Rougemont, NC --
A note from OCS Race Director regarding the end of the Choice Automotive Charger feature race at our April 29th season opener:
After multiple lengthy clean-ups for on-track incidents during the first half of the race, as well as a lengthy red flag for our EMS crews to address off-track medical emergencies, we made the difficult decision to end the race after a caution on lap 16 of the scheduled 30 lap feature event for our Choice Automotive Charger division.
At the time of that last caution on lap 16, it was around 11:15 PM local time and it had already been over an hour since the drop of the initial green flag. Obviously there were non-racing related factors in play that contributed to this, but given the amount of cautions we were seeing and fact that we still had one more feature race to try to get in for the night, we felt it was best to call the race at that point in time.
In the days since, we have received feedback from multiple competitors on this matter and we recognize that our abrupt decision to end the race was not the best way to handle the situation.
So in the spirit of full transparency and commitment to improving the overall experience for OCS competitors and fans alike, we have taken this feedback into consideration and moving forward we will implement the following time limit policy for regular OCS races beginning at our next event on Saturday, May 20th:
Time Limit* (Per Feature Race)
30 minutes - Charger, Pure Stock, MOD4, Vintage Sportsman, Legends, Bandos, etc.
60 minutes - Late Model
*Note: If a race is approaching the stated time limit, the race director will clearly communicate relevant race procedures over the OCS race control frequency (468.6875) and, within reason, will make every effort possible to finish the race naturally under green flag conditions. For example, if we reach the stated time limit while under caution, we will allow for one attempt at a green-white-checkered finish. If there are any questions, please reach out to OCS Race Director, Steve Hensley. This will be discussed in more detail at the Driver's Meeting on May 20th as well.
It is worth noting that the vast majority of our feature races at OCS do not get close to these time limits, so we do not anticipate having to use the time limit policy often. However, on the occasions where we do have races that are taking longer than normal, we feel that it is important to have a policy in place that everyone is aware of.
With that said, we will closely monitor this over time and may need to make adjustments (at the Race Director's discretion) to ensure that we put on fair and competitive races, while also trying to run as smooth and efficient of an overall show as possible for the fans. Any such changes will be communicated appropriately so that everyone is on the same page about the policy.
Finally, we just wanted to reiterate how grateful we are for the tremendous show of support by our race teams and fans at the season opener and we look forward to building on that momentum throughout the rest of the 2023 season. Thank you and we hope to see everyone back at America’s Fastest 3/8 Mile on May 20th!