewart, maybe there's a Jimmy Johnson, Kevin Harvick that will come in, whether they buy one-hundred percent of it, whether they buy a percentage of it, but just put their name on it, now you have something that millions of people in LA can relate to."
Was Ascot profitable?
I think in its mid to early years it was very profitable, I think towards the end, you know. Ive asked the Agajanians, you know when JC Sr. passed away, I think when the boys took it over, I think it slowly deteriorated, but they had a whole different business model. Different time, different location, definitely different location. When we did our business plan on this venture in late 95, 96, we thought we were going to run sixty-three to seventy events a year. We thought we were going to be like Ascot or like a Mid-Western track. We thought when school is out, we would roll into racing Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night and run a Sunday program. We tried it the first year, disaster. Number one, you cant get here on a weeknight. Sundays are tough. Early 96, 97 we had a fan base that was commuting, the old Ascot Gardena fan base in South Bay, Manhattan Beach, that area, they were commuting out here. We had two, three years of them driving eighty five miles each way, you could see that fan base dying off and eroding and we had to replace it with a new fan base out here. Now that new fan base is hurting because were sitting in probably eighteen to twenty percent unemployment in Riverside County. They dont have the funds to come out here on a continuous basis. They may come here two or three times a year when they used to come here ten or twelve times a year. So, its a very, very tough market place. When I look at my financials, this will tell you how tough a market place it is, and we run very lean here. Weve found a way to run very lean, because we dont have a whole lot of employees. But when you take a look at my financials and you take a look at front and back gate revenue versus what weve played out in purses, it almost equals itself. Then you pile on insurance, utilities, ambulance, fire truck, theres a host of about sixty different cost items to an event all the way down to the toilet paper supplies. If you took the purses and the racers racing for free here and not the four hundred thousand and odd dollars we are going to pay in purses here, the racetrack is still not profitable this year. So that will tell you the economic situation.
Do you foresee any changes to the Oval Nationals format in the coming years?
Weve got one this year! I put it out about four weeks ago and the only comment I got was how are they going to give away B main points here and we havent really figured that out yet. On Saturday night instead of running the traditional B main, starting twenty four cars and taking the top twelve out of it, I guess you call this the new Dave Darland format, because Dave got taken out in the B main last year and I think he took a provisional in the Main but started way in the back, but his car was hurt so bad he wasnt competitive. Weve decided to take the twenty-four cars that qualify for the B Main and run three 8 car heat races and split the field up. Theres probably nothing better than the heat races here Thursday and especially Friday night, where youve got all the guys from the Mid West and the hall of famers, I mean the line ups are incredible! The stands are pretty thin on Thursday and Friday nights, traditionally always have been. Its an idea of trying to show the fans the quality of the heat races theyre missing on Friday night and Thursday night and also eliminate the collateral damage to some of the cars that more than likely should go to the A Main. I think it will make for more of an exciting show on Saturday night, because just running a C, a B and an A can kind of make for a longer evening whereas the fast pace of heat races and action within the heat races I think will energize the show a little more, so we made that change. How we are going to award B main points, I think we can figure that out.
Do you see it staying as a three day show or might you trim it down?
I was asked this year to trim it down and I refused to do it. I think it kills the show, part of the show is watching the guys having to work through three nights of racing. Typically, promoters will split the field and half the cars will run one night and half the cars will run another night and then they bring them all back together Saturday night. This is the only show that I know of in the nation that forces the guys to run all three nights. There is a lot of drama in watching the guys run all three nights. When we instituted the point system that made for even more drama. Theres a lot of emphasis on not only qualifying, but the points awarded in the qualifying and the points in the heat races, thats what drives the quality of the heat races. There is no other qualifying session that I look forward to more than the Oval Nationals. Watching fifty cars qualify and watching how close it gets and they know that ten points is huge to be fast time, its huge. As long as we can get upwards of fifty cars, I think were sitting on fifty or fifty-two cars right now; its always going to be a three-day show.
Youve been a promoter for fifteen years now, how are you holding up?
(laughing) Ive got a lot more gray hair. Ive learned a lot. Its a tough business. This is, again, when we started this I thought, were going to run sixty-three days a year, well, Ive only got to work sixty-three days a year! Wrong. Its seven days a week, theres always something that has to be done, especially in these tough times. Im the maintenance man, Im the janitor, Im the plumber, Im the pseudo electrician which I dont like to deal with electricity but I will change the light bulb. Im not going to change the breakers, fixing fuses and all that stuff. Im the equipment operator, Im the mechanic and Im the lube guy. Every once in a while Ill bring Charlie (Watson) out to help me, but its a tough, tough business.
Are you still happy doing it?
Id be happier if the business was profitable. Its hard to be happy when you know youre going to work and youre paying to work there. Its tough to get up in the morning sometimes and go and say oh, Im paying myself.
The one thing that amazes me at Perris is your fire and safety crew, its the most professional, organized, aggressive track rescue team Ive ever seen. How did this come about, tell me about them.
For years we had MedEvent service the track, Carl and Janet, they were highly professional. They ended up selling their business out to a company up in Bishop, California and that service just went downhill. I got a hold of Carl in Idaho and he then turned me onto Dan Gold at Mission Ambulance Company, which is basically an ambulance company, they were not into fire and rescue or race track or event business at all. I met with Dan, the owner of the Mission Ambulance Service, he and Carl were good friends and he decided to get into this industry. All of his personnel are either active Fire Captains, Chiefs, very high up in fire departments or retired. All of his EMTs are highly trained and specialized EMTs. Dan has spent over a hundred thousand dollars outfitting the fire trucks. Having everything he can possibly have to fight whatever type of fire. Mission Ambulance owns those fire trucks. And hes brought some of Carls old employees back when MedEvent was here as part of the core group and then he has put together his team of people. A lot of the guys are volunteers on the fire trucks. I pay them a flat rate and theyre good. They take it extremely serious which as a promoter I want them too. The last thing I want them to do is be sitting in the truck eating a hot dog or drinking a Pepsi, not even listening to the radio or watching the races. From saluting the flag during the National Anthem to their cleaning up of an accident and extracting someone out of a car, I have total confidence in them, which is nice.
You have an exceptional trio of track announcers in Scott Daloisio, Chris Holt and Ronnie Everhart. How did that evolve?
When we first opened we had Bruce Flanders as our main announcer, because he was the voice of Ascot. Chris Holt was an infield announcer and Scott was an infield announcer, that was the first trio. When Bruce told us he was going to announce at Irwindale, when Irwindale opened up, we offered the job to Scott. He was kind of sheepish and shy about possible taking it, but we said give it a shot, see what happens. He has evolved into probably the best track announcer in the country. He not only does well in the booth, but, he does his homework, he shows up here every day by two oclock to go down and talk to the drivers and the teams, find out what the latest scuttlebutt is, he writes articles for the program, he does all of my press releases, hes a godsend. He is basically our publicist and does a fabulous job. Announcing, I give him the grief every once in a while when he gets excited hell trip, but hardly ever do you hear him trip. Hes just groomed himself into a highly professional announcer. Chris Holt has been here since day one, he was the infield announcer at Ascot for years, just a wonderful guy. Hes been a part of this sport for close to thirty years, hes got a history that goes way back. Now Ronnie, Ronnie started racing here as a Sport Compact driver, was basically a driver. She was probably one of the few women that had any success here. Carol Laney was the first, she won the first stock car race here ever and she was Mike Kirbys sister. She won the first stock car race here ever in the history. When Ronnie started having success and won the championship in the first year of the Hornets, as we called the Sport Compacts, I asked Scott to ask her about going on the mic, because I wanted a women announcer for the infield. Believe it or not, forty-eight percent of our audience is women, which is incredible for a dirt track. I wanted the women to relate to somebody. So Scott asked her, she and I had a real quick talk. She was reluctant about going on the mic because she had never done it before, but now its six years, what, seven years shes been doing it, shes awesome. Shes developed her own fan base, all the drivers are comfortable with her, its just, you get the three of them all working together and its something pretty special.
