Class Nationals event planning

[5343stk]

Tri-State Raceway, Earlville Iowa

Tough to beat a track run by people who participate and support our class.

[boster]

Michael , dont forget to consider MIR , the car count you need would be easy

[Sam Murray]

Mike, Norwalk if possible!

[Michael Beard]

Quite honestly, already looking at National Trail Raceway. Been studying on doing a No-Box/Footbrake and/or a door-car only Box race there for quite awhile, but I don't think the region is strong enough for any one of them to stand on its own at this time. I've done my homework on cost, availability, weather history, etc.,, already have a comfort level with much of the staff, and we have a lot of "support group" close by in the form of potential sponsor/advertising partners, I will threaten Nitro Joe to be there, etc. Whatever reputation Columbus once had, I think it is quickly turning around with two *very* good events this year between the LODRS and Sportsnationals. With a couple more repeat good experiences in the coming year, I think it can once again be a place to which people can look forward to going.

All that being said, I'd like to concentrate on the format of the event primarily. A given venue does have a particular draw, but I believe that the event and promotion weigh heavily on the scales: There's been some great ideas run at some great tracks that just never worked, for one reason or another. First and foremost, people have to care. There are certainly a number of awesome supertracks out there: Norwalk, MIR, Bristol, etc, but then you have uphill battles with scheduling and rental costs. With location, a race in one person's backyard is necessarily not in someone else's. There are a large number of variables to consider.

I'm leaving in the morning to handle our $20K Footbrake event at Coastal Plains this weekend, so I'll be out of the loop for awhile, but in the meantime, please feel free to throw a bunch of schtuff at the wall and we'll see what sticks.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[Michael Kilduff]

One of the things that would help make an event like this successful is to get fans coming through the gate. In today's market it is essential to go to your customers and future customers, and give them a reason to attend an event. I feel the NHRA and IHRA have each done absolutely pathetic jobs in advertising sportsman drag racing, especially S/SS. Almost no fans show up for Divisional races on either side-and I think the reason is the fans don't know these events are actually happening.

I would suggest racers show their support of this event by putting their cars on display in high traffic areas wherever the location of the event is chosen-give out discounted tickets, let kids sit in the cars, whatever it takes to get old fans and new fans to pay for a 10 dollar or even 5 dollar spectator ticket. It would take a lot of coordination of course, but I believe most stock and superstock racers are, deep down, 'car guys' and who doesn't want to talk about their cars anyway?

I've got 2 cars that I'll put on display the day before the race weekend starts, just tell me where to be and what to pass out to people.

[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.

[Dan Nugent]

I would drive quite a ways to compete inthis type of race. I have limited time window every year fo racing, so if it wasn't held when i could go then i would buy an entry fee just to support Michael and this race.
I live 20 mi. from Joliet and there are a lot of interstates that intersect near here and they have a lot of weekends where that place is empty.
U.S. 41 at Morocco is just a slippery mess these days and thepeople that own it now don't have any interest in making the track better to help there facility.
Earlville, Cordova or Byron are all good places.

[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

[69Cobra]

Originally Posted by Michael Beard

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)

Just curious if you could explain the reasoning for the big gap in the entry fees for those who might not understand where you are coming from. I'm assuming that its because the bracket race will have buy backs and pay out less for the round wins. I just thought it would be something to talk about so people understand instead of not asking the question for one reason or another and coming to their own assumptions.