NHRA Has a new President

[HR9121]

Our Division 2 director Rich Schaefer speaks very highly of him so with my experience with Rich, all of which has been positive, I will give the man a chance. On the other hand I don't see what choice we have......

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by HR9121

Our Division 2 director Rich Schaefer speaks very highly of him so with my experience with Rich, all of which has been positive, I will give the man a chance. On the other hand I don't see what choice we have......

I think Rich Shaffer is the worst div 2 director we have had so far. Division 2 is all but dead. The car counts are down to a level we haven't seen before. We have no National opens or sports national type events in div 2. Now the LODRS events are down to a 2 day race. The 3 day events we used to get 3 Q runs on Friday and 2 on Saturday. Then possibly a first round on Saturday afternoon. We will still have to take a day off work. I would rather have the race Saturday and Sunday and not have to burn a vacation day on Friday.

[Stephen & Horace Johnson]

Originally Posted by Mike Pearson

I think Rich Shaffer is the worst div 2 director we have had so far. Division 2 is all but dead. The car counts are down to a level we haven't seen before. We have no National opens or sports national type events in div 2. Now the LODRS events are down to a 2 day race. The 3 day events we used to get 3 Q runs on Friday and 2 on Saturday. Then possibly a first round on Saturday afternoon. We will still have to take a day off work. I would rather have the race Saturday and Sunday and not have to burn a vacation day on Friday.

I agree with you on the events going to Friday Saturday races...at least we could come up Saturday and get a few shots in and be ready for eliminations on sunday...now it's gonna be really hard to non existent to run the fri-saturday race with work schedule...it also doesn't hurt to lose atlanta which is 3 hours away....all of these tracks in GA, AL, MS and TN, and not any divisional races....

[HR9121]

Mike I don't think we can blame car counts on Rich. I admit I'm not crazy about the Friday-Saturday deal but it does allow Sunday for a makeup day in case of inclement weather or if the schedule runs long. It would be nice to have some Open races for sure but I don't have any answers to why we don't, maybe a lack of funding or sponsorship. Just my opinion but my limited dealings with Rich and his staff have all been pleasant.

[BKSG1198]

I think you guys run into the same thing we do up here in D1 and that is distance for the car counts. We get great car counts at Maple, Atco, E-town & Cecil but, it's lackluster at places like VMP, Epping & LVD because the base of the cars are in the tri-state area of NJ, DE, MD, PA & Lower NY. So someone down in Florida isn't going to drive to Rockingham or Galot if he's doing horrible in points. I think with the influx of tracks now in the Virginia, NC area they could almost form their own Division (Galot, Rock, VMP, Z-Max, Bristol and any other IHRA tracks that might jump ship) and then have (Orlando, G-Ville, SGMP, Atlanta, Silver Dollar). Maybe with IHRA doing away with sportsman we might see an influx in car counts....I know my phone has been ringing off the hook for my association from .90 racers up in this area.

[HR9121]

Originally Posted by BKSG1198

I think you guys run into the same thing we do up here in D1 and that is distance for the car counts. We get great car counts at Maple, Atco, E-town & Cecil but, it's lackluster at places like VMP, Epping & LVD because the base of the cars are in the tri-state area of NJ, DE, MD, PA & Lower NY. So someone down in Florida isn't going to drive to Rockingham or Galot if he's doing horrible in points. I think with the influx of tracks now in the Virginia, NC area they could almost form their own Division (Galot, Rock, VMP, Z-Max, Bristol and any other IHRA tracks that might jump ship) and then have (Orlando, G-Ville, SGMP, Atlanta, Silver Dollar). Maybe with IHRA doing away with sportsman we might see an influx in car counts....I know my phone has been ringing off the hook for my association from .90 racers up in this area.

Unfortunately Rob I don't see the demise of IHRA helping the Stock or SS counts down here that much. The .90 classes may benefit somewhat but there were alot of guys running CM cars down here. Unless they take the plunge to get them back to traditional stockers I think most will bracket race or run CCRA.
I joke with my D1 buddies all the time, y'all complain about traveling to the "long haul" races they should spend a year down here! For me Orlando(12 hrs) Gainesville(10) SGMP(10) Silver Dollar(9) Bristol(7) Atlanta(8) Charlotte(4.5) Rockingham(4) Galot(1 45).
Come get some of that lol!

[Tracy Robbins]

Originally Posted by HR9121

Unfortunately Rob I don't see the demise of IHRA helping the Stock or SS counts down here that much. The .90 classes may benefit somewhat but there were alot of guys running CM cars down here. Unless they take the plunge to get them back to traditional stockers I think most will bracket race or run CCRA.
I joke with my D1 buddies all the time, y'all complain about traveling to the "long haul" races they should spend a year down here! For me Orlando(12 hrs) Gainesville(10) SGMP(10) Silver Dollar(9) Bristol(7) Atlanta(8) Charlotte(4.5) Rockingham(4) Galot(1 45).
Come get some of that lol!

The demise of IHRA will probably help d-2 more than any other division due to the number of stock/super stock racers (among others) that raced only IHRA due to the lighter travel requirements. Racers will find somewhere to race and based on the questions I've been getting at our CCRA races I think you will see quite a few more "IHRA" racers converting to NHRA. I for one think Rich is doing a great job, as he has spread out the races away from just Florida and south Georgia as they were under the previous DD. Galot and Rockingham had really good car counts in stock and super stock. Of course the time of year those races were scheduled was perfect for this part of the country too!

[MR DERBY CITY]

Originally Posted by Mike Pearson

I think Rich Shaffer is the worst div 2 director we have had so far. Division 2 is all but dead. The car counts are down to a level we haven't seen before. We have no National opens or sports national type events in div 2. Now the LODRS events are down to a 2 day race. The 3 day events we used to get 3 Q runs on Friday and 2 on Saturday. Then possibly a first round on Saturday afternoon. We will still have to take a day off work. I would rather have the race Saturday and Sunday and not have to burn a vacation day on Friday.

Obviously you don't care for Mr. Shaefer, but to say he is the WORST D 2 division director is stretching it. How could you forget Bill Holt ? GEEZ.....D 2 only has one problem ....there just aren't that many racers there...The only large fields they have are when the snowbirds would come down from the cold weather....and the 2018 schedule sure took care of that.....

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by MR DERBY CITY

Obviously you don't care for Mr. Shaefer, but to say he is the WORST D 2 division director is stretching it. How could you forget Bill Holt ? GEEZ.....D 2 only has one problem ....there just aren't that many racers there...The only large fields they have are when the snowbirds would come down from the cold weather....and the 2018 schedule sure took care of that.....

Actually I don't have any issue with Rich personally. The div 2 staff are as good of people as you would want to meet. I just don't think he has done anything to improve the division since he has been there. The director is in charge of the division and figuring a way to grow the sport. The car counts are down across the board in all classes not just stock and SS and I will bet there is more racers in Florida than just about anywhere in the country. He does not seem to think out side of the box to improve things for the racers in his division. The div 2 schedule next year is a bit better for the racers in the home division but the track operators won't be happy loosing the "snowbird racers" at the events after the gators. The races are a bit more spread out which helps with spreading the cost. The last few years our season was all but done by the end of march. I don't know if the Gallot race will be 1/8 or 1/4 mile but I do plan to go. I did travel from Tampa to the Rock last weekend. That is a good facility and is one of my favorites right now.

[Michael Beard]

Originally Posted by Mike Pearson

I don't know if the Gallot race will be 1/8 or 1/4 mile but I do plan to go.

GALOT is an 1/8th mile facility.