Live from the Pennsylvania Dutch Classic

[Dan Bennett]

Originally Posted by Jared Jordan

You know, I don't get surprised too often by race coverage, but this race has me perplexed. The Dutch Classic is one of the premier National Opens held in the USA. How it's not on DRC, wasn't streamed by NHRA.tv, and generally looks like a race that was held in a vacuum is astonishing. When it happens to the Sacramento National Open (held in June, with low car counts, and very few records set....), I ignore it as "par for the course," but how does this same phenomenon happen for the Dutch?

It shouldn't...

I agree the Dutch Classic is a very special race. And like most others here, I wish it could have been covered. Why the NHRA was MIA is not something I have any informaton about, but DRC was included and facts need to be provided.

It seems this has become my designated role here. I haven't talked to Rick, but I'm fairly certain there are 2 reasons that nothing showed on DRC.

First, no one sponsored DRC's coverage. Everyone here knows how much it costs to travel, stay, and eat at a weekend event. When Summit left, if no one stepped up all that money would come directly out of the reporter's pocket.
RIck has been at this a long time, loves and understands the sport, and is dedicated enough to slog through as many races as he can. But in saying that, I wonder if anyone here expects him to pull a grand or more out of his pocket just to be a nice guy.

Second, as long as DRC (and FastNews) has existed, any track that transmits the session data WILL have their event covered. Sadly, not in near-real time, but when the data is received the reports are generated.
The "lanes unknown, winner listed first" tag is an indication that the reports are being generated by the data sent by the track - since that's exactly how the system generates them and does not include lane designation.

Not directed at you, but calling out DRC in this case is pretty unfair. If people want to throw rocks, they are certainly free to try and get NHRA credentials, access to the clock data, type in all the info, and do it themselves.

[Jared Jordan]

Originally Posted by Dan Bennett

I agree the Dutch Classic is a very special race. And like most others here, I wish it could have been covered. Why the NHRA was MIA is not something I have any informaton about, but DRC was included and facts need to be provided.

It seems this has become my designated role here. I haven't talked to Rick, but I'm fairly certain there are 2 reasons that nothing showed on DRC.

First, no one sponsored DRC's coverage. Everyone here knows how much it costs to travel, stay, and eat at a weekend event. When Summit left, if no one stepped up all that money would come directly out of the reporter's pocket.
RIck has been at this a long time, loves and understands the sport, and is dedicated enough to slog through as many races as he can. But in saying that, I wonder if anyone here expects him to pull a grand or more out of his pocket just to be a nice guy.

Second, as long as DRC (and FastNews) has existed, any track that transmits the session data WILL have their event covered. Sadly, not in near-real time, but when the data is received the reports are generated.
The "lanes unknown, winner listed first" tag is an indication that the reports are being generated by the data sent by the track - since that's exactly how the system generates them and does not include lane designation.

Not directed at you, but calling out DRC in this case is pretty unfair. If people want to throw rocks, they are certainly free to try and get NHRA credentials, access to the clock data, type in all the info, and do it themselves.

Let’s be clear: I didn’t call out DRC and never have. The fact of the matter is the results weren’t available on DRC and that’s all I said.

[Dan Bennett]

Jared, I agree and should have done an edit making it clear I knew you weren't doing that. My apologies.

It was more a case of wanting to make sure anyone reading the message had the facts. And in looking at your post again, I can now see it could be read as you wondering why none of the businesses in drag racing chose to do the sponsorship. Again, I should have worded things better.

I can’t log on and watch the races all day, I have things to do like everyone else. Almost ….seems like they’re pushing us to log in a watch rather than spot check results when you can. Last two races info was not available and thank god friends pushed Q sheets out to us. Whatever was wrong , I hope they can fix it. I notice that’s not the problem at Nats…. 🤷*♂️ Just sayin….

[442OLDS]

As long as we are discussing DRC on this post,who writes the comments?
It gets tough to follow.

Bye run.
He will race Land and Mangus will get the bye next round.

