No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

[Butch]

Well after 2 rounds of qualifying we only have 14 cars. Thanks to the crybaby's we could have had 2 more cars making 16 cars. I don't see why anybody would be sitting out Friday nights session I might be wrong.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Question: Why must they pre-register??? If a race car arrives in time for a qual. shot, why stop them???

 

[winr]

To those in the know...
As I understand it

• Pro's don't have to pay an entry fee
• To pre enter is equal to making a commitment to race (if too many Commitments are missed you can be prohibited from entering)
• The deadline rule was created in the "Fat" times

Now for the opinion part
I understand the NHRA's need for the deadline, they want to be able to get all their ducks in a row so the fans can walk down the Pro pits and not have to deal with the "slow" cars, business wise it makes sense
But....
what if they just opened the gates and "let the parking begin" mix'em up a bit, let the pros fend for them selfs, put the responsibility on the racers, then the fans will have to walk the entire property looking for the pro's and seeing (backhandedly) what else is out there and even maybe start learning what drag racing truly all about. Think of the younger kid that all he/she see's is funnycars... what's he/she gonna like.... but if they get exposed to all the levels, you never know what will trip the trigger.
Just a superficial thought...
as a post script
It was good to see that provisions were attempted.

 

[none]

Paul,

One reason is that the event planning guys need to do the pit map, and figure the schedule. I realize that one car would not make a huge difference, but the line needs to be drawn somewhere. So Monday at 1 is the deadline. I spoke to Peanut and he isn't upset at all, he ask for the entry and Graham tried to make an exception, but it didn't work out. Lesson learned.

Alan

 

[hotrod]

There's a lot more to preparing for a race than most of us realize.
I wonder if they could change the rules slightly and prepare for a certain number of cars and then have provisional spots so that if a registered racer had to drop out, a late entry could slide right into that spot. I know that wouldn't come up very often but when it did, it might allow for a full field. Just a thought.

 

[mick]

change the rule to allow for latecomers in the pro fields.
every nat. event would be better if the likes of jack/peanut/theil/densham/
bode/hartley/hartman/smith/skuza/etc. were racing nhra more regularly.

they can figure out the pit parking - show up late, get a sh*tty pit spot.
no problem.

that being said,
i still agree with the racer/s who complained in this instance, but didn't say
i liked it - it's just about the money plain and simple; i would act the same way
with the rule as written.

 

[BF]

Well after 2 rounds of qualifying we only have 14 cars. Thanks to the crybaby's we could have had 2 more cars making 16 cars. I don't see why anybody would be sitting out Friday nights session I might be wrong.

Why would a "low budget" team run when their times could be thrown out? They have no incentive to waste parts and money for no gain especially when the minimum (or less) number of cars show up. Not to mention conditions on Friday night don't help much when it comes to setup for elims on Sunday.

 

[Huge]

Paul,

One reason is that the event planning guys need to do the pit map, and figure the schedule. I realize that one car would not make a huge difference, but the line needs to be drawn somewhere. So Monday at 1 is the deadline. I spoke to Peanut and he isn't upset at all, he ask for the entry and Graham tried to make an exception, but it didn't work out. Lesson learned.

Alan

Alan is right on why they need a deadline. The nhra crew does an awesome job getting all the manufactures / midway trailers /fuel and oil trailers / tire trailers / hazardous waste material trailers / tech and support trailers / golf cart rental trailers / ups and fed ex trailers / coca cola and ice trailers / race team vendor trailers / pro teams race haulers-parts and hospitality trailers, and there motor coaches, and all the sportsman teams, parked in a limited amount of real estate. I will explain a little bit of what goes on Tuesday and Wednesday before a race that a lot of fans don't get to see. Chris Hill and his crew from nhra have to know how many trailers a team has and if it is a right or left handed door trailer before they can put together a map. Then they have to figure out who gets the choice spots by who has the most points. Some times an independent team will get a really good spot because Chris needs a one car team with a right handed door trailer. After the map is made then they measure out all the pro pit spots and mark the drivers name with paint at there spot. When they start rolling the rigs in it doesn't take very long to get parked. They have a staging area were all the vendors and manufactures rigs all line up on Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. Most of the pro race haulers get there Tuesday or Wednesday and get in a staging line.
Manufactures start parking from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on Wednesday. Then Chris Hill and his crew start parking the pro race haulers between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm on Wednesday. While all this is going on all the sportsman teams are in another staging area getting parked by another nhra crew.
Some of the teams that arrive late will pit on Thursday morning. Some tracks where there is racing on Thursday then they start parking on Tuesday. When the races are back to back that makes it a lot tougher. I hope this will give a little more insight of what goes on behind the scene of the nhra.

