Open Track 2004??

Open Track --Keep or Drop?

  • Keep Open Track but charge an extra (~$75) to run.

    Votes: 36 69.2%

  • Drop Open Track, but keep Autocross

    Votes: 9 17.3%

  • Drop both Open Track and Autocross

    Votes: 7 13.5%
  • Total voters
    52
NLOC

NLOC

BBM
I Support the NLOC
Hello to all planning to attend Lightning/HD-TruckFest 2004,;w

In looking at the cost/benefits of the past LightningFest 2003, it appears that the Open Track event does NOT pay for itself.:cr: Thus we are asking the following questions to see if the Open Track event should be continued or dropped for next year.:?
  • If we continue the event, are those that will participate, willing to pay an extra fee for the event:confused:
  • If we do not continue the Open Track event, should we keep Autocross:confused:
  • If the Open Track event is dropped, should we shorten the Fest to 2 days or add more Drag Racing:?

Thanks,

...Dwight...
 
For cost reasons I say drop the open track event and keep the parking lot racing(much cheaper)
Maybe dont get the track for Friday this time would that save any money?

I think Sat is plenty of time for the drag racing deal.Have sunday for show and autocross and have a (Huge) cookout on sunday.

Have some 50/50s to bring in a few more bucks.

Id charge 10 dollars for people to get in who are not racing or showing.

Id have two ET classes next time.

Have one heads up class for race trucks(Backhalf/fronthalf/mini tubbed/lencos etc..

One heads up class for 100 percent street trucks that have on them current tags,insurance etc..suspension must be in stock location with working lights,wipers,interior there etc...Have them all take a 30 mile drive and pull right to the staging lanes type of thing.

Have no GEN1 or GEN2 only class this time.Just some ideas Ill be there no matter what though.
 
FYI

If you drop open track then the point of going to HPT is gone...

You no longer need a dual purpose venue...
 
Yup Doug,

We know that, and that is part of the equation. The OT is a high dollar expense and was not covered by the entry fees last time. the answer is to have more entrants, paying more.:?

Ideas??...we have some, but will not voice them...rather want ideas from the board.

...Dwight...
 
I say drop the OT and have 2 days of drag racing and 1 day for the car show and auto cross.....Alot of people won't drive far just for 1 day of drag racing.

Also If you have the car show on sunday and drags on fri. and sat. people could enter in both
 
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that " Most " people are more drag-race oriented, than open track or autocross. More Drag racing would be better, Just like Jerry said,.......a lot of people don't want to travel that far for just one day of racing.

Something else that you should keep in mind, is some sort of "window" in case of bad weather! What would've happened if it had rained all day saturday,.....and clear skies on sunday?! Who would've got to race,......the drag racers,....... or the open track / autocross guys?!

Just something to think about.
 
Hi Keith,

If there is rain, we move the Open Track/Auto cross go the rain day...as they can run in the rain as opposed to Drags....yes, we had that as a contingency plan!

...Dwight...
 
I enjoy open track more than auto cross, but if dropping open track keeps the event viable then drop it. However I did vote that I would pay more to have open track.
 
Hi Chris,;w

We may have a way to keep the Open Track, we are just testing the waters for event participant support. We will decide what way to go after a few weeks of polling.:?

How many HD's do you think will run in the Open Track?:confused:

...Dwight...:yawn:
 
I'm hooked on Open Track. I'm very willing to pay the extra for it; but like Aryton said; if it is not possible to be part of the event- then so be it.
I know I can get my fix elsewhere. :D
Either way- I plan to be there!

peace,
john
 
First I had a great time at this year's event. I will be willing to pay more to do the road course. But since I do not drag race normally driving for 5 days and 2500 plus miles round trip is a little much for one day regardless of how much fun I had. I would like to see the auto cross and the road course be done on different days. It is too much to do on one day. I think that you would have more people do the auto cross if it was done on Saturday and road course on Sunday. I do not see where that would interfere with the drag racing.

On another topic, I think that the Bar-b-que Meet and Greet needs to be done at different time than the plant tour. Having it at the same time breaks the club in half and defeats the purpose of having the Bar-b-que. Also beer and wine or just beer needs to be available even if we pay for it in addition to the meal. If it is a track rule of no alcohol maybe it could be held at the event hotel or something.

