I would love to go see bonneville, some friends of mine have raced there and I think its an amazing sport. Nothing more awesome then people setting land speed records.
Nitromater
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4 wide nationals thread
- Thread starter e-town iceyman
- Start date
I would love to go see bonneville, some friends of mine have raced there and I think its an amazing sport. Nothing more awesome then people setting land speed records.
megadeth
Nitro Member
I'm sure it was awesome for those that attended but it seemed like a spectacle at best that I hope doesn't become the norm!
It didn't work to well for TV were most of their audience is every race day weekend.
I think the best idea for the 4 lane basically 2 track configuration would be better served if they have an oil down switching between the two to keep the show going.
Attendance looked stellar for both qualifying days but what the hell happen on Sunday when nobody lifts!
I'm sure Larry Dixon is having second thoughts about the spectacle.....
It didn't work to well for TV were most of their audience is every race day weekend.
I think the best idea for the 4 lane basically 2 track configuration would be better served if they have an oil down switching between the two to keep the show going.
Attendance looked stellar for both qualifying days but what the hell happen on Sunday when nobody lifts!
I'm sure Larry Dixon is having second thoughts about the spectacle.....
my friends call me Zappy
Nitro Member
While I have not been to all nhra's tracks, there are several that have the width to go 4-wide without a major re-do. Indy - RT66 - Vegas - Pomona - and maybe Norwalk??
As far as Vegas goes, I'll be suprised if Bruton does NOT have 4 lanes ready for VEGAS 2 . I can see it now..."FOUR WIDE WEST NATS."
e-town iceyman
Nitro Member
the weather was ugly lookin from the time the sun rose.. saturday was a huge audience
BaldyLochs
Nitro Member
Hell; Topeka could almost go 8 wide without moving a thing! And Denver could do it - with a bunch of blasting caps and dynamite
Huge
Nitro Member
I don't think there is enough air on the mountain to run 8 superchargers at the same time.Hell; Topeka could almost go 8 wide without moving a thing! And Denver could do it - with a bunch of blasting caps and dynamite
mick
Nitro Member
yesterday stat guy mentioned original 4-wide racing and promoter's hopes
of win/place/show wagering..........vegas 4-wide; or maybe only one additional lane
will be added so final is truly win/place/show.
(hard to run 16 car bracket with 3 lanes though, but 18 can be done
)
don't mind watching 4-wide any more or less than traditional; don't think anyone
has to worry about business 'retooling' to add lanes to all venues, but one,
maybe two events per year is ok with me.
don't care if it's 4 or 2 lanes - when show comes on at 4pm cst,
my chances of watching decrease as i will not give up warm summer day to sit in front of tv - much prefer the evening telecasts.
(i know - tivo it)
there have been threads that have discussed varying the national events (aka nascar tracks of varying shapes and lengths),
or doing something to differentiate one event from the next........well, the zmax 4-wide nationals
was (still is today) a perfect example of that; i say kudos to bruton for
building 4 lanes (i'd like to know who actually thought of this? was it bruton
himself? or someone or small group who approached him with the idea?)
just like when the "C" was announced though - grew very tired of hearing
'4-wide' phrase used in almost every sentence during tv broadcasts.
of win/place/show wagering..........vegas 4-wide; or maybe only one additional lane
will be added so final is truly win/place/show.
(hard to run 16 car bracket with 3 lanes though, but 18 can be done
)don't mind watching 4-wide any more or less than traditional; don't think anyone
has to worry about business 'retooling' to add lanes to all venues, but one,
maybe two events per year is ok with me.
don't care if it's 4 or 2 lanes - when show comes on at 4pm cst,
my chances of watching decrease as i will not give up warm summer day to sit in front of tv - much prefer the evening telecasts.
(i know - tivo it)
there have been threads that have discussed varying the national events (aka nascar tracks of varying shapes and lengths),
or doing something to differentiate one event from the next........well, the zmax 4-wide nationals
was (still is today) a perfect example of that; i say kudos to bruton for
building 4 lanes (i'd like to know who actually thought of this? was it bruton
himself? or someone or small group who approached him with the idea?)
just like when the "C" was announced though - grew very tired of hearing
'4-wide' phrase used in almost every sentence during tv broadcasts.
Randy
Nitro Member
Looks like BOTH the fans liked it
The grandstands look like they seat at least 60,000. Charlotte looks like it has one of the highest capacity seating areas of any track right now. If you collected up everyone seated on both sides of the track and put them at any other track the place would have been full.
My guess is Bruton will fix that, too.
.
Paul
Nitro Member
If they keep going 4 wide, they've to change their TV approach.
Showing only one tree and the 4 blue lights is really confusing and I can't see how the typical TV viewer is ever going to understand what they mean.
They should show both trees spread apart a little up at the top of the screen, without the blue lights. This way it makes sense to the viewer as you see the pre-stage and stage lights go on close the cars in each of the 4 lanes.
Showing only one tree and the 4 blue lights is really confusing and I can't see how the typical TV viewer is ever going to understand what they mean.
They should show both trees spread apart a little up at the top of the screen, without the blue lights. This way it makes sense to the viewer as you see the pre-stage and stage lights go on close the cars in each of the 4 lanes.
Marchboom
Nitro Member
IMO, 4-wide was set up for the in-person spectator and not for those watching on TV. Way too much to follow during a 4 sec. run. Even Dunn and Paige had a hard time keeping up. Would be like having 2 balls in play during a football game. Which one do you watch?
