4-Wide opinions... (1 Viewer)

[BaldyLochs]

Don't like it at all. Sure the selling point is the 8 million horsepower (or whatever the hell it is these days) all at once thing; but I'd be more impressed to see something like an all-inclusive synchronized engine warmup session in the nitro pits. i.e. at 10am, every nitro car in the pits warms up their motors for 5-10 mins all at the same time

 

[shodog]

was pretty cool watching and feeling the power at the starting line but, otherwise not a big fan of 4 wide.

 

[camaro]

i would wait before i declared the 4 wide an overwhelming success. after the novelty of it wares off, in Vegas, in a couple of years and they are still selling it out then there is no argument whether or not it is a success. does anyone know if the 4 wide at Charlotte sell out every year ??

 

[Muddy]

For all who think 4 wide in person might be great...for me it wasn't great in fact it still FRIGGIN SUCKED

 

[James]

Agree with allot of folks. Don't like it on TV but will try and see it in person for the experience.

 

[RM FAN]

I come to realize that if most on this site do not like the 4 wide then it must be a good thing. It was a sold out show. There was a possibility of dropping the spring race due to poor attendance. Amanda spoke to people who came from overseas to see the race. You still see the same amount of runs and 2 wide. If this helps the future of our sport then why not.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Not a fan. You get to see half the runs that you normally would. Cool for a specialty race but not for points. Just my .02 cents.

not so sir, you see 28 passes in 4 wide format, & 30 in 2 wide, only 2 runs difference. A fair trade for the sensory overload of 4 nitro WOTs at once.

 

[PJ]

It's a freak event in a town that likes spectacles. It seems like a good fit to me. An end of winter, possible spring break time retreat that takes in a special event type of race. Much like the fall event being around Halloween makes for a big party in the party city a perfect match of schedule and location.

it will be interesting to see if the numbers stay up next year or if it was the curiosity of the first one. Also it will be interesting to see if ZMax numbers stay up or if many that would have gone there went to Vegas instead. Also did people not go to Pomona or Phoenix and instead tried out Vegas 4-wide? In other words, maybe they didn't add many new ones but instead just moved the same people around. That will be something that won't be fully known until a few races are done here.

I get the draw, even went to Zmax once to check it out. The feeling was cool but the racing blah. I'm not a fan of it but as long as it only stays a couple of races a year I don't have a problem with them doing it.

 

[mgty3whlr]

Until NHRA purchases more cameras, It's a waste of time for the T.V. viewer. Maybe they can rent a 2nd boom crane for the other half of the cars staging. As for the behind the car launch, were going for the sensory overload with the camera vibrating beyond focus, They have been doing races at Charlotte for quite a while, Maybe Ken needs to put his 300,000 salary to work and get some less confusing camera angles.

 

[JP1Special]

not so sir, you see 28 passes in 4 wide format, & 30 in 2 wide, only 2 runs difference. A fair trade for the sensory overload of 4 nitro WOTs at once.

I'll give you the sensory overload and that is very cool but say there are 20 cars entered in a category, you get five runs as opposed to 10 per session. Yes, you get to see all the cars run but half the amount of "races" you would normally see. Sunday you lose 4 races per pro class in first round, two in second round and then you lose the two for what would have been the semi's on a normal day. That's what I meant by half the runs you would normally see.

 

[vegasnitro]

why doesn't bruton run nascar clockwise at his tracks?.....they seem to have a few empty seats too.....just 2 races, that's all.
it's a little different, but the nascar fans will understand; it's to help their sport attract new fans and improve tv ratings.
call it the 'wrong way 400'

Well ... Bruton is turning the Charlotte Fall race in to a road course race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It will be the first road course race during the Chase/Countdown/Playoffs format, so he is willing to try new things on that side of the fence too. They will still run the Coke 600 on Memorial Day on the oval as they always have.

 

[The Swegian]

There was a lot more time in between the nitro sessions, both qualifying and eliminations, than any other event I've attended. With no oildowns, an entire Pro qualifying session (PS, FC, TF) took less than 45 minutes. On Saturday, the Pros were done for the day at 3:45. At least I got to hang out with Chris Cook and Joe Sherwood. And a nice shout out to Chris Cook by Alan Reinhart over the PA on Sunday during eliminations. LOL. Overall, being at the track in mid-80 degree weather was WAY BETTER than being at home in Minnesota enduring more of a winter that won't end.

 

[PJ]

I realize it's not a full time 4 -way track so the wall is needed for when it is normally 2 lane operations. I do wonder though what it would look like without, what ends up being, that middle wall. Side camera shots would be better, it would look like one big race and not 2 races that happen to be going on next to each other. It still won't help the wide shots as it is just to much space to cover with any detail. Of course safety concerns need to be considered as well but just something I've wondered

 

[mick]

center wall remote camera at about 1500'......with good zoom and wide angle......still don't understand why they won't use drones.
the few races in the past that have used blimps have produced great shots from straight up.

 

[ironpony]

4 wide will always sell out to the casual fan who attends one race a year and does not follow the season any further, excitement, sensory, short day, circus show.
The people that follow the whole season and love drag racing think it is sacrilegious and not pure to the sport.

 

[Riley7]

I was at Z-Max for the very first 4 wide pass, the year the track was opened for business. Went back twice to watch the 4 Wide Nationals. Is it a spectacle? Yes. Is it cool? At first, yes it was. But the novelty wore off pretty quickly.

There were a couple of reasons I grew to dislike the format. First of all, it's very hard to focus on the staging procedures, or see your favorite car very well if it's in the 4th lane furthest from your seats.

Most importantly, I felt the reduced number of 4-Wide laps on Sunday, diminished the show. If you have a full 16 car field on Sunday in the 4-wide Format, you'll see 4 First round heats, 2 second round heats, and a Final Round heat. With two wides, you see 8 laps in the first round, 4 in the second, two in the Semi's, and a Final Round. So, you'll be seeing 7 total laps for a full field, 4 wide elimination format. With the traditional 2 Wide Elimination Format, you'll have 15 laps per Pro Class on Sunday.

Yep, I'm one of those old-school fans, that would prefer to have more individual passes, than be "awed" by the spectacle of multi cars going down the track at the same time.

 

[vegasnitro]

There was a lot more time in between the nitro sessions, both qualifying and eliminations, than any other event I've attended. With no oildowns, an entire Pro qualifying session (PS, FC, TF) took less than 45 minutes. On Saturday, the Pros were done for the day at 3:45. At least I got to hang out with Chris Cook and Joe Sherwood. And a nice shout out to Chris Cook by Alan Reinhart over the PA on Sunday during eliminations. LOL. Overall, being at the track in mid-80 degree weather was WAY BETTER than being at home in Minnesota enduring more of a winter that won't end.

I was OK with the extra time between rounds, it allowed us time to walk around the pits, BS with friends and we got to see most of Scott Palmer's warmups. "Only" 65 degrees and VERY windy here today.

 

[none]

I completely understand that the long time hard core fan doesn't necessarily embrace four wide racing. But remember, it's not new. Anybody here remember when they ran four wide at the 1964 March Meet? Did you swear off the sport then?
How many of you have been to the Spring Vegas race the last few years?
What did you think of the crowds?
How many know that dropping it all together was being discussed as a real possibility? Would that have been better?
How many of you (if you were in Bruton's shoes) would have ponied up MILLIONS of dollars to save the race?
How many new fans came to see the spectacle?
What did you think of the crowds?
How many might now be new fans and watch on TV and come back to another race even if it's two wide?
I don't know that answer to that question, but I am a businessman, and I do know that if you can't get someone to look at your product, then you will never sell it to them. And if it takes four wide to get new eyeballs then why not do it?
Consider:
A new fan comes out just to see the spectacle, now he has met J.R. Todd, got an autograph and is a fan.
Maybe he's from a military family, met Fast Jack, bought a challenge coin and is now a fan.
Maybe he or she met Courtney, Leah, Erica or Brittney and now is a fan.
Maybe he has a Camaro, watched Justin Lamb win Stock in a car that's "Just Like Mine" and now is a fan.
If you were there: Have you ever seen a bigger track walk? Holy Crap! How many of those are now fans?
How many went back to work Monday and told their coworkers "I got to walk on the track with some of the drivers and it was FREE!"

