Post your feedback about this year's event here!

As you guys know, things were done differently this year. Not only did it impact the racers, but also those of us who worked at the event. As the racers are the raison d'tre of the event, it would serve Bob and Dan well if you gave them your thoughts on how to put on a better show next year. Did you like ethe new format? Or not?

Please don't forget that criticism is a good thing. It doesn't have to be negative, but don't be shy if it is. Your input will make it a better event. :TU:

 

Back to the Shootouts!

The format was OK as a backup, maybe use it on the Friday Qualifying.....but shootouts on Saturday!

 

I'm with Brian. Like the shootouts for race day, but really liked the lane assignments so you can run similar cars in T n T. Great idea for 1st day.

On another note, had an "incident" with someone who was jumping out of line and moving up whenever there was a space or two open in front. I was standing next to my car when it happened and had to move when he pulled around me. This isn't rush hour on the e-way, you don't have to plug every hole and take cuts in line. Hate to start the car 8 times and move up a space at a time, but also hate it when people aren't paying attention and not around their cars. No biggee.

Also think it would be a good idea if people ran water in their systems rather than antifreeze. I spun and went sideways in 4th gear once on Saturday.....scary. At least water's easier to clean up and eventually dries.

 

I'm with Dave and Brian.....

Friday -- use the lane assignments based off of ET for T-N-T.
Saturday -- Shootouts as usual.

That way, we could have damn near two days of close heads up racing !! :3gears:

 

I liked the lanes by ET idea in theory, but I was really getting tired of being lapped by the faster cars

the typical number of cars in the lanes looked like this

lane 1 8 cars
lane 2 12 cars
lane 3 15 cars
lane 4 15 cars
lane 5 20 cars
lane 6 20 cars
lane 7 15 cars

and the marshals were taking an equal number of cars from each lane in a sweep across, so I got to watch some of the 12 second cars run twice while I waited in line............

and don't try to tell me that seems fair, because they spend half as much time driving on the track as I do....... :spank:

 

Ditto............. The staging lane marshall could pull more cars from the longer lanes to keep the number of runs per car reasonably even.

 

Speaking as a spectator, the Plan B bracket system didn't hold the same suspense as the 2-out-of-3 shootouts, so I'd like to see the shootouts return on Satruday next year.

But I did love the fact that Plan B allowed me to see more runs total, more match-ups between different cars, and it allowed me more time to socialize with all the drivers. Everyone seemed more relaxed. I suppose that Saturday this year was a lot like what Friday is other years. Maybe I should come to watch on Friday, too (never tried it).

Another obvious advantage to Plan B was that it gave Dan and Bob a break from the controlled chaos usually required in the staging lanes for the shootouts. That was nice to see.

One more suggestion for improvement: Can someone please pound it into everyone's head at the driver's meeting (I assume there is one?) that if you hear a funny noise, lose power, see smoke or otherwise have any reason to suspect you're broke, you pull over and stop now? Don't continue down the track until you and the officials are sure there's no leaks. Life's too short to spend it watching a quarter mile of clean-up.

 

if it rains again,daveh and diego do a karoake duet,
maybe some creedence??

 

Andy, you got it! Actually I was in high demand in Hiroshima in Karaoke in the 80's for Neil Sedaka ("Oh Carol") and Ernest Tubbs(?) ("Tennesee Waltz")! Long before it came to the US. Was really tough on Roy Orbison stuff, too with enough black market Jack Daniels (at US$130+/fifth). Wonder who paid those bar bills? Recall some of them in excess of $1000 US.

I still have the original 8 track for the Ramrod and a few 8 tracks of Credence that my wife and I used to listen to at full volume. "Run through the Jungle" is the best of all times, followed up by their version of "Susie Q". Her favorite was always "Heard it through the grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, and of course, the Righteous Bros "You've lost that lovin feeling". No arguments there.

I also noticed that some lines seemed to move better than others, but all that's required, and I think what they were doing later on, is someone at the back of the staging lanes in radio contact with the people at the front. I think that's what they were doing later in the day. No different than any other T n T night at the local drag strips(except thank God (can I still say God?)) there aren't all the noisy rum-pop, rum-pop, bracket racers and the Jr dragsters, crotch rockets, snowmobiles, belt sanders, leaf blowers, string trimmers, vacuum cleaners, rug shampooers, etc..

The practice with similar cars is a geat idea, THANKS! But the 2/3 match races are still the greatest, also, on race day. :bglasses:

 

Shoot-outs

Back to the shoot-outs.
If you want, you can go up against anybody you choose on Friday.
It wasn't broke and doesn't need fixing.
just my .02.

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah..........I know about the coolant thing. But living in Michigan has me trained to do a 50/50 coolant/water mix when I fill the rad.

I APOLOGIZE (for the 100th time) for hosing down the left lane on Friday afternoon. My OE Corbin clamp did a terrible job of holding the heater hose to the water pump.

