Seattle Car Counts

[mick]

sonoma 4 short, topeka still 2 short, brainerd still 3 short ...... i don't know how many new viewers nhra is pulling in on FOX national network,
but all these 'live' races; sure wish the fields were full. hoping krista baldwin mite get back out there.
scott farley on utube a week ago.

 

[Al]

One thing about short fields though is that the first round match-ups can be unreal !
Seattle was impressive; less runs but all-star matches

 

[John Farce Racing]

One thing about short fields though is that the first round match-ups can be unreal !
Seattle was impressive; less runs but all-star matches

Might as well go to an 8 car field then. all the races will be "all-star".... I ain't payin for that though...

 

[mick]

there used to be drama on saturday to see who would Q, and sometimes there still is.
there used to be 16 car fields on sunday, and sometimes there still is.
there are 23 non-tour TF'rs that have made a pass this year for points, and tripp tatum isn't on the list, so 24
there are 13 non-tour FC's that have made a pass this year for points, if you count blake alexander and terry haddock as tour regulars

 

[mick]

topeka full fields +1 ....... good on them
brainerd still 3 short

 

[DAN]

Travel costs are a big prohibitor for part-time teams.
Beyond sponsorship, factors like diesel, hotels, food, volunteer crew unable to take time off, etc all play into a team's decision to attend.
That's a ton of $ already spent before the car even gets unloaded at the track.
Off topic, but Brainerd and Camping World should be a match made in heaven.

 

[Dennis]

I wish NHRA would allow A/FD and A/FC the opportunity to qualify if there aren't enough pros on the property to fill a field.

Tracks closing
Losing the title sponsor
Short fields

Not a good look for NHRA. There's got to be a creative solution in there somewhere. You look at the look of "Official NHRA sponsors" and realize how few sponsor a car, maybe something along the lines of "if you want to be an official NHRA sponsor or race presenting sponsor you have to sponsor one car for x number of events". I don't know, just thinking outside the box because I don't have the warm fuzzies in the health and future of NHRA. Not being doom and gloom but obviously there's been a shift somewhere and I hope it can get corrected at some point.

 

[James]

I feel like even before covid Seattle always had light fields. With it being so far out of the way compared to every other national event it would seem unless you are chasing points or local it would make sense to skip much like Epping.

Speaking of locals, I am happy to see Ron Smith still at it. I've always wondered does he run the car at other match races or local shows throughout the year or does he only bring it out for the Seattle national?

Whose old car is he running? I remember he had the old scelzi Winston car from the early 2000s, but has a newer chassis now.

 

[Gone Dead Train]

Whose old car is he running? I remember he had the old scelzi Winston car from the early 2000s, but has a newer chassis now.

I believe the car Ron is running right now, is a former Clay Millican car and before that he had the old Winston car.
And before that a former Gary Ormsby car.

AA/FD "Rat Fever" Ron Smith in the seat, the year is 1975 or 1976. You got to dig the BBC on nitro

 

[Al]

I believe the car Ron is running right now, is a former Clay Millican car and before that he had the old Winston car.
And before that a former Gary Ormsby car.

View attachment 13133
AA/FD "Rat Fever" Ron Smith in the seat, the year is 1975 or 1976. You got to dig the BBC on nitro

Right as always Jim ! And before the Ormsby car was the '74/'75 Gary Beck/'76/'77 Graham Light car that he won the '87 Spokane Finals in. I actually saw him in that car in one of his rare appearances down south at the '82 Golden Gate Nationals. He didn't qualify for the brutal 8 car field but ran a then quick 5.82 (if memory serves me right) which was quicker than Shirley. I still remember the announcer repeating his time in disbelief.
And I have a photo of the Rat Fever car in the lights at the '76 Fallnationals so right again Jim.

 

[Cliff]

How many cars have the name "Rat" in one way or another? King Rat F/C, etc etc

 

[Gone Dead Train]

How many cars have the name "Rat" in one way or another? King Rat F/C, etc etc

Cliff, this has nothing to do with the name "Rat" but, this should bring back fond memories?

AA/FC Run to the fence kids, it's Gervase O'Neil in his Chevy Camaro body
nitro plastic fantastic "King Rat"

 

[Cliff]

Lions open at 1 PM. That's when I got there. Left after the last race. I loved watching Q just as much as the race itself. People would show up for elims and never realize what a show they missed in Q. I still do that today with Div races.

 

[Al]

Lions open at 1 PM. That's when I got there. Left after the last race. I loved watching Q just as much as the race itself. People would show up for elims and never realize what a show they missed in Q. I still do that today with Div races.

I couldn't agree more Cliff. I've always made it a point to catch all of the qualifying. But in recent years Seattle's big crowds have been on Saturdays. This year Seattle had a near sell-out on Saturday but had a much smaller crowd on Sunday. Same at the Gatornationals in 2015 when we went there. But Fridays in Seattle have always had sparse crowds since night qualifying went away. A shame.

 

[z28]

I couldn't agree more Cliff. I've always made it a point to catch all of the qualifying. But in recent years Seattle's big crowds have been on Saturdays. This year Seattle had a near sell-out on Saturday but had a much smaller crowd on Sunday. Same at the Gatornationals in 2015 when we went there. But Fridays in Seattle have always had sparse crowds since night qualifying went away. A shame.

I aleays preferred going to any race I attended on Saturday since with bigger fields they had I got to see more cars run. Those days seem to be over now. Hope they come back.

 

[TSK]

How many cars have the name "Rat" in one way or another? King Rat F/C, etc etc

I saw Ron Sutherland run the Desert Rat FC several times at the old Tucson Dragway in the late ‘60s.

 

[Gone Dead Train]

I saw Ron Sutherland run the Desert Rat FC several times at the old Tucson Dragway in the late ‘60s.

Love the "Desert Rat" floppers!

AA/FC Ron & Val Sutherland at Seattle, with Chris Lane in the seat. The year 1986

 

[TSK]

Love the "Desert Rat" floppers!

View attachment 13147
AA/FC Ron & Val Sutherland at Seattle, with Chris Lane in the seat. The year 1986

Here’s a picture I shot of The Desert Rat at Tucson. Obviously the color has faded a lot. But check out the orange zoomies.

 

[LoPony]

Well, looks like Topeka will have full fields in Fuel, but barely.

 

[mick]

no byes on sunday is a good thing........still hoping k. baldwin and totten decide to run brainerd.