NHRA knows that there are MANY first time fans at a four wide so they make the schedule with a big gap between 1st and 2nd round. Let them go to the pits, wander around, see all there is to do, hopefully get hooked even more. Is that bad? Hard cores scream about the long delay between rounds. And that's some of the same people that complain when a two wide day runs smoothly and there's no time the visit the pits. Sound familiar?

Here's the bottom line. We could have lost the race completely, we now have two four wide events. If you really believe that one less event would be better then please tell me why. With more than one line.

As always, this is just my opinion. I am NOT speaking for NHRA, LVMS or anyone else.
Alan

 

[Bruno]

More is not always better. When you talk about fans, are they fans of the spectacle or fans of the sport? Is their heart pounding because two cars are lined up and they know what is at stake and who goes on and who goes home or is their heart pounding because there is now 4 cars lined up and maybe two will blow up and create this crazy scene like is advertised on TV all the time to draw me in? A couple examples: Ice hockey has the potential to be THE greatest sport. It has it all. Speed, excitement, contact sport. But they let the players fist fight like thugs. I will not pay $100. for a ticket to watch that. If I want to see a fight I go to the fights. Look at boxing. There were the Sugar Ray Lenard's of the sport that were technically marvelous. But that is not entertaining enough. We need more. Let's put two men (and now women) in a cage and MMA is born. Wrestling. Gone from the Olympics?? But WWF was huge? Look, we humans have addictive personalities and the marketeers play into this by giving us more and then we want it, need it, expect it.

There are already too many national events and why should the same venue have two events the same year? Vegas is a wonderful facility. I have been there and raced there several times. The stands looked full on TV which is great but I lost interest in trying to watch the actual races on TV. Complete overload. Sometimes when there is too much of one thing it starts to dilute the very item you are trying to promote. A piece of chocolate cake is great.....an entire chocolate cake in front of you is too much. That is why I think there should be less events.

In the mid 1970's THE drag racing rag was Super Stock and Drag Illustrated. One issue had an interview with Shirley Muldowney. She was ranting about the cost of racing and how it was just insane to her that these guys were racing when NHRA was paying so little. She quoted Frank Bradley who said that, hypothetically, if Wally came down from the air conditioned tower during a race, went up to the guys and said "I didn't take in enough money here and it looks like I am not going to be able to pay you. What do you want to do?" Bradley said the general response would be "Get out of my way, I want the left lane!!" This was passion for the sport, as misguided as Shirley may have thought it was. I miss that passion, that fire to race. And the "fans" at the time had the same passion for the sport.

That is my response Alan.....in more than one sentence. PS, you do a great job announcing!

 

[stitcherbob]

I saw interviews on the race coverage with people from different parts of the globe...they will travel thousands of miles to experience the 4 wides.

NASCAR starts the year off with their biggest race plus all the lead up Speedweeks racing to the Daytona....certainly gets the attention of their fans.

NHRA has been promoting the US Nats for years, but it never felt to me to be the special race they make it out to be, mainly because I wasn't a racer or from the area. E-Town was my local event.

Maybe the 2 4-wide events can be morphed into a bigger spectacle, with more prize money, less effect on championship points, and maybe get them back-to-back so it is felt as a non stop "party" available to 2 major sections of the country. The "roadshow" between the east and the west so to say....

The last thing that could be done would be to change the format and have the 2 losing cars from each round race each other in 4 wide rounds to be eligible to race the overall winner for "King of the Hill"