The Chrome Czars and the Hunnert Car Pileup #8

Yeah not really, peotone is a bit more in the way of spectator parking.. but is still just a 2 lane blacktop to access it.. and is close to a major highway.. so when things do back up.. it quickly spills onto a major interstate.. attracting the unwanted attention of Illinois finest.

 

However, Rt 50 is just 1/2 mile east, and is another 4 lane road that would help with overflow. And If the Ovaltrack could some how be used for hot laps.. Peotone also has multiple entrances, east west and south sides and a big parking area across the street to the south, and on the west side that could be used for either the show, or more spectator parking as needed. The 2 lane blacktop at least has shoulders, and minimal regular traffic compared to Rte 47. The Tri 5 swap and show is pretty big, and traffic is never a problem.

 

Peotone just might be a "viable alternative"! ...could be a little more room for entrances & escape routes! It IS a big place with ample parking, etc;

 

not much in the way of hotels and there isn't a neat business district close by to host the pre-party and feed all of us. it's going to be hard to top morris. like i said, the guys put alot of thought into it when choosing it.

 

i say we cook and eat a few of the spectators next year. that should scare them away for years to come.

 

Morris is a great location, especially the atmosphere or the downtown. Don't overlook that.

How about using the Ritchie Brothers Auction facility (fronting the interstate past Menards) as a spectator parking area & provide a shuttle service.

Increasing the gate price for spectators to, say $10 would still be affordable (actually a great bargain considering what ball and stick sporting events cost) and would easily cover the expense

If all post-64 my cars parked offsite, the existing spectator parking could be used for non eligible (but cool non the less) vehicles like the frequently mentioned Stude pickup. This would probably get me off my dead ass & get my 36 PU running too.

Alan

 

needs more headlights.....

 

I hope not

 

All great suggestions and worth looking into... except the 5am one. For a number of reasons. Ugh. but keep 'em coming!

Finn - Thanks for the parking suggestion. I now have 2 businesses to check out. They could charge what they wanted for parking. If we stay in Morris.

 

How about the Sandwich fairgrounds.Just another idea.

Fuzz

 

There are hotels in Monee 5 miles north, Manteno 5 miles south. Downtown Frankfort is ~ 8miles away, and could be a good Friday night. The Plank road Tavern in down town Frankfort is small but would be very HotRod friendly. In Peotone there is Chef Klaus' BierStube for some good German grub and steins of beer. None of these are nice and close like the Morris layout, but they are not that much further either.

 

Have you considered farther down state like the State Fairgrounds in Springfield with the pre party held downtown (they host the Mother Road festival in the downtown district) but it wouldnt have small town feel to it that Morris has.

 

Very dry, Jay, very dry indeed...

 

Still with peotone.. its a big grounds but the access to it is the bottleneck.. it needs to be able to run 25,000 people through it in about and hour and a half..

sandwich has the same problem.. access roads are small and spectator parking is around back down that teeney road.

you have to remember.. people will be coming to this show in droves.. all around 11 - 12 o-clock.. along with through traffic.. and exit traffic.. so it has to have multiple large access roads to multiple sides of the grounds with traffic control.. far enough away from a major interstate so it don't fill up the interstate and be able to park around 10 to 15 thousand cars in a pinch.

I estimated with the people on site and the amount of cars we turned away.. there could have potentially been 25,000 spectators that day.

 

dont move it mike!!!!!! theres no reason to!!!! u guys do a killer job !!! u just need to get more patrol!!!!! plz dont move it!!!! i wont know where to barf !!!!

 

Seriously, has that ever stopped you before?

 

YES!!!!! well, ..... no

 

We're going to meet soon to discuss the Pileup's fate. Believe me, all your suggestions give us things to think about. The Pileup is my (other) baby. I'm doing everything I can to save it, but there will come a point where it just won't be saveable. Losing its original focus and feel will ring its death knell for sure. I don't think we're there yet (thanks to the HAMB and all the support), but the bell ringer is gripping the rope.

 

Fuck the bell ringer......
Keep it in Morris
1,000 cars @$20 each, invite only = $20,000.
10,000 spectators @$10 each, advance ticket purchase only = $100,000.

 

it was fun while it lasted.

 

You got Denise to type FUCK! And I like her math.

 

We're NOT saying it's OVER!

 

the problem there is, it doesn't do anything to improve the flow in and out of the fairgrounds, thus, the traffic jams will continue.

make it participant entry only, no spectators allowed. make people build a car that's pileup worthy to attend. the attendence will shrink but so what. maybe the vibe from the first few pileups will return. the larger the pileup grows, the more it loses of that original feel that made the pileup great.
it might be the only way to save it.

 

in my humble opinion, I agree with Denise. You've got to restrict your numbers. Better if the Czars stay in control than lose the whole show to the overzealous public.

 

Morris is cool! But how about the air museum at the old Chanute AFB in Rantoul? It's about 15 miles north of I-74 and a about 2-3 miles east of I-57 with a few roads leading to the old flightline. Some motorcycle clubs even held drag races on the old runway a couple of years ago. The hot air balloon championships and skydiving events were also held there and it handled those crowds just fine. Really cool place.

 

Has anyone sugested rt66 raceway in Joliet ?

 

Yes, too corporate, IMO.

 

bunker hill dragstrip ..indiana second oldest strip in us a couple miles off us 31...i know its to convenient for me....

 

Route 66 may be too corporate...........

If you approached Route 66 and said we want this and this.......would they play ball with ya?

example - there MUST be free parking

you MUST allow in vendors/food guys of our choosing


They will not have anything slated for that weekend I suspect so any $$$ coming in would be better than NO money.

then again -

maybe Denise has the right idea.

Still not sure that would keep all the gawkers away though..........they would probably just happily pay it and continue the congestion.

How big is the airport parking?

Perhaps a shuttle from there?

I talked to several people that HAD to park down there and then walked all the way back up to the show.............

whatever you decide - there are 1000s of us that will support you.

 

i know people said sandwich fairgrounds and it was brought up that there was only one entrance in there i was there today and for the hell of it i drobve around there is an entrance from the north west and east just into the spectator parking areas using three different roads to get in there