what is wrong with the national events
 

after a long time off of running nhra, i just ran the z-max , thursday was great but what happened to the track friday morning, not a lot of cars were making it down the track, i was not the only one! super gas was about 50-50 to make it to the finish, i have noticed a lot of sportsman racing during nationals has been this same way. what is happening? i should have just sent them a check and stayed home, also i was alone, 10 or more track personell standing around and no one would help direct into the water box. i realize we are dirt to them but someone is going to get hurt bad if they don't make the racing surface better. oh yea and the way to get into the track and the amusment park style move in maze was a delight also. very nice track but what gives? anyone else please tell their storys of this prep and overall feelings of this or all these races...

Re: what is wrong with the national events
 

they used all the .90 cars to prep the right2 lanes ( all others ran left 2) and didn't give a s8it about anybodys car or safety , I think the problem is the concrete , it does not heat up as fast as the asphalt does and sat. morning 46 deg. didn,t help, but I also smelled more alcohol then vht when they did spray. They have hard enough time trying to keep 2 lanes good let alone 4.

Re: what is wrong with the national events
 

from what I have heard is since NHRA signed the deal with VP a few years ago, they are required to use the VP traction compound. The VP traction compound is not effective under 60 degrees as the VHT is. So when the temp is low you are virtually racing on a non sticky cold surface perhaps quite slick. In addition to this problem Z-Max does not host a weekly bracket program and only opens for certain scheduled races per year and does not have the rubber applied to the track as well as other facilities.

After watching the TV coverage today, not just sportsman but EVERYONE must have had problems on that track. Perhaps Bruton Smith should have build just 2 lanes but equipped those lanes with a Geo Thermal system that would warm it in COLD weather and cool it in HOT weather.

Re: what is wrong with the national events
 

Disregard previous post ..... was told my information is inaccurate ..... that is what I was told the end of last season, however I was not informed of the aparent rumor that I just stated is not true .... (traction compound part)

Re: what is wrong with the national events
 

I can't say anything since I was not there but, I was not impressed with the 4 wide circus. A girl I work with went and she said the sound was unreal but, as far as trying to keep track of everything going down the track was impossible. I just cross my fingers that this is not the future of drag racing....heard rumors that Las Vegas is the next track to add 4 lanes and go 4 wide since Bruton has tons of room to do it.

As far as the traction compound problem it just seems to me they do what they always do with everything. They asked the Nitro teams what traction compound works great for their cars and they could care less about what is good for the 600 other competitors. As long as the Nitro cars can hook up and please the crowd thats all they care about.

Re: what is wrong with the national events
 

Fact is, they need to move this race back a good month. At the end of March, the average daily high is in the mid-60's. The average daily low is about 40°, but snow is still possible at this time of year for them. Move the race a month later, the average temperatures move up about 10°, and the problem should be solved.

What's also interesting is that there is also a precipitation spike that occurs at the end of March, AND the highest average wind speed for the year is also this time of year (about 9mph). Does anybody from NHRA even look at these statistics before they schedule races? Obviously not...And I can't believe that NHRA or Bruton Smith are happy with the results. Did you see the number of fans in the stands yesterday? Good luck getting people to buy tickets today for the conclusion of the show.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune Keith. As I was stating to somebody at the track on Friday, it's one thing to lose, but it totally sucks to lose because of something outside of your control. If you were the only guy that couldn't get down the track I would feel differently, but at least 25% of the Super Street competitors got loose and had to lift Friday morning (that was the only session of Super Street that I saw, and I immediately went a a few friends running in S/G and told them to be careful because the track was obviously slick).

As for the 4-wide thing, it was cool at first. But, I can count on one hand the number of times that all 4 cars got down the track right next to each other the whole way down (including Pro Stock). Plus, though they may have had twice the number of Safety Safari personnel on hand (according to Paul Page), they didn't have twice the equipment, which meant that track prep between classes took twice as long. This made for a LOT of down time listening to that a-hole scream at me while he was shooting T-shirts into the stands, or directing some other stupid contest (TV theme song trivia, tricycle races, etc.)

IMHO, if they can't / won't run on two lanes while they are prepping the other two (and I understand the reasoning behind this), it will be a mistake for Bruton Smith to make Las Vegas a 4-wide track too. The Pro drivers hated it, and though the fans WANTED to see this, I think their opinion of it has probably changed after watching it (I know mine has). This could be a one-and-done deal...

Re: what is wrong with the national events
 

I was driving the Silver Nova in Super Street. With this being my 1st National event to participate in, I didn't know many people in the class. After my 1st run Friday in the left lane, being the 2nd pair out with Brian Funderburk, I met plenty of new friends wondering was it as bad in the car as it looked from the outside.

Li'l Rick

Re: what is wrong with the national events
 

Probably the worst surface I have ever raced on at a National Event, was def. an enhanced experience. Very poor starting line cew help. Sent S/St out and after 10 pairs couldnt get down, scrape and spray, then 10 more pairs would go and then it would go away again. The groove had to be about 20 inches wide, anywhere over that and you were on a ice rink. Can get screwed closer to home.

Re: what is wrong with the national events
 

But Gary you got to be part of the 4-wide experience....hahaha..

Re: what is wrong with the national events
 

from what i understood the 2nd round of s/st and 1st round of s/g was just as bad. (sat. mourning). would like to hear some comments from the s/g crowd, i watched their time run friday mourning and it looked very scarry. i would like to see nhra seriously look into this type of problem before someone gets seriously hurt. and off subject paul paige and this 4-wide race was next to impossible to comprehend. was there, and watched it on tv also, still very confusing, i am sure the pros did not like it too much...