Speaking of Divisional Schedules: NHRA D2

[KingReptile]

Charlotte would be the **** .Montgomery was such a sweet track and great atmsoshere..Fayettville is IHRA but that would be a great place to have one

[Robert Simpson]

I would like to see.

Bradenton
Orlando week before Gators pre testing etc.
Gators
Valdosta
Southern Nationals
Gainesville
Z Max
Atlanta
Valdosta

Or instead of the G'ville points race have a two-three race "open" series. I wish there were more tracks in Div 2 but there does not appear to be.

[Alan Roehrich]

Bruton Smith is in business as a track owner to make money. If he can make a decent profit holding LODRS events at his tracks, he'll hold them there. Properly scheduled and managed, they will make money.

Division 2, being the southeast division, is going to have some period of time where the heat is a huge factor in keeping the car count and the spectator count down. The best thing to do to resolve that is to start out in the south, move steadily north during the spring and early summer, avoid mid summer as much as possible, then start moving south again in the early fall.

For example, run two LODRS races in Florida in February and March, along with the Gators, getting those done early. In late March to mid April, go to South Georgia or Reynolds. From there go north, Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, in no particular order, take your pick, for two LODRS races, done by the end of May, or mid June at the latest, along with your other 3 National Events in the spring between mid April and mid June. Take July and August off, then after Indy, with at least a weekend off, work your way back south, starting at the track you didn't run at in late spring, Atlanta, Bristol, or Charlotte. Pick up your 5th National event in Division 2. Then go further south and pick up two more LODRS races, you can race down there until the end of October, at least.

The National Events need to be 3 day races, not 4 day races. If it is necessary to have a 4 day event, then the best thing to do is have one of the LODRS races the weekend before, the closest one.

The Atlanta LODRS race being the weekend before Charlotte isn't bad, except for the fact that had it the weekend after Indy, and most of the people who went to Indy went to the Division 3 LODRS at Bowling Green the weekend before Indy.

You cannot do that without hurting the car count, that's a month solid nearly, because you had a 3 day LODRS at Bowling Green, then a whole week at Indy, then three week days open/off, a 3 day weekend at Atlanta, followed by a 4 day National Event at Charlotte.

Had they been reasonable and moved the Atlanta LODRS back at least one weekend, giving people at least 3 days to work after Indy, maybe 4, then another 4 days the next week before Atlanta, then on to Charlotte, more people could have hit all of those races.

Finally, they've got to stop punishing the track owners and the racers just so they can make 10-12 alcohol racers happy. They simply cannot force alcohol classes on tracks where they obviously are not even coming close to paying their way.

[Rollins_2241]

Let's look at the constraints and then optimize within those.

Facility: The candidates are Bradenton, Gainesville, SGMP, Silver Dollar, Atlanta, Bristol, ZMax, Orlando (barely and only without alcohol). Everything else is either IHRA, 1/8 mile, or not up to the task. Economics favor NHRA-owned tracks as frankly most LODRS events are money losers, especially those with alcohol.

Weather: Mid-June through mid-Sept. is almost out of the question from middle Georgia south. Mid-Dec. through mid-Feb. is dicey anywhere and is off season anyway.

Timing: Close to but not on top of Nationals is preferable, with a fatigue factor (e.g. three big races in a row) considered.

I would like to see two LODRS before the Gators, one before or after the Southerns, one before or after the second Zmax race, others in between. It's well known that Rowland wants the previous Orlando date. So, I suggest

Bradenton, Gainesville (the weeks they are now)
SGMP (the week after the Gators or less preferably, the week before)
Atlanta (the week after the Southern Nationals)
Bristol (sometime in the summer)
Reynolds (the week after the Zmax second national)
Orlando (the week Reynolds is now).

The Reynolds race does well where it is now, so you could add an early October Orlando race and leave Reynolds alone.

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by Rollins_2241

Let's look at the constraints and then optimize within those.

Facility: The candidates are Bradenton, Gainesville, SGMP, Silver Dollar, Atlanta, Bristol, ZMax, Orlando (barely and only without alcohol). Everything else is either IHRA, 1/8 mile, or not up to the task. Economics favor NHRA-owned tracks as frankly most LODRS events are money losers, especially those with alcohol.

Weather: Mid-June through mid-Sept. is almost out of the question from middle Georgia south. Mid-Dec. through mid-Feb. is dicey anywhere and is off season anyway.

Timing: Close to but not on top of Nationals is preferable, with a fatigue factor (e.g. three big races in a row) considered.

I would like to see two LODRS before the Gators, one before or after the Southerns, one before or after the second Zmax race, others in between. It's well known that Rowland wants the previous Orlando date. So, I suggest

Bradenton, Gainesville (the weeks they are now)
SGMP (the week after the Gators or less preferably, the week before)
Atlanta (the week after the Southern Nationals)
Bristol (sometime in the summer)
Reynolds (the week after the Zmax second national)
Orlando (the week Reynolds is now).

The Reynolds race does well where it is now, so you could add an early October Orlando race and leave Reynolds alone.

The air in Bristol in the summer is horrible. When it was postponed and held in July, it was near 100 degrees, and the corrected altitude was 4000 feet. It was miserable for the racers and the spectators, as well as the cars. It wasn't as bad as the genius decision to run Memphis in August, but it was real close.

Again, the reason Atlanta did so poorly this year is that it was an LODRS race on the third weekend of a four weekend stretch. Had there been a weekend off between Indy and Atlanta, there would have been more cars there in Atlanta, and possibly more cars would have gone on to Charlotte.

Reynolds needs to move to a week later in October. And we could still have something the 1st weekend of November, or even the second. Considering the people at SGMP wanted to be away from the early part of the year, following two races at Gainesville, plus Bradenton, I'd bet they might go for a race a week or two after Reynolds, if Reynolds was a week later. A lot of racers who want to go fast would like it, as the air would probably be pretty good, and the track is good. It would also draw well because it would be the last LODRS of the year in the region, racers would want ot get that last race in before the off season.