Attn: Div 7 Racers Re: '08 divisional schedule
 

It appears that in all their infinite wisdom NHRA has scheduled both the Tucson and Bakersfield races to be 2 day events. While I am certainly not opposed to 2 day races, I cannot understand why they schedule a 2 day race for Friday and Saturday and not Saturday and Sunday.
Bakersfield, just as it was this year, is schedule for Friday-Saturday and Tucson's Friday-Saturday race follows the Phoenix national and divisional for our third weekend in a row of racing. I hate to miss another day in the office for the third week in a row unnecessarily. I brought this up to Mike Rice earlier this year and he basically blew me off. Am I alone in this thinking? Would you as a racer rather have a Friday-Saturday race than a Saturday-Sunday one?
It seems that it is early enough that if we can get enough people to voice an opinion that we can possibly get this changed to make sense to those of us who have companies to run and money to make. What do you think?

Re: Attn: Div 7 Racers Re: '08 divisional schedule
 

Dan I think they do that so they use sunday as a rain day so thats what they told us in our div. You are running great with that car great job this past weekend.

Re: Attn: Div 7 Racers Re: '08 divisional schedule
 

Out here in the desert of the southwest, rain never really comes in to play. Wind maybe, but rarely rain.
Thanks for the compliment, Big Road. Hettler and the whole Eaton team really know how to make horsepower. Spinning the tires so badly in the semis was a real heart breaker. But, I guess that's racing.

Re: Attn: Div 7 Racers Re: '08 divisional schedule
 

Dan,
I agree, if they are going to schedule 2 day races, they should be Saturday - Sunday.

Attn: Mike Rice
What is the thought process with Friday - Saturday races?
If you get enough feedback, can we get them changed to Saturday - Sunday?

Re: Attn: Div 7 Racers Re: '08 divisional schedule
 

Rumor has it no Mike Rice in 2008.

Re: Attn: Div 7 Racers Re: '08 divisional schedule
 

Sounds like a convienience to NHRA! I'm all for 2 day divisionals; Saturday & Sunday. Except for long-haulers, a working stiff could work until 5:00 on Friday and make tech by opening on Saturday morning. Forward this to Len, he'll take a closer look at it...

Re: Attn: Div 7 Racers Re: '08 divisional schedule
 

I heard the same rumor, only it has him going to Vegas. I thought is was bs. I think Chris Blair is doing a great job. I love the Vegas track.
I talked to Mike about keeping the ET Finals in Vegas and he pretty much blew me off.

Re: Attn: Div 7 Racers Re: '08 divisional schedule
 

How about we cancel Bakersfield and Tucson and have one 4 day race at Vegas for double points?

Re: Attn: Div 7 Racers Re: '08 divisional schedule
 

I think the tracks are the ones to pose the questions to !
It was probably their idea not the Division Director. Just my humble opinion......:-)

Re: Attn: Div 7 Racers Re: '08 divisional schedule
 

Careful, we don't want to plant any seeds and have them take away our best opportunity to set records which is Tucson.
Considering the tracks run their bracket races on Saturdays and Sundays, I really doubt it is them pushing to get away from their normal bracket racing schedule and race Fri-Sat.
This Fr-Sat deal never came up until Mike Rice came to town and it is now at several tracks. So, you can draw your own conclusions. I doubt they considered the ramifications to the racers that participate. They probably were just looking at the operations side of things and didn't want the NHRA staff to work on Sundays.
If people actually care about this and want a Sat-Sun race (personally I would prefer that Tucson stay a 3 day race so SS can be first out on Saturday and get the killer air for records) please e-mail Mike Rice and let him know. Let's rise up and be heard. Power to the people! :)