I suspect that many of the fans on Saturday came to watch history and say they were there, and to get the sensory overload of 32,000 horsepower. I have a friend who was there on Fri & Sat and liked it, but he didn't go back for Sunday.
Unlike Virgil (welcome back, great to see Rhonda), I know one team who couldn't wait to get out of there. They never like the idea from the moment it was announced and still don't. Did you notice on Race Day that Wilk refered to it as "a novelty", and said he was being politically correct.
I found the eliminations to be very confusing and hard to tell who was running in what lane. They completely ignored the reaction times. Too much else to deal with.
I don't like the 4-wide and I'll bet that many spectators may be 1-timers, having been there done that!
Could it be that the team had a mind set before hand and were too stubborn to change, and that caused them to blame all their problems on the 4 wide?
Wilk called it a novelty, but others called it an adrenalin rush. There were no staging games after Friday, because drivers found out how quickly you can lose by playing them. No team orders, everyone made all out runs because it was necessary for their survival. Did anyone notice the late lane change in our 2nd round elimination run? After all cars were in their water box except us (we had last lane choice), Kalitta decided to change. No problems, no hassle, not noticed by the fans.
The lights were simple if you took a moment to understand them. There were four pre stage lights, 2 top yellow for your pair of lanes, 2 outside blue for the other pair, and four stage lights, 2 bottom yellow for your pair, and 2 inner blue for the other pair of lanes. How hard is that to understand?
The reaction times were shown on the broadcast accross the top of the screen for each lane. Some drivers were cutting very good lights all weekend. Some drivers stayed confused and suffered.
I have pictures of the pits from all three days that show they were packed. And I have some looking down the stands on both sides of the track taken from behind the water box that show the stands full on Saturday. Wish I knew how to post them to counter act the shot of BB late Friday evening.
We went to the event excited and open minded, listened to the explanations of how it was to work, and guess what? We had a great time and enjoyed every moment of the event. No regrets, nothing negative to say except that I wish our southern weather would have been nicer all three days.
And I opened my local newspaper going to dinner with my wife last night, and in the sports section was a full page of drag racing coverage including a large color picture of ZMax raceway and four cars going down track. This newspaper usually doesn't even list results of drag racing. I feel this is another sign that the 4 wide was and is good for the sport as a whole.
I agree that the television coverage needs some work, but it was their first event to cover of this type also. I did notice more interviews with a different set of interviewees.
I learned a long time ago that a business is either growing or dying, it never stays the same. Drag racing is a business, and for it to grow, new ideas need to be implemented. Old ways are not going to cut it any more because the world and the people in it have changed.
I respect everyone's views and their right to voice them, as I hope all of you respect my rights also. I only ask that you look at the big picture and judge this event realizing that it was the first of it's kind and there are kinks that will be worked out. It was different, and sometimes we have a hard time accepting things that are different. But remember how you feel about variety being the "spice of life".