Who is Land and how can a guy that lost get a bye next round?

This is from Las Vegas.


Timing data courtesy of CompuLink

[jmcarter]

In the Larry Sullivan (RIP) and Summit collaboration days we were spoiled and current reporting (or lack there of) continues to create frustration for all of us hooked on the almost instantaneous results feed. Live timing can sometimes fill the gap but like all of NHRA’s digital services it’s cumbersome at best. I took Dan Bennett’s original post as he intended (and not as a slight to Jared) in that a company(s) that would step up to better fund DRC and streaming live services would gain a lot of good will in the racing community. If we fail to patronize and support them then then it’s more or less the same as the old adage “voters most often get the government they deserve”. To that I would mention that I was hot footing it home from New York and had the opportunity for stop by for Friday morning’s action at the Dutch. Wish I had time to visit and spectate longer but had to be home on Saturday. Wow, what a track in an unbelievably picturesque setting. Hope to race there next year.

[tstickff]

Originally Posted by jmcarter

In the Larry Sullivan (RIP) and Summit collaboration days we were spoiled and current reporting (or lack there of) continues to create frustration for all of us hooked on the almost instantaneous results feed. Live timing can sometimes fill the gap but like all of NHRA’s digital services it’s cumbersome at best. I took Dan Bennett’s original post as he intended (and not as a slight to Jared) in that a company(s) that would step up to better fund DRC and streaming live services would gain a lot of good will in the racing community. If we fail to patronize and support them then then it’s more or less the same as the old adage “voters most often get the government they deserve”. To that I would mention that I was hot footing it home from New York and had the opportunity for stop by for Friday morning’s action at the Dutch. Wish I had time to visit and spectate longer but had to be home on Saturday. Wow, what a track in an unbelievably picturesque setting. Hope to race there next year.

More the reason to support outlets such as “Driver Interviews with Bobby Fazio” he spends his own time and energy traveling to events or reporting from events he is attending! We should be supporting the people who support us! I would imagine that even a small donation would go leaps and bounds for this kind of outlet.

Tim Stickles

[Dan Bennett]

Originally Posted by 442OLDS

As long as we are discussing DRC on this post,who writes the comments?
It gets tough to follow.

Bye run.
He will race Land and Mangus will get the bye next round.

Who is Land and how can a guy that lost get a bye next round?

This is from Las Vegas.


Timing data courtesy of CompuLink

If you look at the top of the page, there is a byline for who's doing the report.

And what you saw is something that just happens. Trust me, the reporter is not kicked back in his chair with his feet up. There is a lot of pressure, believe it or not, to keep up. And with thousands of passes to cover in a weekend, every once in a while even the best gets a disconnection between their brain and their typing fingers.


One thing you probably don't know is that the DRC person is always one of the last to leave the track. It's usually a minimum of 3 hours, and quite often longer after the last pair hits the finish line.

Racers are out in the pits barbecuing, swapping war stories, and taking a much needed break from their busy day. The reporter is still in the tower double checking sheets, making sure the server didn't burp and fail to post or hose the formatting. He has other reports to file which go other places.

I've enjoyed watching you and your wife race at a whole bunch of tracks, and always admired your dedication for doing it differently than the crowd. This is not an attack towards you, just trying to explain that the number 1 thing hammered into any new DRC reporter is GET IT RIGHT! All I've worked with take that to heart, but mistakes have (and since we're depending on humans) and will continue to crop up from time to time.

[442OLDS]

Originally Posted by Dan Bennett

I've enjoyed watching you and your wife race at a whole bunch of tracks, and always admired your dedication for doing it differently than the crowd. This is not an attack towards you, just trying to explain that the number 1 thing hammered into any new DRC reporter is GET IT RIGHT! All I've worked with take that to heart, but mistakes have (and since we're depending on humans) and will continue to crop up from time to time.

No problem.

And I don't know if she will race anymore,but if she does,it is not my wife.
My MOM.