Re: New Division Director for Div 2
 

speaking from someone who doesn't yet have a car to drive, (but soon will!) I would personally like to ask, who here, doesn't live in fla, and wants to go to fla 3 out of 5 races? I love florida but would like the races spread a bit more

Re: New Division Director for Div 2
 

One thing everyone needs to remember about how the LODRS races are deterimined and scheduled is that it is agreed upon by the track operators and the division office. Gainesville and Atlanta being owned by NHRA are a given without enough idependent track operators willing to host a division race. The track operator has to see a way he can make money on the race to make it worth his time and effort.

SGMP asked for a different date than they had for their race and was told "no", so they apparently told NHRA "no thanks".

My understanding is NHRA told Carl Weisinger that he had to make the necessary improvements at his track and run alcohol cars there in order to keep his race. He looked into the cost of making those improvements and found that it cost much more than it was worth for that one race a year.

My point is this, scheduling for the division races isn't all in the hands of the D.D.




Hey Dan Moore, you're #1. :D

RIP Mark Graham

Re: New Division Director for Div 2
 

Jason, I can tell you as far as the SSSSA is concerned, we had just as many races in Georgia as Florida but as of last year the Georgia racer participation fell way off. We love Reynolds but the last two races we had there we had a total of 7 GA racers participate, 48 came all the way from Florida. A pretty poor showing for the GA racers if you ask me. Even when we race at SGMP the vast majority of the racers come from Florida. Looking at the NHRA points race from last week in Atlanta confirms my stats as the same for them. It costs money to put on a race, even SSSSA races. If YOU got three times the participation in Florida that you got in Georgia, where would you put your races?

I don't think you will be seeing a points race at Orlando anytime soon unless Mr. Schaefer and Mr. Weisinger come to an amicable agreement. SGMP will probably get the date they want without Orlando in play. I don't blame Mr. Weisinger at all. What NHRA wanted him to do made no business sense. It's a shame but business is business. The individual tracks are not "not for profit" organizations, they must make a profit to stay open. Jim

Re: New Division Director for Div 2
 

I will second this
If you have questions or concerns he will talk to you about them and not just blow you off. As a former Gateway racer I thought he was great. Too bad they are having their problems and he is leaving give him a chance and I think you guys will like him.
He has motorsports experience and has been involved in everything from Pulling Tractors to Monster Trucks and with Gateway you can include Drag Racing and Crapcar to that.

Re: New Division Director for Div 2
 

The Orlando race has always been the week before the Gators and allowed out of Div cars a double up on the trip down south. Carl also ran a Gator test day on Monday which was very nice. I understand the schedule was to eliminate racing in the 100 degree summer air but dam 4 races in one month time span hurts. Orlando hasn't changed in the last 15 years, what's the problem??? It was good enough before, we only have 4-5 alcohol cars show anyhow. Jim is right Div 2 is Florida, Just look at the sheets from Atlanta, why tow 10 hours from Florida for a 30 car field??? I hope Div 2 gets exciting again like it was before. It doesn't matter who the director is, until they figure how to match the payout for a $200 entry and figure out how to get more than 10 spectators, it will not change.

Re: New Division Director for Div 2
 

I think your best bet is to check with the local Gateway racers to see what they think of how the track has been run the last 3 years. Lets hear from those guys to see what they think.

Gregg

Re: New Division Director for Div 2
 

Well, if Division 2 "IS" Florida, then maybe we need another Division. One reason there aren't many races outside Florida and southern Georgia is because that's where the Division has been taken over the years. You know, there's very little incentive to invest money in a track anywhere else in Division 2 if you aren't Bruton Smith, because at least for the last few years, there was little, if any, hope of getting a race. We have 6 states in the Division, and we only have Lucas races in two of those states. You have to wonder, why is it said to be impossible to get a Lucas race anywhere else? Why do we have fewer Lucas races than other Divisions?

Re: New Division Director for Div 2
 

Don't forget Orlando has not hosted Alcohal cars for the last several years. The only track on the schedule that did that. Then SGMP pulled out due to the Alcohal cars and the date of the event. So this forced Div 2 to run Alcohal at Orlando, there is where the upgrades come in. Well, as we know that did not work out. Also, as per NHRA web site we only have 2 quarter mile track in Div 2 outside Fla. and Ga, those are Bristol and Zmax! That is it. There ARE NOT many tracks to choose from here in Div 2. I personally would like the div change the entry/payout for the Alcohal classes to allow some leaway with the tracks, then spread out the schedule some and add a race and or Winter Series. I know this is alot for one man to jump into. But, hopefully he will take it all in and make a wise decision. We will see. This is were the SSSSA races come in.

Re: New Division Director for Div 2
 

The alcohol classes need to at least pay an entry fee, and have a graduated purse. There is simply no money in those classes for the track, and no better than the margin is, the tracks must at least break even on every class, they cannot afford to lose. You cannot tell a track owner that he must lose money in order to host a race, no one, in this economy, can afford to risk operating at a loss, even for a year or two, in order to barely break even later.

There might be 1/4 mile tracks elsewhere, if the Division had shown signs of being willing to utilize and support them.

And if there was some decent profit to be made for the tracks, Bruton might host Division races. He might host a National Open, too.

Re: New Division Director for Div 2
 

The only option for another track for a more geographically balanced schedule is Zmax or Bristol. With some nudging from NHRA, Bruton might go for that, as the three Nationals there are a mutual benefit. I'm a Floridian but wouldn't think it's unfair to make one more long tow a year.

If NHRA could get Steele, Alabama (or Palm Beach, though I know it doesn't help the northern part) back into the fold you would see a lot more balance in Division 2.

My #1/2 suggestions are to either have a bonus race on Friday night, or to run a two-day schedule and finish on Saturday night. Currently it's a lot of time away from home for one race.