Event Coverage Jalopy Showdown Drags Thanks w Photos

Great show Larry. See ya next May!

 

my old man had a great time with The Lump and the coupe....always a good show Larry....cant wait for the dirt in the spring!




T.Hilton

 

Me too...Exactly.

The line was where it ALL sprung into action...
I remember the wheelies, the cars paint/lettering/, the staging games, burnouts, and...finally, the release of all that energy...

I would glance at the boards for E.T./mph, but, unless you have a horse in the race, who cares who wins...hell, even then it doesn't really matter...
It was all about the show, for me...and the show was the starting line...

Hell, most of the time when I was in the early stages of the game, I didn't even understand what was going on up there!
I remember having NO IDEA what rhyme or reason was used to determine who's win light came on, in my earlier days of watching brackets...so, I just payed no attention, anyway...It didn't matter to me...
I'm not so sure as Bob is that the "typical" fan has changed much...

Or, maybe more probable, the "typical SHOWDOWN DRAGS fan", is not so typical!

Bracket racers families, in the stands, may indeed understand whats going
on, and pull for there hometown hero, BUT, I would put money that most regular folks, and novice racers/friends, and families, MUCH of whom I suspect make up the larger portion of the Showdown drags audience, if not the Saturday Super Pro, Or Comp, or whatever program, would likely be LESS confused by "head's up" racing...

Ehhh...just my opinion...
And, anyway, its like trying to improve on bacon...its ALREADY incredible!

 

thanks larry and crew had an awesome time as always wish i would have been there for the rubber band fight and flash light drags. The best part of the whole day by far was watching don put it on the bumper not once but 4 or 5 times and then never let off and run it all the way out. I could watch that all day

 

I want to thank you guys for posting your opinion of how you think the show program should run. PLEASE add more opinions and I'll make sure Bob see them. I really dont come from a drag racing background so I'm trying to make the deal fit what works for US (meaning us here). I'll talk to some of you guys later and then get with Bob way before next years show and have things laid out hopefully a little differently to fit OUR situation better. Bob has been great to work with and has been very receptive to anything I have brought to the table.

 

Larry, can't thank you enough... Kim and I had such a great time again this year !!!! This our favorite event all year -- catching up with the usual cast of lunatics in Friday night's MONSOON, all the new friends this year, Moyer's show stopping wheelstands and a field of really outstanding cars this year!!! The sparkler ass bike had us rolling !!! Can't wait til next year -- as always, we're with ya RAIN OR SHINE !!!

Mark, thanks for the hurtin' on Friday night --we were shot on Saturday night too.....

and C/Gas, I don't think you'll be saying "Vermin, YOU ARE GOIN' DOWN !!!!" before our next meeting.....and that last heads up time run was awesome.P.S. were my tailights working?????

 

Due respect to Beaver Bob, who I'm sure has a really good handle on his 'regular crowd', but I'm pretty sure that for this event, it's the heads up racing that people get a kick out of.

Speaking for myself, I could live the entire rest of my life without seeing another 'race' where one car hits the brakes before the lights.

This is kinda picking nits though, it's still hands down my favorite show of the year, and I'll keep going as long as Larry, Beaver Bob and all keep putting them on.

 

Larry, I agree with Mark. Heads up would be more exciting if it could be worked out...

I'm sure Beaver Bob would know how to make it happen. He loves this event, and would do anything to make it better.


Don, the video footage is bad ass...


HAHAHA "were my taillights working". Your one of a kind Pat...hope to get to car mountain soon.

 

No brackets in 2010. HEADS UP !

 

Thank's Don! I needed that.

 

From my point of view, When in the grandstand, heads up is way better. And I agree with the starting line is where the action is. And seeing a 3 second jump to one car is not very exciting. Close pairings makes the whole pass exciting, and you watch till the end.
As a racer, in the street/hot rod group, I'd take my chances that something might go wrong in the other lane and still race heads up with a car that's close to mine. And when you get to the last couple of rounds, the fastest cars in the class move on. That's racing for fun.

The Gasser's run their show and should do their thing.

 

One of these days I want to look over and see you in the other lane Kev

 

Pat you're too funny, you were lucky I broke LOL!!!!!!! I'll get you next time.

 

Freakin weddings

 

Sorry..but I have to add my comments here as well. Bracket racing sucks. Simple as that. Could you imagine the Jalopy Showdown at latimore if you HAD to run the same time, every lap? I vote for HEADS UP racing in 2010. All my shots are taken at the starting line, or at least before the 60ft. mark....or at least as far as Don carries the front wheels!

