rckymtn3
Nitro Member
on the money...can't tell you what a turn-off that is...truly...
ProMods and PSM To The Grass (1 Viewer)
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on the money...can't tell you what a turn-off that is...truly...
What a great point!
mick
Nitro Member
Jon Asher,
i think there's a happy medium to be reached here; possibly something to
the effect that each pro team can only take up 4 spaces; race car trailer,
race car pit, hospitality pit, hospitality trailer.
i do believe nhra pitside hospitality is unique to motorsports and offers
a sponsor an entertainment option unequaled anywhere else
in sports entertainment.
perhaps hospitality could be behind the tow rig /pit space; two deep
instead of four wide? (not to be confused with zmax
)
i think there's a happy medium to be reached here; possibly something to
the effect that each pro team can only take up 4 spaces; race car trailer,
race car pit, hospitality pit, hospitality trailer.
i do believe nhra pitside hospitality is unique to motorsports and offers
a sponsor an entertainment option unequaled anywhere else
in sports entertainment.
perhaps hospitality could be behind the tow rig /pit space; two deep
instead of four wide? (not to be confused with zmax
)Mike, if I understand your suggestion correctly you’re talking about making the pit area deeper rather than wider.
The idea sounds okay on the surface, but before anything like that might take place you’d need to study and understand the pit space limitations of every national event site. I just don’t think it’s possible or likely.
NHRA’s done a good job of re-configuring the pits at the Gators, for example, and they’re now able to get more teams pitted in better positions. They did the same thing a few years ago in Denver.
The other thing I don’t think you’re taking into consideration is the actual measured pit space, which used to be limited to 22-feet. That may have changed, so I won’t swear to the 22 foot limit, but regardless, that’s not much room for your hospitality area.
Before anything like this can be worked out NHRA would need to survey each team’s current pit space and how it’s configured within whatever space limitations there now exist. They would then need to measure each rig and see if there’s some way that they could move things around so that the usable space remains, but the overall footprint is somehow smaller. I just don’t see NHRA making that kind of effort.
We’ve dealt with the expansion of team space in the past. Look at Orange County International Raceway. When they opened the doors most racers were using small trailers or ramp trucks. The track was picture perfect, with rows of young trees separating the rows of racers. Then look what happened. Ramp trucks gave way to 18 wheelers and by the time it closed OCIR was hopelessly too small. Not as a race track, but as a venue capable of handling the then-current rigs. Things were so dramatically jammed that, if I remember this correctly, they were parking the fans at El Toro Marine Base and bussing them in to the track. What a hassle.
Just as Cal Trans mandated 53-foot maximum length on trailers, and then granted a “pass” for motorsports (this after many teams had spent thousands getting their trailers shortened), NHRA may have to legislate maximum pit space allowances to make sure everyone is accommodated.
It was fine to pit racers on grass, dirt or even gravel 20 years ago but now we’re supposed to be professionals, and professionals should be treated that way in every sense of the word, and that includes in the pits.
Jon Asher
Senior Editor
CompetitionPlus.com
The idea sounds okay on the surface, but before anything like that might take place you’d need to study and understand the pit space limitations of every national event site. I just don’t think it’s possible or likely.
NHRA’s done a good job of re-configuring the pits at the Gators, for example, and they’re now able to get more teams pitted in better positions. They did the same thing a few years ago in Denver.
The other thing I don’t think you’re taking into consideration is the actual measured pit space, which used to be limited to 22-feet. That may have changed, so I won’t swear to the 22 foot limit, but regardless, that’s not much room for your hospitality area.
Before anything like this can be worked out NHRA would need to survey each team’s current pit space and how it’s configured within whatever space limitations there now exist. They would then need to measure each rig and see if there’s some way that they could move things around so that the usable space remains, but the overall footprint is somehow smaller. I just don’t see NHRA making that kind of effort.
We’ve dealt with the expansion of team space in the past. Look at Orange County International Raceway. When they opened the doors most racers were using small trailers or ramp trucks. The track was picture perfect, with rows of young trees separating the rows of racers. Then look what happened. Ramp trucks gave way to 18 wheelers and by the time it closed OCIR was hopelessly too small. Not as a race track, but as a venue capable of handling the then-current rigs. Things were so dramatically jammed that, if I remember this correctly, they were parking the fans at El Toro Marine Base and bussing them in to the track. What a hassle.
Just as Cal Trans mandated 53-foot maximum length on trailers, and then granted a “pass” for motorsports (this after many teams had spent thousands getting their trailers shortened), NHRA may have to legislate maximum pit space allowances to make sure everyone is accommodated.
It was fine to pit racers on grass, dirt or even gravel 20 years ago but now we’re supposed to be professionals, and professionals should be treated that way in every sense of the word, and that includes in the pits.
Jon Asher
Senior Editor
CompetitionPlus.com
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