Denver
 

Who's all going to the Mile Highs in Denver

Re: Denver
 

I don't know..It's a big mystery

https://www.nhraeventreg.com/ListEventStatus.asp

Re: Denver
 

I think that you need to get a life, or perhaps a job.

Re: Denver
 

Tuff crowd in here today!



I will be there as well as "The Hawk " & "farmco r/sa". Its going to be a fun weekend.

Re: Denver
 

I was looking at the pre-entry list. At this time, there are only 17 names on the SS list. Stock field not full either.

So, how late can somebody else enter ? OR, are you guys saying that ONLY those currently on that list can enter ? Just curious as to how that works.

https://www.nhraeventreg.com/ListEve...DC1&cc=7&rn=14

https://www.nhraeventreg.com/ListEve...DC1&cc=8&rn=14

Here was last year's 17 car SS field.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2017#indextop

32 Stockers.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2017#indextop

Re: Denver
 

Entry closes for all National events the Monday before the event.



I don't think Denver has sold out ever...

Re: Denver
 

If you ever raced there you would know why it never fills.
Pits are the pits.
Just My 2 Cents

Re: Denver
 

Yep, that`s right Ross, I`m in for Stock as well as Randy in his pickup and our buddy Kerry in Super Gas. Looking forward to it this year!

Re: Denver
 

Quoted for the truth!

Re: Denver
 

I have been going there since 1992. Full fields! When they went to the 3 day, it died! I can't even stand going there for the street car stuff. No restrooms, no shade, no prep and the Owners & operator, don'r care. They just don't!

Re: Denver
 

Haven't been there in many years, is it really that bad racer facilities wise?
As to washrooms, couldn't they build a structure and service it just like a plastic temporary one?

Don't have a ladder chart here. With 17 in SS how does the bye run flop?

Re: Denver
 

Re: Denver
 

Thanks, that's what I thought. #1 could get the bye twice.

Re: Denver
 

Oh I have raced here!


If your sister is ugly she is still your sister and you love her! Just how it goes...

Re: Denver
 

Always a great time seeing and racing with you guys!

Re: Denver
 

We have never been treated better at any other track then at Bandimere. Factored air over 8'000 is the big thing and another problem is traveling from the west. Interstate 70 is a terrible road when towing.

Re: Denver
 

Many people only go once. The whole place is a pit.

Re: Denver
 

And the world loves you too.....

Re: Denver
 

After at least three years, maybe more, of listening to the gripes about this race, it's low car counts and more, I've concluded that it must really suck to race there!
But we all know why racers mostly from around Colorado compete there, it's their National event and their proud to be at Bandimere.

Re: Denver
 

After racing at half of the national event tracks in the country I've come to the conclusion on Bandimere's pit status. For those that regularly race there the restroom status at the national is the same as a regular bracket race. For those that only come once a year for the national, you pit past the sand trap. Now this sounds far from the starting line and it is, but no where near as far away as topeka or gainesville. If you enjoy racing Sundays there aren't many places that equate to the feeling of Bandimere. Most spectators stick around for the sportsman rounds whether they plan to or Bandimere schedules it that way. You feel like you're racing in front of more people than you have ever have before. All in all it's a great experience.

Re: Denver
 

Well put Michael

Re: Denver
 

We are talking National Events, right.
At Topeka you do not pit past the sand trap so it is not as far away and you get to use the road course to go to the staging lanes. At your own speed and no traffic or spectators. If you want at Topeka you can also buy electric hookup for the weekend which is great if you use a RV and it is hot.
At Denver you are way past the sand trap and in the rocks which get carried to the starting line and thrown back at the racers and pit crew during the burnouts.
At Denver you also must fight the crowds going to the staging lanes on a very narrow two way road filled with crowds of people who have no idea of what giving the race car some courtesy movement out of the way is.
The only positive I can say about the track facilities is the downhill run in the staging lanes.
It is nice not to have to start the car over and over.
It is nice as long as the car behind you has a good parking brake of some type.
The racing surface is great as long as the race crew pays attention and keeps it that way.
My 2 Cents From Experience

Re: Denver
 

lol !

Re: Denver
 

Thanks Jake for starting the yearly thread. !

