Greetings fellow barrel racers.
Nine days ago I found out I have cancer, have had exploratory surgery once and will be starting Radiation & Chemo treatments within the next two weeks. It is in my throat and some lymph nodes but no where else in my body (Praise God). I will have surgery again somewhere in the mix, but don’t know the full schedule of treatments yet. The doctor said it will probably have an adverse affect on my body for up to a year. Since I’ve been told my energy level will probably be very low for quite some time I am making changes to the format of the NW5D for 2010. I appreciate everyone who responded to the proposals I had posted on the web-site and am going to try and cover the most concerns/likes/dislikes with the new system. At this point I am going to tell you up front that I cannot guarantee 5 horse trailers for next year as the numbers in membership will be a determining factor. If members don’t like the 2010 plan and don’t rejoin it will of course affect the money available for awards. ** If enough money is brought in to buy less than the 5 trailers, plus all the saddles and other awards, then that number of trailers will be awarded at the Finals. So as an example, possibly 2 trailers could be awarded to first in two of the Divisions, and saddles to first in the other three.
There were more people in favor of having a “Sudden Death” so to speak at the Finals for the awards than were against it. But there are also members who favor keeping track of points for year end. I hope to address both of those issues with this plan. It will take 12 races to qualify to run for awards at the Finals in 2010 and be in the Overall top Ten in 2010.
A. Points will be on money won only, and kept overall versus in the 1D, 2D, 3D, 4D, & 5D Divisions. So regardless of which Division you win a check in, only the money won will be counted and kept track of (like AW, BRN4D). I will not go down the list and give points where no money was won. There will be no double or triple points, just the true amount of money won. If you don’t win money, the entry will still count towards the qualification number required to run for (trailers if possible) saddles, etc. A Saddle to first and awards to the Overall Top 10 will be awarded to the highest point earners for the year.
B. In addition, at the 2010 Finals there will be awards given to the Top Ten in each of the 5 Divisions in the average (a Sudden Death). If trailers aren’t given, (see** above) saddles will be the guaranteed first place award.
C. A member may join and pay the $40 membership fee plus $24 for the 12 races and be automatically qualified for awards at the Finals. This was requested by many members who either don’t have many races in their area/and people who don’t care to accumulate year-end points, but just want to run for the awards at the Finals.
D. Members may still join and pay their $2 at each race if they so choose.
E. As the year and membership numbers progress I hope to offer another incentive to those who support the Northwest 5D races. We gave a car in 2009, and five $1,000 bonuses in 2009. I feel the Northwest 5D gives back to its members generously for those who attend a lot of races. This in turn helps the producers who are doing the work of holding the races and we all want to support them. But again, I cannot make a promise at this time for what will be given, but I believe I have shown that the members have benefited greatly with their participation and I hope to be able to offer something exciting again.
I know some of you have already wanted to renew your membership so I wanted to get this out to the membership as soon as I knew what my situation was with the cancer.
I am trying to get all the points updated, plus look up races that some of you have contacted me about. This takes time, and since I am at some kind of Doctor almost every day, it may take a few days longer to get back to you.
As always, I welcome your response and suggestions, and I thank you for your prayers.
Isaiah 49:15, 16 “I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands”. This has been a comforting scripture for me.