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Speedworld; AZ & NHRA History


HOXXOH

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24 minutes ago, racingchester said:

Worked at Minnesota Dragways 1959-60.  Had a 59 BelAir 2dr. Ran 15.30 93 mph.  Ran my 60 Vette but do not recall times on it.  Also ran at New Brighton. Really short shutdown........

Speaking of short shutdown area, Kettlersville in OH was really short. The farmer who built it, contracted someone to build a 1/4 mile track, so he got 1320' of asphalt and not a foot more. He decided to run 1/5th mile (1056'). There couldn't have been more than 50' before the starting line, which meant the shutdown was just a taste over 200'. Good brakes were important. He had limestone gravel after the pavement and that slowed you quickly. It was rare when a car would go faster than 100 mph anyway. They'd run time trials and then take a short break while a tractor would push the gravel back into place. Yeah, that was fun.:ack  I think I only ran there 3 or 4 times. One night they had strip record runs. I think my partner has the certificate for what that's worth.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 1/25/2017 at 7:53 PM, HOXXOH said:

Speaking of short shutdown area, Kettlersville in OH was really short. The farmer who built it, contracted someone to build a 1/4 mile track, so he got 1320' of asphalt and not a foot more. He decided to run 1/5th mile (1056'). There couldn't have been more than 50' before the starting line, which meant the shutdown was just a taste over 200'. Good brakes were important. He had limestone gravel after the pavement and that slowed you quickly. It was rare when a car would go faster than 100 mph anyway. They'd run time trials and then take a short break while a tractor would push the gravel back into place. Yeah, that was fun.:ack  I think I only ran there 3 or 4 times. One night they had strip record runs. I think my partner has the certificate for what that's worth.

 

Your posts are depressing me. We have one drag strip now with once a month drags.  

Something has to change.  There are so many cars once a month it's crazy. I wonder why they don't open it up to more days or open another dragstrip. 

I know there wasn't a lot of dragging going on during the recession but people are back now and needing a place! 

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On 2/22/2017 at 7:29 PM, aenigma said:

 

Your posts are depressing me. We have one drag strip now with once a month drags.  

Something has to change.  There are so many cars once a month it's crazy. I wonder why they don't open it up to more days or open another dragstrip. 

I know there wasn't a lot of dragging going on during the recession but people are back now and needing a place! 

 

The Indians don't care as long as they make money. Their monopoly, created by the County shutting down Speedworld, allowed them to double the price and have 200 cars once a month vs the old price and 125 cars each week. When the cost of operation at a smaller car count cut into profits, they simply raised prices and cut costs.

The higher prices and more strict adherence to the NHRA rulebook has additionally chased away potential business and pushed enthusiasts toward street racing.

 

The bigger problem that the long term WHP business model fails to understand, is that the real money to be made is coming from spectators, not participants. Turning the Friday night drags into a weekly competition with modest prizes, rather than a poorly run TnT, puts butts in the seats. Only relying on a couple annual major events, isn't enough to create and hold the general public interest.

 

Sorry to sound depressing, so if you need a racing fix, you could join RR Bob and me for a trip to Irwindale, hopefully next week. Yeah, it's a bit of a trip and it's only a 1/8th mile and it's on a Thursday night, but it's better than sitting in AZ staring at your car.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/24/2017 at 0:43 PM, HOXXOH said:

 

The Indians don't care as long as they make money. Their monopoly, created by the County shutting down Speedworld, allowed them to double the price and have 200 cars once a month vs the old price and 125 cars each week. When the cost of operation at a smaller car count cut into profits, they simply raised prices and cut costs.

The higher prices and more strict adherence to the NHRA rulebook has additionally chased away potential business and pushed enthusiasts toward street racing.

 

The bigger problem that the long term WHP business model fails to understand, is that the real money to be made is coming from spectators, not participants. Turning the Friday night drags into a weekly competition with modest prizes, rather than a poorly run TnT, puts butts in the seats. Only relying on a couple annual major events, isn't enough to create and hold the general public interest.

 

Sorry to sound depressing, so if you need a racing fix, you could join RR Bob and me for a trip to Irwindale, hopefully next week. Yeah, it's a bit of a trip and it's only a 1/8th mile and it's on a Thursday night, but it's better than sitting in AZ staring at your car.

Where is Irwindale?  Did you go? I just now saw this post. I'm not sure why my notifications keep finding their way to my junk folder. 

Agreed, it's hard to have a car to race and not get to race it. 

You're right about the spectators. That is where the money is but Wildhorse can't seem to bother figuring out how to bring them in. 

For one, I'm sure a lot of food trucks would be happy to come out on Friday night drags - why aren't there any? Do some drawing - there are a lot of ideas they could come up with to get people out. 

We'll be at the drags the next Friday night drags on the 17th. If you're bored, come drag. Mine won't be done for many months but lonnie is chomping at the bit to get out there. 

 

Drag week tickets went on sale at 9am Saturday. They sold out in 6 minutes. We got ours in the first 3 so we're excited about that. Not until September though. 

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