What's your thoughts
 

What are your thoughts about racing the remainder of 2020

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It's going to be a short season.

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Possibly a Very Very Short Season......

If at All.

It is a strange year!

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So it will start in May or June ?

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I would not bet on it!

We can hope it does.

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Trying to stay away from the news and political crap but I watched the Dan Fletcher and Bill Bader interviews. You can see the frustration and yet optimism in there interview. No one is wrong and everyone has an opinion and that is why we live in a free Country. I don't see how large groups are going to be allowed or even a good idea for a while. This is not only going to hurt our hobby but every other entertainment venue from theaters to concerts, as Fletcher stated " This Sucks".

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This weekend we had private test and tune sessions at 3 tracks in SC. Limited to 30 cars and no more than 4 people with each car. Waiting list filled up quickly for this weekend and next. A gambler race was run at the one I was at but I was only there to assist in tuning. Hope fully this is the beginning of getting back to normal if there will be such a thing this year.
Not a full blown race like we would want but at least a way to fulfill the need for speed.

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My thoughts, not in order of importance..... I'm glad I wasted all that money racing while I had the chance.....I wish we would have enjoyed the small things more and complained less....lots of anger and denial everywhere, eventually everyone will get to the same place....NHRA as we know it might not survive this....Buying race parts two or three years from now might be hard....There are alot of other things that are more important than racing, sure was fun tho....hope my wife doesn't get sick from her job in health care....she is a hero to me....hope the food supply holds up better than toilet paper....hope our kids don't loose their jobs....Imagine if we didn't have the internet....wish we could at least go camping but parks would probably be packed anyway....I dont think I'm going racing if I have to wear a mask....feel bad for those who are suffering in many ways, thousands of families unable to have funerals ....my wife lost two people, a coworker and a relative to the virus yesterday.....covid19 is not like the flu....I miss seeing all my friends at the races....hope everyone stays safe....glad I dont have the governor's job....normal will be later than sooner....I'll miss shaking hands....hope to see you on the other side of this.

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If any racing happens,better get used to buybacks.The fields will be reduced by at least 50% because people are broke.They will be reduced another 50% by people that are afraid to go out in public due to Coronavirus.That leaves very few cars competing on a regular basis.

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People have a very short attention span, the moment anything looks close to different than what we currently have this whole thing will be a distant memory. Racing will resume by the beginning of June at the latest for divisionals and July for national events. Financial issues will then take center stage as people realize some won't have jobs to go back to, they've spent extra money to survive and the rebuilding process will be in full swing. I know one thing, my business and race plans have changed in the past 30 days. My .02

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Here, here Roy well spoken and spot on! Especially sympathetic with you on what your feeling regarding your wife, Monika is a nurse and enduring the same stressors. I now have a new appreciation for what she went through all those years I was forward deployed...

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By what we've seen so far it's pretty safe to say that this isn't going away any time soon. There was a Dr on CNN at the same time the President was on Fox, the Dr commented that it was very possible that we may never see a vaccine for this virus as is the case with many others as the President was saying during the same segment that massive testing wasn't necessary.

We have one hell of a mess on our hands, God help us!

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Mark when my local track opens in NY I plan on doing a little testing. Any chance you giving me your assistance. It was good to see you in Florida. Barry

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I hope you are right and am rooting for this to be the outcome. However, if we get a resurgence because of whatever reason, we could really be done for a long time. I hope they find a vaccine sooner than later.

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Most people are depressed and anxious. But just like the end of a long winter people are going to head out in droves once the states start opening up. Racers and going to need to race for their own sanity.

Once the opening really begins most people are going to breathe a sigh of relief and the depression and anxiety will lift pretty quickly. What better way to do that than hitting a divisional or getting out there to do some testing.

Cheer up people, better times will come soon enough.

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I don't see things opening up anytime soon here in the northeast. Its a mess here in NYC. Im curious to see how many people will be able to "afford to race" if this season ever starts up again. So many have been layed off, and small businesses have been ruined. I bet alot of folks don't come back this season because of finances. And I'm talking everywhere, not just up here in the east.

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I am not depressed or anxious, I am frustrated but have FAITH.

The news is different on each station that you watch or listen to. I wish ALL the powers that be could get together on this. We are told that we are all in this together, but the politicians can't agree. They need to ALL COME TOGETHER.

Chevy55 - the last thing you said is what we need. I am not trying to preach to you all, not my job. But please GOD HELP US, we will get through this. Thank you for your time.

I don't have a race car, but would love to be at the track with friends. I WILL BE SOON.

