* 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.
2 comments:
attended as a spectator to show support for your effort but i feel 100 feet is too short for me. if they do put a strip in the center of the oval it looked to me they could 200 feet easy, maybe even 250. racers will get bored with 100 feet rather quickly.
IMO heres the deal if you use it for nothing else it's tree practice, where else are you going to get 10 plus runs at at tree during a test and tune, nowhere, one guy made 32 runs during a recient test and tune, with the closest track to me over 2 1/2 hours away that represents a season worth of runs in 1 test and tune, is a hundred feet short, yes it's dam short, but with DOT tires only guys running a quater of the HP I am are competive if they can hook, cool, and it's the same feeling at the line as epping, etown or the valley minus the 140 mile drive, 1/4 mile still rules in my book but this isn't to bad.
Post a Comment