Why not try 1hr of practice at 530 to 630 and race at 730
start heats and go right into the main event. No break.
After the fans will go for hotdogs and so forth when there is a yello or when the class they like the least is running.
You would save the racer a ton of money.
They might not like the short practice but they wont kill tires and fuel. break parts as much.
2 rounds of 10 laps is enough for weekly racing.
It would be easer on the track officals and every one there.
You might get a few more cars when they don’t have to leave there job earley or from home .
Knowing that the other cars wont get a lot of practice before they get there.
we didn’t open the pit gate in the old days at OSW till 5 but you could come anytime in the day but no practice till 630.
[B][I]Pretty much every successfull dirt track runs that way.
Those hours and hours of practices are a joke. It’s a ‘‘We do it like Na$car’’ game. Like those overextended weekly short track races.
I’ve seen paved tracks that are now opening backgate at 8 or 9 in the morning for evening shows??? Something wrong here. And then people complains that their families do not want to follow to the racetrack. Well, if this is not your favorite sport, and you have to attend(read suffer it) all day long, that is sure why to hate it pretty fast.[/I][/B]
Up here, we get to the track at 2pm on Saturday. Practice starts promptly at 3pm and rotates 2 (8) Lap practice sessions for each division (SK Mod, Late Model, Mini Stock, Street Stock) then into 10 lap heat races with fields broken up evenly and right into features. Most nights, we are done by 9:30-10pm at the latest. Works really well and moves the show right along.
[QUOTE=Don Nerone;144527]Why not try 1hr of practice at 530 to 630 and race at 730
start heats and go right into the main event. No break.
After the fans will go for hotdogs and so forth when there is a yello or when the class they like the least is running.
You would save the racer a ton of money.
They might not like the short practice but they wont kill tires and fuel. break parts as much.
2 rounds of 10 laps is enough for weekly racing.
It would be easer on the track officals and every one there.
You might get a few more cars when they don’t have to leave there job earley or from home .
Knowing that the other cars wont get a lot of practice before they get there.
we didn’t open the pit gate in the old days at OSW till 5 but you could come anytime in the day but no practice till 630.
Just something to think about
don62[/QUOTE]
This is exactly how they run Volusia during Speedweeks and all I see is pleased comments about how good the races were and how early they got out of there. Oh and I frequently see comments about how good the food is so I guess the continuous racing does not interfere with their grocery shopping. They do run time trials but all classes would be a premium class on a local level. Once again I think promoters avoid this web site except for their own agenda.
I agree, even loving the sport… roasting in the pits all day long gets old real fast. maybe if I ever hit the lottery and get a fancy toterhome to hang out in all day it might not be that bad.
I’ve often wondered why this crazy amount of practice is even a thing on pavement. I’m close enough to Showtime to hear cars on the track. Many many Saturdays I hear cars making laps before noon. For a sport whining about costs that seems awful foolish, and it seems to give a major advantage to the teams with the most money.
On dirt we show up, unload, take maybe 6 laps and get to racing.
Good old Don Nerone… He was a blast to work with… Not many know that after he retired from racing, he took up nature photography… Got this awesome shot of a Falcon nesting in a tree…
I’ve been preaching it for years… asphalt tracks give WAY too much time for testing & practice. That translates into less cash to actually RACE. And it DOES give a distinct advantage to the teams with the biggest budgets.
The little guy who shows up 2 hours before the show stands very little chance of keeping up with those that already have 100 laps or more of ‘practice’
And then they whine about ‘the cost of racing’…
Dirt guys show up, get 6-8 laps of Hot Laps, and get ready for their Heat race (another concept lost on the Asphalt crowd).
The term ‘Qualifying’ used to mean you beat other cars to EARN your way into the field. Now it means ‘go fast for 2 laps… alone on the track’ & we’ll start you in order from fastest to slowest. Now THERE’S a thrill…
It’s no wonder the asphalt tracks are struggling here… spend ALL day (if not 2) at the track, burn up a set of tires, tank of fuel, laps in the engine (the quicker youll need to re-freshen it)… and then put on a parade with fast cars chasing each other around.
I used to get to the track early, hit the 1st practices session where there were only a handful of us there and get some good fast laps. then park it till the heats…which qualified us for our main.
Do you see any similarity between NASCAR practice and short track pavement practice. We ran a dirt late model and as Frasson said you got 6 to 8 laps. You had a couple of your laps timed and a couple competitors. You made a judgement about track conditions, how your car handled made a tire choice and went racing. As the night progressed you watched the track and maybe another class run to get a read on the track for your feature. Your heat was really another test session but boy some were a lot of fun. The biggest impact on pavement seems to be track temperature and rubber buildup,two factors that your practice session will likely not represent come race time. Other than the thrill of joy riding it does seem to me to be an awful expensive use of your time and equipment.
Start late and end early is a good idea.So is continuous racing to get the program over with. I’d also suggest far less meaningless caution flags and much faster clean up after crashes. Same goes for parading around lap after lap, delaying the re-start, under caution simply because the drivers can’t seem to figure out where they’re supposed to line up.
Problem is, almost all of this cuts the profits of the track owner. More practice means you can sell more track mandated tires and more track mandated race gas. More practice means you can sell more coke and burgers.
Continuous racing means the fans will buy food and drinks, but they’re going to be in a big rush to get back to watch the races instead of hanging around and buying a few impulse items as well. Or wandering through the souvenir stand and purchasing t-shirts.
Problem is, almost all of this cuts the profits of the track owner. More practice means you can sell more track mandated tires and more track mandated race gas. More practice means you can sell more coke and burgers.
Look at this the other way around. If the show pleases the crowd and you go from 300 fans to 3000 fans, who wins??? MAIN GATE TICKETS is the most money making item you can sell at a short track…and 50/50 if you are geared up right.???
Eastbay last night ran 4 classes. There’s another lost idea. Who says you have to run 9 classes a night. Practice started at 6. One round for each class. Races started at 6:30 and last feature was done around 9:30. Would have been done sooner but had a big pile-up in LM feature that required a red flag.
Every dang track around should require the raceceiver. It just makes too much sense for some who think they know everything. After watching cars get pounded under “yellow” at Showtime a few weeks ago I don’t understand why they’re not required everywhere.