This show is for fun, just like the Latimore show. Fun is grudge runs. I'm sure the ECG guys would love to see what their car could REALLY run if there was no bracket rules.

Having said that, Bob runs a business and that business revolves around running a track that for the most part, is bracket racing. which, for the racer, is fun to do...I guess. As a fan, I want to see heads up racing, especially the old stuff. These cars were never intended to bracket race then, and shouldn't be now. Its just boring to watch...

I love this show and I want to see it grow and get better each year.

Spike

 

The only class that wasn't heads up was the exibition class. So A, B, and C hot rod were all heads up. You guys make it sound like the whole deal was bracket.

 

i love heads up....and thats what i like to see...I had an awesome weekend, and it was well worth my 5 hour ride...I hope to be there again, with more folks and maybe a car or 2...thats right guys, I started making calls, and ive got some stuff possibly lined up...Don "THE DON" Moyer, Littleman, and all the East Coast Gassers have inspired me..haha Thanks again, to Larry, Bob and the rest of the crew..the after hour bike racing and attack was a ball...Don nearly lost an eye, I lost a fight with the fence not once but twice thanks to slipping on the grass....I dont think Ive laughed so hard in my life....So besides the good racing, and the killer cars, were the people that made it memorable...what a bunch of goons..hahaha

 

Keep it down Mikey... and quit bringing facts into this... LOL!

Spike

 

Heads up vs bracket type...heads up is of course MUCH cooler...but here you have wildly varying vehicles and the ancient problem of street cruisers that meet the same general description as killer racecars.
Many of the cars would not really fit or would be bumped into high level classes if you used something like 1960 NHRA rules...all of the fenderless cars would run roadster or altered, for instance, and a real race altered would make 2 runs in the time they need for one.
In the old days at small strips with small, random turnouts of car types, they used to stage runs between mismatched cars by moving the slow car ahead at the start line one length per NHRA class. Both cars launched separately, and you got an exciting race watching the fast car try to chase down the slow one. Sometimes they would deliberately run a ridiculous mismatch between an altered or something and a stocker that needed a valve job...
Because of the variety of type of cars and the variety of "hotness" levels there are too many variables.
BUT...it could be handled by the right person, given absolute dictatorial power to set the gaps with no appeal or recourse. He would watch the flavor of things during warmups, determine who had a street chug and who had a racecar with headlights, and line 'em up as he saw fit. "You!...three lengths. Go!"

 

As an ECG member and racer I can assure you that there is little if any sandbagging,all of the members show up and run hard we don't need a special race to see how fast our cars are! If you want I will run the A class next year it might be an easy day of racing for me!Sorry did not mean to ruin your show with my POS bracket car.
Gregg

 

Greg, not that I would have a chance to beat you, because of the brackets, we never got to race. In fact, I didn't get to race any of you (East Coast Gassers)....I think it would be more fun to just let everyone run. I am pretty sure that the crowd would like to see matches that weren't in the brackets. This isnt supposed to be a race, it is supposed to be a show and have fun.

 

your right about that, but we couldn't race anybody in the other brakets...

 

This is, basically, my idea...

Except without the head start, and MORE than one "dictator"...
Actually, a "panel" of folks who can recognize what cars generally belong in what classes...its not TOO hard for the discriminating eye, lets face it...and if there are a few eyes, than even better the chances of making quality groups of cars, and keeping the racing close...

It ALSO takes any "insiders" out of the mix, because it comes down to more than one persons opinion.
I think more classes would come out of it, with smaller fields of cars within' them, BUT, as attendence rises, then, so should the typical number of cars per class, instead of having 2 to 4 cars in 7 million classes...
If they all run within approx. .5 to 1 second of each other, its gonna be action packed watching the scramble, for sure!
THESE races, can be won or lost at ANY point on the track...exciting!

East Coast Gassers do their thing...they draw a crowd, run hard, AND....
* IMPORTANTLY* for them, this IS a regular part of their season, SO, they are in it for more than kicks...they should be left to their own devices, they will ALWAYS be fun to watch, just because they run FAST.
EVERYBODY likes fast...right?

Anyway, after two time shots, and a visual inspection of the cars, if three or more folks ( volunteers ) break them down into a few classes based on fairly accurate data/guesswork, it would be much better than sticking a blown flathead, in a 1500 lb. altered, up against a 235 six, in a 400 lb custom, just on the basis of them being smaller than a v-8, which is what we have going now with "A", "B", and "C" H/R.

Sandbagging, bitching, and complaining will ALWAYS be around, because, after all........its racing!



