SundayNiagara
Nitro Member
Force was on fire at the HoF dinner on Thursday night. When it airs in October it won't be near as good because they'll have to edit out most of what he said. Ya hadda BE THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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gainesville attendance
- Thread starter mick
- Start date
Force was on fire at the HoF dinner on Thursday night. When it airs in October it won't be near as good because they'll have to edit out most of what he said. Ya hadda BE THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SundayNiagara
Nitro Member
it looked like an excellent crowd to me (Friday pictured)
The area between the bleachers & fence was jammed for Saturday's first session. For the second session, there was plenty of breathing room. What's up with that?
James
Nitro Member
it looked like an excellent crowd to me (Friday pictured)
Great shot Ed. TV will never replace the live experience of 2nitro cars storming down the track. Never!
clwill
Nitro Member
I had to read this three times. I mean, I freely admin that the odds of me getting Courtney to come over to my house and sit on my couch are pretty small.
nitrorookie
Nitro Member
it looked like an excellent crowd to me (Friday pictured)
Love this shot!
We lined up after a pass at the hot gate and serviced the car while in line waiting and hoping to get just one more qualifing pass. At Indy each year we brought everything we had and set each motor on kill just to get in. It rained broken parts from the sky all day. I don't see that level of desire today.
Professional Fan
Nitro Member
This was my first time to Gainesville so I can't compare it to other years. I attend about 10 National events each year so I can use those as reference points:
1. Friday was the most crowded I have ever seen an event. Pits were jammed. People were six deep at the fence as others have noted.
2. Saturday first session was jammed as well. Appeared a lot of epople went home before the second session was completed. I'm thinking it was because the session dragged on way past expected completion-I think Top Fuel ended around 6pm but the schedule made you think it would end around 4. Could be that people either got tired or had other plans.
3. Sunday was crowded as well, maybe not quite as much as Saturday. What amazed me was how early people arrived Sunday. I got there around 7am to go to RFC and there were a ton of people already there. And it was still dark and very cold!
I did not experience any traffic issues. Friday and Saturday arrived around 9:45am. I did get a bit of advice on a backdoor route but I think the regular route wouldn't have taken much more time.
Getting back to the hotel after the last pro session was not a problem either. My hotel was around Archer and 75. Average time each way was about 35 minutes. I was told it would take 1 to 1.5 hours! Glad it didn't.
I was impressed with how the track handled parking. They had a ton of people directing traffic and they even knew what they were doing. Unlike Pomona where they put the people arriving early in some of the furthest away spots! Also there were a lot of people walking around picking up trash and generally keeping the place pretty clean. Seemed to me that track management had their act together.
1. Friday was the most crowded I have ever seen an event. Pits were jammed. People were six deep at the fence as others have noted.
2. Saturday first session was jammed as well. Appeared a lot of epople went home before the second session was completed. I'm thinking it was because the session dragged on way past expected completion-I think Top Fuel ended around 6pm but the schedule made you think it would end around 4. Could be that people either got tired or had other plans.
3. Sunday was crowded as well, maybe not quite as much as Saturday. What amazed me was how early people arrived Sunday. I got there around 7am to go to RFC and there were a ton of people already there. And it was still dark and very cold!
I did not experience any traffic issues. Friday and Saturday arrived around 9:45am. I did get a bit of advice on a backdoor route but I think the regular route wouldn't have taken much more time.
Getting back to the hotel after the last pro session was not a problem either. My hotel was around Archer and 75. Average time each way was about 35 minutes. I was told it would take 1 to 1.5 hours! Glad it didn't.
I was impressed with how the track handled parking. They had a ton of people directing traffic and they even knew what they were doing. Unlike Pomona where they put the people arriving early in some of the furthest away spots! Also there were a lot of people walking around picking up trash and generally keeping the place pretty clean. Seemed to me that track management had their act together.
rckymtn3
Nitro Member
I noticed that too. Perhaps NASCAR has finally saturated it's market.
I know once 5.1 surround and DVD's became available, Theater attendance started it's way down (doesn't help that Hollywood turns out mostly copies of foreign films, live versions of every comic book character known to man, and remakes of perfectly good films, and then Cable channels like HBO create GREAT original content to watch which further kicks film in the teeth)
If they can ever capture the sound of racing, it might make a difference in attendance, but until then, it's the economy and aging fan base more than anything else. I haven't been into crowds....ever....but was more willing to deal with them 20 years ago compared to now. The current group of generations have had several failed motorsports attempts. (Drifting, Import Drags, Arena Rally etc)...they always end up either outgrowing the bubblegum motorsports crammed down their throats, or they mature and seek out the "real" motorsports. Sorry to any import lovers here, but I'm mostly poking fun at "drifting"....ugh....a couple generations of people have grown believing motorsports is "judged" for style.
I am anti-NASCAR Sprint Cup (love almost every other motorsport though, including Sprints, Modifieds and Super Modifieds), but Bristol is one of the very few NASCAR events I would ever go see if given the chance. Back in the very early 70's, sometime between FED's at Fremont and Big Money NHRA shows in Pomona, I fell in love with asphalt modified short track racing in Danbury Connecticut. There was something magical about a bunch of locals cutting up Pintos (and other small cars) and slapping them on homemade chassis. They would turn the stadium lights off as they came down to take the green, leaving only the track illuminated and 20 or so very loud and nasty cars coming at you. You are SO right...when the NHRA got NASCAR envy it really turned to crap. The countdown is one of the worst ideas ever. They forgot what made Drag Racing unique and exciting, but then, "they" aren't Drag Racing fans or racers, they are typical Suits.
