Make Divisionals Great Again

[1320racer]

and again, spectators ain't coming, haven't in decades and won't because what we do is boring to watch and makes no sense. Also we no longer have a car culture in this country, no longer are in love with our cars, no longer have auto shop in high schools, kids no longer dream of the day they get their license and the list goes on and on.

The fact is what we do is dying and has been for decades, the same can be said for bracket racing. There is not nearly enough young men and women coming into the sport as there are leaving it. Think for a moment what the car count will be in stock/super stock in just 10 years from now, when many here will be dead or too old to race.

I’ll agree to a point but if you advertise and make it attractive I believe they can put buns in the seats. Marketing…

Stock and Superstock is the most active car show in the nation. Not only do to see it, you get to see it perform. That’s huge!

[1320racer]

you don't have to sell it to me or any other racer, it needs to be sold to kids, young men and young women and the truth is it can't be, their country, their world is very different then ours. Many things have changed and many more will, least of which is how young people feel about cars but the bottomline is of the few tracks owners in each division that will still PAY to host a divisional and lose money doing so more often than not, they are not going to spend more money marketing the event and for those that do market it, it's largely done on fb.

[Greg Gay]

At the Divisional race at New England Dragway for the last several years, they have been bringing in a couple of wheelstanders and a jet truck to run amongst the alcohol cars, and a few sportsman cars. I live about 100 miles from the track, and I see the advertising on TV. This race is late August, so it is already getting dark a little earlier in the evening, making the flames show up better. It is also 2 1/2 months after the national event, so time for the spectators to get their fix of drag racing. They seem to fill the stands pretty well. I don't know any of the specifics on profitability, but I'm sure it helps. The alcohol cars are already there, so that part of the program is free to the track.

[Steve Stasko]

Norwalk Divisional this year...

Saturday, June 3
Pit Gates & Tech Open (Tech Closes at Noon) — 7:00 a.m.
Spectator Gate Opens — 7:00 a.m.
Camping/Motorhome Move-In — 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Super Street, Stock, Super Comp Qualifying (Q3) — 8:00 a.m.
Rumble Wars X8 Pro Mod Qualifying (Q1), Super Stock, Super Gas Qualifying (Q3), Stock Eliminations (E1) — 10 a.m.
Rumble Wars X8 Pro Mod Qualifying (Q2), Super Street, Super Comp Eliminations (E1) — 12 p.m.
Autograph Session — 1:00 p.m.
Rumble Wars X8 Pro Mod Eliminations (E1), Top Dragster, Comp & Top Sportsman Qualifying (Q2) — 2 p.m.
Pre-Race Ceremonies — 3:45 p.m.
Top Alcohol Dragster & Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying (Q2), Rumble Wars X8 Pro Mod Eliminations (E2), Exhibition (Wheelstander, Jet Dragsters), Super Stock, Super Gas Eliminations (E1), Top Dragster, Comp & Top Sportsman Qualifying (Q3) — 4:00 p.m.
Rumble Wars X8 Pro Mod Eliminations (Final) — 7:50 p.m.
Top Alcohol Dragster & Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying (Q3), Exhibition (Jet Dragsters) — 8:00 p.m.
Fireworks — 9:30 p.m.
Secure Grounds — 10:00 p.m.

Super Gas E1 got pushed off until Sunday morning...but the point is...we weren't the show, and the place was packed with spectators. Most of the afternoon and evening was spent running "fast" cars down the track...and time trials at that, so handicaps didn't need to be explained to the casual spectator. Also, the fans saw more racing here than watching eliminations. I think there were 12-14 Alcohol Dragsters for example...so they saw them all trying to get in the show, as opposed to the 8 who actually made it.

1000' AHFS dumps and throttle stop racing don't attract crowds. If they did, they wouldn't have finished us 8 hours before the show was over.

[Steve Grady]

Originally Posted by Steve Stasko

Norwalk Divisional this year...



Super Gas E1 got pushed off until Sunday morning...but the point is...we weren't the show, and the place was packed with spectators. Most of the afternoon and evening was spent running "fast" cars down the track...and time trials at that, so handicaps didn't need to be explained to the casual spectator. Also, the fans saw more racing here than watching eliminations. I think there were 12-14 Alcohol Dragsters for example...so they saw them all trying to get in the show, as opposed to the 8 who actually made it.

1000' AHFS dumps and throttle stop racing don't attract crowds. If they did, they wouldn't have finished us 8 hours before the show was over.

That "show" provides one of the nicest facilities in the country run by one of the best families in the business to give us a beautiful place to race.

[Steve Stasko]

Originally Posted by Steve Grady

That "show" provides one of the nicest facilities in the country run by one of the best families in the business to give us a beautiful place to race.

I'm not putting the facility or the people down. They've figured out how to make it work. I was trying to drive the point that you can't really sell what we're doing to the general public as a main event attraction.