4-wide means watching LOTS of replays for every run. I got tired of watching all the replays.
Safety is a big factor with the first 2 cars getting the win. Too many drivers might stay in a "injured" car trying to be the second car to the finish line. 4-wide is increasing the danger factor, IMO. NHRA eliminated the points for setting a speed record because they wanted to get the cars slowed down as soon as they passed the finish line.
4-wide means watching LOTS of replays for every run. I got tired of watching all the replays.
Safety is a big factor with the first 2 cars getting the win. Too many drivers might stay in a "injured" car trying to be the second car to the finish line. 4-wide is increasing the danger factor, IMO. NHRA eliminated the points for setting a speed record because they wanted to get the cars slowed down as soon as they passed the finish line.
BrettV
Nitro Member
Instead of racing all 4 lanes against each other they could race it as 2 pairs. YOu could still do the staging so the start is the same to get the same sound and feel but you are only racing the car in the lane you are paired with. That would keep the "benefits" of 4 at a time racing and eliminate the potential for staying on the throttle too long trying to beat someone 3 lanes away to be second across the line.
n/a
Nitro Member
My Opinion Only -
I'm watching this on tv for the first time here this a.m. and IT SUCKS!!!!
the cars / bikes are too far away from the one lone camera.....
and there's so much going on in 4 lanes, how the hell can you concentrate
on what each is doing.
It Might be different in person?
Larry Fulton
I'm watching this on tv for the first time here this a.m. and IT SUCKS!!!!
the cars / bikes are too far away from the one lone camera.....
and there's so much going on in 4 lanes, how the hell can you concentrate
on what each is doing.
It Might be different in person?
Larry Fulton
clutchflite
Nitro Member
Yeah, it's worse.
Ive had my say on the 4-wide deal but just want to comment that you can't really compare drag racing to nascar in any way. Sure nascar has some long tracks and some short but nascar isnt based around a set distance like drag racing is nascar is endurance racing its all about running the laps and coming first after how ever many laps they run. Where as drag racing is based around running from one point to another before the other guy all based around a set distance all the records and everything where as with nascar if you run 200mph it doesnt matter whether its a long track or short track.
mick
Nitro Member
exactly - so with the just completed zmax race nhra has a different twist
on their standard nat. event format without changing the distance or
disallowing the opportunity for e.t. records.
could nhra race 1000' at some tracks and 1320 at others? don't know but
doubtful - think nhra will remain a set distance.
What ever happens happens its out of the control on the normal man. People say they want drag racing to grow. Well thats great drag racing should grow but I dont want to see it grow into what wrestling is. I want to see it taken more seriously as a sport as a racing eliminator and enjoyed for what it is. Drag Racing should be just as important as the olympics where the best of the best battle it out to be the best.
I have watched alot of old races on youtube and dvd. How come they used to go into detail about what everybody ran both ET and MPH and what the teams may have had trouble with how come they don't any more. The old races seemed to broadcast in alot more technical manor is it just me or are they dumbed down now? I have noticed the same thing when comparing old magazines to new magazines old ones seem alot more technical.
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murdock
Nitro Member
From the perspective of another one who was there through first round of eliminations:
With all due respect to Virgil Hartman, Virgil has a different perspective of 4 wide racing than the average fan. From a long time fan's point of view, I didn't particularly care for 4 wide eliminations. Qualifying was OK, but I'm still just a fan of pairing them up one at a time to eliminate. It was kind of hard to keep up with everything that was happening on the track at once. Kind of like watching the evening news and listening to the anchor while reading the crawl at the bottom of the screen, too much info at one time. I tried to look at the positive side of 4 cars at once, 32,000 HP is just awesome, from the 4 burnouts to the pass, especially if all 4 cars make a full pull. One problem there was that rarely happened, so that kind of dampened the thrill of 4 wide. At first blush, I thought that Robert Hight might not have stayed with it if there had not been 4 cars on the track, but after some thought, he would have done the same thing on a two lane track if he couldn't see the other car in front of him.
The 4 blue lights on the tree was really confusing, but I know that they are already working on a better plan, so that's a wait and see what happens. I would hate to think that some confusion about those lights will cost someone a place in their respective countdown.
I won't condemn 4 wide racing, but I'm not enthused about it. With Concord and Bristol the only tracks that I'll be going to, I can't complain too much about what I get.
With all due respect to Virgil Hartman, Virgil has a different perspective of 4 wide racing than the average fan. From a long time fan's point of view, I didn't particularly care for 4 wide eliminations. Qualifying was OK, but I'm still just a fan of pairing them up one at a time to eliminate. It was kind of hard to keep up with everything that was happening on the track at once. Kind of like watching the evening news and listening to the anchor while reading the crawl at the bottom of the screen, too much info at one time. I tried to look at the positive side of 4 cars at once, 32,000 HP is just awesome, from the 4 burnouts to the pass, especially if all 4 cars make a full pull. One problem there was that rarely happened, so that kind of dampened the thrill of 4 wide. At first blush, I thought that Robert Hight might not have stayed with it if there had not been 4 cars on the track, but after some thought, he would have done the same thing on a two lane track if he couldn't see the other car in front of him.
The 4 blue lights on the tree was really confusing, but I know that they are already working on a better plan, so that's a wait and see what happens. I would hate to think that some confusion about those lights will cost someone a place in their respective countdown.
I won't condemn 4 wide racing, but I'm not enthused about it. With Concord and Bristol the only tracks that I'll be going to, I can't complain too much about what I get.
