Make Divisionals Great Again

[GUMP]

1320,

Did your Son race at Divisionals? Or just your local track?

[1320racer]

No, only divisional was the D1 Junior Finals

[Bobby Fazio]

[1320racer]

you're delusional but hey, go sell it to every track owner and see how far that gets you.

[Mike Pearson]

If you want to get more spectators you have to give them something exciting and worth watching especially if you are charging them $25 + a head to get in the gate. I can tell you that 3 classes of JR Dragster, SC and TD along with SG and SST are not going to do that. Dragsters are terminally boring to watch unless you understand the nuances of that type of racing. If I were NHRA I would drop JR Dragster from the divisionals and I would lower the indexes on the .90 cars one full second across the board so its not so evident when the stop comes on. Look more like a real drag race. Most of the cars now can run those numbers without the stop. Stock , super stock, Comp and TS are pretty good action classes to watch.
You have to have a good announcer that can explain to the spectator what is happening on the track for the different classes so they can understand what is happening. not just announce the ET and speed of the runs.
Lastly you need some good food at the concession stand at a reasonable price and nice clean bathrooms with toilets that flush with toilet paper and doors that close and latch for the women..

[1320racer]

Originally Posted by Mike Pearson

If I were NHRA I would lower the indexes on the .90 cars one full second across the board so its not so evident when the stop comes on. Look more like a real drag race. Most of the cars now can run those numbers without the stop.

That won't put asses in the stands but I agree the indexes should be dropped a full second but the NHRA ain't going to do because of the vocal minority that feels it would push them out or make them less competitive.

[cgall]

Bader nailed it in his statement "an evening of entertainment." Look at all the TV racers, all run at night. Night of Fire, jet cars, fireworks, all at night.

Edgewater ran a Divisional event in August for about 25 years, the stands were full on Saturday night and completely empty on Sunday in the 90° heat. Then NHRA declared that all qualifying be finished by 6:00 PM on Saturday, so no Alky cars running at night. They also required fees for the manufacturers midway and t-shirt sales, so that died out. It was around 2002 that the track gave up the Divisional.

They now have Pro Mod shows and Nitro Chaos shows at Edgewater, and they run them on Friday and Saturday night with good spectator counts.

[Maverick]

Please don't talk about lowering the indexes. That only hurts the little guy. Everyone knows what the problem is and they use them, but it is the way it is. If you change the I sexes, they will screw it up.

[BillyCarroll]

Originally Posted by Bobby Fazio

Attachment 69021

I have been fortunate to attend the last few of Bill Bader Jr’s “State of the Union” meetings with the racers which are held at the award banquets each year. I wish everyone was able to experience them. Bill puts a lot of preparation into the list on his agenda and welcomes input from everyone in attendance. The topics range from schedules, on track procedures, car counts and payouts just to name a few. Bill can tell you the average time between pairs for events run at his facility. These are discussed at the meeting along with ideas to minimize potential downtime. Bill’s personal cell phone number is announced at every event for feedback. I don’t question Bill or the Norwalk staff’s desire to make the next Divisional (or any event) at their facility greater than the previous one.