Just my thoughts,
Kim Reed;w
 
Beer was allowed at the BBQ feed...but BYOB...we could not provide it....

The BBQ will be done differently next time...as for the plant tour..it was a late entry and was fit as time allowed. The plant tour was on the plants time schedule....not ours as the plant does not do tours.

Maybe the Autocross could be moved to Friday??

Cheers,

...Dwight...
 
Friday would be good for the autox. That way there would be some who could do all three events. I did not know that we could bring our own beer or whatever. Now I do. I knew that the pl ant tour was an add on and I am sorry that I missed it. Look forward to seeing you and Nan again.
Kim
 
BigD said:
How many HD's do you think will run in the Open Track?:confused:

...Dwight...:yawn:
Click to expand...

Hard to say really…I guess it would depend on the truck requirements. I can’t imagine anyone that would not want to blast around a road course.

Let me know what changes will be needed to the truck and I will post something over on the site.

I really want to go next year and you already know how I feel about the NHRA roll cage rule, so I need something to do.:D
 
Big D , I'm a newbie to the board and unfortunally I was'nt able to attend. I plan on coming next year though. I have a quetion about the roll cage rule. If NLOC is renting the track for a private event and all the participants sign a waiver releasing the track of any responsability why do we have to adhere to NHRA rules(the last I heard it wasn't a NHRA sanctioned event?????
 
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I would like to chime in and say that as far as the road course and auto cross is concerned the only safety equipment that you need is a SA 95 helmet or newer. The road course is an HPDE (High Performance Driving Education)it is not racing. As long as your truck is street legal and is in proper working order it is find to run. Stuff like High performance tire and upgraded brake pads only adds to your safety and enjoyment of the event.:tu:
 
Hey Big D and Nan, I would pay some more for open track, and the autoxing was ok... However if the owners do NOT pave some of the rougher sections.( or the whole thing) I prolly will not go... Most people find drag racing way more easier than you can drive as fast as you want on a north american road course.... regards..
 
I say and voted to keep the OT.and charge more for the OT.that had to of been the CHEAPEST OT event I have ever done!!And I have been doing them for over 15 years!Keep the OT otherwise I am with Doug what would be the use in having it at heart land then?I know when I came back to the track after dinner there were not alot of T&T going on that nite.So I think that drag racers were tired too.Stan
 
Ruslow said:
I know when I came back to the track after dinner there were not alot of T&T going on that nite.So I think that drag racers were tired too.Stan
Click to expand...

I think there's not too many of us drag racers that are truely HARD CORE... I'd beat my truck for 12 hours no problem. :D
 
I'm ready for the flames after I post this. I won't come to LFest if it doesn't have an OT portion. There's a drag strip 15 minutes from my house that is more conducive to good times than HP, and there is auto-x less than an hour away. The only reason I came this year was for the OT. I would gladly have paid double the amount for the OT, as would most of the people who did it. The opportunity to meet other L owners would be unique to LFest, but I won't lose any sleep over missing out on that. It was nice to meet everyone this year, but I can't justify the trip just to do that.

In another thread I mentioned a location like Tulsa that has a roadcourse and dragstrip, but not at the same facility. I don't know how many locations have this, but there are bound to be several in a central location.

If I had to pick a driving event to drop it would be the auto-x. The course sat idle for a good portion of the day. Unfortunately, dropping auto-x wouldn't save any money.

One benefit of HP is that the course can be set up many different ways, but some of them would not be safe for an event like this.

The only reason OT didn't pay for itself was that it was priced improperly. There were 37 trucks in OT. At an average event they would have generated about $7400 in revenue, but at LFest they only acounted for about $3500, and that covered all events. As I stated in the thread linked above, every event should be priced separately so people get what they pay for and pay for what they get. Using the pricing I mentioned in that thread would result in the cost to do every event being $290. That is still a fair price just for 2 days of open track, but would include drag racing, truck show and auto-x. For that matter, if someone wanted to do everything hook them up for $250 and you are still making more money.
 
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