Re: National car counts
This is a post I have been waiting to see. I had mentioned on other threads the empty seats in the last three National event races. If you have the events recorded both Saturday qualifing and Sunday finals, you can look back and see how few spectators there are on Sundays. I would like to see NHRA run some qualifying runs for Stock and Superstock on Saturday morning and then go in to the races. At Z-max, earlier this year, we went on Saturday and the pits were nearly empty and we only got to see a few cars run. I have noticed a lot of video of the "wheels up" Superstocker, placed at the very end of the commercials, when the show starts back. Not going to kill this post with the wrong comment, but most of these, not NHRA/IHRA races are drawing these crowds to see these "older cars" leave the starting line with the "wheels up." There are a lot of Superstockers making an appearance on the TV show Pass Time and, yes those guys do not know alot about the cars but they do get real excited and comment when a nice looking Stock/Superstock leaves the starting line with the wheels up.
I would really like to see the races opened up to "cars that show, pay at the gate and race." I do not have the time to travel around to all of the divisional races but I would like to race at Z-Max, the only NHRA track within a 6 hour drive of Raleigh.
Cars not showing at all, and it will have to be either alot or no cars at all, will be the only way that NHRA will understand what these Sportsman cars, the money and the people they bring with them, means to NHRA. Right now they have 15 to 16 cars in these fuel classes with only three Owners having the majority of the cars entered and they don't pay. The people that travel and make up these teams, along with the people who get "VIP" passes from these teams, neither pay to get in the race nor do they buy from concession stands. They have food and drinks available to them all day long.
The Pro Stock cars bring so many cars they have sometimes as many as 8 or 9 cars that do not even qualify and have to go home. They have the closest races of any of the cars. NHRA continues to shove these cars around and they, as a group, are going to do something. That will be interesting.
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