Make Divisionals Great Again

[JP1738]

Originally Posted by 1matcoman

Totally different scenario - they knew the airport was there. What Bobby was referring to has happened to dozens of drag strips around the country caused by urban sprawl.

Well, It isn't like the dragstrip popped up next door either. airport vs dragstrip are one and the same. Sure the urban sprawled out to it, but you still moved in next to it at some point.

[Billy Nees]

Sorry Bobby but you're delusional.

[joe huestis]

Originally Posted by 1matcoman

Totally different scenario - they knew the airport was there. What Bobby was referring to has happened to dozens of drag strips around the country caused by urban sprawl.

I recently drove by a track that I would test at back in the day. This track has been hit or miss as far as operating sporatically the past 8 years or so. Is a great location right off the interstate and I now see land clearing for development right across the street from the track's gate. It's a goner...

[1320racer]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

Sorry Bobby but you're delusional.

dead on with a zero!

Again...

Originally Posted by 1320racer

tracks don't want to host divisionals because it's a money losing proposition and there are no spectators because we no longer have a car culture in this country, what we do makes no sense and is boring to watch to all except racers

Originally Posted by 1320racer

Let's be clear and all agree, nothing will change that benefits the racer, payout certainly won't increase, the contingency program won't get better, track conditions will still vary from track to track as will the rollout and the NHRA will still struggle to finish the event on Sunday many times. THIS is all the racers that are paying the entry fee at the gate care about, not spectators in the stands, not the concessions stand, not a barbecue and not live music.

Originally Posted by 1320racer

Not only will Divisionals not be great again but tracks will continue to close, meaning there will be less divisionals and more travel.

[1320racer]

Originally Posted by joe huestis

I recently drove by a track that I would test at back in the day. This track has been hit or miss as far as operating sporatically the past 8 years or so. Is a great location right off the interstate and I now see land clearing for development right across the street from the track's gate. It's a goner...

Owning a dragstrip for the past 25 years has little to no ROI for most tracks across the country. Many are happy to break even so when a developer approaches them or salvage company offer to buy the property, most will sell in a NY minute as was the case with Atco. ETown has continued as a motorsports facility without the money losing drag racing and rumor from last year is the land is now approved for housing.

[Billy Nees]

Ed, Divisionals CAN be great races. There's a couple of things that need to be brought up and decided upon before this can happen. Does the track owner love Drag Racing? If this person is doing it for the love of the game (I'll call it a game for now) or is this person doing it for the money?
Is Dragracing a "Sport" like Baseball/Football or is it a "Hobby"? If it's a "sport" then it should be self-supporting, everyone should be making money. If it's a "hobby" then it is being done for the personal satisfaction of the participants (therefore, "it's about us") and no-one should be complaining about making or losing money.
IMHO, here in the 21ST century Drag Racing is no longer a "Sport". To the Pros, it's a "Show", to the Sportsmen, it's a "Hobby". I can't see any way in which the NHRA increases the purses and contingencies to a point where there is going to be enough money to be made to offset the overall expenses. Those days are long gone. If Divisionals are in any way going to be "great again" then it's going to be in the individual minds of the Racers.
To the benevolent Track Owners who put on these Races for the love of it, Thank You.

[1320racer]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

Is Dragracing a "Sport" like Baseball/Football or is it a "Hobby"? If it's a "sport" then it should be self-supporting, everyone should be making money. If it's a "hobby" then it is being done for the personal satisfaction of the participants (therefore, "it's about us") and no-one should be complaining about making or losing money.
IMHO, here in the 21ST century Drag Racing is no longer a "Sport". To the Pros, it's a "Show", to the Sportsmen, it's a "Hobby". I can't see any way in which the NHRA increases the purses and contingencies to a point where there is going to be enough money to be made to offset the overall expenses. Those days are long gone. If Divisionals are in any way going to be "great again" then it's going to be in the individual minds of the Racers.

Agree, what we do is a hobby done for personal satisfaction.

That said, divisionals will never be great again based on Bobby's definition of what would make them great. For me and many class racers they are great because they provide a venue for us to race for a NHRA Wally and a NHRA LODRS Championship. I don't care about spectators, barbeques, music or truthfully the payout and neither does anyone else that supports these events because if I or they really cared, we wouldn't show up as my son and I mostly didn't last year, choosing big $ gambler races and supporting my home track's events over NHRA LODRS racing.

[Dan Bennett]

[QUOTE=Billy Nees;692136]Ed, Divisionals CAN be great races. There's a couple of things that need to be brought up and decided upon before this can happen. Does the track owner love Drag Racing? If this person is doing it for the love of the game (I'll call it a game for now) or is this person doing it for the money?


That's hitting the nail precisely right on the head.

Between racing with teams and covering events for DRC and Super Stock, I probably was at 60-70 different tracks, maybe more. The ones owned by racers (or former racers) were the ones I looked forward to the most. Sure, the big tracks had nice facilities but were totally different from those that I started racing at. Might sound a little goofy, but they were just cold.

Places like Tri State and No Care had a completely different atmosphere and always provided more fun and brought out that thing inside that made us all love drag racing in the first place.

[Billy Nees]

Originally Posted by GUMP

The fans understand HEADS-UP RACING!!

Spectators in the stands will make Divisionals "great"?
It seems to me that Class Eliminations at Divisionals would be a no-brainer.

[Billy Nees]

Originally Posted by Bobby Fazio

There seems to be a real disconnect between tracks and NHRA when it comes to these divisionals. I don't think NHRA is inclined to promote the event and may be content getting their cut and operating certain aspects of the race. Their business model might be working just fine on their end. All tracks have slightly different deals with NHRA and it is up to their negotiation skills. Some may have a bad deal in place, or maybe an old deal. It is probably safe to say that the more they take in at a divisional, the more they shell over to NHRA and they may not feel it is even worth gambling on promotions/entertainment and would rather play it safe so as not to lose any money if it flops.

^^^^This^^^^ is another issue that must be looked at if Divisionals are ever going to be "great again". I live 10 miles away from my local track. Plenty of racers over there every weekend. When I go to a Divisional, the following week I get asked by dozens of them where I was last week. In the case of the 'Grove, we're talking about less than a 2 hour drive and nobody knows about it. Even worse, they don't even know when the Keystones are. Back in the good-old-days, the old track owner would close for the Keystones. Now? Nobody even knows when these races are.
It's almost as if the NHRA just assumes that they're the only show in town and every Racer should just "know".