All of that aside, with Scott, youre born with a voice like that, thats an amazing voice.
That is his voice. With some announcers, theyll talk to you and once the mics turn on theyll flip to a different voice. Thats his voice all the time. I call him... I relate him to... hes as good as Vin Scully the baseball announcer, I think Scotts as good as to short track racing as Vin is to baseball.
Who are some of the other significant personalities at Perris; I dont want to put you on the spot because you probably cant mention them all?
Lets start with the tractor, thats a gentleman by the name of Ray Sheets. He has worked for my family for over thirty-five, thirty-eight years. He was our original race car mechanic when we campaigned the sprint car, when Bubby drove for us and Buster Venard. Ray goes way back to being the crew chief for A.J. Foyt on his dirt cars so his roots are deep into racing. He now only works on race days but he been with me and helping me prepare the race track since day one. I do all the preliminary track prep until race day and then Ray comes in and the two of us take care of the racetrack on Saturday or whatever the race day is.
Who came up with the contraption that he drags around behind him?
In 96 we tried every piece of equipment known to John Deere, Case, Caterpillar; we were looking for something to fluff up the clay. We actually built that ourselves. At that time, we were still in the waste management business, we had a number of welders working in our different operations and Ray and I designed that piece of apparatus and built it. Thats a homemade job. We bought different implements from John Deere, they wouldnt hold up in the clay, some of them would make two laps and they be destroyed. Thats our track rake as we call it. It can go down anywhere from a half an inch to a couple of inches, if you just want to fluff it up. Because its funny, if the track glazes over or caps over, you can still go out there and stick a screwdriver in it four to six inches, with minimal pressure. Its just that that top will dry out, its paper thin and its done. The tires wont break through it and itll just sit there and glaze over and you take that rake out there and just lightly touch it up and the racetrack will come right back.
My wife Kim works here, she has been here since day one; she handles everything in the office to basically running events. Everything outside of the racetrack she basically takes care of; couldnt do it without her.
Theres Tanner Watson who is basically in charge of marketing. She has been here since day one; she started working here when she was fourteen. She is now actually doing her internship to be a school teacher but still comes in on Saturdays. She was here yesterday morning at 5:00 am before school taking care of some work. And then we have Charlie Watson which is Tanners dad. Charlie was here the day we put the first shovel in the ground over there in 1996. We hired Charlie as a construction superintendent when we were crazy enough to build this place in forty-three days and forty-three nights. Charlie ran a lot of the construction crews and was able to get bids from different contractors and then came on board as a sort of facility manager. From there, he not only take care of the facility but instrumental in selling more sponsorships than anyone in the history of the organization. At that time was writing all of the press releases, was kind of a jack-of-all-trades. Go back five years ago, he walked in and decided he was going to move to Vegas, so he left five years ago and moved to Vegas and three years ago moved back to Hemet and about a year ago this time, right at the Oval Nationals he came in the office and said I want to come back to work. So I hired him to come back to work and hes basically in charge of promotions and working with Tanner on selling sponsorships. His first chore was to try helping get bodies back in the seats. Get racecars out to different sponsorship locations; get personal appearances because when you get right down to it, thats what were selling. You can buy all the radio, television ads, billboards, newspaper ads, if the people that you are advertising to, dont know who you are selling, you are selling to a blind audience. You have got to get the racecars and the race drivers out into the public. You can go all the way down to marketing 101, when you carve this thing down, thats who you are marketing. You can have all the screaming ads, come see the greatest daredevils in the world, cheat death lap after lap, it goes in deaf ears. Because if they cant recognize the name of Tony Jones or Mike Spencer or a face, you cant reach that person. This year, I went out on a limb and spent thirty six thousand dollars from June to September, two different advertising medias, radio and cable TV, saw no bump from it, none. And we went with a different type of cable ad that USAC back in Indianapolis cut which I really liked but it failed to reach the audience. I would have been better off advertising or putting on my schedule, Im going to give hundred dollar bills to the first 360 people that come to the gate or Im going to burn thirty thousand dollars cash on the front straightaway. I would have been better off doing that, because the fans have lost track of the drivers. Is that my fault? Partly, yes, as the promoter, but its also partly the fault of the sanctioning body. Theyre the ones bringing the show. Theyre the ones that have to create the stars along with the promoter. Its a partnership. I had somebody tell me the other day ASCS doesnt create stars. Its up to the track along with the sanctioning body to create the stars. But if I cant get the cooperation of the drivers and the race teams to go out to locations, how do you sell them?
The flagmen Eddie and Bobby Ramirez have been here since day one. Theyre brothers. Quietly theyve told me theyre going to retire, but theyve told me that the last three years. They used to flag every race here, whether it was stock cars, flat track sprint cars, primarily they just flag USAC now, because like anybody else, they originally started off with three brothers, one of them got divorced because he was at the race track every Saturday night, and thats the honest to God truth. Well lets see, out of the three people that are in this office right now, when we started this business all three of were married to different people. All three of us went through divorces because we were working every Saturday night and every day and it causes a huge strain on your personal relationships. It just so happens, Charlie was the first to get divorced, I was the second, Kim was the last. Kim and I went out on a date and four years later we got married.
Jeff Kristensen, this is the first year he is our official videographer and he has done an incredible job for us this year.
I consider Perris to be a cultural icon in the same manner as Ascot. What are your personal feelings about Perris in relationship to the history of racing in Southern California?
I think that in just fifteen years weve developed a pretty good reputation for trying to elevate the sport and trying to maintain it at a higher level. I think the Oval Nationals, just like the Knoxville Nationals, it took them from eleven to fifteen years before that thing really exploded. And back then, when that thing first started, that was a non-wing 410 sprint car show; it wasnt always a winged sprint car show. I can remember going back in 1979 with our car, as a car owner. It was a non wing 410 sprint car show and it wasnt huge like it is today. But its always been my dream to have the Oval Nationals become, you know, the Knoxville Nationals, the Chili Bowl, one of the icon sporting events within the industry on a yearly basis. Its getting there, its taken time, I think when we went from at that time SCRA to USAC and bring the USAC National guys out with their own teams, it helped elevate that event and helped elevate Perris because that just wasnt a regional race track anymore. Where it goes to the next level, I dont know. USAC is pulling back a little bit, theyre not planning to bring the National guys back out here next February or March; the only time youll get to see the National guys is the end of the year, which is ok because I wasnt going to open up in February anyway. It makes it more special. Am I happy with fifty cars? No. I think that race should have eighty to a hundred cars. That just tells you that the 410 inventory isnt there. When we go back four years ago to when the economy was roaring, we had seventy-eight to eighty-three cars entered. Which that is what I think it should be. With this economy weve got fifty cars. But Perris itself: sure. I think weve put ourselves on the map, I think we have, especially in Southern California. Nationally? We get a lot of attention. We get a lot of attention in the trade magazines and everything else.
What is it about sprint car racing that is so special?
