Quote:
Originally Posted by Carl Weisinger
Alan,.... this year,.... on a scale of 1-10,....how did your car hook at
1. Orlando ?
2. Gainesville?
3. Valdosta?
4. Atlanta?
5. Bristol?
6. Reynolds?
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We skipped Orlando this year, we weren't ready.
Gainesville was a 9 or better.
Valdosta was a 9 or better.
Charlotte (you didn't ask) was a 6 at best, maybe a 5.
Atlanta was a 7 or better.
Bristol was an 8 or better.
Reynolds was a 5 at best. It has been like that the last 4 times we've been there. In 09, the G/S car spun hard on every gear change, and it was only an 11.40 car. Every other track it was on that year, with four different drivers, it hooked hard. It's a shame, too, we love going there.
Orlando has been hit or miss. One year it was great. Went back a year later for a Southern Stock and Super Stock race, and to be honest, it was horrible. It was bad the night before for test and tune, and we were told it would be better, track prep would start early the next day. It wasn't, and it didn't.
When our A/SA or CC/SA car spins, it's a bad sign. Ask some of your biggest fans, like Jim Wahl, he'll tell you that's one of the best working stockers in the country. If we spin at Bowling Green, Dallas or Clay will stop everything and work the track. I don't think that's too much to ask of any track, and any event staff.
Not trying to be harsh, but it costs us, mostly Kevin and Scot, a ton to go racing, especially if Kevin and I come from Murfreesboro to southern Georgia or Florida. At least an extra day off of work compared to not going south of Atlanta. An 11 hour drive to your track, for example. Several hundred dollars in diesel. I don't think it is unreasonable of us to expect to hook hard, on every single pass, with a car well known for going as far as 300+ feet on the back wheels, consistently. We've taken to running A/SA a lot more often, because track prep has been questionable in many places.
It does this at Bowling Green about 95 passes out of 100, or better.
Carl, it did this on your track (it did have a broken shock) in the spring, then in the fall, it spun 5 of the first 6 passes.
To be fair, I think Carl and Orlando got a raw deal from NHRA, and I don't think they're the only ones. The traction problems are not always the fault of the track owners/staff. NHRA is to blame quite often. It isn't a matter of one person or group of persons being to blame. I do hate the way things turned out for Carl and Orlando, it was wrong, period. I certainly hate to see any drag strip close, they don't get replaced.
However, Division 2 does not consist only of southern Georgia and Florida. For far too long, the rest of the states, and racers that live in them, have gotten the shaft in Division 2, we had only one race north of Atlanta, or even outside of Georgia and Florida, in Division 2 for years, and that was a national event. Hopefully Rick can help change that. It would be nice to see regular Division 2 races at Bristol, and at Charlotte, if they'll fix that track. NHRA has not done much to get LODRS races in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Alabama, for years.