New England car count (1 Viewer)

[James]

They’re not doing Epping any favors next year either...Brainerd, Epping, Indy

Almost get the feeling NHRA doesn't care if race survives. It's a shame as a walk through the parking lot shows license plates from Quebec, Nova Scotia, Vermont, NY, Connecticut, Massachusets, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire. Also saw a couple from New Brunswick. Pretty large geographical area for NHRA's marketing dept to reach.

 

[ironpony]

Educate yourself. Epping is a smooth all concrete track with track records on par with any track in the country. What no one can control is Mother Nature. Temps in mid 90's and track temps approaching 135 make for slippery conditions. I actually thought the FC did a hell of a job getting down in the first session. Top Fuel not so much.

One of the drivers said track was prepped at 65% for first round and then improved it for second round.
Force made som interesting comment in his interview too

 

[James]

One of the drivers said track was prepped at 65% for first round and then improved it for second round.
Force made som interesting comment in his interview too

That's NHRA's decision and has been a point of contention all year as they try to cap speeds. These are professional racers and crew chiefs that are aware of NHRA's new track prep policy. Several Funny Cars got down track during first session, that was with 135 degree track temp. Tuners gotta tune.

 

[Chili]

So, in Top Fuel either the number 2 or 13 qualifier gets an automatic bye to the semi-finals?

Yes. It is actually better to qualify 2nd than 1st.

 

[Jer]

One of the drivers said track was prepped at 65% for first round and then improved it for second round.
Force made som interesting comment in his interview too

I heard what jr todd said lol!

 

[Jer]

Almost get the feeling NHRA doesn't care if race survives. It's a shame as a walk through the parking lot shows license plates from Quebec, Nova Scotia, Vermont, NY, Connecticut, Massachusets, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire. Also saw a couple from New Brunswick. Pretty large geographical area for NHRA's marketing dept to reach.

Maybe thats why they havent updated the facilities that much? Maybe they know something we dont

 

[TooTall999]

I'm thinking that the NHRA knew with short fields and everybody making the fields they decided to do some testing on the track prep. That way nobody misses the field due to reduced glue percentages. It sounds like for the first round they reduced the glue to 65% glue- 35% methanol. From what I heard in the interviews they increased the percentage for the second round. Just as the teams test stuff at these short field races, the NHRA needs to test some things too.

 

[Tom Slick]

A couple reasons for tire smoking runs in qualifying at Epping.

1. Conditions are tricky with hot track temps. This combined with less prep and greedy crew chiefs equals tire smoke.
2. Only 13 cars in TF, so everyone is guaranteed a Sunday start.
3. Everyone guaranteed to be in the show leads to test runs for hot conditions for both Sunday and future races.
4. Fans are the big looser in this situation.

 

[twostep]

One adjustment they better make is fix the track. Is this a no prep race?

After qual # 1 low qualifier is Austin Prock at 4.214 et. Sad several cars did not event make a full run.

As much as noise ordinances will allow, they should move these summertime events up a few hours. Qualify at 6pm and 9pm, for instance; begin E1 at 5pm Sunday. Works for Nascar. They might even get bigger Friday crowds that way since people are off work by that time. 10,000+hp, a 140-degree track and reduced prep makes for a show that I wouldn't waste my time on if I lived in Epping and anyone who has sat in the bleachers when the ambient temp approaches 100 will agree. It's miserable. At the least, prep the hell out of the tracks for all the June-August events, then revert to the reduced formula. It's not like they're going to be breaking speed records, anyway. Nobody wants to see race after race after race of tire smoke and pedaling contests.

Supposed to be about 15 degrees cooler tomorrow. Let's hope.

 

[Butch]

Thanks to the ClownDown teams can afford to sit out a bad location or two and still not really get hurt in points.

 

[TK]

The "countdown" would be much more practical, and much more rewarding for the participants qualifying for it; if there were 15-20 contestants in each category racing for the championship. At the current "state of the sport", it's really an outdated concept, and is not practical.

 

[twostep]

Looks like the track is pretty greasy again today....and the dragsters are having fits with it. Terry Haddock's (funny car) Q3 numbers were quicker and faster than every Top Fuel car in the house other than Torrence and Brown. That should tell you something.

 

[Nunz]

What were Force’s and J.R.’s comments?

 

[Jer]

What were Force’s and J.R.’s comments?

Jr said something along the lines about nhra needs to prep better for a better show for the fans

 

[Pete]

Almost get the feeling NHRA doesn't care if race survives. It's a shame as a walk through the parking lot shows license plates from Quebec, Nova Scotia, Vermont, NY, Connecticut, Massachusets, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire. Also saw a couple from New Brunswick. Pretty large geographical area for NHRA's marketing dept to reach.

My thought exactly.

 

[mick]

i thought this place sold out on good race days? seem to remember it a little fuller the last few years. correct me if i'm wrong, but nitro elims. on the tv show
did not show full grandstands? what happened?

 

[megadeth]

Only 13 Top Fuel cars and no Leah Pritchett for this weekends race... Only 15 Funny Cars...

No Mike Salinas either!

 

[Nunz]

Did you guys beat the drum this hard when there were 19 FCs and 21 TF cars a few races ago? Look, in the big picture, the whole pro deal is way over center, as while costs have continued to skyrocket, the entire advertising picture has changed. So, unless costs can somehow get ratcheted down, and the marketing side can adapt to the way things are working now (basically B2B) then there will be short fields at some events. That’s the big picture. Regarding Epping, I thought overall it was a successful event. And, if you saw some empty seats at times, let me tell you, I’m a diehard and I avoided sitting in the stands when it was 92 and humid as hell.

 

[ironpony]

What were Force’s and J.R.’s comments?

Forces comment was
I bought 10 million dollars of CNC equipment to be innovative and get better then NHRA stops our innovation ( referring to lack of track prep) I need to rethink my future going forward.

 

[Just Paul]

Salinas was skipping due to a prior business commitment

Salinas was in Brainerd over the weekend with his daughter Jianna. She was testing her PSB, along with a few others.