Class Nationals event planning

[Mike Carr]

Originally Posted by treessavoy

So what you are saying is that YOU won't travel very far but it OK for us Southern Boys to drive around the world, how very gracious of you!

It doesn't where to population center is, trying to be fair to all who want to support this program.

How about we hold it in Gainesville and you can travel 1000 miles?

JimR

I'd drive a thousand miles to race a Class Nat'ls, if I still raced (drove 500+ for the other one, just to spectate). Raced in Stock at over twenty tracks in twelve states--travel doesn't bother me. Drove 1,100 miles, twice, to race the Orlando Nat'l Open. And would drive further than that for another Class Nationals. Again, how bad do you want to race? If a racer wants to, they will. If not, they won't. Move this race to Florida, you won't get 125 cars combined between Stk and S/S. Have it centrally located, you'll get 200+ easy (the first Class Nat'ls had 187 (yes, one-eighty-seven, eight rounds to win) Stockers and 110 S/S.

It's only common sense (yeah, it's not so common anymore in life) to put a race such as this in a location that has the BEST chance to draw the MOST cars.

[Ed Carpenter]

I looked it up today. The central point of the US is located Lebanon,KS. That being said I have seen suggestions as far east as WV,Maryland,NJ etc. Now come on we need to be a little more considerate than that. IMHO

[Jack McCarthy]

of coures they wont help but nhra can put the zip codes of stk / ss number holders into a program will tell you where the geographic center of the PEOPLE most apt to participate in the event not the center of the country... we do it all the time for bowling events and it HELPS entries a bunch !

jack

i'll be there

[art leong]

When they ran the US Class Nationals. Fuel and gas was a lot cheaper. It took a lot more grade points to get into Indy then to.
You have to position it for the most attendance. Not the center of the country.

[Stephen & Horace Johnson]

Originally Posted by art leong

When they ran the US Class Nationals. Fuel and gas was a lot cheaper. It took a lot more grade points to get into Indy then to.
You have to position it for the most attendance. Not the center of the country.

I couldnt have said it any better.......

[69Cobra]

This is easy... Michael set up a pre-registration account and have people pre-register to determine the best location of those that will support this race. Pre-registration of $100 or whatever by March 31, '13 cut off date to decide the geographical location for those that will support the race. You can still keep the pre-registration open for obvious reasons after that date. Just make the geographical decision with this info and give the option of a refund for those that would be 1,000 miles or more away from the final location. Everybody that pays will have there zip code registered this will give Michael very use full numbers to negotiate with for track rentals as well as other things. Just my .02

[Greg Hill]

Originally Posted by 69Cobra

This is easy... Michael set up a pre-registration account and have people pre-register to determine the best location of those that will support this race. Pre-registration of $100 or whatever by March 31, '13 cut off date to decide the geographical location for those that will support the race. You can still keep the pre-registration open for obvious reasons after that date. Just make the geographical decision with this info and give the option of a refund for those that would be 1,000 miles or more away from the final location. Everybody that pays will have there zip code registered this will give Michael very use full numbers to negotiate with for track rentals as well as other things. Just my .02

The very best place for car count would be Bowling Green. We routinely get 60 cars for combo races. That being said it probably would be difficult to find a good weekend because they are so busy. You would get cars from D 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Plus everyone likes Bowling Green.

[james schaechter]

Ohio is and can be a very very good geo location for this race. I think Columbus at the right time of year can be good also. Especially with the proper support and input.

Michael, I agree, there is Earlville, Cordova, Bowling Green as wonderful, class racer tracks. There are some real target rich areas out east.

West is tougher.

I think the one thing to consider heavily is your location. In my mind, if you are very close to Columbus and the track is acceptable, that should be your choice.

Obviously, no one else has offered to take on this role. If it was easy, we would be talking about the ClassNats 10 by now.

I would suggest locking in a location and date.

The racers, ( and fans) need to do our part. Get the cars ready, save gas money, help get sponsorship and or contingency to kick in. Help park cars, tech, whatever.

So, my vote would be for Michael to pick it and the restof us kick in to a real positive mode where we don't bitch or complain about where or when it will be. We either go race, go volunteer, or send sponsorship of some kind to support the movement.

Last time, this race was awesome! The weather was hot for sure, but it was something that NHRA actually took notice of.

One thing that needs to change I believe is the attitude of some racers that went to the last one or didn't go and still had nothing to say that was positive about the organizers.

Understand that if a person or persons do this, we need to support them. We need also to understand that negativity will not help make improvements.
The internet is a great forum, but we need the comments to be above a well behaved 5 th grade level.
Constructive criticism is fine, but try to understand that no matter where and when a race is, it is hard to get there for some, it won't be perfect, but it can be one of the most exciting and enjoyable races that we have going.
It also can guide changes in NHRA. There are many good people at NHRA that love this kind of thing, but their superiors don't have a clue.
If they can point to successful formats that are well done, it is more likely that they would be willing to follow suit.
The contingency platform that NHRA currently has is so unflexible and riddled with cost for little return when it comes to the small to mid size business. I know that is our opportunity to help a race like this get some real fun class and event support.
If we work together, we can use this race to offer great opportunities to partner with interested parties at a level they can afford. We can offer tremendous advertising value when we partner with Ken Miele and Classracer.

This will take some participation from the many and not just the few.

Finally, we could consider breaking out the new cars into their own classes and let them race each other in a Non AHFS environment so the world will know which racers really are fast with this new iron and which ones hide behind the velvet curtain of half track passes and 70% throttle, etc. Let them really, and I mean REALLY race! That would be worth watching. In fact, if it could be done, I think anyone that complains about them or has been doing so, take a positive spin on it. We want them to go all out, rade each other with no ugly half track passes that are still waaay under. Well, step up and throw some cash into the pot for the class winners. Everybody seems to agree that they are very cool cars. Lets show some love for the new cars and support some FX classes! Face it, we all cannot afford the new stuff, but some of the best racersout there have them. I for one love a good heads up race! This format could really provide the racers and onlookers some real competitive heads up races there.
Maybe I had too much coffee this morning.

Jim

[Paul Merolla]

Jim, if that's what happens when you drink too much coffee, then brew another pot.
I'll be there no matter where you have it, Michael. When you get to the point where you're starting to delegate tasks, count me in.

[Chad Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Greg Hill

The very best place for car count would be Bowling Green. We routinely get 60 cars for combo races. That being said it probably would be difficult to find a good weekend because they are so busy. You would get cars from D 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Plus everyone likes Bowling Green.

Greg is right, Bowling Green is about as good as you are going to get. You have a ton of racers in that general area (250mile radius), and its not terribly far for lots of others.