Parking - The Real Story

[Pat Joffrion]

I’m glad to have an opportunity to explain how racer parking works at most tracks. Most of you folks remember that I traveled with several cars/drivers for years across the country. My rig was used to provide electricity, air, and spare parts warehouse for as many as five team cars. We carried 3 cars in one rig, while the other two were towed either with a motor home or a pickup. I didn’t care where we were pitted, so long as we could pit together. Most of the time, we were parked out in the boonies, but we realized that as long as we were “inside the gate” we had an opportunity to win the race. We understood that we had no chance of winning if we were refused admission to the race.

One memory that I will never forget is when we pulled into the Dallas Motorplex at 8:15 p.m. The track recording stated that the racer gates would be open until 9:00 p.m. I made a wide right turn to get my long rig into the racer gate. If you’ve ever raced at Dallas, you know how sharp that turn is. When I got to the ticket booth to pick up my credentials packet, I was told that the “gate lady” had just shut down for the night, and that I would have to back my rigs out to the road and park in the spectator parking lot for the night.

Realizing that it would be extremely difficult to jack knife the toter home/trailer, I asked the guard to allow me to pull forward to make a U-Turn. He rudely shouted, “I told you to back that damn rig up!” My reaction was to shut off the engine before I abandoned the driver’s seat. The guard immediately called for the police when I stepped out of the rig. I sat patiently, with my arms folded, waiting for the officer to arrive.

As the lawman approached the ticket booth, the guard shouted, “I told him to back his rig up, and he got out to whip my ***!” The officer reached for his weapon as I began to explain, “Now calm down officer. I simply requested that I be allowed to pull forward to make a U-Turn because my rig is too long to safely back onto the highway. I only got out of the driver’s seat to let the guard hop in to back it up, since he thought it must be real easy to do.” The stunned officer frowned at the guard and motioned for me to get back in my rig and make the U-Turn. As I climbed back in I could hear him chiding the guard for being such a butt-hole.

We parked for the night in the parking lot, and then made our way into the pits the next morning. Word spread about my gate episode and I was led to a parking spot in the tall grass way past the scales. I thanked the parking attendant for giving us such a quiet place, and for not parking us with the rest of those loud racecars on the hot asphalt. “This is beautiful,” I exclaimed to the stunned attendant. “We have this pasture all to ourselves.” To make an already long story shorter, I had a smile a mile long on Sunday night when the photographer took my photo in the winner’s circle!

On another occasion, I was pitted for the Jeg’s All Stars in a rather low area at the Columbus racetrack. Being from Louisiana, and looking for parking on higher ground in case of a big rainstorm, I asked to be moved out of “the hole”. “All I have is parking you at the back end entrance gate,” came the parker’s reply. “That would put you almost a mile from the starting line.” I accepted the offer of higher ground, even though it was so far away. The next evening, several motor homes and trailers were flooded in the prime spot that I held earlier.

From a track owner’s perspective, you need to look at parking from the racer’s perspective.

Here is the track owner’s perspective on limited asphalt pit areas:
1. Race team sponsors (Lucas, Jegs, Mosier, etc)
2. Track Sponsors (Teuton, Hidalgo, Cummins, etc)
3. TAD & TAFC
4. Comp
5. Top Sportsman
6. Top Dragster

The track should work with teams that need to park together. Some racers use the same crew chief; others use one generator/air compressor for multiple pit areas. What fun is it for you to travel hundreds of miles to be with your racing buddies, only to be parked ½-mile away from your friends. That is why tracks should do their best to accommodate the racers. While one may give up a “prime” parking spot to be with his fellow racers, the fact that the event is more about pitting with your friends should be acknowledged, and accommodated if at all practical.

Most sportsman racers hold down full-time jobs. By allowing buddies to park and save a spot or two for their fellow racers who have to work, the racers have the opportunity to make an extra day or two of pay. There is give-and-take that needs to work to accomplish this: Give up a “prime” spot for arriving early so that you can take a spot or two for your working racers further back in the pits.

And, just so you all understand, parking is the most dreaded activity of a track owner’s weekend. I’ve heard the whole list:
Why can’t I park on the asphalt? (because you’re not racing one of the reserved classes)
My rig is leaning. Can’t you put me on some level ground? (use leveling blocks)
Why do I have to park on these rocks? (because you won’t like the mud when it rains)
Can’t I get closer to the starting line? (get you a comp car)
Why is that stocker parked on the asphalt? (because his daddy is one of our biggest sponsors)
Why can’t I park over there? (because you will have to be pulled out if it rains)
Why you let him save a spot? (because his brother has to work until Friday)
This spot is too noisy. (sorry… this is a race track… not a scenic lake)
You got to move me. I can’t park next to that prick. (flip a coin to see which prick has to move)
And the list goes on, and on, and on, and on….

My last bit of advice…
Unless you are parked in an unsafe area (fire, flood, etc), get your race attitude in a winning mode. Don’t worry about where you are parked (or where the other guy is pitted). Acknowledge to yourself that you are “inside” the gate, and no matter where you are parked, you intend to win the next round. If you fill your head with anxiety and frustration, you leave no room for concentrating on your next round, which you need to do to wind up parking your ride in the most primo spot after the race… the winner’s circle.

Pat “No Problem” Joffrion
4308 SS/KA (retired from driving. Turned ride over to local bracket racer to have some fun)

[Isaac Zane]

Pat, that should about cover it! Thanks!