That is a really good question. I think its just something that gets in your blood, gets in your soul. I equate sprint car racing to bull riding with auto racing, its so unpredictable. You have no idea whats going to happen in the next lap. Every race is different. Track conditions are always different. Do I want to see wrecks? No. But when wrecks happen they are highly unpredictable and somewhat violent. Am I glad guys walk away? Yes. Do I want to see someone get hurt? Absolutely not. Theres no other form of motorsports where a guy can be running fifth and literally in half a lap can take the lead. I dont know of any other sport where, and this may sound corny, its so Americana. These guys just work and work and work. When you get right down to it, the car owners arent making any money, because I know what it costs to run a team. We did it forever. The only guy making any money is the guy sitting in the seat, whos half crazy to do it because of the danger, although its gotten a lot safer. Its in the history, they go back to Parnelli Jones and A.J. Foyt in those days and when you look at the history and how many guys and where they came from, theres something special about it. In the long term, are we going to be able to carry on that tradition, I think so but its going to be a much more limited scale, because when you look at our demographic of our fan base, its not young. When youre here next time, look in the stands. Were talking forty-five to eighty. You dont see the twenty-somethings here and the teens. You dont see a lot of kids, where dads are bringing their kids here. We missed generations of younger folks. Ive got five kids between Kim and I. Ive got a sixteen year old son. When he comes here on a sprint car night, hell go home before the main event. He doesnt care to be here. Hes into extreme sports, hes into the X-Games, hes into surfing and hes not into motorsports. Young kids arent into motorsports right now. Sprint car racing? You do this; the next time you go to the mall, walk up to ten strangers. Ask them one question. Do you know what sprint car is? Youll be lucky to find one person that says I know what a sprint car is. As an industry, we havent educated the general public what a sprint car is. But the lore of it, its what keeps us all going. You know what I call it? Its the cult. I dont mean that in a degrading fashion, but, theres a sprint car cult. Were all members of it to some degree. I choose to be on the business side and try to make a buck out of it. But I still enjoy watching every sprint car race out here. I still get a kick out of it. I think Ive only missed five or six sprint car races out here in fifteen years and thats due to weddings or this or that, but I rarely miss one.
To be honest, I dont think you do it for the money, I think you do it because you love your job.
Right now I dont. My family has got millions and millions of dollars invested in this. I personally have millions and millions of dollars invested in this. Am I going to see a return on that? No. I can tell you that right now, after fifteen years of being in operation, never. Times are good, Im lucky to get a paycheck. Im fortunate that I have other sources of income that take care of me but they have an infinite time life when they run out.
But thats my point, youre doing this not for the money, youre doing this for the love of it ....
When you get right down to it, yeah, but theres always that hope that maybe theres a partner that comes along, maybe theres a Tony Stewart, maybe theres a Jimmy Johnson, Kevin Harvick that will come in, whether they buy one-hundred percent of it, whether they buy a percentage of it, but just put their name on it, now you have something that millions of people in LA can relate too, that has name recognition, that will help thrive this place. You cant give up on a business that youve got millions of dollars invested in because someday you may end up having somebody that walks in and helps you get a return on your money or helps take it to the next level, or make it profitable. Last year was our second best year in our history, we were profitable, but it was driven by off-road, wasnt driven by circle track. We got in the off road market, we were able to land a couple of key events, we had an off-road series that was successful. This year our off-road series was highly unsuccessful and we cancelled it after three events and Ive had to live on circle track racing. We made a big point this year to go into demolition derbies; we did a roll over contest which the fans went nuts over. We produced auto hockey at the fair, which was the first time, which was crazy. We ran an RV demolition derby at the fair. Youre going to see more of those types of events next year here. On the last night of the fair, Scott and I were sitting up in the booth, half an hour before show time and its drizzling and there isnt an empty seat in the house and we have five RVs that are going to destroy each other on the front straightaway and weve got a guy thats going to jump a car through a thirty two foot motor home and I looked at Scott and said, Whats this tell you? We might be concentrating in the wrong business here! Its an ever evolving business.
So although you are passionate about sprint car racing, you are passionate about making this track work?
Yeah. I personally have close to four million dollars invested in this. Id love to get a return on that money. I have three other brothers that walked away, they just flat walked away. Theres no support. Ive refused to walk away.
"I think its just something that gets in your blood, gets in your soul."
Whats the favorite part of your job?
The favorite part of my job is every Fourth of July knowing we are going to have a full house. Looking at the stands and being able to make a check presentation to the American Cancer Society for ten thousand dollars which was generated by the drivers going up into the stands with their helmets. Giving back and having fans give back. Knowing that the track has done something outside of racing that can hopefully help somebody. When its working perfectly. And watching a show that has just been unbelievable. Thats something to be proud of. Knowing the fans are happy, thats something to be proud of. I do you cant make all the fans happy, I do know that theres only going to be one happy race car driver at the end of the night. Hes usually the main event winner and sometimes theyre not even happy. So trying to please everybody, you cant do it in this job; if you please eighty percent of them youve done a wonderful job.


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When you drive along Lakeshore Road in Clarington, there is not a lot of activity on most days. It's a fairly quiet portion of the Municipality of Clarington. The Port Granby Legacy Waste Management Facility site is certainly the most active part of the hamlet of Port Granby these days. So what is going on there? Why the flurry of activity? In order to answer those questions, one has to go back in time.
In 2001 an agreement was signed between the Government of Canada and the municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington, which launched the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI). As part of the PHAI, the Port Granby Project began. The Port Granby Project involves the relocation of approximately 450,000 cubic metres of historic low-level radioactive waste and contaminated soil from the original dump site on the south side of Lakeshore Road, to a new site one kilometre inland. The new site is being constructed to store historic low-level radioactive waste and contaminated soil in an above ground, engineered mound that will safely contain the waste for hundred of years to come. A new waste water treatment plant has been built to treat all water generated by project activities, and an internal waste haul road has been constructed to ensure that none of the contaminated soil is transported on public roads. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is implementing the project on behalf of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, a federal Crown corporation.
What does the future hold for this land? Only 95 hectares of the 270 hectares owned by the federal government are under the control of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. The future use of the remaining 175 hectares is still to be determined. The hope is that the land will be used for agricultural purposes or be converted into parklands as part of the Port Granby Nature Reserve.
On Saturday, come to the Port Granby Legacy Waste Management Facility to learn more about this fascinating project. Your experience at the site will begin at the intersection of Nicholls Road and Lakeshore Road. Make sure that you come early, as the site will be accepting it's last guests at 2:30pm.
More information about the history of the project is available at THIS LINK.
For the latest on Doors Open Clarington, follow us on Twitter (@DOClarington) and like us on Facebook.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
NZD $88.99 inc. GST
Alkkemist Gin features a base of triple-distilled grain spirit and 21 different botanicals, interestingly including Muscat grape, alongside orange and lemon peel, rose petals, samphire, fennel, thyme and mint, among others. Also, it's apparently "distilled by the light of the full moon"! A wonderfully-presented gin that works excellently in a ...
NZD $58.00 inc. GST
Ampersand Gin is our flagship product, an award winning instant classic, that brings together organic BC wheat with eight organic & wild harvested botanicals and our own spring water.
NZD $57.99 inc. GST
Ampersand is a London Dry Gin produced with six select natural botanicals: juniper berries, coriander seeds, angelica root, Javanese pepper and the rind of Spanish oranges and lemons, which were peeled by hand and dried in the sun. Its quadruple distillation makes it a refreshing and particularly versatile gin, perfect ...
NZD $48.99 inc. GST
A versatile gin made with strawberries and juniper berries sourced from the south of Spain.
The hand-picked ingredients produce a unique and balanced gin with sweet strawberry and citrus notes.
NZD $78.99 inc. GST
Elsewhere up to $89.99
An extraordinary award-winning gin from Ableforth's. Made using the traditional method of Cold Compounding
Nose: An initially juniper-rich bouquet is backed up with a solid backbone of rich grain spirit. Top notes of cardamom and orange blossom are evident with just a suggestion of cinnamon.
Palate: The ...
NZD $41.99 inc. GST
A young Dutch Jenever from Bols, full bodied and very malty but with the juniper tang you'd expect.