 

[jackass]

Paul,

One reason is that the event planning guys need to do the pit map, and figure the schedule. I realize that one car would not make a huge difference, but the line needs to be drawn somewhere. So Monday at 1 is the deadline. I spoke to Peanut and he isn't upset at all, he ask for the entry and Graham tried to make an exception, but it didn't work out. Lesson learned.

Alan

Exactly.... Jack said the same thing....

ON a side note.. Alan.. tell Jack and Peanut i'm headed to the barn... as i bend the elbow at the bar i will be thinking of them.....lol.......


Billy

 

[PJ]

To those in the know...
As I understand it

• Pro's don't have to pay an entry fee
• To pre enter is equal to making a commitment to race (if too many Commitments are missed you can be prohibited from entering)
• The deadline rule was created in the "Fat" times

Now for the opinion part
I understand the NHRA's need for the deadline, they want to be able to get all their ducks in a row so the fans can walk down the Pro pits and not have to deal with the "slow" cars, business wise it makes sense
But....
what if they just opened the gates and "let the parking begin" mix'em up a bit, let the pros fend for them selfs, put the responsibility on the racers, then the fans will have to walk the entire property looking for the pro's and seeing (backhandedly) what else is out there and even maybe start learning what drag racing truly all about. Think of the younger kid that all he/she see's is funnycars... what's he/she gonna like.... but if they get exposed to all the levels, you never know what will trip the trigger.
Just a superficial thought...
as a post script
It was good to see that provisions were attempted.

While I like the idea of exposing fans to everything this would create such a mad house in the pits.
NHRA does a good job of making the pits work. getting rigs in and out. Getting cars around the property throughout the weekend. It truely is a ballet in motion that they perform. With each track having major differences and issues it is quite a feat that they do.
They could look at bouncing the deadline back a day. But before we all go jumping how often has this been an issue? If this is really only the first time then there likely isn't any need to make changes other than perhaps having someone in the office(or call forwarding) on Mondays to catch any last minute entries.

 

[hotrod]

I think that the main reason that a change may be in order now is because of the economy and the shortage of teams. This situation would allow some of the lesser financed teams to have a shot when they see that the fields are not full. The way that I see it is if I had a consistent 17th or 18th place qualifying car with a full field, I would probably step up and run if I had an almost guaranteed shot at getting into the program. The television time is worth it's weight in gold to current sponsors and for obtaining future sponsors. This is a tricky business and you have to be thinking about every aspect from finances to logistics all of the time. Maybe they could have a list of the lower financed teams that could be contacted once the deadline has passed and the fields need additional cars. Is that a bad thing? No, I think it would be a win-win situation for everyone.

 

[Bill]

These boards have a way of turning the simplest, most basic issues into multi-faceted arguments that can go on for pages....

Is it not true in this case, that if the multi-million dollar organization that is the NHRA, the organization that set a deadline of Monday (to be advised of a new entry) had simply had someone at "the office" to answer the %^$%$@$^& PHONE when these two potential entranta called, that NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED???

A multi-million dollar organization sets up a rule that requires communication with them on a specific day of the weeek, and then fails to make it possible to communicate with them on that day.

How complicated is that?

I think they are incredibly remiss.

 

[dragstats]

I thought the article was about what was on the start of the third paragraph and I quote:
"The latest example of this involves the nitro classes and ensuring at least a 16-car or more field."

Why isn't NHRA more pro-active in providing full fields? Economy, rules, whatever the circumstances?

It wouldn't be cool with me to drive from Denver to Topeka (which I've done numerous times) to see 15 funny cars.

So what was the article and thread about then?

 

[Jeff]

Amen Mr. Dedman!

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

There was a point in time where this rule was needed, but now isn't that time. Get as many teams there as possible and if there's an issue with pit space, take down some bleachers. There are plenty not being used........

Sean D

 

[None]

Paul,

One reason is that the event planning guys need to do the pit map, and figure the schedule. I realize that one car would not make a huge difference, but the line needs to be drawn somewhere. So Monday at 1 is the deadline. I spoke to Peanut and he isn't upset at all, he ask for the entry and Graham tried to make an exception, but it didn't work out. Lesson learned.

Alan

I agree with what you said here. Care to coment on the real problem? No one answered the phone when they first called.

 

[none]

I agree with what you said here. Care to coment on the real problem? No one answered the phone when they first called.

One question.......WHY didn't the REGISTER ONLINE as the majority of the racers do ???
Even the sportsman classes register ONLINE......!