Class Nationals event planning

[Alex Denysenko]

Originally Posted by Charley Downing

I agree Bowling Green is a great track and has a good STK/SS combo turn outs, but Columbus makes more sence.
The problem with Bowling Green is its a longer way to travel for D1,D5 and parts of D3. I think most of the people that live near Bowling Green or Louisville would travel the extra 200-300 miles to Columbus for this race.
Also if Mike is putting this on, it needs to be somewhere near to him. Just like Alex was near Byron.
If you look a the 2001 class nationals the car count was made up of mostly D1,D3 and D5 cars. I feel if the race is located more in middle of those three then the car count could be bigger then in 2001. I see no reason you can't get 250-300 STK/SS cars in columbus for a class nationals type of race.

Columbus is only
185 miles from Pittsburgh PA
500 miles from Madison WI
250 miles from Lansing MI
175 miles from Indianapolis IN
330 miles from Bowling Green KY
225 miles from Louisville KY
350 miles from Knoxville TN
750 miles from Minneapolis MN
560 miles from Atlanta GA

Bowling Green is
500 miles from Pittsburgh PA
550 miles from Madison WI
475 miles from Lansing MI
225 miles from Indianapolis IN
330 miles from Columbus OH
115 miles from Louisville KY
225 miles from Knoxville TN
825 miles from Minneapolis MN
315 miles from Atlanta GA


I think BG could get 200 total STK/SS cars but not much more then that. Remember fuel is $3.85-4.10 a gallon.

BG is A BAD CHOICE NOW FOR THE SAME REASON I passed on it in 2001 the congenial sweetheart of an owner

[Alex Denysenko]

Originally Posted by ss wannabee

How about the US-41 track?

Don't know much about it...(never been there)..a bit more "central" than Columbus.

Think it's fairly new...and has hosted IHRA National Events before...so should be big
enough...

Not sure what affiliation it is today....

Would give some racers a "new" destination to go to...

What's going on there today...reasons it's not suitable?

US41 has the space we test there all the time but, the place has become a UNSAFE DUMP! totally unacceptable for man woman or beast. also they have no sanction at this time

[Michael Beard]

Thank you all for the support and spirited discussion. I've discovered that a lot more people read ClassRacer than ever post, but I think a public display of support means a lot, not only to let other racers know how much interest is there, but also sponsors. The interest and discussion regarding the event ramped up dramatically during this week's IMIS show at Indy, amongst racers and sponsors alike.

As I had addressed earlier in the thread, I've been researching this event for many years now. Any event we put together is going to fit some people's geographic location, finances, scheduling, etc, and not others. It is an impossibility to be all things to all people. What I can promise you is that we will try to put together the best event that we can, in the hopes of satisfying a wide array of customers. We've heard a wide variety of suggestions on facilities: some of which have issues with geography, some with scheduling, some with prohibitive rental costs, etc. Each variable must be weighed on a scale.

I mentioned it earlier in this thread, my selection at this time is National Trail Raceway in Hebron, OH, for May 3-4, 2014. I received a set of quotes on Oct 29, which were reasonable for the facility. I spoke with a number of the staff at IMIS this weekend, who were all excited about the prospects. We will discuss the viability of the date and finalize projected rental costs etc. If we run into problems with scheduling or costs, I may revisit facility options, but if these things remain acceptable, I would seek to move forward.

Given the level of participation at similar events, it would be unlikely that the event could stand completely on its own, unless we had another 'Woodstock' moment like the US Class Nationals. My plan would be to do two $5,000-to-win No-Box races in addition to the Stock & Super Stock races to 1) fill another existing market gap 2) provide S/SS racers with the opportunity to run multiple events if they choose and ultimately 3) bolster the bottom line and viability of the event as a whole.

Rough outline: Subject to change.