NZD $44.99 inc. GST
'Oude', or 'old' jenevers are not aged but rather are made to the traditional old style ie with a small percentage of malt wine and flavoured with aromatic botanicals.
NZD $45.99 inc. GST
One of the best known and most delicately perfumed gins in the world, Bombay Sapphire makes an excellent Martini, and is great as a base for a Gin and Tonic.
NZD $74.00 inc. GST
Delicious gin from Brockmans. This is made with Bulgarian coriander, blueberries and blackberries as well as bittersweet Valencia orange peels. The result is well balanced and full of flavour.
NZD $54.99 inc. GST
The Blender's Dog is a whiskey that celebrates his craft the art of marrying whiskeys. A superbly balanced, complex whiskey, The Blender's Dog is a perfect balance of spirit, wood, and time; delivering butterscotch sweetness with a prickle of spice and tannins. Making whiskey requires a fair deal of science, ...
NZD $62.99 inc. GST
A premium gin, Citadelle was originally developed in a Dunkirk distillery in the late 18th Century, and at the time Dunkirk was one of the earliest European ports for explorers of the Orient, who brought back herbs and spices from the Far East. The result is a fabulous gin made ...
Crafter's Aromatic Flower Gin 700mlNZD $79.99 inc. GST
Powerfully fragrant Estonian gin here from the Crafter's range, made with a selection of 12 botanicals, including rosehip flowers and meadowsweet. Not only is it wonderfully floral, the gin changes colour from gold to pink when mixed with tonic! A treat for the eyes and the taste-buds.
NZD $71.99 inc. GST
An Estonian gin made with Veronica and fennel seed, alongside a selection of other classic botanicals. Really beautiful bottle, too.
Tasting Note:
Well-balanced spice and citrus sweetness, with layers of rosemary, juniper and zesty grapefruit.
NZD $65.99 inc. GST
Elephant Dry Gin is distilled in Germany using 14 botanicals that include some rather unusual but fascinating African ingredients like Baobab, the Buchu plant, Devil's Claw and African Wormwood. With the hand-crafted bottle, complete with cork stopper and an old fashioned map on the label, Elephant Dry Gin certainly captures ...
NZD $65.99 inc. GST
The Elephant Gin herd has a new member – Elephant Sloe Gin! A variant on the gin's recipe, with sloe berries macerated in the mix to give it the classic dark hue and rich, juicy flavour profile, this is perfect as a warming holiday treat or in a refreshing cocktail ...
NZD $72.99 inc. GST
The Elephant Gin folks have gone and created their very own Navy Strength expression, aptly named Elephant Strength Gin! Their recipe includes some fascinating African ingredients including Baobab, the Buchu plant, Devil's Claw and African Wormwood, and this one has been bottled at 57% ABV.
NZD $30.99 inc. GST
Finsbury Distilled London Dry Gin is one of the oldest known types of gin that is still made today.
Connoisseurs also enjoy the rich aroma and elegant bouquet of Finsbury Distilled London Dry Gin neat, so as to allow this elegant gin to be appreciated to the full. Finsbury ...
NZD $15.99 inc. GST
An absolute classic dry gin, Gordon's is one of the best selling spirits in the world, and was first created in 1769, and the recipe hasn't changed since! This is a triple-distilled gin flavoured with juniper berries, coriander, angelica, and one other botanical. The actual recipe is only known to ...
NZD $39.99 inc. GST
Gordon's high quality and distinctive juniper flavor has come to define the taste of the classic G&T. Gordon's today is a gin that's enjoyed, not dissected. It's the perfect gin to start a Friday evening, or a Tuesday night catch up with friends, where we share a moment and have a ...
NZD $37.99 inc. GST
Inspired by an original Gordon's recipe from the 1880s, Gordon's Pink is perfectly crafted to balance the refreshing taste of Gordon's with the natural sweetness of raspberries and strawberries, with the tang of redcurrant served up in a unique blushing tone. Made using only natural fruit flavours to guarantee the ...
NZD $39.99 inc. GST
A crisp Sloe Gin from Gordon's made by steeping Sloe berries in Gordon's gin.
Gordon's Sloe Gin achieves a defining balance between the fruit, sweetness and the Gin. Drink straight with Ice (preferred), mix with soda or mineral water, or as you like.
NZD $89.99 inc. GST
NZD $70.99 inc. GST
Meet the delightfully curious Hendrick's Gin. Life is too glorious not to experience its peculiar flavour, infused with rose & cucumber in our Scottish distillery. Hendrick's wondrous botanical signature consists of flowers, roots, fruits, and seeds from the world over. They function to complement and set the stage for our delicious ...
NZD $46.00 inc. GST
Hendrick's Gin is one of the most popular gins on the market. The reason for that certainly is the distinguished aroma of the gin that offers rare notes of cucumber and rose.
NZD $76.00 inc. GST
This is a Japanese inspired London Dry Gin distilled with eight botanicals and fresh sansho berries, imported from sustainable sources in the Afan Woodland of Nagano prefecture, Japan.
Sansho berries are used extensively in Japanese cuisine and have distinctly earthy black pepper flavour with a piney citrus aftertaste. Close your eyes ...
NZD $65.00 inc. GST
Mombasa Club London Dry Gin tales its name from a private social club founded in 1885, whom imported gin from England to the island of Zanzibar for their members to enjoy. Mombasa Club London Dry Gin is made four times distilled and features a botanical selection that includes juniper, cassia ...
NZD $78.99 inc. GST
An unusual gin from the Black Forest in Germany, Monkey 47 contains a unique ingredient.
Predictably complex, this is a robust and powerful gin with plenty of spice, fruit and herb flavours. It's very well structured, and difficult to unpick but a citrus fresh start segues into pine and wood notes ...
NZD $78.99 inc. GST
Limited stock.The superbly packaged Monkey 47 Sloe gin is a peppery, tangy, complex spirit made by macerating Black Forest sloes in spirit for three months.Very attractive nose with typical London Gin characters and distinct Juniper & pepper notes. Crisp, fresh & fruity on the nose and equally so in the ...
NZD $91.99 inc. GST
Named after the still in which it is made, Coffey Gin is produced by popular Japanese whisky brand Nikka. Eleven botanicals go are used, including amanatsu, yuzu and sansho pepper from Japan, alongside coriander, citrus peels and apple juice. As a large number of the botanicals are citrus fruits, the ...
NZD $47.99 inc. GST
Pink 47 is a fine London Dry gin made from Italian juniper berries.
The juniper leads on this one but there is a lot more going on. The botanicals are finely balanced and clean, with that citric element providing a fresh note. Finish with short, dry and clear.
NZD $45.99 inc. GST
Poppies Gin comes to us via Belgium's family-owned Rubbens distillery, which has been producing jenever since the early 1800s! The legend behind this expression is that the recipe was created by an English solider who took part in the First World War, hence the name.
NZD $51.99 inc. GST
In Japanese, Roku translates as the number six. Inside every bottle of Roku Gin, you will find six very special botanicals that are sourced in Japan. These represent Suntory's commitment to only use the best ingredients harvested from the best growing areas in Japan. Every aspect of Roku Gin is ...
NZD $58.00 inc. GST
Boudier's Saffron Gin is an extraordinary gin which gains is marvellous tawny-orange hue with the addition of saffron.
NZD $45.99 inc. GST
The flagship gin from Tanqueray, with a solid juniper content and classic character. A great all-rounder, from G&Ts to Martinis – a staple for any gin lover's drinks cabinet.
NZD $71.99 inc. GST
Relaunched in early 2013, Tanqueray Malacca is a sweeter gin with less juniper emphasis and more citrus than the classic style. Originally introduced in the late 1990s, Malacca was discontinued after a short lifespan but has been resurrected after gradually assuming cult status among cocktail revivalist bartenders as a good ...
