The sad part of all of this is that we have already lost a national event in division 1. I still don't consider Virginia division 1 even though technically it is. We are down to 2. One of them never contests top and top so now we are down to 1 at least for these classes. Its really a shame that they are not upholding their end of the deal. More of a shame because as we've agreed on its a great surface to race on and they have one of the hardest working starting line crews of any track ive ever been to in my opinion. Unfortunately I do not see things changing until the mindset of the management also changes. This was a concern even back when I raced there regularly in the top dragster series that they held. Ill never forget multiple times waiting for hours in the parking lot during a rain delay because they didn't want to pay their workers to open the gate until they knew for sure that the weather would cooperate. The general answer when questioned about anything was if you don't like the way we do things go somewhere else. The problem is when you tell people this most of the time they do. I would hate to lose another track but I feel like they are in a downward spiral right now. I also get that financial times are tough but treating people the right way even when your telling them what they don't want to hear makes all the difference.

ned is owned by a large group of investors or stock holders if I am not mistake. maybe 30 people??

Mikey and all

I will add this, last year was a tuff year due to the rain that soaked the place before the event. Many good parking spots were no longer good since these areas were very soft. That is not NED's fault however I will also add this, NED should have realized this was an issue and been more proactive about addressing the situation before things got messy! So for folks who got there late, good sturdy parks spots were gone.

I also think this deal could have been helped out by NHRA by letting folks in earlier than scheduled to allow more time for the racers to park and not get stuck doing so! And ya hind site is 20/20 but it wasn't rocket science either. So I feel the issues caused by mother nature were compounded by both NED and NHRA. Hopefully the place won't be water logged this year.


BJ

You can't take away the business part of this, here or anywhere. Delaying opening the gates due to iffy weather is a management decision that is a loose loose so cut them some slack on that one.

These national events sound like a blast! How many days do most end up investing for how many races? Maybe when I retire.

I agree that they can't control the weather but as the saying goes "Prior planning prevents poor performance"Hopefully they have made the needed adjustments so that even if there is rain leading up to the even they can do what they need to.

As for the business end of it I am the first one to remind everyone that race tracks are businesses. However, part of business is building your customer base. That year that you guys put that series together they really seemed to recognize that. I am not sure they still have that vision.

Also while I will agree that the gate thing was a small thing it was just an example of something that could have been handled a little different and would have gone a long way. At least from the point of view of someone who was driving 200 miles each way to support their events at that time very regularly.

All of Shawns Emojis was worth the price to read this thread....hahaha!

I shouldn't rant, but will. I have been blown away at the lack of attention the bathrooms at our local track are getting this year. Honestly I don't think the sinks have been wiped down since last fall. Something must have happened to the trough that they called the urinal. so everyone pees at the toilets, and they are disgusting. The bathrooms don't have to be overly nice. But halfway clean would be a plus. I didn't figure I needed tetanus shots for a trip to the can.

quote:

All of Shawns Emojis was worth the price to read this thread....hahaha!

quote:

Originally posted by MightyBirdF145:

quote:

All of Shawns Emojis was worth the price to read this thread....hahaha!

Shaun

We can haul in some dirt for you this year so you can spread it around your new pit spot just for old time sake! If your there long enough we can get some new grass growing too! We will use the good stuff with Scott's fertilizer...

quote:

We can haul in some dirt for you this year so you can spread it around your new pit spot just for old time sake! If your there long enough we can get some new grass growing too! We will use the good stuff with Scott's fertilizer...

way to ruin a serious thred bottom38

The pit area was barely large enough to host a divisional in the 90's, now they try to jam a national in it. What happened to the plans of expanding the pits when they were given a national?
NHRA should be ashamed to hold a national there but they are so desperate to have an event in the NE that they let it go.
Bottom line is the racers keep going and paying while the owners laugh all the way to the bank.

Actually, the only ones "laughing all the way to the bank" (so far), has been NHRA!!

NE Dragway facilities are a dump...