What needs to happen is some Microsoft Billionaire adopt drag racing and create their own sanctioning body. Outspend NHRA into oblivion. Consolidate all of the sanctioning bodies, and then create a real national championship which pulls qualifiers from every track in the country. Everything from Nitro bikes to Nostalgia classes, to the current NHRA classes, and Fuel Altereds. Less "National Events" and more regional racing. Make the fewer National Events actually mean something besides being a marketing vehicle. Grow the fan base instead of cruising along like some Prom Queen who has no Prom to attend.
cdag
Nitro Member
it looked like an excellent crowd to me (Friday pictured)
Great shot Ed! Can't wait to see the rest of your work.
force fan
Nitro Member
I have been going for the past 18 years and Alachua County has always done a jam up job with traffic control. We get there pretty early (like 4:30am cuz I like being parked right outside the pitside entrance) but I have been told if you wait til' 7am to get there, you will miss 1st round. I went on Saturday and Sunday this year and I will say the crowds were a bit thinner than in the past, but still a good crowd. People have always filled the parking lot early. There is always a group parked next to us that cooks breakfast and lunch. They like to hang out and socialize which is pretty cool.
force fan
Nitro Member
We never have problems getting in or out of Gainesville Raceway because we come early and leave late
rocketman
Nitro Member
They say the same thing about concerts: stay home and put on a CD or watch a DVD and save the 100 bucks. Sorry it's just not the same as being there.
The problem with drag racing now is that it's like NASCAR. We all wanted it to be this way, going to that next level. I know I did. But now it'd at the next level of professionalism and what did it do for the fans? And did we get all of the additional big media coverage? nope not enough. All it did was make some of the drivers less accessible. It has Kept the little guys out of at least qualifying for Sunday and made every final like groundhogs day JFR or DSR, or DSR and JFR it's getting to be all the same. Give me back all of the independent teams we all use to root for at home and in the stands.
The problem with drag racing now is that it's like NASCAR. We all wanted it to be this way, going to that next level. I know I did. But now it'd at the next level of professionalism and what did it do for the fans? And did we get all of the additional big media coverage? nope not enough. All it did was make some of the drivers less accessible. It has Kept the little guys out of at least qualifying for Sunday and made every final like groundhogs day JFR or DSR, or DSR and JFR it's getting to be all the same. Give me back all of the independent teams we all use to root for at home and in the stands.
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MK
Nitro Member
Rich, maybe you meant DSR or Force? In the fuel classes, they are the usual suspects. But it was good to see Clay and Del make it to the finals at the Gators, at Firebird, Morgan Lucas lost to Tony, and at Pomona, it was Shawn Langdon over Tony. Steve Torrence and Doug Kalitta also ran strong at the Gators. Maybe this year it gets spread around a little more. I do agree trying to copy NASCAR was a bad idea from the start.
rocketman
Nitro Member
I thought about the Snake's domination but a least he was a one man show and is still a true hero to me. He didn't have 3 or 4 other cars often going into the semi finals back then. He was just one of many out there that happened to dominate.
Back then every national event had a group of regular touring pros but a quarter to half of the field would be made up of cars based in that region of the country who kept in the game from money made at booked in events. Every race had a unique flavor. But now it's like NASCAR where its always the same players race after race with just a slightly different outcome. It use to be a national event was a can't miss affair, now if you miss one no worries because another one will be on TV next weekend.
And when guys like Prudhomme and KB are having to leave the sport because the cost of racing is more that the advertisers want to pay, the sport has a problem. God bless JFR and DSR as the sport would really be in a fix now if they were to leave but I'd like fuel racing to go back to the stone age where the nostalgia funny car movement is today in terms of what it costs to compete. Sadly nostalgia is where it's at right now for anyone daring to compete in a nitro funny car or top fuel dragster.
I would like to add though that are some very positive aspects to the current multi-car teams. All of the drivers without exception are very likable, professional and polished. And the team members as well as the operations are much more professional than ever before and that is all good. Before the current NASCAR approach, there were a lot of racers that were very rough around the edges and didn't help the sports image unlike today's outstanding group of racers. And it may be the current positive image and personalities that saves our sport. But can we at least go back to the quarter mile?
Back then every national event had a group of regular touring pros but a quarter to half of the field would be made up of cars based in that region of the country who kept in the game from money made at booked in events. Every race had a unique flavor. But now it's like NASCAR where its always the same players race after race with just a slightly different outcome. It use to be a national event was a can't miss affair, now if you miss one no worries because another one will be on TV next weekend.
And when guys like Prudhomme and KB are having to leave the sport because the cost of racing is more that the advertisers want to pay, the sport has a problem. God bless JFR and DSR as the sport would really be in a fix now if they were to leave but I'd like fuel racing to go back to the stone age where the nostalgia funny car movement is today in terms of what it costs to compete. Sadly nostalgia is where it's at right now for anyone daring to compete in a nitro funny car or top fuel dragster.
I would like to add though that are some very positive aspects to the current multi-car teams. All of the drivers without exception are very likable, professional and polished. And the team members as well as the operations are much more professional than ever before and that is all good. Before the current NASCAR approach, there were a lot of racers that were very rough around the edges and didn't help the sports image unlike today's outstanding group of racers. And it may be the current positive image and personalities that saves our sport. But can we at least go back to the quarter mile?
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HEMI6point1
Nitro Member
Prudhomme left because US Smokeless couldn't sponsor the car anymore due to new government rules, and from what I hear no sponsor wanted to give him what he asked for. KB from all accounts decided just to go fishing....
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