Parking - The Real Story

[X-TECH MAN]

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?

T/D and T/S are just another spectator "Class" (these cars are FAST at that means spectators) to push the stock and Super Stock cars further out of the picture. Just as the .90 cars did to the modified cars years ago and the associations and tracks will kiss their ***** to get them to come and be premadonnas for a little while. If it wasnt for the money collected the class legal cars days would be numbered. They are old news to the younger crowd. Look around.....we are OLD and getting older. Todays spectator doesnt know or care if the car has a 283 or a 426 Hemi under the hood. All they want to see is a fast show (entertainment). Its all about the easy entry money and associated expenses the associations are collecting. No real tech problems other than safety items and they dont have to have tech inspectors with the knowledge to do the job of tear downs. The Alcohol cars are there to keep the track from rusting.....

[Pat Joffrion]

Rick,

First, anybody that knows me well enough knows that I was not referring to blacks in a derogatory manner. I was explaining what my “Momma Jo” taught me about life. She and her family were intermingled with mine, and there is only respect in my writing about what actually happened. Momma Jo made every one of our weddings, my two sister’s funerals, and my mother’s funeral. And when she passed, she had seven white pall-bearers (me & my 6 brothers) and her grandson to carry her coffin. So please, let’s get it straight. It be’s what it be’s.

Next, it is not my philosophy that the guy with the most money in his car parks better. I don’t understand what would make you think from my postings that I agree with the way things are. I’m simply stating what I have observed. For the record, I have always refused to accept cash from racers for a better parking spot. Just this past March, one financially successful racer put $500.00 in my shirt pocket and asked that I park him on the asphalt. I politely put his cash right back into his hand, and told the gentleman that the parking was determined by NHRA, and that even the track owner cannot change that. I parked him in the next available spot, but not on the asphalt.

I always do the best that I can to accommodate the racers. Sometimes though, even my best efforts leave some feeling left out in the cold. I wish I had the money to pave the entire pit area. Several years ago I added an asphalt road and side lanes down through the sportsman pit area past the time slip booth. This project helped the racers get in and out of their pit area without the worry of driving through the dust or mud. If the proposed oil/gas well at the track comes through, I intened to use the black gold to add more black asphalt in the pits.

The sad fact is that some track owners just don’t give a damn about the sportsmen racers, or their pit areas. However, there are a handful of us that do. The entire basis of my post is to state the facts about why I allow friends to hold spaces for their working buddies, and to help racers realize that they can win the event no matter where they are parked.

By the way, if any racer would like to work on my parking crew for any of our NHRA events, give me a call. I am really serious! If a racer can come to the track on Tuesday to help out, I am willing to give him/her a free entry for his/her services. My cell number is (985) 665-7145.

[Beth Denysenko]

FWIW, we have two big dogs - you couldn't pay me enough to pit on asphalt and we have turned down paved parking in leiu of grass for their general comfort.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

T/D and T/S are just another spectator "Class" (these cars are FAST at that means spectators) to push the stock and Super Stock cars further out of the picture. Just as the .90 cars did to the modified cars years ago and the associations and tracks will kiss their ***** to get them to come and be premadonnas for a little while. If it wasnt for the money collected the class legal cars days would be numbered. They are old news to the younger crowd. Look around.....we are OLD and getting older. Todays spectator doesnt know or care if the car has a 283 or a 426 Hemi under the hood. All they want to see is a fast show (entertainment). Its all about the easy entry money and associated expenses the associations are collecting. No real tech problems other than safety items and they dont have to have tech inspectors with the knowledge to do the job of tear downs. The Alcohol cars are there to keep the track from rusting.....

The TS and TD car put nobody in the stands. If the do, where are they?? They must be hiding, they aren't sitting in the stands. The stands are always pretty much empty at div points races.

And nobody watches the .90 cars. At the national events, when they come up the last few people in the stands leave. No mater how fast they run at the finish line, there are several small block doors in Super Stock that run quicker, and they don't take off, almost die, then go again. They sell them a lot of pit passes and car entries, but not spectators. Not in div 4 anyway. Nobody care how close they may be at the finish line, that's not where they are sitting. It looks dumb as heck where they are sitting. That's racing dumbed way down. "Build anything you want, but don't run quicker than XX.90".

Divisional races used to pack them in, but Top Fuel and Pro Stock used to also run WCS races.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

The TS and TD car put nobody in the stands. If the do, where are they?? They must be hiding, they aren't sitting in the stands. The stands are always pretty much empty at div points races.

