What's causing the lack of car count? Lingering animosity? Lack of promotion? Lack of interest in racing on asphalt? Any ideas?
Curtis
Re: NAPA Asphalt
Posted by Truman on June 26, 2013, 1:16 am, in reply to "NAPA Asphalt"
TOO MANY CLASSES & NOT ENOUGH FAN BASE.
Re: NAPA Asphalt
Posted by Joe S on June 26, 2013, 10:58 am, in reply to "Re: NAPA Asphalt"
That is Sad when you think about the Crowds Speedway and Raceway got 40 years ago, when About was less than half the size it is now!
Re: NAPA Asphalt
Posted by dickm on June 26, 2013, 9:16 am, in reply to "Re: NAPA Asphalt"
I grew up on asphalt racing but it was not ONE track in the middle of nowhere with no other pave ment closer than 400+ miles and one of those Tuc-son is having the same car count problems as NAPA In the 70's where I lived in Ohio there were over 20 paved tracks within 200 miles which ment a lot of mid week specials and cars from other tracks. On the dirt here you can run Grants or in Aztec and down south with at least a rules pack-age you can live with. IF all the tracks were paved we wouldn't even be having this topic. OH and the other thing everything is more expensive on pavement and you tend to crash harder and break more stuff when you crash. There were a few places that had paved tracks in the early 70's Amarillo and Lubock and then Midland TX but still not down the street. Yes all of those fell to soaring prices and lack of cars and people
Re: NAPA Asphalt
Posted by K Seals on June 26, 2013, 1:04 pm, in reply to "Re: NAPA Asphalt"
My experience in these matters:
A few years back we campaigned a Stealth/Gearte midget with the rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association for a season or two.
The season schedule was divided between shows on dirt and asphalt.
Dirt shows: Drive up from Albuquerque to the track and arrive Saturday afternoon unload the car, practice, race, get a hotel that night return to Albuquerque on Sunday.
Practice 7 laps. Heat race 10 laps. Main event 20 laps Lap count = 40-ish
Asphalt shows: Drive up from Albuquerque to the hotel near the track on a Friday evening (leaving work early in some cases) Arrive at the track early Saturday morning to start test and tune and qualifications, eat track food exclusively, mount all new tires because the ones you used on the previous asphalt show with only one night of racing on them are only good for test and tune. Secure a second night at a hotel near track return to Albuquerque on Sunday.
Test and tune, as many laps as the wallet can sustain. Qualification 5 laps Heat race 10 laps Dash 4-6 laps Main event 25 – 35 laps Lap count – 75 – 100-ish
The shows on the slab were insanely more costly than that of those on the dirt. The tire bill alone was staggering not to mention an additional night in a hotel and the cost of track food (monetary and physically) fuel and wear and tear on the motor and chassis.
Payout for dirt vs. asphalt = nearly the same
Sliding around a high bank clay bull ring with the throttle down = Lightning
Driving it straight in, grab both feet worth of break and repeat = lightning bug
That is what I know.
Re: NAPA Asphalt
Posted by gguinn on June 26, 2013, 10:03 pm, in reply to "Re: NAPA Asphalt"
Like Old Yeller, sometimes out of love for something you have to put it out of its own misery.The Asphalt weekly shows are dead, they just havent fallen down yet. Why do we countinue to ask why when we all know the reasons? Its boring, it costs too much, car counts are low, but yet we wont just let it die? We keep begging for the magic spell to bring it back to life and it just aint happening. I say take it out in the woods with a .22 short dig a hole and say goodbye. In 2011 the pavement paid more to win in the x-mods, they gained few if any dirt cars. Look you all tried, this just isn't an asphalt town, its time to let the motorcycles, drifters, and the sports cars have it now... Come to the Dirt side, you'll never look at a barron land scape the same again...
Re: NAPA Asphalt
Posted by Justin W. on June 27, 2013, 12:29 pm, in reply to "Re: NAPA Asphalt"
I've got a chassis for each and i really am trying to get my dirt car together. Can't tell you how excited i am to bash in an oil pan and tear up a few suspension parts on the holes at the dirt track! Realize that statement is based on talking to friends who run the dirt exclusively and facebook posts about how bad the track is and how its the worst roughest track anyone has ever raced on, etc. I have no problem with dirt and i'll be there soon dont worry. Just amazing how we can complain about the surface of the track yet keep going back and saying theyll surely fix it by next week, yet praise the hell out of it and say you'll never go to anything else the next week like all those parts are forgotten.
On a serious note its an attitude problem. Tire costs arent thatuch different after you count the tires that get torn up by contact around here.
pavement...
Posted by gguinn on June 27, 2013, 2:00 pm, in reply to "Re: NAPA Asphalt"
LoL, think Star Wars but instead of Dark Side, think Dirt Side. As a guy who can honestly say that I have said all the bad things you listed above about that tracks surface, I understand I should have no room to praise the Napa “Dirt” Track and try to get you to come over to run on it, which I wasn't. I simply mean dirt as a whole, as a line of thinking, as an attitude. Sure hope you can get your car finished up soon, word in the gutters is that the sand side’s baja may soon be over, and you won’t want to miss the last chance to hit the long jump or the plateau. You see another bottom of the barrel fellow told me that some clay was going to be brought in. Either way Justin, I think you will agree once your car is ready… 20+ X-Mods or 20 total cars?