Mile high nationals would not be quite the same
without it....;)
Hope all the puppies are well..

Re: Denver
 

To add to what Michael said, they also are the only track (at national event level), that I've raced on (and I've been to many in both D5, and D7, plus a couple thus far in D4's area), that has a cool-down area that will cool about 10 cars side-by-side at one time, as well as the down hill staging lanes. I'm still wishing I could have a do-over of the quarter-finals against Ryan McClanahan (and this is another reason I moved to Phoenix), because my failure of handling Denver's 98 degree temperature on Sunday (after posting a .006 package on Tony Hernandez in the 3rd round, and my inexperience with being past round three of a national event), caused me to rush up to the staging lanes after getting some cool refreshment for myself negating a certain rnd 4 winning cool down on my intake plenum. My car was .013 over my 16.66 sec. index and Ryan was only .015 over his dial....had I just ran .06 quicker, the way he passed me down track, I would've broken him out, and I would've been racing Mike Loge in the semi's. I've been wanting a rematch with Ryan ever since, and now that I live here in D7, someday I may get it, but I wish I could have that race over again....

Lane and Randy were very helpful to me at that race, and I'm forever thankful to them for it, and although I won't be there this year, I have some unfinished business up there at that race, after two 3rd round and one 4th (quarter-final) round finish, so that track and that race are on my radar for the future, and my work has allowed my racing budget to continuously improve year by year, so Bandimere Speedway will see me again, although I won't get to possibly race Ryan in that Firebird Formula again (since he sold it or parked it?), but somehow, someday, someway I'll get a rematch with him (because on the starting line I was 4-0, but sadly 3-1 at the finish), and I can't wait!!!!

Next time I make it that far in a race, if you know someone who wants to make an easy $20 bucks, have them show up in the lanes with a soda cup with lots of ice in it....if I don't remember my own, I'll probably buy it from them!!!! :)

Re: Denver
 

Hard to run in 8'000 plus feet of air!
We have always been treated fair by the staff. Just hard to tow from the west with bad roads and mountain passes,

Re: Denver
 

I have never raced at the Denver track but have been there several times as a spectator, and will be there Sunday for the finals.

In my opinion it is a very nice track, I really like being able to walk out of the pits into the top of the grandstands.

That being said, I fully understand the short fields in Stock and Super Stock. The distance from the starting line is one thing but not unique. Given the configuration, cut into the side of a mountain not much else they can do. However as pointed out the Stock and Super Stock pits are dirty and dusty.

The owners certainly are not afraid to spend money, geez who else has a starting line surface that can be cooled or heated as necessary.

They are astute business people so my only guess is that they don't think there would be a return on their investment.

My plan after the race is to write a polite letter and copy NHRA that I am a Stock/Super Stock fan and I was disappointed by the low car count and tell them why I think few folks will come.

I would suggest any of the racers here, that would like to race at Denver and won't do the same thing.

Bill

Re: Denver
 

That's a decent day. Worst I`ve run in so far this season has been 9250` ish DA.

Re: Denver
 

pretty sue it's been over 10K at times and changes regularly;)
still the nicest track I've ever been on...

Re: Denver
 

To answer your question, Galot Motorsports Park here in Division2 has heated and cooled starting line. Denver looks like a cool place, I would like to run but I will have to wait until my retirement years most likely. Its a bit of a tow from here on the East coast!

Re: Denver
 

The one time I was there - I thought my Altronic computer broke but it was just had trouble with a DA over 10,000 ft.

Re: Denver
 

If you can go fast here, you can go fast anywhere. 10k DA is one heck of a hoop to jump through. Nice to see some others like this place like myself.:D

Re: Denver
 

Staging Lanes at Denver from a trip we took in 2015:
http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/w...%20Raceway.jpg

Re: Denver
 

Same story every year, same people bitch about how horrible it is. So your car slows down, it's the same for everyone, big deal. As far as the pits perhaps they should just completely level off the mountain, would that do it for you? The Bandimere's are good people and like it or not owning a track is a business. They spent tons of money and time trying to relocate by the airport and were shot down. If I recall they can't add permanent restrooms for some reason, but I could be wrong. Not too many of you out there don't have big motorhomes with bathrooms and air conditioners anyway. What I wouldn't do to still be out there competing to WIN but health reasons wont allow it anymore. I just wanted to RACE no matter what, sleeping in my truck and an old open trailer. No track is perfect, people always find something to bitch about.