By the way, I thought that the "hot rod" classes ( H/R ) WERE running brackets, too, as of last year? I may remember incorrectly, however, since my coupe had a radiator leak, and we missed the actual program, and did not get to fix it, and then run, until afterward, during the "grudge matches"
I was under the impression that the only "heads up" runs were AFTER the program, was that not the case?

If so, that takes brackets out of the mix already for the "regular guys",
and some better multi-partisan class management should make for VERY close finishes, where most folks have at least half a chance.


The problem THEN comes in when you start getting 200 and up cars entered, and you try to have 10 classes, AND the exhibition cars, AND the ECG program, but, really we should not be anywhere NEAR that yet...and, if it runs on into the evening/night because of all the differing agendas, and then the grudge runs afterward, to match up otherwise unmatchable cars, due to their program constraints, would that REALLY be a problem?
Is there a noise ordinance in place???
Anyone know the curfew???

I KNOW we were making passes, at part throttle albeit, last year and prior, why not just go on until dark?
The track has lights for a reason...


Just my $.02


Oh, yeah...and one more thought : I don't HATE any kind of racing ( o.k., MAYBE NASCAR... )...and though admittedly, its less exciting to watch a bracket race, FOR ME, AS A SPECTATOR..., I LOVE watching cool old cars, go fast, in any fashion I can get 'em...it STILL BEATS watching yourself grow old, or sitting in front of the T.V....

In fact, I intend to run the "Gaslighter" with ECG next year, after it is painted and lettered up, AND, though I'm sure I will not have the money to be TRULY competitive, and make a lot of races yet, I DO intend to run with them in the bracket program next year, however, I'd REALLY be sad to miss out on any heads up stuff, as well, because I was racing in their program... I TRULY think that it can all be done, just so long as the program can stretch out the required timespan...at least unless weather, or car count screws up the day royally!
( Yeah...you know, that car count thing CAN BE a mixed blessing...It certainly helps the show go on, and feeds its fire, BUT, eventually, concessions will have to be made based on that...I DON'T think its anywhere NEAR that, at present...)
But, lets face it, car count CAN start to KILL an event, just look at the Philadelphia Modifiers races, to see what happens over time when you go from a couple hundred, to 400 and 500, cars entered!
It's NOT the same,
BUT...then, track owners need to make money, too, promoters, etc, so things change when they have too...


I have a LOT of bracket racing friends, and some experience myself at it, too, BUT, from a spectator standpoint, it can never really match the electricity of both cars leaving at once, in a desperate fight to beat the other one to the stripe but,

...its just a matter of opinion...


Let's express our opinions, NOT get this thread closed.

 

Spike, Yes the ECG runs a bracket race but no we don't sandbag. The dial in's on our members cars are what the run. We always run hard and as fast as we can. I can assure you the what ever dial in you see on my car is probably .01 faster than I think it will go. I agree heads up is cool and fun but the bracket formula works for us. Especially knowing there are no sandbaggers. I think if we did have a sandbagger in the group the rest of the guys would probably lynch him. Bracket racing is fun when you don't have electronics and run the cars hard.

 

I hope we don't ruin a good thing at the Jalopy Drags. As Larry stated if you're in this for trophies you are at the wrong place. Heads up it is. Throw in a few Match Races. Run for fun. Enjoy the Nostalgia atmoshere. Maybe the Goodguys Drag Races are what some of you need. I'll get my drag race fix with Beaver Bob and Scarry Larry. Just my $.02

 

Larry,

Thanks again to you, all your gang and Beaver Bob for putting on such a nice show. I love the fact that its got the vibe of the spring Showdown yet it is a little different. I thought they broke the mold on Paxton but I bet Beaver Bob could give him a run for his money. Those two together must be a hoot and a half. I seen Bob's sweet Galaxie sitting there. I think we ought to get and Old-Timers dragrace in .....get Paxton, Beaver Bob, Lee Osborne (he's been drag racing lately, you know!) and a couple other guys of the same caliber and have them click some runs some off too. Where they can't really let it all loose over in Lattimore because of safety issues them old geezers could do some serious flying at the Beaver!

WadyaTHINK?

Thanks again! Had a blast!

-Bigchief.

 

On a positive note I kinda like the classes the way they are and the event is awesome. Here a few pics my son took while we warmed up the Willys.

 

The ECG guys are a separate program and I'm thrilled to have them as part of our show. Their deal is their deal and it runs as how they see fit. Not open for discussion.

 

Larry, see I gave my son back the camera. LOL!!! These are his shots.