4 Wide Racing

[Bullard Anderson]

I live one hour from facility. I drive to Atlanta. I drive to Bristol. I drive to Dinwiddie. I go to Charlotte in the fall. I've turned down freebies for 4wide. Thats my stance.

 

[z28]

I live one hour from facility. I drive to Atlanta. I drive to Bristol. I drive to Dinwiddie. I go to Charlotte in the fall. I've turned down freebies for 4wide. Thats my stance.

I'd think it would be more fun in person than on TV. Way to hard to keep up with on TV. I too would like to see it as a special no points big bucks race.(can u say 4th of July?)

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

One of the big selling points for 4 wide racing was the aspect of having 4 nitro cars running down the strip at the same time. I remember the ones on this board who've attended that race said it was indeed pretty awesome.

However, that aspect of the concept loses everything in the translation to television.

Yer right Dave, note: all the 4-wide haters have never been.......
and just like 2-wide it loses on tv.

 

[TooTall999]

The races aren't cut in half, there is only one less round on race day per class, and you get to see the same number of cars run as any other National Meet.They double the Safety Safari for that race, so that situation would be no different than if two cars oiled down side by side.

Let's see them handle a 4 lane oildown...doesn't matter if the safety safari is doubled, they still have limited equipment. Obviously you're one of the very few fans of the format.

 

[Rajunz]

Let's see them handle a 4 lane oildown...doesn't matter if the safety safari is doubled, they still have limited equipment. Obviously you're one of the very few fans of the format.

....and obviously David, as mentioned above, you're one of the haters that's never witnessed it in person.

They do not have limited equipment, there are full Safety Safaris AND equipment for each set of lanes. They treat it as two separate race tracks.

 

[MM]

Let's see them handle a 4 lane oildown...doesn't matter if the safety safari is doubled, they still have limited equipment. Obviously you're one of the very few fans of the format.

There have been 3 lane oil downs. Didn't take any longer than a normal oil down. They have twice the normal equipment and personnel of every other race. They are equipped to handle such situations. Do you honestly believe that they wouldn't have planned for this type of contingency, at a Bruton Smith facility no less?

 

[Muddy]

Yep, everybody that I have talked to that has seen it in person, except for one person, has liked it. I don't like it on tv but am interested in the sheer sound of it all. At this point I get to see it in April, so I will reserve further opinion until then.

Saw it in person back in the day and didn't like it then. Saw the exibition and still didn't like it. Have never be back to that track since and don't have any plans to return. 4 wide and competitive drag racing don't mix well.

 

[NiTROhype]

Reminds me of an episode of Friends.

I like it.
What's not ta like?
Racin'? Good.
300 mph? Good.
Nitro? Goooooood.



It's on my bucket list to see it live. At 37, I'm afraid my bucket will last longer than the 4Wide's bucket (based on this thread, at least)...so I better get there in the next season or so, I guess.

 

[cantdrive55]

April must be getting closer, threads and posts b******g about 4 wide are here.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Not to worry Toby, 4-wide isn't going away. If anything it will soon expand to at least one more track.

 

[Leebone]

Oh, I make no bones about it. I absolutely HATE four wide racing, even for qualifying. It takes away the rivalries and the mono e mono aspect out of it all. It would be like putting Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Ken Norton in the ring all at once. No way to four way. Hope it dies a quick death.

 

[PJ]

It wouldn't work for qualifying only as teams would not have as many runs down the "race" lanes for data.

I was excited when they brought this out. Even made the long drive down on a marathon trip to see the first year when they did it as an exhibition.

While the sounds and feel was cool, I had no clue what happened on the track and neither did anyone else around us. When they ran the second set (the did 1 pass with four tf then one with 4 fc). Tried to pay attention to get it all in. Nope.

The next year decided not to make the trip as I thought maybe this was the type of event that would be better seen on TV. Ouch was it really bad on TV.

I get the novelty idea and it is something different perhaps it would draw outsiders in but it doesn't seem to work. I love football, but don't want to see 4 teams play at once.

They keep making moves to lure new people in, which is a needed goal, but they tend to not only fall short of gaining new eyes and wallets but it pushes the once faithful away.
I suppose I can live with it for one event, I just will not go or bother flipping on the TV to watch it

 

[Muddy]

Think about this. I used to spend airfare for two, rental car for 4 days, motel room for 4 nights. breakfast and dinner for 2 away from the track, tickets for all 3 days for both of us, lunch and drinks at the track and misc expenses while there. That stopped with 4 wide and we quit going to Vegas for the races also.

Once we quit going to those races we also seemed to lose interest in Houston, Dallas, Denver and Topeka. Come to think of it Pomona is the only place we go now and we used to make 10 or 12 each year. 4 wide seemed to suck away my interest in attending in person even if it wasn't 4 wide.

How much did that take out of the economy?

 

[MHayes]

How much did that take out of the economy?

Sorry to disappoint you John, but I don't think your lack of travel and dining has had much of an impact on the economy, unless you truly think that everyone else acted as you did as a result of 4-wide

 

[Muddy]

My little pittance didn't have any impact on the regional or national economy, but long ago in business 103 or econ 103 or something like that I learned that the sucess or failure of any economic enterprise starts with one customer. If just 100 fans felt the same as I did and quit staying at the no tell motel it could be the difference in that motel surviving. Look at the stands and tell me that NHRA is doing well. I realize that's not primarly due to 4-wide but 4-wide is a factor in the overall perception of fans.

 

[murdock]

If you've never seen 4 wide in person, yeah, it's awesome...the first couple of times. After that you begin to realize it's not what it's cracked up to be. So I'm a purist, I want to see two go down and one come back. It's hard to keep up with what all four cars are doing, especially if there are a couple of cars packpeddling, and the rest are hooked up. And even in qualifying, 20 minutes per class, and the show's over. It's not like I'm double parked, I'm not in a hurry, I'd like to see some more racing.

 

[mike]

I get the novelty idea and it is something different perhaps it would draw outsiders in but it doesn't seem to work. I love football, but don't want to see 4 teams play at once.

best description I've seen for 4 wide drag racing...


I really hope to see some sort of change in NHRA drag racing that is universally (or at least semi-universally) seen as an improvement...rather than a string of "it could be worse" changes...

 

[none]

4 Wide is on my bucket list as well. Just noticed:

1) 4 Wide killed drag racing
2) 1000' killed drag racing
3) The countdown killed drag racing
4) Big Teams killed drag racing
5) Oil downs killed drag racing

Good thing the economy didn't take a down turn or no telling what might have happened

 

[MHayes]

4 Wide is on my bucket list as well. Just noticed:

1) 4 Wide killed drag racing
2) 1000' killed drag racing
3) The countdown killed drag racing
4) Big Teams killed drag racing
5) Oil downs killed drag racing

Good thing the economy didn't take a down turn or no telling what might have happened

Thanks for the laugh Mel.....I needed that today!

 

[Jimbo]

4 wide is not Drag Racing, its NHRA version of NASCAR... (No Turns)