4 wide nationals thread

[murdock]

There was no crowd on Sunday but that was probably more related to the weather and had little or nothing to do with 4-wide

Agreed, and the crowd was pretty thin on Friday, but that was a working day for most folks. And since there was no late (7:00 PM or so) qualifying scheduled, I'm sure there were some people that may have come in late that just didn't show up at all.

 

[big guy]

Agreed, and the crowd was pretty thin on Friday, but that was a working day for most folks. And since there was no late (7:00 PM or so) qualifying scheduled, I'm sure there were some people that may have come in late that just didn't show up at all.

Taking into acount that this facility holds more than twice that of any other track.If you had the same croud at any other track it would of been standing room only every day.

 

[Muddy]

Taking into acount that this facility holds more than twice that of any other track.If you had the same croud at any other track it would of been standing room only every day.

That may be true for Saturday but that would not be my opinion for Sunday. It was about 25 or 30%% full on sunday and given the same crowd, most other tracks would have only been slightly better than half full . JMO

 

[Old Guy Rookie]

I'm not sure I liked it; but, keep the 4-wide as a NHRA special event. If more than one track can support it, rotate between those tracks every year. "Join us at LVMS, host of the 2011 NHRA 4-Wide Nationals!" No pun intended; but, think something along the lines of Wrestlemania; build it up and make it big, but make it special. Racing was built on grudge matches.

 

[Toejam]

That may be true for Saturday but that would not be my opinion for Sunday. It was about 25 or 30%% full on sunday and given the same crowd, most other tracks would have only been slightly better than half full . JMO

Some of the shots of the Pit side showed good crowds on Saturday, but every shot I saw on the spectator side either show it looked maybe 30% full! That market has Chicago syndrome, huge Market very few Drag race fans!

 

[Sleepy]

I'm not sure I liked it; but, keep the 4-wide as a NHRA special event. If more than one track can support it, rotate between those tracks every year. "Join us at LVMS, host of the 2011 NHRA 4-Wide Nationals!" No pun intended; but, think something along the lines of Wrestlemania; build it up and make it big, but make it special. Racing was built on grudge matches.

Yeh !! I see big breasted blonds carrying RND placards on the starting line, big breasted redheads at the finish line with champeen belts. I see lions and tigers pulling sleds down the track to prep.; I see .............................
Gawd, I'm getting chills just thinkin.

 

[Old Guy Rookie]

Yeh !! I see big breasted blonds carrying RND placards on the starting line, big breasted redheads at the finish line with champeen belts. I see lions and tigers pulling sleds down the track to prep.; I see .............................
Gawd, I'm getting chills just thinkin.

That wasn't exactly what I had in mind; but, I'm ok with the direction you took it. Except the lions, tigers, and belts part.

 

[Treeshaker]

Like I said before, most learned early that you could not play games in the staging process or you would be the loser. Some took longer to learn this and they ended up losing in eliminations. If they felt they got screwed, it was them doing it to themselves.

Quit trying to play the waiting game and stage your bike/car, and everything will be just fine. Otherwise, like these guys, you will be blaming the format for your blatant mistakes.

 

[Husky]

One thing I don't like about 4 wide racing.

It's the fact that one can finish second 3 times and first once, and be the winner while another can finish first 3 times and second once, and be the loser. (In theory, these could be the two same competitors facing off, 4 times.)
I know they are trying to keep the 4 Rd format, but in a winner take all scenario, it would be a 2 round race.
Just saying...If the countdown skewed things, then you have to say this does too. JM 2 cents

 

[Rajunz]

Re: One thing I don't like about 4 wide racing.

It's the fact that one can finish second 3 times and first once, and be the winner while another can finish first 3 times and second once, and be the loser. (In theory, these could be the two same competitors facing off, 4 times.)
I know they are trying to keep the 4 Rd format, but in a winner take all scenario, it would be a 2 round race.
Just saying...If the countdown skewed things, then you have to say this does too. JM 2 cents

That's not at all accurate. There were only THREE rounds of racing, and in each round every competitor had the same chance of advancing as any other National Event (50/50).

