Suggestions for the 8th Annual Mustang/ F-Body meet

[SUPRADRIVER]

First off, I would like to say thanks to the organizers of the event for putting in the time and effort to put the event together. With that said, I think that there is always room for improvement and would like to make some suggestions for next year. Hopefully, other members can chime in with their suggestions and it will lead to an improved event.

1. Use HPT over US 36 Raceway
   • I have never been to HPT, but I think having a 1/4 mile track will cater to more people. Also, I think it would be a much nicer track. It would still involve people making a decent drive, which would accommodate the street class.
2. Add more classes for racing
   • Since this is an F-body/Mustang meet, I think there should be more classes than were at this event. For example, I would suggest having individual F-body and Mustang classes that cater to the different types of cars that attend the event. You could possibly split the classes up by power adders (i.e. - 1 class for no power adders, 1 class for a single power adder, etc.).
   • In addition, I would say have a class that is F-body/Mustang to see which car is superior.
   • If you get enough attendees then you may also consider another class such as an import one.
3. Adjust the Schedule
   • Having a car show, track time, then night events makes for a very long day. I would suggest either splitting the days up or shortening the time related to each event.
   • For example, if we use HPT, then possibly have the track event on Friday night during their test and tune and follow up with the car show/cruise on Saturday. I think this will help invite others from out of town to make a weekend out of the event.
   • If you would like to keep it a single day event then you may consider starting the car show a little later or not have the track event run as late as it does.
4. Announcements at the Track
   • I feel like this could use some adjustments for next year. It was hard to tell which class was racing when and which round the class was in.
5. Focus of the Event
   • I know the event in previous years has been the best night of street racing of the year. Personally, I didn't like the huge emphasis on the track, but I understand including it as a component of the event. I enjoyed watching some of the races during the event, but with the majority of the night being test and tune it made for a long night. I know it can be difficult organizing the night activities, but I know it's been great the last few years. I would say this year was sort of disappointment as far as the late night component of the event goes.

Once again, I want to reiterate that I appreciate the work you put into the event. My suggestions above are meant to be constructive criticism to help make the event better and not to criticize the work you put into the event.

[fast895ohstang]

Pa system has already been brought up and addressed to the track owner. The class thing was already talked about as well, but just the 2 we had going was a ton of work. We did in 2 months what generally takes 6+ months to plan and put on. Next year will be bigger and better.

[ForcFed93]

Ditto on the HPT

[turbotuner20v]

I'm sure safety requirements would keep a large number of people from making the drive out to HPT to risk being turned away or only making 1 pass. From what it sounded like, US36 was pretty lax on tech.

I wasn't able to make the track/night time activities, how was the non-track racing this year for the roll race crowd?

[fast895ohstang]

Hpt's tech would have kept guys away. Also we would have had 1/2-2/3s of the number of passes made. Us36 kept the cars moving. Tommy was a big help on that as well keeping cars moving and stopping them when we brought in the heads up guys.

[SUPRADRIVER]

Originally Posted by fast895ohstang

Pa system has already been brought up and addressed to the track owner. The class thing was already talked about as well, but just the 2 we had going was a ton of work. We did in 2 months what generally takes 6+ months to plan and put on. Next year will be bigger and better.

I agree that the event would run smoother if more time was taken to organize it. I am not sure I understand your reasoning with the classes being hard to run. You chose to take the event to a track, so take the time to organize the classes and make sure they run smoothly. If you need more help, then reach out to the forum and ask for it. There should be one person dedicated to run the classes and he should definitely have a handful of people helping him.

Originally Posted by ForcFed93

Ditto on the HPT

I think this is the best option, but apparently its not feasible.

Originally Posted by turbotuner20v

I'm sure safety requirements would keep a large number of people from making the drive out to HPT to risk being turned away or only making 1 pass. From what it sounded like, US36 was pretty lax on tech.

I wasn't able to make the track/night time activities, how was the non-track racing this year for the roll race crowd?

The people who are running in the class they had should have the safety stuff in place to run. If you are running in the mid 5s in the 1/8 mile you should have to appropriate safety equipment on the car.

The non-track racing was not very good.

Originally Posted by fast895ohstang

Hpt's tech would have kept guys away. Also we would have had 1/2-2/3s of the number of passes made. Us36 kept the cars moving. Tommy was a big help on that as well keeping cars moving and stopping them when we brought in the heads up guys.

The same argument can be made about 1/8 mile keeping people away. The fact is you cannot satisfy everyone. The benefit of having a 1/4 mile track is you can still run an 1/8 mile class. I am not sure how you come to the conclusion that 1/2-2/3s of the number of passes would go through. I've never been to HPT so that may have something to do with it. The line for test and tune was pretty long and it took cars a while to get through. The other cars got to go around a different way and got to the line much faster. I think the staging area at HPT would be beneficial in organizing the classes and the event overall.

[Karlen]

Yea, track moved quick, that was awesome.

[error]

As a sponsor who put up some money for the bikes, I thought the way the Money races were handled was horrible.

They were all spread out, with a race here and a race there, and half the time you could not hear the announcer introducing them because he was trying to talk during there burnouts in the water box.

