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Car Count for Bristol
- Thread starter FC Girl
- Start date
none
Nitro Member
Any of you who know me know that I am as big a sportsman fan as there is, and I love the Alcohol cars, but they don't sell the tickets. I'm sorry but it's true. And over the years the car counts have gone down, so instead of thinning them even more by trying to get full fields at 24 events, the number of events was trimmed. And Super Street has never run the full schedule.
There are a number of reasons that car counts are down, the economy and fuel prices are two of them, but some of you just like to bash NHRA so you blame them for everything
Alan
There are a number of reasons that car counts are down, the economy and fuel prices are two of them, but some of you just like to bash NHRA so you blame them for everything
Alan
Jenn
Nitro Member
Thanks Dann
FC Girl
Nitro Member
Hey Alan, I'm glad you posted on this. I'm just curious, and I'm not Bashing, rather just observing. I do know some of the politics behind all of this so it's not right to judge the decisions that are made, but what's going to happen in between the pro rounds in absence of all the cars?
I'm sure you may not know right now, but I would sure love to hear how it goes if you can let us know???
We'll be in Houston, so I won't be able to follow the stats very closely, but do you suppose if the low car counts continue, that they'll include more classes in the future??
I'm sure you may not know right now, but I would sure love to hear how it goes if you can let us know???
We'll be in Houston, so I won't be able to follow the stats very closely, but do you suppose if the low car counts continue, that they'll include more classes in the future??
Bob
Nitro Member
none
Nitro Member
Nancy,
Having a little extra time to fill is MUCH better than having to many cars and not enough time. In Madison, it went very well, we did have the Motorcycles there, but the only real break was between the semi's and the finals. Don't forget that there is track prep before every Pro session, so that takes some of the 75 min. turn around time. After the Pro semi's we ran all the Sportsman semi's and had approx. 20 mins to kill. We did the Safety Safari Parade, gave away a Harley, And showed the video recap of last years PSM, PS and FC Countdown to the championship. While the FC video was running, the Stock final pulled to the ready line and we finished the video and crowned the champs. Believe it or not, I was asked in the Winner's Circle why we didn't show the TF recap. The point being that it's certainly not like we had hours of nothing going on. We (not like I have anything to do with it) also schedule in extra time for the finals, where every class gets a replay. How often does a Super Gas racer get to have his or her race spotlighted and shown in replay to the fans?
A few years ago NHRA decided that the Sunday show was to long. It was the normal procedure to be in the Winner's Circle at 9:30 or 10:00, now if we don't have weather delays the races are concluded in time for the fans to get home in time for Sunday dinner. and that's important.
Alan
Having a little extra time to fill is MUCH better than having to many cars and not enough time. In Madison, it went very well, we did have the Motorcycles there, but the only real break was between the semi's and the finals. Don't forget that there is track prep before every Pro session, so that takes some of the 75 min. turn around time. After the Pro semi's we ran all the Sportsman semi's and had approx. 20 mins to kill. We did the Safety Safari Parade, gave away a Harley, And showed the video recap of last years PSM, PS and FC Countdown to the championship. While the FC video was running, the Stock final pulled to the ready line and we finished the video and crowned the champs. Believe it or not, I was asked in the Winner's Circle why we didn't show the TF recap. The point being that it's certainly not like we had hours of nothing going on. We (not like I have anything to do with it) also schedule in extra time for the finals, where every class gets a replay. How often does a Super Gas racer get to have his or her race spotlighted and shown in replay to the fans?
A few years ago NHRA decided that the Sunday show was to long. It was the normal procedure to be in the Winner's Circle at 9:30 or 10:00, now if we don't have weather delays the races are concluded in time for the fans to get home in time for Sunday dinner. and that's important.
Alan
Bob
Nitro Member
The dropping one class at each event is a five-year rotation. IOW, each class will only be dropped from each national event once during those five years. I think we're in the third year of the rotation, and I also think the NHRA would be more likely to look at making changes at the conclusion of the five years.
See ya in Houston!
G'ginna
Nitro Member
Hey, Da, maybe we could get Jenn to register her team for this one?
