Jump to content

Qualifying at Houston Motorsports Park!


Recommended Posts

Not trying start any problems, but just wondering....

 

Why don't the apshalt tracks set the feature order using the method utilized at the dirt tracks: run heat races to set the starting order for the feature race?

 

THR tried that for a couple of weeks this year, but the faster cars kept winning the heat races thus making for a predictable feature race.

 

There's bound to be a happy medium between the hectic full field inverts and the heads-up starts that tend to make for follow-the-leader races.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Customers usually do get bent when they aren't satisfied with what they are paying for.

 

It seems like the racers have some hard decisions to make.

-keep asking for heads-up starts in order to save money on bent cars

-let the track start the races the way the fans prefer to watch

 

If you start heads-up the crowds will dwindle.

 

The car counts will dwindle with inverted starts.

 

Can that track survive off of the back gate?....if the answer is yes then just start the races heads-up.

 

Just remember....if you tell race fans that the feature is starting heads-up this weekend with 20 cars and starting the feature the next weekend inverted with 12 cars......everyone will show up on week 2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually it does not give us something new to complain about. A lot of us have been complaining about that format before by just simply not showing up at the track because we are not interested in watching that type of all night hot lapping.

 

We are just now starting qualifying so if your excuse for not coming is because of qualifying, you missed some good racing by being misinformed. We haven't done it at HMP in the last three years other than Speedfest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if your that bent about it then just dont come

 

Not a good thing to say when your track is trying to attract fans!! Remember that not only do you lose the fan you just addresses, you lose any other (new) fans he might have convinced to go...

 

Racers p*ss & moan about how a track operator told them they could go elsewhere - now a racer, who needs the fan's money from the front gate, is saying the same to a fan?

 

On edit: I am assuming latemodeloutlaw is a racer, based on his handle. I do not know that for a fact, so I will apologise if my assumption is incorrect. But I stand by my statement that it is foolish to tell a fan to stay away.

 

In addition, there is a third alternative to the two that Turbo-Diesel mentioned. The racers can have a little more patience. If you know the guy in front of you is a squirrel, work around him carefully, or just wait for him to slip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

dude like john or whoever from hmp said, they havent qualified and started heads up except for speedfest. and that race was actually a pretty good race. there will be good racing at the front and back of the field and this might eliminate the cautions every 5 laps so there hopefully will be more cars racing the entire race and the field not dwindle to just a few by the end of the race due to wrecks. give it a chance before yall start rippin on idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fist of all Houston doesn't pay enough to make it worth taking the high risk of tearing up your race car. Tear a pro late model up a few times and see how fast your opinion changes. Inverting top six, or drawing top six like the do at THR is fine. At least they are close to the same speed. If I sit in the stands and see yellow after yellow because of wrecks, that's what's boring. If it's wrecks you need, then find a demo derby somewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've seen hundreds of heads up starts.The only one that was decent was a Big Ten race in Concord.But then again,that race was a who's who of racing like the Snowball.

 

Why doesn't HMP pay enough for the risk?Could it be they don't have 4,000 butts in the seats every week,at $15 a shot.Let's see,that's $60,000.Could that sweeten the pot a little?

 

HMP has been doing impressive things lately to get the seats full.The only way for that effort to pay off now is for those fans to see a good,competetive show with alot of excitement.Then some of them might come back at a higher gate price.

 

Racers....be the permormers....excite the crowds....show them you can drive....not just make laps.

 

If the acrobat in the circus has to do a double back flip instead of a single to get a bigger rise from the crowd.....he just does it....

 

The concern here isn't a full invert,it's the heads-up start.Invert the top six or eight if they are equal enough on the watch,and all is good. B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HMP,

I have supported your track and have been coming to the races there. I did not mean I had been staying away from your track. I have stayed away from tracks or series that start heads up. Sorry if I did not explain it very well. I was referring to the future. A complete heads up start is boring. If you have 16 cars, I do not mind an 8 car invert or just let the top 8 draw for position.

 

"if your that bent about it then just dont come"

 

latemodeloutlaw,

Good attitude and nice class act. Nice job of helping the track attract fans. <_<

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems to me HMP is making an effort to keep the classes alive. The problem is with the PLM class anyway is that they are very fast on a small track. If you start the slow cars up front it really accordians the field at the initial start of the race when you have a large car count. If one person makes a mistake it wads up a whole bunch of cars on the first couple of laps. Then the great car count for that race is crippled before the real race ever starts.

 

I agree that an invert of the front cars would probably help with the racing but as long as that is set by qualifying times so that the fastest group is up front and not the slowest.

 

If you were to look at the practice speeds of the cars for the last few races at HMP you would see that some of the cars on the pole were as much as 1/2 a second slower than the faster cars. On that small of a track that is huge!

 

Patience is the key but HMP as preached and preached patience before each and every race and it all goes out the window every time on the first lap.

 

I am sure they would like to try this for a race or two then look at the results and tweak it a little more if need be.

 

We have lost car counts due to the high amount of wrecks this year and I think high car counts are key to keep fans coming back as well as close racing. Its a difficult balance.

 

JMO

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have any of the local promoters given any thought to making a speed break for to PLM class only?

 

If you qualify and the pole is say....15.000 secs. flat.Only run the cars that can run within .3 or .4 of that speed in the feature.Maybe have the guys that can't get there run a B-main or something.

 

If you have 18 cars show up....and you only get 10 cars within the speed break....that feature could run full invert.Give the fast time a monetary bonus,and another monetary bonus if he/she wins from scratch.

 

Have the remaining 8 cars run for trophies or a small purse.If they complain just tell them to consider their race a chance to test and tune.They would be better off doing that then getting run over anyway.One of the problems new racers to a class have is they spend so much time repairing their cars from getting run over that they don't have as much time to scale the car at the shop and fine tune it.

 

In the eighties,SAS used to run their top four Super Series cars in a ten lap dash for cash to start the night's show off.Those were some of the closest most exciting races I've seen locally.It also gave the fans a chance to see what was in store for them if they stayed the whole night to see the feature.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Turbo-Diesel and I are thinking alike. It is not that we think you need to leave the format like it used to be. It is that the heads-up is not the answer.

 

Maybe invert the cars that can qualify within .2 or .3 seconds of the fast time. That will give everybody incentive to go all out. The faster cars will go all out to keep the invert as small as possible while everybody else will go all out to make it into the invert. I doubt there would be any sand bagging for qualifications to earn the pole like with a preset invert number. Not that any of us racers would do that. ;) If you have sixteen cars and 10 are capable of staying within that time, then invert ten. If only four cars can stay within that time, then invert four. Start the rest of the cars behind the fastest qualifier based on their time with the quickest right behind the fast qualifier. That way everybody gets to race and gain experience and the fans get to see a quality feature with all the cars in it. The slower guys should not complain because if they can not run within .2 seconds, they would not win anyway. The faster guys should be happier because by the time they lap the slower cars, the slower cars should be spread out a little and not cause such a problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt


×
×
  • Create New...