Northern Class Nationals & Bottom Bulb Shootout
National Trail Raceway
Hebron, OH - May 3-4, 2014

Friday
Parking & Tech
(If the track wishes to do a test n' tune and/or gambler's race, up to them)

Saturday
No-Box Time Trials and S/SS Qualifying
Class Eliminations (Stock and Super Stock, each)
No-Box Race #1 Eliminations
S/SS Clean-Up Run

Sunday
No-Box Race #2 Eliminations
Stock Eliminations
Super Stock Eliminations


Class Winners will receive Iron Tree trophies. I will work on potential contingency sponsors.




Stock or Super Stock (separate classes, same entry/purse)
Entry Fee: $260
Win: $5,000
R/U: $2,000
Semi: $500
5th Rnd Loser: $300
4th Rnd Loser: $250
3rd Rnd Loser: $200
With 129 or more cars in a class, that class would receive $7,000/win, $3,000/RU, $1,000 semi. (Round money as listed)
I will work on contingency sponsors for the main event.

No-Box (2 races: 1 Sat, 1 Sun. S/SS cars welcome.)
Footbrake and Transbrake cars will be called separately
Entry Fee: $90
Re-Entry: $50 (1st Rnd Only)
Win: $5,000
R/U: $1,000
Semi: $300
6th Rnd Loser: $160
5th Rnd Loser: $120
4th Rnd Loser: $80

All winners will receive Iron Tree trophies, "Big Checks", and collectors trading cards of their winning rides. (Examples from one of our past Footbrake races)





Other random tidbits: Redman is on board. While we haven't talked about it yet, I'll collar Nitro Joe, and I will talk to Travis, Wesley, et.al. for potential Tech positions to provide some credibility and a knowledgable eye. The plan would be to have scales, fuel check, and heads-up runs. I am working on fine-tuning plans for class structures (NHRA/IHRA), but at first glance, I can safely say we run off of the old NHRA indexes, and I would plan to have "new cars" in their own classes.

[treessavoy]

Sorry,

Won't be there. I'm not traveling 2000 miles round trip just so you Yankee boys won't have to travel more that 200 miles away from home.

Physically, Bristol is a pretty much even distance from everyone but we would travel to Bowling Green.

JimR

[Andrew Hill]

Originally Posted by treessavoy

Sorry,

Won't be there. I'm not traveling 2000 miles round trip just so you Yankee boys won't have to travel more that 200 miles away from home.

Physically, Bristol is a pretty much even distance from everyone but we would travel to Bowling Green.

JimR

Divisions 1 and 3 have the most Stock/SS cars, it just makes sense to have it somewhere that will draw a lot from those two divisions. Plus, it's pretty much necessary to have the event organizer close to the location.

It sounds like an awesome race, I will be there!

[boostedf22c]

Originally Posted by Alex Denysenko

US41 has the space we test there all the time but, the place has become a UNSAFE DUMP! totally unacceptable for man woman or beast. also they have no sanction at this time

That was the ONLY track that we couldn't even get 1/2 way down.

Place is definitely a dump!

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by Alex Denysenko

BG is A BAD CHOICE NOW FOR THE SAME REASON I passed on it in 2001 the congenial sweetheart of an owner

Alex, Dallas and Clay are not the least bit hard to get along with. I guess maybe you have some sort of personal beef with one or both of them. I neither know nor care, but you seem to be one of a very few. I haven't had a problem with either of them in around 20 years or so. Not to mention the fact that a couple of $5K combo races, plus 3-4 years of regular combo racing has gone off pretty much without a hitch.

Michael seems to have made his choice, we can live with it, although it is not great for many Division 2 racers.

[Mike Carr]

Originally Posted by treessavoy

Sorry,

Won't be there. I'm not traveling 2000 miles round trip just so you Yankee boys won't have to travel more that 200 miles away from home.

Physically, Bristol is a pretty much even distance from everyone but we would travel to Bowling Green.

JimR

It's been explained, more than once, why this is a better option. If you can;t grasp that, sorry for your loss.

[Mark Yacavone]

That's it... 1865 miles..I'm not going now.
Michael, couldn't you have it in Albuquerque or something...for ME?

;-)

[Greg Hill]

Columbus is not my favorite track, but this past Sports National race the track was the best I've ever seen it. With VHT and Redman it should be fine. I will be there also and if you need some help let me know.