Glad it's over with. (2 Viewers)

[Leebone]

I'm glad the two four wide races are over with for this year. I'm not a fan of that. Drag racing should be mano a mano, not a circus show. What's next, 16 wide and the race is over in one round? It's ridiculous when two of the best drivers in the sport, Shawn Langdon (got timed out) and Steve Torrence (red light), had to put up with this. Congrats to the drivers that won this. I'm just not a fan of this kind of racing. Sorry!

 

[Tybamf]

I can't stand it either. I think I have only ever heard one person say, "man do I love 4 wide" and that was Alan Reinhart this weekend. Thanks, NHRA for making Alan happy!

 

[Heartland]

I agree, the 4-Wides must go.
Not a good look for NHRA.
Can't be a good look for the sponsors with less exposure. Cars are hard to see on TV with the needed wide angle shots.
I can't really believe that the teams really like it.
Save the 4-wide circus for match racing. People in the stands might like that.
It's just not a good TV package.

 

[DanTheFan]

Ok I was going to avoid whining this year but I’ll keep it short. Yep, get rid of it. I quit going to Vegas because of it.

 

[GumbyWVU]

I like the 4-wides. Been there 5 or 6 times in Charlotte. Does require closer attention. But I get why some may not like it, and having been there/done that, if it went away I'd be glad I at least got to see it once.

However, given a choice, I'd much rather see the countdown go away before this 4-wide concept.

Would making the 4-wide a non-point event make it more tolerable? Make it like an exhibition or All-Star race event?

 

[none]

Well, as you said, it's over for the year. And if you don't care for it? That's fine. I'm certainly not telling anyone what they should like.

But if you look at the grandstands, you have to admit that the spectacle draws the casual fan and if it brings people to the track that wouldn't have come otherwise and gives us a chance to hook them. And I support anything that will bring new fans to give us a look.

Alan

 

[Heartland]

I agree with what you are saying Alan. Those are very good points.
That's why I think it would work better as a non National match race. That would bring the casual fans and maybe they would be back for the National events.
I have to believe the sponsors would rather see two cars in two lanes. They are looking for TV time.
It has to be impacting the teams sponsorship dollars to some degree, I would think.

 

[Notch1320]

I went to the first ever 4-Wide at Charlotte and when 4 fuel cars went by at full power when I was sitting on the top row of the pit side grandstands it was amazing. I personally don't like the format and it was not Bruton's idea how the track should be used. He wanted a spare dragstrip to switch over to when a massive oildown happened to keep the show going on.

 

[*******]

The hardcore fans and racers like me who also participate think its stupid and a joke. But as Alan stated above the casual fan likes the spectacle so unfortunately it's here to stay I'm afraid. I don't believe one word that is spewed out of the racers mouths when NHRA sticks a microphone in their face at the top end either. You know they all hate it but have to toe the line and be PC with their interviews.

 

[aakar]

The hardcore fans and racers like me who also participate think its stupid and a joke. But as Alan stated above the casual fan likes the spectacle so unfortunately it's here to stay I'm afraid. I don't believe one word that is spewed out of the racers mouths when NHRA sticks a microphone in their face at the top end either. You know they all hate it but have to toe the line and be PC with their interviews.

The fact that the racers must be "pc" in their interviews is a huge problem for the TV show, maybe they should have a paid stream platform where the authentic sport could be shown? Not talking about the NHRA.TV garbage, no car audio makes that a non starter

 

[PJ]

I thought it would be cool, even went to the first one in Charlotte to see it in person. Loved the sound and feel, hated the watching part. TV just doesn't do it. eith To get all 4 cars in the shot the camera is three states away.
I usually don't even bother watching them but did catch Charlotte, was surprised how many times the announcers didn't even know who won or would have to change their initial call. It even took NHRA.com a few days to get the results right on their page.
I'm all for grabbing new eyes, but not sure at the cost of people who pay to go to many races a year and watch just about all of them is worth grabbing someone who is gonna show up once and maybe flip it on a few times throughout the year.

Fine for a spectacle, special event I guess, hope it doesn't spread to any more tracks and glad it's done for the season. Now on to real racing.

On the flip side, my dad absolutely loves 4 wide has been to Vegas and Zmax a few times each to see it.

 

[FreddieCougar]

It's to attract the casuals, the WWE and monster truck crowd. I get it, it's a business decision and more fans is better for the bottom line. Just like the moronic new rules in baseball designed to attract casuals and non fans. I wonder what the numbers really are, as in how many more people come to see the circus vs people like me who will never go to that Vegas race again?

 

[mick]

everything is different these days ..... the hollywood writers are striking because streaming tv, and similar online viewing, has affected their livelihood. cry me a river.
i'll take what we can get, while we can still burn nitro ..... the staging process has it's drawbacks for sure .... IMO the 3 round format does not.

 

[BaldyLochs]

I’ve never seen it in person - and certainly hope I never do. I’ve never liked watching it. If anything, maybe it should be an annual, invitational, non-points / ultra high-purse event or something like that. Maybe make it a big celebration weekend around the awards ceremony at the end of the season (like the NFL pro bowl used to be). Something different…. Hell - Run different classes side by side on an index or something unusual. Don’t try and pretend it’s a normal pro drag race.

 

[r2]

3 days after, a year away from the next event, and it's still being talked about.

Good to have Chicago back.

 

[none]

It's to attract the casuals, the WWE and monster truck crowd. I get it, it's a business decision and more fans is better for the bottom line. Just like the moronic new rules in baseball designed to attract casuals and non fans. I wonder what the numbers really are, as in how many more people come to see the circus vs people like me who will never go to that Vegas race again?

I can state for a fact that the attendance at the spring Vegas event is MUCH higher for the 4-wide than it ever was for the traditional format event. It's not even close.

Alan

 

[FreddieCougar]

I can state for a fact that the attendance at the spring Vegas event is MUCH higher for the 4-wide than it ever was for the traditional format event. It's not even close.

Alan

Proving my point. Attracting fans with a circus. Sound business decision trading one guy like me for 10 casuals, I get it.

 

[TSK]

Judging by the very small crowd on the spectator side, and the far from full pit side, at Z-Max this past weekend, I’d say NHRA has a lot more work to do.

 

[Marchboom]

IMO, repeat IMO, the 4-wide races are to draw in spectators only. It was not designed to please the TV audience. As stated by other posters, I firmly believe that the racers hate this format and are only saying that they like it to keep the NHRA happy. This is why they didn't want the 4-wide included in the countdown. Way too much at stake in those last 6 races. As for the TV viewers, I find it way to hard to watch and have to watch it over several times to see what happened. Even the announcers get confused as to what happened. And there are way too many starting line problems with 4-wide. The drivers don't even know what happened or who won the race. I'm sure the crew chiefs don't like it as now they have to figure out 4 lanes in their tune-up. And I'm sure the sponsors would like for their names to be readable when the cars are at the starting line. As it is now only lane 4 is readable.

4-wide has had its run and now it's time to get back to drag racing as it was designed.

 

[qualified17th]

Judging by the very small crowd on the spectator side, and the far from full pit side, at Z-Max this past weekend, I’d say NHRA has a lot more work to do.

We're not gonna include the fact that there was a high chance of rain every day last weekend, and there actually was a rain delay on Sunday that made plenty of people leave?

You've got to remember that zMax has almost twice as many seats as any other track on the schedule. NHRA isn't dying just because Bruton Smith vastly overestimated how many drag racing fans there are in this part of the country. I went down in the pits a couple times on Saturday, they were just as full as the times I've been to Gainesville, even though it doesn't look great on TV.