Live from the NHRA Gatornationals

[Chris DeGidio]

Originally Posted by Charrlie_S

Why don't they run sportsman later into the evening? Gainesville has decent lighting. I mean they run their regular weekly races at night. Even NASCAR will turn the lights on to get the program done.

We run there at night all the time,but now they have curfew.Why they don't run the sportsman cars at night is a good question.

[Byron Worner]

East Coast National events shouldn't take place until the clocks are moved ahead 1 hour.
I think it is horse**** that ANY catagory gets 3 runs before another gets 1. Why can't NHRA sacrifice 1 pro qualifying session to make sure the Sunday program can be completed?
I remember running a couple of night rounds at the Gators. Why not this year???

[cicero819]

Ken, you're showing great concentration, stay the course. The only thing I could add would be that NHRA could have invested on proper draining and water recovery to facilitate the enjoyment of the sportsman racer, The installation of water recovery sump system used in many airports across the world for a very little cost to their bottom line. To all the racers out there I salute you all for your incredible patience. I look forward to the first Div.1 race soon. Thanks Ken for the great reporting. Claude

[Kenny Wigington]

Grounds are drying nicely, thanks to all the wind, and a lot of work I see going on. And, on an even brighter note, the infamous Ed Fernadez, just came by and introduced hisself , as everyone's favorite pain in the *** ! It was great to meet you Ed. A great guy, after all !! LOL !

[Charrlie_S]

Originally Posted by Larry Ericksmoen

Over the years the NHRA has paved MILES of roads in the parking lot for spectators to use ONCE a year. they have torn down a perfertly good tower and built a new one, and they have built new pit side luxury boxes. .

First a disclaimer: I don't know all the facts, so some detail could be incorrect.
About the paving of the spectator roads: NHRA strong armed the local and county government for money/tax breaks for that project. NHRA told the agencies involved that they would pull the National event out of Gainesville if they didn't cooperate.
I don't know about the tower and "Sky Boxes".
The "pavillion" was built with Federal money. Something about "urban developement". The sign was on the fence, during construction.

[bill dedman]

Originally Posted by Kenny Wigington

Grounds are drying nicely, thanks to all the wind, and a lot of work I see going on. And, on an even brighter note, the infamous Ed Fernadez, just came by and introduced hisself , as everyone's favorite pain in the *** ! It was great to meet you Ed. A great guy, after all !! LOL !

He's not my favorite, but he sure got the other part right!!!

[Kenny Wigington]

HA ha ha !!!!

[Myron Piatek]

Go to www.mapquest.com , punch in Gainesville Raceway's address,and check out the "aerial map".

11211 N. County Road 225

Gainesville, FL 32609


The extra "track" past the finish line, way to the right, has been used for sports cars and/or police training. The track manager use to be a Sherriff. He may own a Porsche, but I'm not 100% sure.

I never realized how big that pond is at the end of the track!

[Woodro Josey]

Myron, i can tell you how wet and cold it is to. I know about 35 feet out it is about 10ft deep or it was in Feb 2 years ago. Boy they have a very nice sand trap, 2 nets that would stop an F16, and a catch fence past that! Now!

[GarysZ24]

Originally Posted by 71mavlouisville

Thank you for your feedback. I did not mention NHRA anywhere in my post. I do not currently see anything wrong with what NHRA is doing with the event. When I stated that "I am not blaming anyone" that was referring to the weather which obviously no one can predict or control. I am relatively young and building a NHRA Super Stock car. I will be at divisional's later this year and hopefully nationals next year. How do you plan for these types of events? What is your risk/benefit analysis? What is your backup plan? I am a business owner and a professional. In my business I am always looking for feedback from everyone involved in the business. If I knew that my "customers" were having a problem with participating in my "business" I would want to know. That was the purpose of the post, I hope this clarifies that.

71mavlouisville, I'll say that although I agree with most of what Ken said, I disagree with him on one point...national events are for you, and here's how they can be:

1. Although it's true that you need to prepare for the unexpected, I don't go to a national event until the day prior to the first qualifying session, because I have a regular job.

2. Your backup plan should be other events you might be able to attend should your race be postoned to a date you can't participate in (like those who attempted to run the Arizona Nationals may have to deal with).

3. Sadly the risk is like investing in volital stocks, so it might help to keep one eye on the Weather Channel, and the other on the clock on the last possible day to sign up for a national event....provided there's an opening available, you can stall until 1pm pst. (at the latest). If the weather looks too risky for your time alotments, then I wouldn't go...however if you can possibly stay and finish the race on a Mon. or possibly Tue., then I'd go, just not the Monday prior to a race.

4. Hopefully where you live, you have more than one or two national events that are fairly close to you...I moved from Denver to Tempe 3yrs ago for that reason, and now I have up to 6 national events that are within 360 miles of where I live instead of just 1 then. Spread your selections out, so that time and finances will allow you to do those and your divisionals as well.

5. I don't think many of us think of a risk/benefit analysis, because on any given day even the best of our category can be beaten, so there's no guarantee that a race will produce a financial benefit. However, the people on this forum (for the most part) are amongst my best friends, and it's always priceless to be able to share a passion with them...the comradderie is second to none, and the friendships last a lifetime!

To sum, don't get discouraged by the thoughts that this isn't for you, just get out your computer atlas, and your national dragster (or I.H.R.A. like magazine). Check out the dates, locations, and calculate how they might fit into your business schedule. Be flexible (especially if you're lucky enough to live where you can run both NHRA & IHRA). Then get out there and go for it...come join us and have fun going fast and make some new friends! Besides, another thread near to this one showed the average age of Stock/ SS racers to be approx. 54yrs of age!! I agree with the person who wrote that thread that we need to make that avg go down, or that will surely eventually bring a day of reconing to our categories as we know them now...I don't want that, do you???