NZD $64.99 inc. GST
Something different here from Tanqueray. This gin is flavoured with Rangpur limes, also known as a mandarin orange. These highly acidic fruits, actually orange in colour, impart a fresh, zesty zing to this refreshing gin. Roll on summer!
NZD $71.99 inc. GST
Something different here from Tanqueray. This gin is flavoured with Rangpur limes, also known as a mandarin orange. These highly acidic fruits, actually orange in colour, impart a fresh, zesty zing to this refreshing gin. Roll on summer!
NZD $73.99 inc. GST
A sun-kissed gin made with Seville oranges and orange blossom, giving it delicious flavours of the Mediterranean. Try pairing this with Mediterranean tonic, or using it to give a citrus twist to classic gin cocktails.
NZD $81.99 inc. GST
An incredible small batch London dry gin made in pot still number 10. Tanqueray Number 10 is citrussy and full bodied.
NZD $64.99 inc. GST
An incredible small batch London dry gin made in pot still number 10. Tanqueray Number 10 is citrussy and full bodied.
NZD $59.99 inc. GST
A handcrafted gin of exceptional quality, inspired by the captivating flavors of Africa. Fresh citrus Baobab fruit and aromatic Cape Gooseberries skilfully blended with 7 Traditional Botanical in an Antique Copper Still to produce a gin with True African Spirit.
Whitley Neill Blood Orange 700mlNZD $59.99 inc. GST
A blood orange-themed variation of the Whitley Neill Gin recipe! Featuring a generous helping of Sicilian blood orange at its core, this one will really stand out in cocktails and mixed drinks (we reckon it'll probably make a great gintonica, with the balloon glass and fresh fruit garnish and everything
NZD $59.99 inc. GST
The Whitley Neill range continues to expand! Their very own Raspberry Gin was launched right at the start of 2018, featuring Scottish raspberries at its core alongside punchy notes of liquoirce and coriander in support. Destined to be splashed into a glass of sparkling wine, this stuff.
Whitley Neill Rhubarb & Ginger 700mlNZD $59.99 inc. GST
While the original Whitley Neill Gin is inspired by the exotic flavours of Africa, their Rhubarb & Ginger Gin variation takes inspiration from closer to the Whitley family's homestead.


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"You may have gotten one or two of the five rules of economic independence, but you still don't feel economically independent. You may have a 725 credit score, but you're sitting at your computer all day and your relationships are dwindling and it's preventing you from getting ahead. You may be sitting there thinking, 'If I'm doing all the right things and still struggling, then the system has to be rigged.' No, actually, there's just some important stuff nobody told you. Nobody gave you the Memo.
What if I told you there was a reason that you were not as successful as you thought you should be, and it had little to nothing to do with whether you were smart, or competent, or whether you qualified for the job or post you applied for?
What if I told you that you had everything you needed in this life for success—except the right Relationship Capital? And that your Relationship Capital starts with what I call Inner Capital. That it starts with you. How you see and feel about yourself. That you ARE capital. Human capital."


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Simon Pagenaud Visits the White House
After his Indy 500 win over a week ago, Simon Pagenaud woke up one morning with an invitation to meet the POTUS and visit the White House. Pagenaud accepted the invitation and met the President for the first time this past Monday. He was excited to have such honorable recognition for his sport.
A Tour of the White House and Meeting the POTUS
"To me, when the president of the biggest country in the world invites you to reward you for sports achievements, I think all politics aside, you say yes," Pagenaud said. "Because it's a recognition of your work, it's a recognition of the hard work that was behind it. It's very symbolic. It's something that you can't say no to, in my opinion. I think because it's sports, you have to put aside any political views. It had nothing to do with politics."
During his visit, not only did Pagenaud get to meet the president, but he also got a private tour of the white house. He was impressed by the art and the decor, but Pagenaud was also mesmerized by the behind-the-scenes rooms that he got to see. "Rooms where you can't take your cellphone, so I can't describe that too much," Pagenaud said. "That was just, honestly, incredible to experience that, and it's something that I'll always have engraved in my memory."
Pagenaud's French Roots
The talented racing driver is originally from France and has lived in the US for so long (since the mid-2000s) that he says he's now 'Americanized': "It's a difficult subject for me because I still feel like my French roots are very strong," he said. "But in the meantime, America has welcomed me with such open arms that I feel Americanized. And when you read articles or you hear people talk about me everywhere in France, they say I'm Americanized — they say I'm the 'French American.' I've adopted your culture so much. My future wife is American, she's from San Diego. I talk English 80 percent of the time. And my way of thinking is more American than French now. So I am Americanized. I can't deny it."
What's Next for Simon Pagenaud?
He mentioned that the French federation was working on arranging a meeting between him and the French President Emmanuel Macron. Similarly, to his meeting with Trump, he says he'd be happy to meet with the French President. Pagenaud has a huge influence on young French racing fans out there, and he feels that meeting with people like Trump and Macron is something that motivates these young fans and helps them take the next step into racing.
Other than winning races and breaking records, Pagenaud is also actively working on his company and personal brand. He has endorsements from both a clothing company and a watch company, but he's planning on adding to that list soon. In 2018 he also partnered with America's first jeweler, BIXLER and released an exclusive jewelry collection designed and inspired by Simon Pagenaud. He spends most of his time either training, working on potential new business ventures, or promoting the Indy 500. "I think as an ambassador of the Indy 500, I really want to push it further," Pagenaud said. "I want to push it to other countries. I want to make sure the race is recognized as it is. It's the biggest race in the world. It should be talked about everywhere."
Read more about Simon Pagenaud's Indianapolis 500 win.


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These are exciting times for the company as we look to complete the acquisition and move closer to our goal of becoming an oil producer in the near term
Colin Harrington, Rose chief executive
Rose Petroleum PLC (LON:ROSE) restructured its board and senior management in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Origin Creek Energy, an investor in the US onshore upstream sector, is now a significant shareholder in the company after buying shares at 1.2p.
Colin Harrington, OCE's chief executive, took over as Rose's executive chairman. Rick Grant previously chief executive of Suez North America and co-founder of OCE also joined the board as non-exec.
How is it doing
Paradox project
An investor update in February confirmed an extension to the Paradox leases, securing some 11,300 acres in the core project area for two more years.
In total, Rose has a 19,900 acre contiguous position at Paradox, in Utah, and, the majority of that land was the subject of a 2018 seismic data capture.
Back in October, Rose unveiled a restructuring of its Paradox basin venture.
A new agreement with joint venture partner Rockies Standard Oil Corporation (RSOC) allows Rose to focus on a potentially highly economic core acreage position.
This area is host to 21 "high priority" drill targets. According to the most recent update, Rose said that the restructured Paradox project acreage is estimated to host some 9mln barrels of oil equivalent contingent recoverable resources.
"While the company's immediate focus is to acquire near-term production in more mature Rocky Mountain Basins, the upside that can be delivered from our Paradox project makes it a highly attractive investment opportunity and ensures the project will remain a central part of company's future focus and activity," Harrington said.
The October agreement also reduced overall costs for maintaining the project and gives "immediate ownership" of the highest potential acres.
Rose gains an immediate 75% working interest ownership and operatorship of key acreage, replacing the earn-in structure in the original agreement with RSOC.
Rocky Mountain
Rose in November inked an agreement to acquire an initial stake in assets in the Rocky Mountain region, and, the area is becoming a focal point for the company.
Rose, back in November, signed a letter of intent with Captiva Energy Holdings (CEH) setting out the terms for the acquisition of the McCoy lease - a 317 acre area in the Denver-Julesburg Basin - in Colorado and it is now working to close that deal.