Re: Denver
 

I can tell you I have been to a lot worse places. The pits and staging lanes are all downhill even though its a drive. Those of us that have been going there for some time was spoiled by the treatment of the 80s 90s and early 2000s where you ate and drank for free for 4 days on Mopars dime.

I did not know air meters went to 5 digits until I saw over 10,000 feet come up on the screen. You just have to get used to leaving in what feels like second gear.

Bottom line is we can keep complaining until we are out of race tracks. Times are not what they used to be and I'm pretty sure they will never be that way again. I would not steer someone away from going there. The altitude adjusted ETs are all relative.

Re: Denver
 

Very good post Mr Wong, I would think someone who is accustomed to running at sea level like myself would have a great time trying to find the tree with a car reacting in such a different manner. I was looking at Q1 times and I know a few cars there, I was comparing their ET to what I normally see those cars run. About 8 tenths slower than normal I think, so I can see where a guy would think he's leaving in 2cd gear lol.

Re: Denver
 

Paul, I could (and will hopefully next month), shake your hand/high Five you, or fist bump you for saying that about "complaining until we are out of race tracks". Next month those of us in D7, D6, & D5 may have our last chance to attend a points race at one of (if not) the second highest elevation drag strip holding divisionals....Rocky Mountain Raceway, in West Valley City, Utah! I've been working my butt off to comfortably secure the funds I'll need to partake in those two races, because I hope I (and everyone else who shows up there), leave a lasting impression on what Salt Lake City's about to lose, by letting this track go and not having a replacement track in line for 2019 onward!

If D7 doesn't get another pair of tracks of similar distance (or closer) to Phoenix, then I'll be putting Bandimere Speedway on my schedule for future points races (and or Boise), because it'll be easier to get to either of those tracks, than going to either Sonoma or Fallon (if they get one of the two races back?). I miss the Bandimere's, great people, and Larry Crisp is one of the best track preparer's there is in all of racing, and I've had a lot of fun, success, and good times up there, throughout my now 43yrs in drag racing, and they were the representative source of my (so far) three championships! I've had many more good memories there than I could ever have bad, and I even went door to door back in Y2k in the ill-fated attempt to have Bandimere Speedway relocated out near D.I.A. east of Aurora, Co. Once that effort failed (mostly thanks to that joke of a NASCAR track south of Colorado Springs, that hasn't existed for much past 2000 anyway, and never had a major NASCAR race there anyway!), that's when I started exploring relocating, so I could be closer to more points races/national events for my more meager budget, but I'll still go to Bandimere when I can, because of their family, the track itself, and definitely the staging lanes/cool down island(s).

I'm glad that housing developers told people who wanted to buy homes near there, that if they were going to buy a house near that track, they had to sign some form claiming that they won't complain about the noise from the track, or they would have to live somewhere else farther away, because they're not ruining a stable source of revenue for the town of Morrison, or the nearby suburbs of Golden, Lakewood, and Littleton (not to mention Denver as well)!

I hope the Mile High Nationals are great, wish I was there, and God Bless all who are with good times, safe runs, and WIN LIGHTS!!!!

Re: Denver
 

As a local who has raced here for many years you just need to know what your getting into running this race and be prepared. Yes the crushed asphalt is rough, the long trip to the lanes is tough with all the people in the way and you need a pit vehicle for any one with you if they want to see a car go down the track. But its the same for everyone else so if your prepared to deal with it and others are not than it can work in your favor.
The staging lanes are downhill with scoreboards on the back of the tower so you can see what others are running if you watch stuff like that. The shutdown is uphill and the scales are right at the turnoff which is nice. All much better than Topeka where you start your car 6-8 times inching uphill to the track and then start a few more times getting to the et booth and scales.
The Bandimere's are great people but they only have so much real estate here on the side of a mountain so it is what it is.
I have taken a few years off from racing but I will run this race again.

Re: Denver
 

and at least (at this location) it'll never be 4 wide;)

Re: Denver
 

Rocky Mountain dragway 2016 trip:

http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/w...e%20city_1.jpg