"Just A Thought"

[Pistol Pete]

Originally Posted by George Mirza

The issue in D1 isn't the distance, it's the roads and traffic. We have the worst roads to travel in the country. Put NYC and the Hudson river in the middle of the division and it is a nightmare. There are 3 bridges that cross the river and they all are falling down and overly congested. Ct. is brutal, you have 95 and 84, both are very heavily traveled. From New Haven to the NY line has to be the busiest section of highway in the country.
I have to hand it to the D1 racers, they still go for it and battle their way thru. One thing about D1, most can hit all the races and still get to work on Monday.
Interesting thought Pistol Pete.

Yes George your on the money with the roads you New Englanders & Canadians have to take in order to race in NJ, PA, Virginia, or MD. God Bless you guys for doing it.
I95 is a nightmare unless you leave real early in the morning to avoid some of the nonsense.
My Intent was thinking on all of you N.E. Racers to split Div.1 because of travel time plus expense.

[ss wannabee]

A good portion of America just happens to live in the Northeast...can't get away from
that!

[ss wannabee]

A few ideas.....

Delete the Richmond event from D1 and send it back to Numidia. Now you have 2
LODRS events north of...and 1 west of NYC....

Look into getting Sanair back for LODRS (or National Open) race...not sure of track's
status?

Look into bringing the Leicester,NY track into the NHRA D1 fold...place has the room
(and shut-off) for a Lucas event...would benefit racers from upstate NY, western PA,
and Ontario area...some New England racers have been there before also.

[ss wannabee]

Another option might be to just remove Richmond from D1 schedule and go back to 6
races. Less races, less travel, right? You don't HAVE to go to EVERY LODRS
event, right? Southern D1 enthusiasts in MD,PA,DE, and other locations might not
agree with Richmond dropped...

Pete, your idea sounds interesting but let's keep the Division intact. Lets call NYC the
dividing line between D1a and D1b. Adding Sanair or Leicester (if possible) would
give the northern D1 racers 3 LODRS events north of that line...The only reason I've
mentioned Leicester is I believe there's a "void" out there for western D1 racers...
( including the Toronto area.)

Sean, to answer your question, I believe the bulk of the D1 racers might have something
of a 2-5 hour tow...on average...depending on location. The guys in the fringe areas
have it tough...can't imagine how long a trip from the Canadian Maritimes to let's say....
Cecil County...or even worse, Richmond! Racers in Buffalo and/or Pittsburgh almost as
bad...but will opt for D3 usually....

Anybody know what's happening at Sanair?

[Pistol Pete]

Ss wannabe
Good idea to give the Northern racers more
Div Races up in there area
I think the downside is track owners have to pay
nhra for a divisional race to use their track
I could be wrong on that.
But your idea sounds better than splitting the division

[Bob Don]

I would LOVE to see Sanair come back into the fold. The Grandnationals was always one of my favorite races.

[Mike Carr]

Originally Posted by ss wannabee

Racers in Buffalo and/or Pittsburgh almost as
bad...but will opt for D3 usually....

Anybody know what's happening at Sanair?

As far as East Coast racers, it's not very friendly here anymore. I live on the PA-OH line, an hour or so northwest of Pittsburgh. It's three hundred miles, or more, to any NHRA D-1 race. Norwalk is 2 1/2 hours, Columbus is three hours. Pittsburgh track (IHRA) is a little less than two hours. Those are the only three tracks within five-six hours of me for NHRA/IHRA. Compared to Div 4-5-6-7, I still have it made, but I'm in no man's land compared to Philly/Jersey area racers. Basically a thousand dollars (or more) every time I would go race (I quit in 2007 at age twenty-seven). I would have to move either to Harrisburg and east, or to the Ohio-Indiana line if I wanted to go back racing (which I don't). SO the proposed ideas here don't make anything better for some racers.

Is it bad to be excited about seeing gas the other day for $3.38 in eastern Ohio....? lol

[George Mirza]

Originally Posted by Mike Carr

As far as East Coast racers, it's not very friendly here anymore. I live on the PA-OH line, an hour or so northwest of Pittsburgh. It's three hundred miles, or more, to any NHRA D-1 race. Norwalk is 2 1/2 hours, Columbus is three hours. Pittsburgh track (IHRA) is a little less than two hours. Those are the only three tracks within five-six hours of me for NHRA/IHRA. Compared to Div 4-5-6-7, I still have it made, but I'm in no man's land compared to Philly/Jersey area racers. Basically a thousand dollars (or more) every time I would go race (I quit in 2007 at age twenty-seven). I would have to move either to Harrisburg and east, or to the Ohio-Indiana line if I wanted to go back racing (which I don't). SO the proposed ideas here don't make anything better for some racers.

Is it bad to be excited about seeing gas the other day for $3.38 in eastern Ohio....? lol

I think the racers from Mike's area, western PA, Pittsburg, have it the worst. In New England we now have 2 LODRS, 2 opens and a National event. Far more than we did 10 years ago. The guys from the Canadian Maritimes are just in a tough situation. Most are 12 plus hours from Epping, 20 from Maple Grove.

Pete, where did you get the car counts? I think there are many more cars sitting in garages inactive. I have often thought, how many cars would there be if everybody in the division showed up at one race. I remember 135-145 a couple of times back in the late 90's, I think over 150 at the Dutch.