Are you sure it was coolant you were slipping in??? Or was it scattered Studebaker or Oldmobile remnants that were the culprits???

As for the original question, TnT/qualifying on Friday using the "time" lane assignments would be cool. Just have to work out the bugs with allocating the number of cars out of each time slot/lane. It was a lot more fun running a car close to mine than coming up against someone like CopoPete or Bob K . I, too, missed the Shoot-Out. I bet that had an impact on the crowd's attention in the stands as well. Usually EVERYBODY stays in the stands from the opening round at 11:30 all the way thru at least the second round. This time everybody seemed to drift in and out of the stands all day so they never seemed full.

 

I only do "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter." I heard Dave sings "In My Merry Oldsmobile."

 

Frank:

Not sure it was you that did it. Just scary when it happens. Stanton doesn't have the equipment to clean up like Norwalk. I see they've moved up the ladder to dragging tires up and down the track to dry it up, smooth it out, or whatever that's for. They used to tie a dead cow and drag it around.

As far as emptying the lanes, one way to do it would be to have a guy at the front and another at the rear of the staging lanes in radio contact with each other. Only fair way to do it is completely empty a lane and have the rear stager tell the front guy which car is the last one to go. Anybody comes into that lane after that car waits for the entire field to clear. That way it works out to be a first come, first serve for everybody. I think there was something like that going on later in the day Saturday.

 

Spectator Experience

Although not all the PA speakers seemed to work well, Diego did an excellent job on Sunday as always. His commentary really enhances the spectator experience. The lady announcer seemed to scold everyone regularly regardless of whether anyone with a car faster than 13.9 wasn't wearing a helmet. The music was poorly chosen in my opinion. I can't imagine anyone in attendance enjoying the 80's dance music playing all weekend. Please play oldies from the same era as the cars. Very minor points though.

Side note - There is an excellent restaurant on the main drag in Stanton. I forgot the name, but they are open early for breakfast and late for dinner and drinks. Maybe someone here knows the name. Worth checking out though.

Thanks Dan and Bob for all the effort you guys put into this race.

Bob

 

Reading your post again, you mention it was while hitting 4th that you spun. I was only responsible for screwing up the starting line in the left lane on Friday. Sounds like you were in the Studebaker's oil after he grenaded his engine. It smashed itself to very little bits. Bob Palma had some pieces in a cup and there was only about 2 pieces that we could identify. Feel bad for the guy! At least when my engines chewed themselves up, they kept all the metal sworf INSIDE the block.

 

Format

From a spectator's point of view:

The shootout format is much better. I understand the reason for the situation Saturday and the need to adjust though, and any PSMCDR is better than none.

The shootout two of three gives a more exciting program. The only things that really seemed to get the crowd involved this year were Benoit's burnouts and watching the Roush Mustang get spanked. You get a little jaded when you're in effect watching four hours of test-n-tune.

As always, I loved the cars, the people were the best, and the weather (Saturday) was perfect. I hope never to miss this event.

 

Actually it was well into 4th gear when it spun and shifted sideways. My car gets to 4th gear quickly with the 4.56 gear. Could have been anything but definitely was not on the starting line and was in the left lane. o No: Could have been my own oil as my new trans seems to have quite a leak as evidenced on my trailer when I got home.

Which Studebaker was it?

 

It was Doug Tjapkes GT Hawk. He loaded it up right away and left. He was crushed by what happened, and he was afraid that the other racers would rip on him for oiling the track. He certainly would have got more than his share of badgering from "Queen Mary" over the track PA system. She must have reminded us at least 10 times about what to do in case of severe crankcase ventilation. :rant: I feel bad for Doug. He's not sure what he wants to do at this stage. He has had numerous offers to sell him another block, but it still puts a huge dent in anyones' wallet.

 

Announcing needs to be more exciting. Was not loud enough and no enthusiasm. As a spectator the event was not very exciting. After about an hour on saturday, myself,as well as others around me were losing interest. Was at this event about 6 years ago, and there was MUCH more energy. Had a great time at that event. This one was somewhat disappointing. Especially since there was such a great turn-out. Not sure if you(Dan and Bob) are looking for spectators or if you are looking to keep this event just for the racers. This is what it felt like. 6-7 years ago I had a blast! Love the cars,the accomodations, the whole concept. Just more for the spectators. It's a long drive from NW corner of IL for a couple hours of true excitement in the stands. Get back to the early days of this event. My two-cents. o No:

 

Goathauler:

Because of the rain wash-out on Friday, we had to go with "Plan B" for Saturday. I mentioned the spectator attention span being tested without the usual nearly 4 hours of "shoot-out" action. Without the Friday rain, the program would have been just as you enjoyed it before. I got to see about 1/2 hour of racing and only took about 10 pictures. Usually on a normal Saturday I get to watch almost a full round and a 1/2 of racing when I get done with my matchup. That was one of the few benefits of being a slow entrant and being at the front of the pack! :grin: