We're going to be on TV!

* Randy Murray and I are invited to tape a 1/2 hour show called "Cars & Us". It is located and shown in Westchester County (also shown in southwestern CT) . It will be airing on Monday and Friday. This show is going to be devoted entirely to our 100 foot drag racing venture. Looking to get your 15 minutes of fame? The "Cars & Us" crew is looking to come out on the 10th & 11th event and taping it for a future show. If you are racing that weekend, you could end up on TV! We'll keep you posted.
* Remember those computer glitches we had had our first meet? They are resolved and we expect the timing system to operate completely as it should, speeding up the program more.
* Spread the word, and get all your friends to come out and race for the 10th & 11th. Everybody this time gets 4 chances to win a trophy over the 2 day period. And if you are a Mustang owner, you get to runa 3rd event on Sunday, exclusively for street legal Mustangs (see previous blogs below for info). Any questions or comments.. write us or call us. Thanks, Jay 631-991-1614

VIDEOS AVAILABLE

* We've been getting many request for videos and pictures of our last event. Lee Smith was video taping to his hearts content both days, and has about two hours put together on DVD. I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds like he did a good job editing and putting it together. He's making it available for $20.00. You can e-mail him at: redneck24@sbcglobal.net . Apparently there's already some stuff on Streetfire and MySpace, but we haven't seen it yet, Also, Lee's DVD will have far more content, and quality.

IT WAS A SUCCESS!

* What a weekend! Everybody had a good time, and it was a great success. Thank you to everybody that helped, because we couldn't have done it without you. We also would like to thank everyone who called and wrote. Most of the responses were that it was just great to be able to race in CT again. Many took alot of time to write with their suggestions, and they are all welcome. Some things we are already working on, but there some ideas we hadn't thought of.
* This concept has running around my head for 15 years (apparently there was alot of empty room up there), so it was very gratifying to us that we were finally able to prove that the 100 foot format was viable. This was something almost impossible to explain... you had to see it. Now, to settle any rumors, we don't have nor did we ever have intents on building an 1/8 or 1/4 mile venue. We are staying with the 100 foot format. It allows us to fit this in almost any venue, such as other stock car tracks, parking lots, fairgrounds, etc. This allows us to expand easier. If we can find a place with proper ventilation, we can even put this indoors during the winter! (Yes, we are looking!).
* Regarding the Speedbowl... what can I say. They did everything they could to help us get this event off the ground and make money. Thank you to both owners, particularly Bill Roth... we are grateful for all their help. We had (and continue to have) a great working relationship. We are looking to do this on a regular basis next year, but more importantly, we are doing this again!

Saturday & Sunday

November 10th & 11th

Both days start at 12 noon with test & tune.

Both days will feature eliminations with MORE events to race, MORE trophies to win!

* Our plans may change, but the plan right now is for everybody to be able to run not one, but TWO events for trophies EACH DAY! The first event would be what we ran before... Indexes running heads-up, with the fast cars running against the fast cars, the slower cars running against slower cars. While not perfect, the racing all of a sudden got real close in most races, so we feel it worked well. The second event will be all the cars, fast and slow, running against each other in a simplified bracket handicap system. For instance, if a 2.50 car and a 3.50 car come to the line together, the tree would give the slower car a one second head-start. This we feel could make for some real interesting racing! We plan to run these two events each day, so there are FOUR chances to win trophies for everybody, not just one.

THIRD EVENT! THIRD EVENT! THIRD EVENT!

* On Sunday, we may run a third event for MUSTANGS! We're working on the format right now, but basically it's the same street legal format we have for the rest of the cars. We are in the process of contacting Mustang clubs and Ford dealers, but we think this will be a winner. Keep your eyes posted on this blog for more updates.

* Now for the little sour notes. While the show was great, and everybody had a great time, it was not without it's problems. First, this was our first real test for the timing system, and we had some computer glitches which were driving us nuts. We are in the process of resolving them, but right now our troubleshooting is pointing in the direction of the manufacturer screwing up the wiring in the tree and the wiring harness. The bottom line is it appears to be shoddy workmanship. We will do our best to resolve them, but I can tell you right now, a new system from a different manufacturer is in the cards for next year.

* Closing the grandstands. We got caught with an ugly surprise the morning of our first day... if we opened the grandstands, the police were going to add a ridiculous number of officers to the payroll, and we had no say in the matter. We learned this Friday morning, and couldn't come up with a practical alternate solution. All we knew is that we were going to have to pay a four digit sum for no good reason. We apologize to all those expecting to pay $10, and got caught up paying double. We are working to solve this problem, but right now we may be forced to do the same thing until next year. Keep looking on this post. We'll do what we can.