The initial transaction sees Rose take an 8.5% of McCoy (10% of CEH's 89.5% stake) before earning up to 80% of CEH's stake.
Rose noted that CEH had inked an amendment to the McCoy lease to allow the drilling of extended horizontal wells and CEH has separately elected to support Great Western Operating Company which has applied for a drill permit for a campaign across its 1,280 acre portfolio, which includes McCoy.
Chief executive Colin Harrington said: "These are exciting times for the company as we look to complete the acquisition and move closer to our goal of becoming an oil producer in the near term.
"We are very pleased to report on CEH's successful conclusion of lease amendment negotiations, and we welcome the opportunity to benefit from the expertise and investment that Great Western will bring as operator of the DSU."


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A Spanish teacher at at Roosevelt High School in Colorado has been placed on paid administrative leave after letting students hit a piñata with President Donald Trump's face on it.
According to CBS, Johnstown Milliken School District Superintendent Martin Foster said the incident took place during a Spanish class' celebration of Cinco de Mayo.
Videos of the incident were posted on Snapchat by students. When one parent saw the videos, she took offense.
"It is disturbing that this would be happening in a school setting," Lesley Hollywood said. "Why divide people? Why do this? There are so many other ways we can address politics in schools."
"I wouldn't have cared if it was Obama's face on that piñata, or if it had been Hillary Clinton's face," she added. "It doesn't matter. This is not how we should be teaching our children politics in this country."
Some students have claimed that Mexico's president, Enrique Peña Nieto was also on the piñata, but there is no evidence to suggest this was the case.


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Find the best places to eat, work out, run, and hike in Boston. 💪
The Gluten-free Everything Bagel from Nourish Your Soul is making our bagel dreams come true. It's keto-friendly and comes schmeared with cashew cream cheese. Plus, it's also available at Nourish's shop inside lululemon Newbury St. if you want a snack after a B/SPOKE TRAIN X class.
A huge boost for the Pilates and Lagree crowd, [solidcore] is coming to South End this summer. What to know: the studio's reformer-like machines are named [sweatlana], the playlists are always fire, and the warm-up is like your whole workout. Stay tuned!
Faith Brar
3 minute read
Some congratulations are in order for the kitchen crew at Cambridge's Oleana. Chef Ana Sortun was just nominated for a James Beard award. She's whipping up healthy, Middle Eastern and Turkish-inspired small plates with outrageous flavor, so come give your compliments to the chef.
Get the latest news on Boston's fitness scene.
Everyone says he's gone. But TB12 isn't going anywhere — sorry, we're talking about his homegrown fitness concept. The performance and recovery studio created by Tom Brady and his right-hand fitness guru has partnered with Four Seasons Hotel Boston to offer coaching and equipment for guests in its newly renovated fitness center.
Aislinn Twohig
2 minute read
Monumental Market is now open in Jamaica Plain. Serving as a home base for farmers market regulars El Colombiano Coffee, Lavender Bee Baking Co., and Light of Day Records, the trendy new collective is guaranteed to provide the buzz you need. Allergy-friendly (entirely nut-free) baked goods with plenty of gluten-free and vegan options. Coffee, espresso, and kombucha. And as a record store, it might have the best music of any coffee shop in Mass.
TRILLFIT's dance-meets-HIIT workouts are legendary. So much so that, as of late February, the fitness studio has had 35 sellouts in a row. To keep up with the high demand, TRILLFIT is adding five more classes to their weekly schedule starting March 1. Keep an eye out for new schedules to go live, and get ready to get your dance (and sweat) on.
Samantha Lauren Poccia
2 minute read
If you're looking for the Turnstyle location in Woburn, you need to look down the road. Earlier this month, the cycling favorite up and left Cummings Park to take up residence in the swanky new fitness center of Unicorn Park. New studio space, bigger locker rooms — the works. On top of that, Turnstyle just outfitted ALL of their Boston-area studios with new bikes, and all we can say is wow.
Early February marked four years for MYSTRYDE, and the boutique treadmill studio is showing no sign of slowing down. If you missed it, the brand's talented cast of trainers are offering their signature HIIT and strength session, Power X, at lululemon Newbury St. on every Thursday. And back at the North Station studio, you'll find an extra Power Stryde class on the schedule, plus brand new Rogue dumbbells to throw around during your workout.
Faith Brar
2 minute read
It was only a year ago that BC students were raving about spoonfuls of sunshine; now, it's the Northeastern campus that's singing Playa Bowls' praises. The beach-inspired smoothie bowl spot started slinging its acai, pitaya, coconut, and chia superfood bowls at the new location in December, and we can't get enough. Not to be missed: The BAE BOWL, available until the end of February.
Surely, no one will be forgetting the J.Lo/Shakira halftime show anytime soon. And Equinox's timing is impeccable, as they just announced that their newest dance-based fitness class, Choreo Cult, has landed in Boston. Available at all of its Boston-area health clubs, the 50-minute, total-body workout is as much HIIT as it is hip-hop. And all you need is one resistance band, one mat, and one pair of weights to tone and turn up.
Samantha Lauren Poccia
3 minute read
If you're still in school and love a good heart-pumping study break, you're in luck! SoulCycle just launched student pricing, which means undergrad and grad students can now snag a class or class pack at a rate that won't break your dwindling bank account. Ditch your studies and grab your cycling shoes for 45 minutes of book-less, sweaty fun.
The Daily Market has finally opened its doors on Savin Hill Ave., and it's more than just your average convenience store. A lot of their food is grab and go, no doubt forward thinking since they're located right across the MBTA stop on the Red Line. That means it's the perfect spot for commuters to grab a cup of coffee or a smoothie in the morning, a salad or grain bowl for lunch, and get healthy vegan, vegetarian and grain-free makings for dinner on the way home.
Samantha Lauren Poccia
2 minute read


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February 6, 2018
Action Group Annual Employer Benefits Survey Now Open!
The Action Group opened its online Annual Employer Benefits Survey to
Minnesota employers on February 5, 2018. Visit
to participate!
"Management wants lower costs, employees want better benefits, and vendors want you to buy their newest solutions," says Jon Schloemer, director of compensation and benefits for Mills Fleet Farm and Action Group Board member. "Amid this dynamic, the Annual Benefits Survey represents an independent source of information that helps benefits leaders keep their finger on the pulse of health care benefits." (Click
to view Jon's new blog!)
Now in its eighth year, this unique Survey
provides comprehensive health benefit benchmarks from Minnesota employers
. Click
to learn more and to view a new video, or
to view a summary of 2017 Survey results.
Mark your calendar with these key dates:
February 5-23, 2018:
Survey is open
March 29, 2018:
Final report distributed at Survey results meeting (for participants only -- members and non-members may participate)
Final report mailed to those unable to attend the results meeting
Health Policy in Transit: Movement on the Margins
While health care reform dominated the headlines in 2017, in reality, there was little movement around the Affordable Care Act. In the last two months, however, significant developments have emerged. Through two pieces of legislation and one regulatory announcement, changes have been put in place.
The National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions has developed this
one-page guide
, summarizing the changes and the implications for employers.
Surviving and Thriving: Making the Most of the RFP Process
Depending on your perspective, Requests for Proposals (RFPs) can be a solid business discipline or a time-consuming burden. Either way, they are a reality for benefits professionals today.
At The Action Group's February 20, 2018, member meeting, we will convene a panel of experts to share their perspectives, lessons learned, and best practices to help benefits professionals survive and thrive during the upcoming RFP season.
To learn more, click
. Action Group members may register by clicking the button below.
Are you actively considering Action Group membership to contribute to driving positive health care change in Minnesota?