The Money races need to be ran in order, then move on to the grudge racing. Or do the grudge racing and save the money races for the end of the night.

Spreading them out was horrible to follow.

[PoXiC]

A competition class for bikes and imports?

I wouldn't unless they were Ford or GM powered.

That's what the grudges are for.

[Attn2detail]

What about MoKan too keep it at a lax track and allow for 1/4 passes? Then the after track "cruising" can happen around where we were in '12.

[Chitown]

The last 5 or 6 years I have gone, the cruise was my favorite part. I think we finally got out about 1:45am then seemed like a short cruise to MO PP. I could only take standing around at the gas station for so long and left. I hope you guys cruised for a bit longer than that.

Hopefully the cruise is better next year but I guess it gets harder each year to find a spot without too much law enforcement.

[fast895ohstang]

Originally Posted by error

As a sponsor who put up some money for the bikes, I thought the way the Money races were handled was horrible.

They were all spread out, with a race here and a race there, and half the time you could not hear the announcer introducing them because he was trying to talk during there burnouts in the water box.

The Money races need to be ran in order, then move on to the grudge racing. Or do the grudge racing and save the money races for the end of the night.

Spreading them out was horrible to follow.

the pa system is already being addressed as stated. The heads up racers needed time between rounds. The grudge cars were getting to make passed between rounds to keep the track running and people happy. Most of the money races had 30-45 minutes between them.

Originally Posted by Attn2detail

What about MoKan too keep it at a lax track and allow for 1/4 passes? Then the after track "cruising" can happen around where we were in '12.

Mokan was already booked for the weekend plus it is twice the drive compared to Osborn. Also the spot that we normally go was going to already be a bad idea

Our southern spot, we were warned prior that the cops were already going to bust our spot. so we didn't try it. I actually got a call from a coworker about 11 and he said there were quite a few cops down there. it just wasn't going to happen

[SUPRADRIVER]

Chris, I think you are missing the point of the thread. It is not for you to get defensive about what we are suggesting, but instead to attempt incorporate everything that is possible into the next event. I spoke to Skinnies yesterday and he gave me some of the same reasons for HPT not working. My thought is at least take the suggestions into consideration and attempt to incorporate them rather than just say its too much of PITA right away.

[ForcFed93]

Originally Posted by SUPRADRIVER

The people who are running in the class they had should have the safety stuff in place to run. If you are running in the mid 5s in the 1/8 mile you should have to appropriate safety equipment on the car.

This. If you're running that fast, you should have the safety equipment. Easier to get away with on an 1/8th mile track as you're not going to be at 150+mph at the end.

Originally Posted by SUPRADRIVER

The same argument can be made about 1/8 mile keeping people away. The fact is you cannot satisfy everyone. The benefit of having a 1/4 mile track is you can still run an 1/8 mile class. I am not sure how you come to the conclusion that 1/2-2/3s of the number of passes would go through. I've never been to HPT so that may have something to do with it. The line for test and tune was pretty long and it took cars a while to get through. The other cars got to go around a different way and got to the line much faster. I think the staging area at HPT would be beneficial in organizing the classes and the event overall.

Even if the exact same set up runs through at HPT, it's going to be slower getting cars through. It's going to be slower simply because it takes 1/3 longer to get down the track. Doesn't seem like much, but for every single pass, it adds up. I think people would be understanding of that though.

One thing to also keep in mind is the MASSIVE pit area and staging area. Staging up the class racing would be extremely easy while allowing others to keep running by keeping them in designated lanes (I think there are like 10+ separate lanes available in the staging area).

Also, if you get enough interest in it, you could always set up the car show/meet in the pit area. It's about 10x the size of the lot this year.

[badstr]

the bad thing about hpt is its not fan friendly its a long way from the pit to staging and back so being close to the cars isn't going to be easy,the smaller tracks like Osborn or mokan give you more interaction with what is happening at the event

[fast895ohstang]

i have contacted both HPT and Mokan a few times with 0 responses

[ForcFed93]

For HPT at least, you can try this:

http://kcsr.org/member.php?u=32356

Also try:

mwalker@hpt.com
(785) 862-4781

and

rirwin@hpt.com
(785) 862-4781

Also, I believe Luke Siebert (Siebert Performance) is the on their committee and can probably get you in touch with whoever you need to talk to about it.

[nxfirebird]

HPT for this event would not fly. it is not small event friendly, it's expensive, they are hard to work with they always want to run YOUR event their way, their tech will keep tons of cars away. the track is in my back yard, and I won't bring a car if it's here.

as a sponsor of this race and an experienced organizer of different race events over the years, I thought this event went extremely well.
cars moved through very quickly, the spectators had great interaction with the cars racing
the food and drinks were cheap, racing was cheap.
over all the event had a very nice "back in the day" feel to it, when this shit was fun!

the only things I would change is -
1 - having an option for a "no times, win light only" class for real grudge cars.
2 - now that the owner and promoters know people are going to show up, prep the track.

I know everybody wants this that and the other thing at an event but to those that haven't put an event together please understand the unbelievable amount of time (months), it takes to put something like this on. the best thing that can be done at an event like this is keep it simple.