[Beth Denysenko]

Why do classes that are allowed to be towed to the staging lanes get to park closer than classes that have to drive up? That never made sense to me, and especially last weekend when we were parked two miles from the starting line. (In fairness, they did allow us to be towed part way up to the lanes if you had ability to do so.) I would think those that can tow could be parked further away -as it is now, those of us who are not allowed to be towed are parked as far away as possible. Seems inconsiderate at best.

Other than that, a lot of good points. We never argue "saving a spot" as we have done it and had it done for us. IHRA is very liberal in allowing this and it's one of the perks we appreciate when we race with them.

[Don Kennedy]

Pat : I understand everything you have said although I disagree with some of what you have said. If I am one of the very first racers in line left work early to get a spot for pitting so my clients can come by and see a race , how come I can't get my choice pit spot ? I don't have a clue what situation your parkers may have with other racers , yet I am told to park in a spot I don't want to only to see the spot not being used until a another racer parks there that has no what so ever so called "special situation" then what?

or let me say this if you came into my friends restaurant and he sit you near the toilets after saying oh we are saving the other spots for another racer even not knowing if that racer shows up or when how would you feel? How does a track parker even know who is what ? Now here in the west the pits are very dirty. A track should have clean pit spaces period >

The flawed thinking on a track owners part is who is important or who is not ? who is going to show when ? and we don't know any thing about your situation with any racer only you know so a racer gets upset about where they are parked . ok so I know the winning attitude is what it is all about so let any one park where they want and let the "Special racer worry about the winning altitude" if he gets into the track late and see what happens ?

[Ed Wright]

I was gone for several years. When did the comp guys get to be so important? And why? We used to all park together.

And top sportsman and top dragster? They are just dial-your-own bracket racers once they qualify. Does anybody ever not qualify?

[63corvette]

Pat, I understand the Sponsors getting the perks and I agree with those spots being saved but please explain to me what the difference is in the Sportsman Categories. Sportsman is Sportsman. I sort of understand the difference with TAD and TAFC but I have a hard time with the difference with the others.
Especially the NEW categories of TS and TD. What makes those categories special? Because they spend more money to go faster and that gives them special treatment?
I have skipped Division races recently because the tracks hold 60 spots or more for TS and TD and half that many show up. Then the Comp, TAD and TAFC racers use those empty spots for parking and storage. A total waste.
I have helped park at Divisional races before and I know what a pain it is and how some racer's can be on their parking spot. I am also one of those racers who looks at the Special Treatment of certain classes and I do not care for it. First Come First Served for the better spots with the exception of the Sponsors Spots would go a long way to have more Happy Racers.
Remember what NHRA stands for No Happy Racers Allowed!
Just My 2 Cents And Experience

[sst1988]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

I was gone for several years. When did the comp guys get to be so important? And why? We used to all park together.

And top sportsman and top dragster? They are just dial-your-own bracket racers once they qualify. Does anybody ever not qualify?

I say all 32 cars fields in ever sportsman class's.except AFC/TAD, Then qualifying would mean something then nobody would qualify on the bottom deliberately.

[Beth Denysenko]

And something else that hasn't been brought up yet, but is becoming more and more of an issue as of late.

Parking classes together means they are all gone at once to the staging lanes, leaving rows of trailers and motorhomes abandoned at once. There is no need to pit classes together. We should all be interspersed so there are not complete vacancies of areas leaving unattended trailer after trailer open for those with ill-intentions ability to rob riot and loot in our absence.

This is becoming a big problem and the way we are parked is making it easier for those to come and steal when no one is around.

[Pat Joffrion]

Have you ever noticed how qualifying sheets start with the number 1 qualifier?
Have you ever noticed how most press releases give the qualifying sequence of:
Top Fuel
Funny Car
Pro Stock
Pro Stock Bike
Pro Mod
Top Alcohol Dragster
Top Alcohol Funny Car
Competition Eliminator
-----------------------------
Top Sportsman
Top Dragster
Super Comp
Super Gas
Super Street
Super Stock
Stock Eliminator

Have you ever noticed how the top-eight of the above sequence gets the best parking area at national events?
Have you ever noticed that the remaining bottom-seven pretty much follow in order for the rest of the parking area?
Have you any idea how much the cost of a racecar operation gets higher as you go up on the list? (well maybe not so for super street, but some would disagree)
Can you draw a reasonable conclusion that the more you spend on your race car, the better parking spot you get?
Have you ever noticed how at a charity event, the largest donors get to sit at the front, closest to the stage?
Why is that so when everybody at the charity event paid the same price for the banquet ticket? (and the biggest donors who put on the banquet probably got in for free)

The comments about parking remind me about something I was told over 50 years ago. I remember once, as an innocent young child, asking our domestic Mammy, why it was that her skin was black, but the bottoms of her feet were white? She simply replied, “It just be’s dat way.”

The bottoms of her feet and pit parking have one thing in common: IT JUST BE’S DAT WAY. Fifty years later, the translation is simply: IT IS WHAT IT IS. Let the big boys have their concrete and asphalt. I always had more fun parking in the grass. Besides, my beer bottles don’t break when they fall on grass.

And Beth, you are so right about mixing the various categories. We’ve never had a theft incident at No Problem since we started mixing the cars on the asphalt and on the grass. That point needs to be addressed to all division directors and track managers.

[Sally McBride]

Mr. Pat,

I heard that you and Linda were in a bad wreck on I-10 last month. Any update?