If so, you are invited to join us at this member meeting to learn more! Click
for membership information, or contact Deb Krause, Action Group vice president (
Join Us for the Annual Employer Leadership Summit!
An impressive array of speakers has been announced and registration is now open for The Action Group's highly anticipated 2018 Annual Employer Leadership Summit! This year's theme
is "A New Lens: Purpose-Driven Solutions for Optimal Health," and the event is May 11, 2018. We will:
Explore the role of purpose in creating vibrant, high-performing, and HEALTHY organizations.
Tackle the tough issues of our time, including the alarming rate of obesity and the opioid epidemic.
Focus on breakthrough innovations and demonstrated results.
Feature fun and informative interactive polling.
Ensure robust networking opportunities to promote a sense of optimism, collaboration and action.
Offer all-day access to engaging sponsors who can answer your pressing health care questions.
to learn more.
"You did a wonderful job on a very interesting and valuable Summit! Kudos on putting together a really stimulating and thought-provoking day, full of opportunities to network and to learn from each other. The conference materials were informative and inspiring. As always, it was a top-notch Summit!" (2017 attendee)
Employers Key to Helping Employees with Depression
Action Group members may access this guide to advancing mental health in the workplace by logging into the
Member Center
Employee mental health and well-being is imperative to the success of every organization, yet is too often overlooked. With depression the leading cause of disability worldwide, employers can play a key role in early detection and treatment.
new article
Employee Benefit News
explores how employers can better deal with employee depression, not the least of which is being alert to common signs:
A lack of focus and concentration
Procrastination or missed deadlines
A decline in hygiene and attention to personal appearance
Difficulties with memory or learning
An uptick in late arrivals or early departures
"Four in 10 in the U.S. will face mental illness or substance use in their lives, many during the prime of their working years," says Sue Abderholden, executive director of NAMI Minnesota, and special advisor to The Action Group's Mental Health Learning Network. "Whether fearing the perceived negative attitudes of self-identifying a problem, or simply unaware of how to seek help, more than half will suffer in silence, and 40 percent will simply stay home from work. Employers -- and employees -- can play a meaningful role in moving toward lasting solutions."
Working Well in Minnesota: Insights and Actions to Help Minnesota Employers Advance Mental Health in the Workplace
(Members may log into the
Member Center
to access)
The Hilarious World of Depression
(Series of American Public Media podcasts: "A show about clinical depression...with laughs")
People Who Sleep Less Than Eight Hours a Night More Likely to Suffer Anxiety and Depression
Neuroscience News
, Jan. 4, 2018)
Set Time Aside to to Network, Learn, Share!
A member poll about meeting topics of interest is complete, and the input will shape 2018 content. Meeting dates can be found below, and topics will be announced soon.
Together, we will continue accomplishing more than any of us can alone!
Member Meetings:
Members spoke. We listened! Meetings will begin later this year, with networking at 8 a.m., meetings beginning at 8:30 a.m., and concluding at 10 a.m. All will continue to be held at the Hilton Airport/MOA Hotel.
February 20, 2018:
Surviving and Thriving: Making the Most of the RFP Process
April 24, 2018
June 21, 2018
August 14, 2018
September 18, 2018
December 11, 2018
Public Meetings and Events:
March 14-15, 2018:
National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions Leadership Summits
(healthy minds, obesity, caregiving, culture and community), Dallas, TX
May 11, 2018:
Action Group Annual Employer Leadership Summit,
8 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Westin Edina Galleria
"The inexorable rise in U.S. health care costs is a hungry tapeworm on the U.S. economy."
From the Star Tribune article,
Amazon, Buffett, JPMorgan Tackle U.S. Health Care 'Tapeworm'


text:
No Longer Out with The Old And In With The New
Big B's Plumbing is your trenchless sewer pipeline repair specialist. In years past when a sewer line broke, it was out with the old and in with the new. That's not the case any longer, home and property owners can now save big. You can have a sewer pipeline repaired, spending only a fraction of the cost of replacement. Furthermore, the trenchless sewer pipe doesn't require removal of major landscaping or damaging surrounding property. As an industry leader, Big B's Plumbing has been providing trenchless sewer pipe repairs for close to a decade.
Trenchless Sewer Pipeline Repair Is The Best Choice
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Home Plumbing Services
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text:
- This event has passed.
CTAExpo Chicago 2019
September 11, 2019 - September 12, 2019
CTA Expo is designed to provide CTA's, FX Traders and Emerging Alternative Managers the foundation of knowledge they need from both an operational and marketing perspective to raise AUM, and the opportunity to network with Family Offices, Professional Capital Raisers, Individual Investors, Allocators and IRA's looking to identify trading talent as a source of Alpha. CTA Expo also offers speakers on how managers can grow their business, gain access to capital sources, and how allocators can more effectively manage their portfolios.
New and Improved Content: CTAExpo Chicago 2019 is now a two day conference that focuses on one-on-one meetings, speakers and networking. Emerging Manger Forum Connect was introduced in Miami 2018, and proved to be popular with both Traders and Allocators.
Emerging Manager Forum Connect on September 11 offers managers the opportunity to book one-on-one meetings with allocators and discuss their trading strategies. For Emerging Managers this represents a unique opportunity to expand their network and develop meaningful relationships.
The second day of CTAExpo Chicago features speakers and panels selected to give insights on how managers can more effectively build their businesses and raise AUM and how investors can better make informed decisions for their portfolios. Day Two also features The Alternative Shark Tank, always a conference favorite introduced in 2016, with four managers that use different strategies and have different levels of AUM making 10 minute presentations to a panel of industry experts.
For more information, click here.


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You can now submit your nominations for poker's most deserving players, as the 2016 World Series of Poker Hall of Fame is now officially open for business.
If you want to submit a valid entry, as ever, you have to obey by a strict set of rules to follow.
When offering up a potential Hall of Famer the main checklist you'll need to take into account is as follows:
- Played against the best opponents in the game
- Played for high stakes
- Reached the age of 40 at time of nomination
- Respected credentials by the poker community
For any nominations that are focused on poker industry members instead of a player, the following attributes matter for the WSOP:
- indelible, positive and lasting results
- contributed to the overall growth of the poker industry
Such members could be online poker site founders, media members, tournament directors etc.
WSOP Hall of Fame 2016 Decided On By Poker Legends
The most popular players will be picked out and then submitted to the official WSOP Hall of Fame Governing Council, after adding up all nominations.
'Made up of WSOP staff and industry experts, the council will review the top ten nominees before a blue-ribbon panel of judges, including surviving Hall of Fame members, cast their votes'.
Just before the final table of the WSOP Main Event a special induction ceremony will find place with the two players with the most support from the final judges, who will obviously earn a place in the WSOP Hall of Fame as well.
Among the game's greats there are plenty of players who are worthy of a place among them as is often the case.
Brave Returners Nomination
At this year's WSOP, Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson are possibly canvassing for votes as well. This year a surprise return was being made by the former Full Tilt bosses.
In order to bid to earn shock nominations for this year's WSOP Hall of Fame, there's the possibility that they are simply trying to remind the world of their poker skill set.
Thanks to his consistent clothing policy, Ferguson has not been seen in more than one outfit, Ferguson could certainly be worthy of a place.
And if it comes to the amount of time that Lederer takes to make a decision at the poker table, some agree that this would have been an aspect of his game that could be better utilized ahead of his comeback at the world poker stage.
- Tags:


text:
Has CPS privatized teacher evaluations without telling anyone? Who or What is 'Batelle for Kids' and when did Chicago agree to put it in charge of teacher evaluations? CPS has already privatized and outsourced 'value added' teacher evaluation work to an Ohio corporation!
