[Jason Oldfield]

I was at NED 2 years ago for the first time for the IHRA National Event, and it struck me as a decent track. It certainly wasn't up to NHRA National Event standards, but my recollection is that it was just as good as any other track where we currently only run division events (LVD, Numidia, Cecil Country, etc.)

Personally, I think it makes geographical sense. There's a VERY large population base in MA, CT, RI, and NH, and it always struck me as odd that there wasn't at least one race in that area. I realize that the people in southeastern PA aren't exactly going to be thrilled with losing a race, but recently Division 1 has become the Southeastern PA / Northern MD / Eastern NJ racing series, and you can't tell me that the Philly area can't stand to lose one race. As it stands right now, if you live in the Philly area you have 5 division events and 2 National Opens within a 2 hour drive of your house. Must be tough.

So, nobody is going to get any sympathy from me because once a year they have to get in the truck to drive 6 hours to get to a race. The CLOSEST race for those of us living in Rochester is Lebanon Valley which is a 4 hour drive. In Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and anything West of Toronto you're actually better off racing Division 3 (which is also why I believe we have such a large IHRA following in Western NY & PA, and Canada).

Granted, I realize in the general vicinity of Philly you're also drawing from the major metropolitan areas of Baltimore, DC, and NYC. But, there's a pretty large population base in the Northeast that is outside of that area too. Maybe NHRA needs to create a new division for everything 2 hours outside of Philly (I'm half-joking here)...