And nobody watches the .90 cars. At the national events, when they come up the last few people in the stands leave. No mater how fast they run at the finish line, there are several small block doors in Super Stock that run quicker, and they don't take off, almost die, then go again. They sell them a lot of pit passes and car entries, but not spectators. Not in div 4 anyway. Nobody care how close they may be at the finish line, that's not where they are sitting. It looks dumb as heck where they are sitting. That's racing dumbed way down. "Build anything you want, but don't run quicker than XX.90".

Divisional races used to pack them in, but Top Fuel and Pro Stock used to also run WCS races.

No arument from me. I agree 1000% but the tracks and associations look at it in a different light. They are "filler" for the Pro junk at National events and easy to tech and squeeze more money (entrys, chassis certs, license, car numbers, memberships, friends and family with them as crew, and anything else they can come up with) from them at the points races. One reason is the grade points that are required at the National events. The only spectators usually at the points races and a great race like the Dutch Classic at Maple Grove are the real diehard (like me) stock/S/S fans, friends and family of the racers.

[63corvette]

Pat, what I took from your post listing "The Real Story" and by how many times you used the quote "Have You Ever Noticed" was that you thought just because it was done this way in the past why change it. It is what it is.

I do not agree with the special treatment the TD and TS racers have been given. I have friends who run TS and have told them the same thing. I also have more money in my car than a couple of the friends have it their TS cars. They just took their SG cars and added the NOS system to run fast enough to meet the ET requirement for TS. I see no difference between any of the Sportsman classes other than the TAD and TAFC cars. All the other classes should be on a level playing field for parking. First come first served basis.

You mentioned the cost of the cars. Drooze on this site claims to have almost $140,000 in his stock Challenger. If you park by car costs he should be parked with TAD and TAFC as he is close in cost to their cars.

If we do not change we get left out as the world changes. I think that is what NHRA was trying to do with TS and TD but all they really did was rob from SC and SG. I do not see any new race teams in TD or TS. One track manager also mentioned to me that all it did for the Track Owners was add two more pay out classes to the Division races and no new revenue to support the payout. Change is needed in NHRA and drag racing in general to bring in new racers. Like some in this post has noted the current age of racers are getting older and there are few new and young racers to replace them.

I have not been to your track but I hear very good things about it and how friendly it is to race there. I will plan to visit you in the next year or so as long as I can keep the racing going. As I mentioned in the earlier post I am retired now so I can pick and choose where and when I race. It is just all for fun and when the fun is gone so is the race car.
Rick

[Jim Cimarolli]

I think that most sportsman racers know that we are not going to get a good parking spot.
It would be a lot easier for us to swallow if the parking attendants wouldn't scream at us and treat us like farm animals after we have busted our asses to get to the race. Just a little bit of courtesy and kindness extended at this time by the parking people will go a long way to stop some of the tension.

[Don Kennedy]

I even agree to a certain extend if a racer is a sponsor of some sort ,but I have seen a "racer sponsoring the parking people "to the extend that the parking person called this racer to see if a racer could park in a certain area??? what is this all about hmm looks like some sort of under the table assistance or in some areas it is called a bribe? One race track we were first in line and the parking person actually had to the nerve to call the Drag strip manager to see who could park where and the manager had the nerve to say on the radio ,as we heard it hold on let me call the other racer to see if we can park this racer there > wow Were we blown away , if we had not towed 800 miles one way to race I would have simply left but after a fight we got to park where we wanted to . Now this is not the way to run a track especially if the track only has minimum amount of so called " clean" pit spaces meaning no dirt, no hills etc. Now that is another story about the pit parking .

In My opinion the Number One problem and responsibility of a track strip is to make sure the racers have a good pit space .cause the very first thing just about everyone wants is a good pit space , if this wasn't not true then why does everyone get there early ??? NHRA and The drag strip personnel always says why does everyone get to the track early dud your track does not have enough "clean" pit space for YOUR customers ,very simple take care of your customers to make sure they are happy seems to me to be a sure thing to success with more income coming in for your business >

another situation that really cracks us up is how the parking person saids follow me to the pit space and then proceeds to guided you in between the lines like we as racers can't park our selves ??? I don't like a person to be my so called guider as i had a bad guider one time on my new Goldrush and he caused as i was so called relying on him to watch well he guided me right into a scratch in the side of my trailer , so parking people say this racer park between the lines no overhang into the other person pit and leave go get some one else to park is very simple, NO Overhang of your kick outs into the other racers pit space ,you move your rv in your space don't make me hit your kick out in my pit space is just common sense