Forum: SCRAFAN.COM Forum (go)
Moderators: ljennings

Thank you Turn4rob and Oakhurst for telling it like it is. Mr Naylor IS playing games with the USAC racers.

One more thing about qualifying. When you take someone to the races for the first time or if it's just somones first time or two it gives them a opportunity to put names, numbers, and colors of the cars together and listen to your strictly unbiased opinion of same. LOL.... Everyone doesn't know these guys as well as some of you do. For me, it give's me the opportunity to refresh all that and more, especially at big events.

Kenny

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Seems pretty simple to me.

If you dont want to race at ventura or anywhere, dont haul your car there.

If you dont want to spectate at a certain track, dont drive there and pay admission.

I was comparing CRA races, perris had 19, ventura had 30... seems to me plenty of people wanted to run seaside park. I had a good time, the seebees who were there for the first time had a fantastic time...

Can't agree with that assessment. Jim had quite a few days after the fair to prep a good track for the Grand Slam race. He had plenty of time to treat the track with "secret sauce" or the extra clay that it so dearly is crying out for.

That day was hotter and windier than most in Ventura and the track was junk until he watered it and gave the two dwarf car mains a very slimy track to run in, and then the track came around and was pretty hooked up for the sprint main. The track was so hooked up, most drivers guessed wrong and were WAY too tight for the first 15-25 laps.At the time of the main event for the grand slam race, the tide was at it's lowest point, so there was no reason to have a track that good, but a little lucky TLC, and we had a great main event track.

The last two weeks, the last track watering came at times (before sprint car events) which allowed to moisture to blow off rather quickly, not allowing it to work in, and seeing that the last time the track was watered on Saturday night was around 5:45 PM, you knew there was no way the track would be good at 8:00 without any extra work.

Seems that in the past few years, we've only been getting really nice tacky tracks in late October and November (when the sun has already checked out by 5:45), on nights when its cold, damp, and there's no one in the stands to notice...

I'm glad the SeaBee's had a great time, but I'm more worried about the fans that are not as tough as SeaBees.

I spend almost every Saturday night at Ventura helping out different drivers, and I love that little track. I've foresaken seeing many other sprint car races at different facilities, so I can spend my precious free time and hard earned money purchasing my weekly pit pass. I like the track to have a little variability too, it doesn't have to be like Ascot was or Petaluma. I love seeing guys like Greg Alexander shine on a dry slick track with driving skill and throttle control and win when no one expects it. And I don't doubt the car counts at Ventura, its an easy track for local people to get to, and a lot of fun to race at.

But, this is about the fans, not the car counts. I've worn dust home from too many tracks back east to want to wear dust home from a track by the beach, and I'm sure the casual fan will find that part of it unappealing and be turned away. When it starts becoming more normal to see diehard fans in turn 1 where safety glasses during the sprint mains to keep the dust out of there eyes, thats not the model I would follow in trying to achieve full grandstands.

Both times I walked across the track the high groove was dry and I could see straw.

The problem with putting clay on the track is that they have to dig it up for the fair and they end up losing it... or something to that effect. I dont know if anyone noticed but he really dug out the kids track in the center.

Even during the grandslam race there was no real cushion to speak of. Summer is traditionally dry slick because competing with the wind and sun isnt just a pain for me trying to take pictures that arent totally washed out...

The straw may be left over from the rodeo, but it is used quite often by track prep people coast to coast to help keep moisture in the track. If the top is dry when your walking across, it can only mean he is not watering the top enough, something we've noticed from the pit area and the grand stand also the last few months.

I still remember back in the IMCA days when the only part of the track that would dry out was the back straight during hot laps. One quick hit with the water truck before the heat races started and the track was good to go all night. We only had dry slick tracks during Santa Ana wind days, and during the fair. The fair board apparently hated having the sprint cars throwing clay over the fences........Boy weren't those the days...having SCRA and IMCA sprint car shows during the fair!

Right on Kenny. As a fan I think this is one of the main things I like about qualifying. Cars change drivers and drivers change cars on occasion. Qualifying gives an opportunity for the spectator to see and hear who is going to be driving what on a particular night. This is also one thing that I really appreciate about Scott Dalosio, the announcer at Perris. He starts during wheel pack and hot laps to identify the cars and drivers. Then you get more formal intros during qualifying, so that by the time the heat races come you can have a pretty good idea of who is where. Makes it more personal.

Mike Brown

That was a good post Mike. My thoughts exactly. I can only add that when my father and I used to go to the races (many years ago), he always said, "we have to go early for the time trials." He was an auto mechanic and really liked to listen to the engines during qualifying. To this day my son and I always try and make it early for the tradition of hot laps and qualifying. I am not a mechanic so the different sounds an engine may or may not make are lost to my ears. But I still love the sounds of that great 410 motors no matter where I am. Scott D. does a great job of letting us know what is going on in the pits. Qualifying is a great tradition and should never be lost to a god-awful pill draw.

"Ralphie, Senor, muchas gracias por una mas cerveza"  -
Scott Daloisio @ the PAS

Ha ha, i was expecting a comment like that from you brother

You guys really think Naylor would put on a crappy show(not that it was) as to make a point about qualifying ? Sorry but you guys have slipped and fell back into it.

It was a crappy show. The usac-cra A-main was pitiful thanks to lack of track prep. If you were there you wouldnt even be questioning it. Naylor chose not to follow his normal prep routine for this show, and the main event sucked because of it.

I was surprised he didnt cut the track with all the time we had. So maybe conditions played into his hands.

I was there,while conditions were not the best,as it was 1 car in the catch fence and the show would have been running late. David Cardey had anything but a pitiful outing.Just my opinion but its just as easy to find positive aspects as it is to focus on the negative side of things.Hope you have a more pleasant time at the race track this weekend,where ever it may be.

while conditions were not the best,as it was 1 car in the catch fence and the show would have been running late

Wouldn't this mean the track should never be prepped in case there 'might be' an accident?

No comment on you statement ,But I'd like to say your previous avatar,humorous with a statement...suited your writing perfectly....when I saw it I recognized the metalic taste of that hook in my mouth..I look forward to your next choice...

I had to remove it because I kept on jumping onto my own hook..

"Suited your writing perfectly" mmmmmm

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Has nothing to do with being positive or negative. I call it as i see it, and i'm not going to just roll over and take it when nonsense like that happens. No excuses. Btw, i haved praised Ventura in the past when they do a good job, which is most of the time.

I'm sorry but I keep going over this deal in my mind and I can't for the life of me figure out why someone would want to sabotage their own show. Just for starters, one big question. Knowing that USAC/CRA always qualifies, I said always, why did they have them in the first place, just to screw with them? One more please.. USAC/CRA has been there before and I'm going to bet they will be there again, probably next year, right? This guy can't be so arrogant as to think he can change that tradition with a stunt like you accuse him of, right? So that's out as well, right again?... I've got it!!... He wants to cut his own throat and have a lousy turn out for next year! There really isn't anything logical about you're accusations at all now, is there? Right again? LOL

I'll be holding my breath one this one..LOL

Kenny

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Congrats KOP,I'm surprised you got it.I can see no one is going to get anything past you Oak.