Wild Horse Pass Progress (2 Viewers)

[mltdwn12]

Well, I've been curious to check the place out again. I'll be there all day Saturday! I've only missed one national event there since they began in 1985. I hope they lay down some good numbers this weekend. I was spoiled having to only go 30 minutes to race at Speedworld (RIP) so I guess I'll see if the new track gets me motivated to start doing the hour tow to the track. With only one track in town now though I hope it isn't like Englishtown in the early 80's, you show up for a day of brackets and only get two time trials due to the crowd. I guess that's good for business though.

 

[Larry]

Ye of so little faith ! LOL

 

[The Counterfeiter]

Strip: Excellent / Scoreboards: WOW! / Timing System: Working Fine / Sound System: Clear sound with plenty of speakers.
Amenities: Far less food choices (long lines) / Beer: Selling only cans (actually metal bottles) which is smart - faster and less chance of having beer spilled on you! Traffic: Usual crazy routing by GRIC PD - we left early, can't imagine what getting out of there was like later! Bathrooms: The ONE most complained about Firebird problem showed no change in added facilities or maintenance. This probably chased off more fans than anything else over the last 30 years.
Overall: A good start for racers, not so good for fans. Hopefully, there will be more food choices and more restrooms in the future. Once new management got started, an amazing amount of work was accomplished in a pretty short time.

 

[clwill]

Aren't those scoreboards amazing? Bob Brockmeyer (Compulink) talked them into the same boards they are using at ZMax (Charlotte). They are really special.

The story behind them is interesting. Bruton asked Bob for something special for ZMax, and Bob was driving the freeway when he noticed a gas station way in the distance with the fuel price in green. He noticed how much more visible it was than the traditional red, he could see it a mile away. So he designed and had those built. They are so much better!

 

[mltdwn12]

Pretty good description Jim. I was there Saturday. The new track surface seemed to be a little tricky as it heated up, but we still saw some good numbers. The scoreboards and speaker system definitely made a big difference especially since we were near the starting line and these old eyes used to have to squint to read the old scoreboards! The beer in cans was different, but I will say they were nice and cold for a day that was getting pretty hot. I did notice less concessions being available. Bathrooms? Yup, situation normal. Saturdays crowd seemed pretty good. About mid way through the pro sessions the stands looked reasonably full. Still a bunch of folks wandering the pits. The traffic was typical, we waited until after the pros ran as well as the jetcars. We had some newbies there that we knew would enjoy the jets! We were parked all the way near the back about 5 rows from the Bondurant buildings and it still only took us about 15 minutes to get out of the facility and then another 15 to get back on I-10. I've been to national events at Pomona, Phoenix and Englishtown and except for the time we pony'd up for Top Eliminator at Pomona, it always takes a while to get out of all of them. Overall though I give them credit for the changes and hope they continue to improve.

 

[Professional Fan]

I also would agree with Jim's comments. I was there all three days. Hopefully they will focus on the fans in the next year and improve the fan related items. I noticed on Friday the scoreboards were showing reaction times for the Sportsmen racers, which then clicked off at the finish to show speed. But they didn't do that for the pros. Anyone know why? I think that would be a great addition for fans.

 

[clwill]

RTs are only shown in qualifying/time runs for the sportsman classes. They can be a competitive advantage in eliminations -- if you know you have your opponent by a ton on the tree, you can adjust down track. Even the announcers are cautioned not to announce them, since someone could radio the drivers and tell them.

As for the pros, as I understand it, the pros have asked for them not to be there. There's no technical reason, it's just a switch in the software to display them or not. The system can also show 60' times on the scoreboards, although you rarely see that shown.

You can get reaction times from the live timing on the web, or from the mobile app, in any run -- qualifying or eliminations. It is delayed until the race completes so that it can't be used for advantage.