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It's going to be a short season if there is a season at all. Let's face it we have all been spoiled. Living in a free country with almost unlimited opportunities we have begun to think that we are entitled. Note the dumbasses that filled the Florida beaches today as there state approaches the peak of their convid19 cases. Our parents and grandparents suffered the great depression and WWII so that we could have what we have. Much as I love to race it's time to do the right thing which changes daily. I give thanks everyday that I have what I have and live where I live. End of rant.
Pete

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Right now D-2 has 2 races coming up in the schedule. May 15th is the points race in Atlanta and then we have the Sportsman Southern Nationals running in conjunction with the delayed pro Gatornationals in Gainesville on June 5. This is the schedule that has been announced and until it changes this is when the season will resume. Anything else is conjecture. Definitely some fear mongering going on. I guess we will be hearing something about this schedule in the very near future. Personally I am getting my stuff ready to go racing. I have been at work every day since this has started. We have about 75 people working on my job site every day. No one has gotten sick so far. We do attempt to distance as best we can. Last weekend traffic seems like it is getting heavier so people are out and about more now than they were when all of this started. My wife and I were at the local Lowes this weekend. we were getting some stuff for our garden. The place was packed. 8 deep at the check out in the garden center. People were following the social distance recommendation and staying away from each other. A few had masks and some had gloves. Our county is under an order to wear a mask when out in public. very few are doing that and the ones that are not wearing the mask how it would do any good anyway. People are getting tired of the controls that the government is putting on them. Cant do this or that. Cant go to work. If you are afraid of getting the virus than it can be your decision to stay home.

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I Think I am done for this season. Maybe if the tracks open I might try to get some seat time before next season starts.
I got lucky, so far I have only been furloughed 2 weeks so far but since i repair aircraft engines it's not looking to good.

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My SWAG is the D3 race at Bowling Green followed by the US Nationals. Hope to be pleasantly surprised and racing starts in June but if not don’t see how NHRA will come through this very well without the Indy cash cow.

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I just do not see a path forward for a NHRA National event in 2020. All of the major sports have said they will return without fans, and concerts are being cancelled all across the country, there is no way you will see sports and concerts with fans in attendance until a vaccine is available. Without 3 days worth of spectator gate money, a National event can never break even. NBA, NFL, MLB, all of them have enormous TV packages that bring in enough to allow them to keep on without fans, I don't believe NHRA has that with Fox. I just don't see a way NHRA holds a national event in 2020, although a Divisional schedule could be a different story maybe. I think bracket racing and local regional Stock/SSTK Association races will flourish though.

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The path forward for national events could be run with no pro classes. The nationals could make money off of the Sportsman classes. Either that or the pros would run for only trophy and points. No NHRA paid purse. They get their operation capital from sponsorship. To maintain their relationship with their sponsors they need to be racing. This is a bigger problem for the pros than it is for the sportsman. We pay our own way at the events. Not so with the pros if spectators are not in attendance.

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This is the real problem, the msm continues perpetuating lies on people.

"Jacksonville made national headlines Friday for the partial reopening of beaches. Unfortunately, many of those reports carried old photos and videos of crowded beaches causing many in the U.S. to ask, 'what's going on down there?"

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/artic...d-214cff4c131c

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Apparently Silver Dollar (Reynolds GA) is going to start their bracket program May 2/3 (non-points in consideration of those not wanting to risk it). Georgia is one of the few states that’s slowly easing restrictions and if the count doesn’t rise above the set threshold the divisional race set for mid-May in Commerce just may happen. Hope things don’t go sideways for these states blazing new ground, if they are truly being premature it’s going to be a long summer.

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We are still on hold here in Washington until mid May. Two local communities did have a farmers market over the weekend with strict rules on how they would proceed. Haven't heard the outcome.

My biggest concern is having things go sideways as you said Jim. We are not out of this yet and need to be cautious. That being said, some things can happen if safety procedures are enforced. I know we are all wanting to "get back out there".

Good luck to any event or gathering that can happen and please God protect those that attend.

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I believe that July will be the start of the 2020 season. Some of the individual States, however, may not allow any outdoor activities, thus no racing at these venues. The schedule will be very much abbreviated and NHRA will most certainly have to run INDY, as it is the cash cow for them. Somehow I believe there will be a total of 8 to 10 National Events run for TV contracts, and for the sanctioning body to stay liquid. These will most likely be "made for TV" two-day events, without any Sportsman racing.....except for INDY. As far as the Divisional schedules, it will be somewhat sporadic, again depending upon the individual States. As was expressed earlier, we all better wish and hope that NHRA is able to weather this, or next year we'll all be reminiscing about "the good old days". Most importantly, we will always remember all of our fellow friends and racers that this terrible disease has taken from our clan. RIP all of them. Just keep praying, and remain optimistic. I believe we'll all get through this.