* Back to good news. We have been invited to tape a 1/2 hour show next week in Westchester County, NY called "Cars & Us". It is a cable show aired in Westchester County, and Southwestern CT. Good news travels far and fast! They are very enthused about our concept, and heard great things. from the racers.

* To end this, again thank you to everybody for your help! Special thanks goes to too many people to list for now, but our core group deserves so much credit for getting this event off the ground:

Randy Murray, Jeff Shaw, Bob Shaw, & Ronnie Shea. they have been with me from Day 1. Special thanks goes to our CT contigent: Lee & Rene Smith, Les & Vicki Smith, Bud Ehrmann.

Thank you... this couldn't have done this without you!

* More to be posted later... Calls and e-mails always welcome!

p.s. We are looking for some extra help on race days... we were a little thin. Help is needed in lining up cars, timing slips (yes, that's being worked on too for improvements), and we need an announcer. Please let us know.

The Race is STILL ON!

* We're keeping our fingers crossed regarding the weather. Yesterday, the forecast for this upcoming weekend was all rain... but now Saturday looks good, and Friday night is now looking clear. We'll keep an eye on it, but it looks as though we'll squeak this one in. The forecast has been changing almost by the hour, and in our favor.
* In the event the weather is questionable, call us at 631-991-1614, or call the Waterford Speedbowl on race day at 860-442-1585.
* For those looking here for rules, times, etc., the info is on the October 7th posting just below this.

It's less than a week away!

* Racing is right around the corner, and the buzz is really building! Thanks to EVERYBODY in helping spread the word about the Holeshot Drags this coming weekend. It'll be because of you that this event will be successful. Please do your best to continue spreading the word. The more people and racers that come, the better chance we will have a second event at the end of Oct., and a weekly event next season (that'll be only 7 months away!).
* Start times: There are some that have questions regarding times and prices, so here goes: Friday: 4pm is sign-in, 5:30 is test & tune until no later than 10pm. Saturday: 9am sign-in starts, 12 noon is test & tune, 3pm is the start of eliminations for all classes. Admission: Pits are $20 per person per day, pits open to all both days. Grandstands are $10 per person, under 14 is free. Note: Grandstands are open only on Saturday, closed on Friday night, due to security issues. Entry fees: There are no entry fees for all cars running for trophies. The "Pro-Street" Shootout event is a $25 entry fee, payable on Saturday. Cars will be running a 0.400 "Pro-tree", heads-up.
* Rules are simple. Cars must be completely street legal, have a legitimate plate, DOT tires (ET Streets and the like are fine), mufflers in place, belts and harness to be used, helmets mandatory. The bottom line is that the cars competing should be able to be able to be legally driven on and off the property. Simple, right? All cars are welcome... FWD, RWD, AWD, trucks, motorcycles, imports, street rods, all-out modified cars, mildly modified cars, completely stock cars.
* Classes: All cars are competitive... we will be putting fast cars with fast cars, slow cars with slow cars. The trophy classes will actually be indexes. We may have to make some adjustments, but the indexes will probably be 2.00, 2.25, 2.50, 2.75, 3.00, 3.50. Experience has shown us that a wildly modified car will run low 2's, so they will run in the 2.00, 2.25, or 2.50 indexes. A stock FWD 4 cyl. car will run in the 3's, so therefore would run in the 3.00 or 3.50 index. Basically, this is how it works: Everybody will have a chance to do test & tune to see what time their car will do. You will then choose which index to run in. Fast cars cannot compete in the slower indexes because they . would be in danger of "breaking out" . In other words, if a car that runs in the 3.00 index, but runs 2.99 or faster, they "break out" and therefore automatically lose the race. You cannot run faster than your index, or else you run into the danger of losing the race. The "Pro-Street" Shootout is open to all that wish to pay the $25 entry fee, but we suggest only the faster cars enter. All Pro-Street cars are allowed to run for trophies also.
* Any other questions and concerns? Please write us or call at 631-991-1614. We look forward to seeing all of you this weekend! Jay

Want Drag Racing weekly? Read this!

*** It was great to be at the show in Orange... 1350 cars!!! Again we ran out of fliers, even though we printed more than last week. Thanks to Lee and his wife Rene in giving a big hand in passing them out. We're getting calls and e-mails from the Orange show, and we can see the interest growing.
*** Now the good news. If we have a good turnout on the 12th & 13th, we have a good chance of getting one more event in before the month is out!!! We would be looking at the 26th, 27th, or 28th. If you want racing to come back to CT., spread the word! Make phone calls, write e-mails, and tell them to do the same... keep passing this info on. A second event could possibly then lead to our own strip in the infield of the Speedbowl to run weekly starting next spring!
*** Give us a call at 631-991-1614, or e-mail us at sparkymotorsports@yahoo.com if you have anything to add.