Alan,
How is it decided which races the Alcohol cars are run at? Is this by demographics, opinion, or simply a certain number of races and then they are spaced out?
I am not bashing NHRA, I just personally wish they ran at a couple of races that I go to each year that happen to NOT be on their schedule. They used to run the St Louis race, but not any more. I have a family member that participates, and the more I see his team race at a national event, the better for me. It is hard to go to all the divisional races they run at, so to see both the pros and the alky cars is money in the bank as far as I am concerned. The cost of fuel is a consideration for the fans too.
Just curious.
Thanks for your time.
FC Girl
Nitro Member
I think that one of the issues for the alky class was that, originally it was 5 races, with the new schedule it's 7 that are not contested. The only class besides Super Street that has that many non contested races is PSM.
Comp lost 3, Super Stock, Stock, S/G & S/C 4 (Our understanding was that there was a 5 race loss for all classes except Pros)
It's not a big deal really, many of the races are demographic and you have to strategically place yourself for maximum performance and points achievement. It's that way in all aspects of life, not just drag racing.
So, Alan, your point of everything that you guys are doing in between is very valid. And I guess when we're at the track, we're so busy, all we ever really notice is, Hmm, sure sounds quiet, wonder who oiled down. Half the time our antenna doesn't pick up the P.A. system, so......thank God for Moto
Comp lost 3, Super Stock, Stock, S/G & S/C 4 (Our understanding was that there was a 5 race loss for all classes except Pros)
It's not a big deal really, many of the races are demographic and you have to strategically place yourself for maximum performance and points achievement. It's that way in all aspects of life, not just drag racing.
So, Alan, your point of everything that you guys are doing in between is very valid. And I guess when we're at the track, we're so busy, all we ever really notice is, Hmm, sure sounds quiet, wonder who oiled down. Half the time our antenna doesn't pick up the P.A. system, so......thank God for Moto
The Counterfeiter
Nitro Member
Alan Reinhart - Any of you who know me know that I am as big a sportsman fan as there is, and I love the Alcohol cars, but they don't sell the tickets. I'm sorry but it's true. And over the years the car counts have gone down, so instead of thinning them even more by trying to get full fields at 24 events, the number of events was trimmed. And Super Street has never run the full schedule.
There are a number of reasons that car counts are down, the economy and fuel prices are two of them, but some of you just like to bash NHRA so you blame them for everything.
Well said Alan. Diesel was selling for $4.79/gal in Phoenix today. Bristol is a long pull for many sportsman teams who have no hope of recovering their costs even IF they win an Eliminator title. It's a downward spiral that neither NHRA or racers can control. There are solutions to this, but our elected officials continue to fold under pressure from misinformed environmental groups.
There are a number of reasons that car counts are down, the economy and fuel prices are two of them, but some of you just like to bash NHRA so you blame them for everything.
Well said Alan. Diesel was selling for $4.79/gal in Phoenix today. Bristol is a long pull for many sportsman teams who have no hope of recovering their costs even IF they win an Eliminator title. It's a downward spiral that neither NHRA or racers can control. There are solutions to this, but our elected officials continue to fold under pressure from misinformed environmental groups.
Jenn
Nitro Member
Rich
Nitro Member
You're right. It's the environmentalists fault that the US uses 26% of the world's energy but only has 3% of the worlds oil supply; that nations like China and India are industrializing and thus creating more demand; that the US lacks an energy policy aimed at ending the dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels; that the Bush administration started an unnecessary war in a region of the world that had a very real effect on oil prices and supplies. Damn those environmentalists. What were they thinking?
rocketman
Nitro Member
Well, for the sportsman classes at national events are largely a regional affair anyway. And it seems like that area of the country is a hot bed for cars. But don't fool yourself if you don't think that the economy and high fuel prices don't have an effect on entries from here on out.
We torched a head a couple of weeks ago and it was about 1200 run before it was over. To make up for the short fall, I'm consider not racing at the Seattle Divisional because of the fuel cost.
We torched a head a couple of weeks ago and it was about 1200 run before it was over. To make up for the short fall, I'm consider not racing at the Seattle Divisional because of the fuel cost.