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so i had to discuss your line about stay at home. my father in law is in a assisted living center. so far no one has it but they have 300 employees to care and feed these people. they have to have contact with outside people and those people have contact with outside people. wear a mask, it may protect that health care aid from getting the virous from you.

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Sorry to hear about your father in law. That is a difficult situation. I have an 89 year old mother. She is pretty healthy and still lives in her home. We are grateful for that. She has not left her house since this all started except a couple trips to the Dr and pharmacy. My sister has been doing her grocery shopping for her. She has been careful.

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They can run the sportsman classes without quotas, to make up for the lack of fan revenue. Plus they will have more room for parking.

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then it is basically a divisional

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then it is basically a divisional
except their would be pro classes

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Kind of like the old days.

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There is a lot of factors to bring into play here and to think about and just had a very good convo with Roy from Hoosier Tire.

1. Even if we’re told to not congregate in groups are we really going to listen? Is everyone going to stand 6 feet apart at the line while watching friends race in a class. I can say in D1 at Maple Grove, everyone packs by the tower to watch and standing shoulder to shoulder.

2. Can the tracks survive off of a Divisional without spectators. Yes I know we say “let’s race it w/o fans” but, you have to look at the bottom line. They use spectators to pay some of the bottom line. Employees, Glue, Lights, Etc. They won’t break even. The tracks spectators help get them into the green and also pay for tracks that have Alky Cars with payouts. Remember NHRA does take a Cut of what is brought in, I don’t know the % but, it’s a nice chunk.

3. Do we have to take the temperature of everyone that comes into the track to make sure we’re safe? So 560 competitors, crew and maybe family? Looking at 2,000 or more people and if someone is not feeling well after they get in, do we then have to test everyone they “may” have come in contact with.

4. You have racers traveling from “hot spots” such as NY, NJ, MA, CT in D1 that could be holding the virus and not know it. All it takes is one person to infect many others and it’s a chain reaction and not good results.

5. Like Roy said, someone comes over to get a tire changed who has been touching the tire and might be positive but, doesn’t know it. Now he’s touching it, handling money and passing it onto more customers who in turn passes it onto others. Same with workers collecting cash at the gate.

6. At some tracks you have to have trailers 6ft apart from each other, anyone knows places like Maple Grove, Numidia, ATCO are already a s**tshow with parking on a good day, now your going to have trailers spread apart 6 ft. Poor Wiggins will be spinning on his golf cart.

7. How many people can afford to go racing right now? A lot of people are out of work and scraping to put food on the table, so racing is not at the forefront.

I know we all want to go racing and we’re all bored at home but, need to look at the big picture and how one decision could cause bad results.

D1 lost two stand up guys in the .90 categories this past weekend to natural causes I certainly don’t want to have to say goodbye to more friends over something that could be prevented.

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Love your post! If you are one of the people that the Press has scared to death, then stay home. The press ALWAYS tries to sensationalize doom and gloom, the sky is falling,THE SKY IS FALLING! There are WAY more people surviving this then dying from it. Funny how the press isn't letting those figures out to the public though isn't it? Now, there are certain groups of people that are more at risk to get very sick or die from this. But, we have NEVER shut the country down for any contagious disease. Swine flew, SARS, Mad cow disease, common flu, etc. Now, just stop for a moment and think about this. If more people are dying from the common flu then this covid virus, WHY is everything shut down?

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I can agree with what you're saying about the press sensationalizing everything. I don't think that certain parts of the country should still be shut down. I personally think that people should be given a bit more credit for using common sense in situations like handling money (or tires,gas cans timeslips). Wash your hands as many times as it takes.
HOWEVER, more people died from covid-19 last month than died from the flu in all of last year.

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It looks like Roy's not coming.

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If that's true, and I'm not doubting you, I think that New York's subway system was a major contributor to the huge death figure. But, they're not shutting down massed transit via the subways, even though I would think they should........if I apply the expert's logic.

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Well, as of 4/22/2020 42,500 people have died from covid-19. While 80,000 died from the common flu in 2019. Those stats are from the CDC. Shame on you if you can't decide for yourself instead of believing everything the press WANTS you to believe.

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It appears to me that some of our fellow "competitors" have forgotten how to use simple math.