Thursday, August 28, 2008

Bobby Rahal Historic Races in Joliet

Ridiculous




Well, maybe I am on the spoiled side but when I go to a "historic" race I love seeing historic cars. This past weekend myself and my uncle (who has been going to Elkhart Lake's Road America since before I was born) went to these "historic" races and were less than impressed with the turnout. At $40 a head just to walk into the Autobahn Country Club I expected to get the same, if not better, as Road America which charges only $30 and does actually have historic vehicles from any and every class as well as excellent views from any spot throughout the track. So, with the lack of historic cars at the Rahal "Historics" set aside, I am also one who enjoys watching cars. Again, especially at $40 a head. At the Autobahn Country Club spectators are only able to view a single mile of track, if even two miles and that would be pushing it. Definitely not made for spectators. Now, I do realize that this certain race was sponsored by a Porsche dealer, but I don't think there were more than a dozen cars older than the mid-seventies with every bit of 200 Porches, granted a handful were give or take 20 years old. Still not historic race cars though. Just old cars. The next largest group of "historic" cars were the 50 or so Mazda Miatas. We came here expecting Road America with tons of cool pics to show and all we got was this. Cool? Yeah I guess, for the only "historic" dozen on show. Worthwhile? Absolutely not! It was also ridiculous that when there were finally historic racers, it was in a group of 4-12... less cars than more. Huh? Did I take a wrong turn getting here? And on top of barely any historic racers, the place shut down for an hour at lunch time. Yep! Shut down. No racing to watch during chow time. None. Which brings me to the food! Wow! So ya stand in line for 20 minutes at the only window open, just to wait at the next (pickup) window for another 20 minutes and all for a chicken sandwich. I actually think I may have heard the chicken squawking as they made my dish. Fresh or not, my conclusion of the food, this race, and of this track are that there is little to be desired as it was not made for spectators and is way over priced. Oh, did mention falsely advertised as this was by no means a historic race. Maybe I checked the wrong website broadcasting Formula One, Nascar, Indy, Can Am, GT Prototype, as well as vintage British, German and American sports cars. Nope, it was indeed Auto Bahn's site and the cars in the video differed greatly from what we saw at the track. I will sum up my experience, as well as my uncle's, with ridiculously disappointing. Grrr! Can we get a refund?