While CPS Chief Executive Officer Jean-Claude Brizard continues to repeat his carefully rehearsed platitudes and talking points whenever he is forced into a public appearance (which CPS has been trying to control), behind the scenes the most controversial teacher evaluation system in Illinois history is moving forward at lightning speed in what appears to be a secret privatization agreement between Brizard's administration and a controversial Ohio corporation that specializes in public relations work for the controversial "value added" approach to teacher evaluations.
Above, the first page of the two-page memo to principals that CPS sent out on May 2, 2012. In the face of the most controversial teacher evaluation system in CPS history, the Brizard administration has outsourced the main data collection for REACH to an Ohio corporation which specializes in public relations. The memo above, by the way, indicates at the bottom of its second page that it is "copyrighted" by "Batelle for Kids" (which is a trademark of a private corporation with dozens of employees based in Ohio, according to its Website). On May 2, 2012, Chicago Public Schools issued to all principals an elaborate memo outlining how all teachers were being required to "verify" the students they had taught in the previous year — even down to estimating how much of the "learning" these students did should be attributed to the individual teacher.
The first public exposure of the system came in the form of a "Roster Verification" memo dated May 2, 2012 and issued jointly by Chicago Public Schools and an outfit called "Batelle for Kids" (a pun on "Battle for Kids"? in keeping with the CPS habit of casting everything in military terms perhaps...). According to the memo, CPS "will be conducting a teacher roster verification process from May 16 through June 4..."
During the "Roster Verification" process, teachers are going to be required to submit what should be confidential CPS information to a private corporation which has not been publicly identified until now. Materials distributed to CPS principals and teachers (provided to Substance and verified as actually having been distributed) do not even provide teachers with a phone number to contact should problems arise.
Because any "value added" system requires verification of the actual students taught by each teacher, a system of identification is necessary. But the strange memo issued by CPS indicates what many critics in recent years have believed: CPS has reduced its essential central office staff by so many people that it no longer has experienced and trained staff to do this kind of work. Although CPS has been in a radical expansion of top-level central office staff during the past 10 months, it has simultaneously been forcing out others, many of those who knew the actual workings of the school system. It has not only been veteran teachers and principals who are being purged by the Emanuel administration under Jean-Claude Brizard.
The result is that CPS is apparently giving away the most important data in the recent history of teacher evaluations to a private corporation based in Ohio whose main activity has been, so far according to its website, public relations. The May 2, 2012 CPS "Roster Verification" memo is reproduced below here:
ROSTER VERIFICATION Teacher Intro Email
Delivery Mechanism: Email with Teacher Quick Guide Attached
Delivery Date: May 2, 2012
Delivered By: Principals
Subject: Chicago Public Schools Roster Verification Overview
Dear Teachers:
We are writing to inform you that Chicago Public Schools will be conducting a teacher roster verification process from May 16 through June 4.
As you are aware, CPS is actively preparing for implementation of REACH (Recognizing Educators Advancing CHicago) Students—our new, comprehensive teacher evaluation system. I am writing to request your assistance in a critical component of that preparation: ensuring that our records matching students to teachers are fair and accurate. We need you to participate to determine if the information we currently have in our system accurately captures the instructional relationships between teachers and students.
Because teachers and principals know best the schedules and amount of time spent with each student, your participation will ensure the best possible data. The attached Teacher Quick Guide document outlines more information about roster verification for your review.
Who completes roster verification? All CPS Pre-K–8 teachers will participate in roster verification this year.
What is my role as a teacher?
1. Verify your list of class rosters accurately represents what you taught this year.
2. Complete the three-step roster verification process for each class roster:
a. Confirm which students were members of your class.
b. Indicate when the student was a member of your class.
c. Assign the percentage of responsibility you had for the instruction of those students (all, shared, some, most, or none).
3. Resolve any outstanding alerts and submit rosters for approval.
When does roster verification occur? Teacher roster verification begins on May 16 and closes on June 4. You will receive reminder emails a few days before the process starts and ends.
What resources are available to me?
Downloadable roster verification resources materials such as a Teacher Tutorial, Teacher Roster Verification Overview and Teacher Guide are available online through the BFKLink® solution. You are encouraged to take the Teacher Tutorial which describes the teacher roster verification process in detail and walks you through the tool.
What if I have questions?
If you have questions about the roster verification process, please contact your school support team. Your support team is identified on the main page of the BFKLink® solution.
Thank you for your ongoing efforts to enhance our data quality.
Sincerely, First Name Last Name Principal
By: John Kugler
Very Illegal
As a certified Illinois State Teacher, unless I had a directive delivered to me personally with a signed signature from the Chief Executive Officer, I would not comply with this request. It would put my teaching credentials at risk and violate my students confidentiality rights.
The way I read the Board policy on the CONFIDENTIALITY OF STUDENT RECORDS (Policy 706.3, Board Report 08-0123-PO2) every parent in the system would have to sign a release for this to be legal. There are probably other local, State and Federal statutes that also apply that would be violated if this happens.
But what do I know and why am I concerned? I am only a licensed Illinois Teacher, not a carpetbagging crony of the 1% with no Illinois Teaching or Administrative credentials.
Isn't there suppose to be some kind of Board Report for this big of a contract?
By: Nate Goldbaum
Privatizing state records
They've done this to try and whitewash their new Teacher Evaluation System, since classroom instability is one of the many factors that makes Value Added Measurements invalid and unreliable.
You can read their plan at http://ctunet.com/quest-center/research/text/cps-framework/CPS_Framework.pdf
You can read a great FAQ about the new system at http://www.ctunet.com/quest-center/research/teacher-evaluation/pera-faq
Jobs-wise, what does this mean for school clerks?
By: Carol Caref
Error in Battelle for Kids headline
Battelle for Kids is making a lot of money, because school systems around the country are using value added as part of teacher evaluation. Value added is an unreliable measure, but to give it the appearance of accuracy, the students need to be matched to the right teacher and issues like the amount of time students spend in various teachers' classes need to be addressed. The only way to do this is ask the teacher to verify the information stored on the computer. Hence, roster verification! This takes teachers time to do, as if they don't already have enough work, and has other problems associated with it, as explained in the article and the comments.
However, Battelle for Kids is not in charge of teacher evaluation in Chicago. It is not even in charge of value added of Chicago. Likely, VARC, Wisconsin's Value Added Research Center, will develop the statistical model for CPS to use to determine how much "value" each teacher "adds" to their students. For more information about the new CPS teacher evaluation system, go to the CTU webpage or use this link: http://www.ctunet.com/quest-center/research/teacher-evaluation/pera-faq. Through this link you will also find information about the May 30 event co-sponsored by CTU and held at DePaul University, featuring nationally known expert critic on value added, Jesse Rothstein.
Carol Caref
By: Clifton Hudson
Battelle for Kids
Carol is 100% correct. Battelle for Kids is making a lot of money through their roster verification services . . . A LOT of money!
As an educator, it's just one more thing I'm required to do - I wonder what the teaching profession would be like if I was just permitted to teach without all of the extra crap!


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Currently, it is not possible to define a property for attribute type Lookup.
Please add support for this type
Currently planned for the next semester (April 2020) - please note that actual delivery dates can change .
Lookup has complex set of APIs to function in full capacity and we are evaluating if we can release the support in staged manner. This workitem is under review currently.
I do understand that some type of attributes can be harder to integrate (especially regarding Canvas app), but I really think all data type from CDS should be supported
Will this be in the new Aril 2020 release? @HemantG
I couldn't find any further information regarding this change.
This didnt make it to April release but I am trying to prioritize this for next one.
@HemantG, is this about binding a lookup field to a property of a PCF control, or about binding a PCF control to a lookup field, or both?
@HemantG checking in on this, whats the likely timeframe for this to be released?