2020 US Nationals

[mick]

........How much of a difference did it make that team Force wasn't there? I kinda felt that more independent teams were there cuz they knew they had a shot at making the field.......!

yes. it is clearly evident there are others waiting to step up and race in the absence of jfr....... barring new covid problems, IMO the gators
will have fields the same as or better than indy.

 

[PJ]

Random things I liked:
* Dale Creasy getting round win and .001 away from 3 second club in Rd 2. I always wondered why a racer from so close to Indy rarely ran at US Nats, but I hope he comes back next year.

* Really enjoyed getting to see TD and TS qualifing on Friday, including Cuadra making field literally running last pair in TS.

* 23 cars in TAFC vying for 16 spots.

* Making lemonade from lemons, seeing TAD, TAFC, and other classes on Fox brosdcast was a real treat.

Sad note - It looked like the horse farm caddy corner from the track is no longer there. I used to park there for several reasons, one of which was to support the owner.

Been parking there since around 02. The horse farm sold, we had heard last year the lady who ran it passed away. The one barn is gone. They were parking and camping there this year but they have raised the prices. Friday it was $10, Sat $15. I think Sunday they planned on charging $15 also but I found a different spot.

 

[Luke Nieuwhof]

Just to throw out something. How much of a difference did it make that team Force wasn't there? I kinda felt that more independent teams were there cuz they knew they had a shot at making the field. On the other hand, did miss the Force cars. They would have all Q and probably made a difference in the outcome. What a crazy year this has been!

That's definitely the counter-argument to losing any of the big teams. A lot of people think the big teams leave a gap if they disappear, but my theory is that they leave a vacuum that gets filled, as the barrier to entry is lowered. In fact, you could argue that expanding to 32 car fields would eventually result in a huge increase in nitro cars at any given show as more independent teams would know they actually stand a chance of qualifying and getting a crack at eliminations (which is the fun part after all).
None of this is to say I think JFR sitting out is a good thing, a lot of fans miss them. But there will be life after JFR, or DSR, or Kalitta, if they choose to do other things.

 

[stitcherbob]

Just to throw out something. How much of a difference did it make that team Force wasn't there? I kinda felt that more independent teams were there cuz they knew they had a shot at making the field. On the other hand, did miss the Force cars. They would have all Q and probably made a difference in the outcome. What a crazy year this has been!

If JFR was there, Kyle Wurtzel, Joey Haas, Jim Campbell and Dale Creasy most likely would have gone home