 

[Husky]

Re: One thing I don't like about 4 wide racing.

That's not at all accurate. There were only THREE rounds of racing, and in each round every competitor had the same chance of advancing as any other National Event (50/50).

When they went to 4 wide, they changed from a winner takes all format to a placing format. Still you could 'lose' 2 races and win one and be the winner, and win two, lose one, and be the loser.
That in itself is a major change in how winners are determined. IIRC, DR never rewarded second place, before. IOW, winners were always the winner of every round they ran.

 

[Marchboom]

Whatever the system is, 4-wide racing sucks.

 

[Husky]

Whatever the system is, 4-wide racing sucks.

I'm fine with it for qualifying as cutting a good light or wondering how the guy 3 lanes away from you is doing aren't issues. But for eliminations, I would rather see a heads up, winner take all, format.

 

[Rollout96]

Re: One thing I don't like about 4 wide racing.

When they went to 4 wide, they changed from a winner takes all format to a placing format. Still you could 'lose' 2 races and win one and be the winner, and win two, lose one, and be the loser.
That in itself is a major change in how winners are determined. IIRC, DR never rewarded second place, before. IOW, winners were always the winner of every round they ran.

I think some things are getting lost in the semantics of winning and losing. In the first two rounds of this format you CANNOT "lose" and still "win". The first two cars to the stripe are simply the "winners" and the next two are NOT. In the finals there IS one "winner". After that they either runner-up or get semi-finals points.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't enjoy it at all on TV and hope they don't run it again for points. I just think some of the terms mean different things from the traditional format.

YMMV

 

[none]

I liked the 4 wide race. It was a nice change of pace. I think once or twice a year would be great. It reminds me of the Denver race. Everything is different, but the same.........

 

[Rollout96]

Quit trying to play the waiting game and stage your bike/car, and everything will be just fine. Otherwise, like these guys, you will be blaming the format for your blatant mistakes.

I completely agree under this format. With three other drivers to worry about, get in there and be ready!

 

[Husky]

Re: One thing I don't like about 4 wide racing.

I think some things are getting lost in the semantics of winning and losing. In the first two rounds of this format you CANNOT "lose" and still "win". The first two cars to the stripe are simply the "winners" and the next two are NOT. In the finals there IS one "winner". After that they either runner-up or get semi-finals points.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't enjoy it at all on TV and hope they don't run it again for points. I just think some of the terms mean different things from the traditional format.

YMMV

Maybe I'm a traditionalist, a conservative, or just plain stubborn, but to me, coming in second, in a DR is LOSING, no matter how they spin it, or how many cars are in the race..
I see no reason to advance the second place car to the next rd. Make it 2 rds, all in, or go to the heads up format. JMHO
I still think it's fine for qualifying, or exhibition racing, but I prefer the traditional heads up format for eliminations.

 

[Rollout96]

Re: One thing I don't like about 4 wide racing.

I still think it's fine for qualifying, or exhibition racing, but I prefer the traditional heads up format for eliminations.

Yeah, I get it. I would prefer that too if they HAVE to use the 4-wide!

 

[Husky]

Re: One thing I don't like about 4 wide racing.

Yeah, I get it. I would prefer that too if they HAVE to use the 4-wide!

JMHO, but 4 wide would be a "Heaven sent" for all the "Super" classes.

 

[Treeshaker]

Just think of it as two heat races (first and second round) to qualify for the main (final round). Been done in circle track racing for years.

At lunch today a few questions were asked, like why four lanes? One of the responses was that someone was thinking of live TV for the events in the future. That would bring an extra stream of income into the sport, make the events more important to the general public, help grow the sport and with four wide running 3 rounds it would fit into a 3 hour time slot without overworking the race teams.