I'm lucky enough that my Dad has MavTV and was able to DVR some of the Optima coverage.

I've been able to watch the Fontana event and the Vegas finale (just this past Saturday).

While I'm excited this event exists and is getting media coverage it just doesn't grab me at all.

1) I agree big time with Greg that more about the people would be great. Their are some random interview clips thrown in but if I didn't know that person already or they didn't drive a car like my own I had a hard time caring. I would love to hear more about the people that overcame huge challenges to be there. The only thing that stood out to me was the 2nd place finisher who blew his motor but still came in 2nd and was a hair away from 1st.

2) In car video and data! That makes F1 and NASCAR a lot more fun to watch and so it would make these events.

3) I was actually pretty annoyed trying to watch the Vegas autocross and speed stop because they cuts were so close to the cars that you infrequently got a sense for how they were doing overall or against the next lane over. I wish they showed more distance shots with the finishes so the viewer could see how the cars stacked up. It would be awesome if their could be a running stopwatch in the lower left hand corner with each set of cars and have it freeze a few seconds with the finish. I ended up fast forwarding through a lot of these sections so I could watch the road course portion.

4) My 7 year old niece was told me "this is boring" while watching the finale and insisted we watch the Nightmare before Christmas instead ha ha (we didn't watch it until the Vegas show ended).

The short response is - Hell yes break the rules - especially when it COULD benefit everyone involved. You just spell out the rules and make an "exception" the exception is that he couldn't win -- he'd just be a sponsor/pro/exhibition(ist). LOL But yes -- I would have tried any way possible to be "inclusive" provided nobody got "hurt" in the process. It's just good business...

When people get pissed about stuff like that is when the organizer would try to downplay it or talk it off... that's just dirty and angers people. But done right - yeah I think most would understand the reasoning provided it's handled properly.

The fact that Hendricks only owns 1% of the outstanding stock isn't really very important. Trust me - the guy knows who to call if he'd like to see something "happen".

We owned 1% of Isilon Systems when it was sold for 2.25 BILLION in 2010...we now own none... I can tell you we still know who to call if we need something. LOL

But why? It didn't matter who was further out front in the autocross, as we weren't competing head-to-head. It was just two timed courses and the clock didn't start until you crossed your side's trip light. This was not timed like drag racing.

Because this is how they spun it on the show. The narration made it all about the competition between the two cars on track but the video was boring.

Well, we try to be as accommodating as we can and we've had several exhibition cars run over the years with professional drivers, but that isn't good enough for everyone. I am glad to hear you're in favor of breaking the rules though. We get a lot of feedback from folks who don't want the rules broken for anyone or anything, so I now have a thread to refer them to for further debate. Knowing of someone, who knows someone, who is in a position to make a significant change in the direction of a large corporation is a long ways away from having a significant change made. If “ifs” and “buts” were candy and nuts, oh what a Christmas we'd have.

Chad & Jason, we appreciate your feedback.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

I lean the other way Jim, when I saw a car\driver in a similar situation start to show up in the pictures from this year's events my first thought was "How did he get into this event?". It made more sense when I found out later he was in the exhibition class. I have met him, raced against him and like him...and his sponsor is overall good for the sport...but rules is rules.

Totally agree Jim --- It's just not that easy. But poking and probing every angle is just the way my brain functions. LOL


BTW --- Everyone involved in this event does one hell of a great job, and the series, and this particular event have come a long long way. My hats off to all!

I agree with Greg on this one, anytime you can get people at that level to come and play with you is a good thing for all.

John and Andrew are big time car people, and I will be up at their resort in Feb playing in the dirt. I have not heard if John will be there but Andrew should be with us having fun which is what this is all about.

Check out this short clip on the playground we will be at. Scoll down and the video is at the bottom of the page.

http://www.gatewaycanyons.com/driven...ces.aspx#video

FWIW, dish does carry the Optima show in HD. I am sure there is a reason, but I don't know why anyone would watch cable when you can have dish or direct tv?

Jeff