Re: pavement...
Posted by Justin W. on June 27, 2013, 3:10 pm, in reply to "pavement..."
Lol i completely understand. Like i said i'll be out regardless. And i may go to cruces and run a few times until the craters are resolved. And i cant wait to run with all of you x-mods. Its just really difficult to put a ton of effort into a car when you hear of all the stuff that costs the racers money that is nothing of their own doing. Wrecks happen but yikes. And i have put effort into mine i just seem to keep catching tough breaks lol. And I just hate to see the side thing happen to the point of one track flat out dying.
Thats part of the reason i'm on the asphalt when i can also. Yes, there are 4 cars. As soon as i quit putting effort into getting there i contribute to the problem. I know at least 4 ready to race asphalt cars that plain ass wont show up. I woild love to hear the reason they arent there. Charlie has continued to pay us through the car count woes. Yet there are running cars sitting that wont support the guy back. Tires the problem? Bull. I havent bought a tire all season. Fuel is as simple as pump gas in a legal xmod motor. We the racers are as big of a problem as anything in that. <---- None of those points are dirt related lol
Random...
Posted by mychal on June 27, 2013, 5:20 pm, in reply to "Re: pavement..."
How many succesful asphalt tracks are there in this area?You can pretty much count em on one hand& have plenty of fingers left over. Even Colorado National is having car count issues.
Here...you have a small group of hardcore asphalt racers,wanting to race, That's great, but it's not gonna put butt's in the stands. The length/configuration/surface here are simply not conducive to good racing. Lack of cars only magnifies the problems. How long Charlie continues to lose his ass over there is beyond me. ...only way out(just my opinion) is either cut purses, Or..have the guys racing out there become a club,form an LLC and rent the track from Fegan. Just like SWMS and other clubs do. Place is flatlining...
Surface issues on the dirt... News flash,dirt tracks sometimes come apart. Last week in Amarillo,track had holes worse than ANYTHING we've seen at NAPA this year. ...place been around for 10 years,it happens(wind/drought)etc. Racers race. Smashed oil pans?hmmm,I run probably the softest right front spring of any X mod out there,my RF lower frame rail has all the powder coat rubbed off,right side door folds under every race... I was running thru the holes...Pan doesn't have a scratch on it.Not sure about that story. Maybe it's just the illegal shocks I got from the "evil toymaker" in the north valley...lol. Nobody mentions motors when comparing asphalt to dirt.. I know Steve Bonesteel runs a 2 bolt cast crank stock rod motor(2nd season on it)on the dirt..he runs up front. Rick Boelter was running a "borrowed"passenger car motor earlier this year,he won a heat and was running up front with it... Try running that on asphalt and your looking at severe shrapnel issues.
The asphalt does have 2 advantages over the dirt deal...tho. 1.Car washing...it's a pain in the arse,I hate going to the car wash. 2.On the dirt if you drop out of the heat(like say for losing a wheel)or other problems.. You get the pleasure of starting in the back,18/24th depending on the number of cars. On the asphalt,if you have problems and have to start in the back...it means starting 2nd row outside...that's way better.
In order for NAPA to be sucessful,every facet(road course,dirt track,sand drags etc.) needs to be turning a profit... I wish(cuz I really want Fegan to suceed)that the asphalt deal was drawing cars& filling up the stands...but it's not. With the exception of the first year, Never has. Never will. Time to cut bait...
Re: Random...
Posted by Justin W. on June 27, 2013, 9:17 pm, in reply to "Random..."
When theres only 7 cars that finish on the dirt, does it matter how far back you start? Ha! I'm just giving you a hard time Mychal! You know i'll be out soon
Re: Random...
Posted by mychal on June 27, 2013, 10:47 pm, in reply to "Re: Random..."
I'm starting to wonder...lol. If we're doing cruces..on the 4th,I've got a gear for ya... You DO KNOW...that Cruces runs, A mods And, A- mods, The X mods have kinda morphed. Anybody that saw Greg Gorham,running his legal X mod w/the A mods in Grants@the Hatten knows ex~actly what I'm talking about.
Just whackin' the ol' hornets nest... But you know that. Seriously...tho, If I'm an asphalt racer, I'd go proactive... Lose the entitlement attitude&ask Fegan what it's gonna take to keep racing on the blacktop going.(Basically whatever it takes). You guys have no cars... No fan base... & no leverage. ...it's either that or go extinct.
Re: Random...
Posted by gguinn on June 28, 2013, 8:35 am, in reply to "Re: Random..."
NASCAR is even going to the Dirt Side, look at the Trucks, they are racing at Eldora this year, and the ARCA series races dirt at least twice a year.
on June 25, 2013, 6:26 pm