JamaicanDave

i guess this question is for O.G.S.- Theres plenty of great racetracks in the area- Why isn't there any races promoted at other tracks in the north east such as Lebanon Valley or Cecil County in md?? That's just something that has always been on my mind..

toyotaturbo

Lebanon is a shithole of a track tucked away in the mountains. Lots of parking in the mud, lots of dust from the dirt track when there ISN'T any mud, and WAAAAAY too far for some to travel. Cecil HATES Imports, but Jim Halsey makes WAY too much money off us to kick us out. Cecil is the better track between the 2 examples you provided. However, they think that prepping the track to the 60' mark is perfect for Imports because there's no way a ricer can run quicker than 12's, in their eyes. Lebanon's track is terrible no matter what they do to it. With all that being said......

It would be hard to get a crowd to come to Lebanon. It will be hard to get the car counts at Lebanon. It's not looking good for a Lebanon Import event.

Cecil could do it if they WANTED to. It's in a good location (not far from NYC/Jersey/Philadelphia), the track is good when it's prepped well, and it could be a pretty good turnout of cars with (hopefully) decent payouts. Plus, I just want a race where I only have to drive 15 minutes to get there!

BoostR41

What about Maple Grove, Columbus, western Pa tracks, mason-dixon, etc?

lugnuts

It all comes down to how many spectators show up at any of those tracks.
There used to be import events at Maple Grove every year, and a decent amount of cars.
But there were less and less spectators every year.

toyotaturbo

I used to LOVE racing at Maple Grove. I also took note of the fact that we had some kick *** cars showing up, but the crowd seemed to get thinner and thinner. Hopefully we can have another race at Maple Grove in 2012. I heard the Latin American Dragfest there was a good event, despite the hurricane we had just before that. Maybe we can implement an OGS type of format and bring Import racing back to the Reading area!

92tealhatch

ive been racing in division 1 nhra for the last 7 yrs. Lebanon Valley is def one of the nicest tracks in the northest , most import cars come on wednsday night when track prep isnt the greatest cause its 400 street cars and maybe 20"fast cars" if you came on sunday the track is as good as anywhere ive ever raced and there are classes u can run if you wanna bracket race which most import guys dont like, which i understand.but u can test on sat and sunday. 80% of the pits r pavement, the only dust they get is sat night from the dirt track and its never while drags r going.Its true they only have one import show a year but you could technically race there 3 times a week and its only 20 min from albany. Im sure if 20 cars would come for an import heads up style race the track would have it no problem. i think saying the valley is a "shithole" is wrong. getting an import race there may be tough ur right but i think your off on your view of the place, and id hate to have people not come there based on what ur saying, ive gone 7.30s there in my top sportsman car, 7.16 in my dragster and 10.67 in my civic never had and issue with the track.Place is awesome as far as im concerned

toyotaturbo

I'm glad you've been able to run some fast times there. I'm going strictly from my experience racing in Lucas Oils Stock Eliminator there. It was definitely not a good first impression (or second, or third) for someone who's never been there, and has been to plenty of other facilities as well. Hope some changes for the better have been made up there.

92tealhatch

Def been better last two years since new manager took over,they also switched compounds wich works better, I know when u stay for the divisional overnight on sat ur stuff does get dirty from dirt track. I just think "**** hole" was a little harsh but ur intitled to ur opinion I've had bad experiences with tracks that I'll never go back to too

nonvtecallmotor

I dont run Cecil that much anymore because I'm now closer to MIR and only 15min. from Capitol. Plus the tolls going to Cecil suck.

In years past I ran a lot at Cecil and was always treated with respect. They are very strict with rules and let NO ONE slide.

I was testing at Cecil last year sitting in the staging lanes when some dumbass in a Civic parks in the staging lanes half way in the road. The track guy tells him to back up and not to block the road. The driver (all 130lbs of him) drops the e-brake and trys to push the car up the hill... Well the car almost runs over top of him because he isnt strong enough to hold the car. As he struggles to stop the car his buddys save it from hitting the car in front of him. The track guy says "hey get in and drive it"....
Track guy looks at me and says "they give you guys a bad name" shakes his head and walks away.

SR20S13

Ive only run at the valley and on wednesday the tech inspection on wednesday nights is a joke last time they didnt even look under my hood.

guy_from_nerk

Wednesday nights at National Trails here in Kirkersville, I mean Hebron, err umm is it Columbus Ohio lol is horrible as well. Very little if any track prep at all, the one good thing about it is you do get a lot of runs in usually. Tech depends on who is working that day, i've been there some nights when they just have you sign the paperwork and go on your way without even looking at your car, other times I have had them get real bitchy because of the smallest thing, just depends.

BoostR41

IFO last year they were strict. They were even checking dates on helmets and harness's

teefunk01

New England Drag Way is a big hit.....thats why IFO comes around twice!

OldskoolVW

Ask this....do we really need MORE races??? Seriously....dont just say "yes" right off the bat. But look at the schedule and how many races are at Englishtown and Atco. Plenty. More than enough.
Start to promote other tracks and that likely means you would have to take an already established race date away from one of these veneu's to try and start something new at another track. So right off the bat you drop the hammer on an already successful (read MONEY MAKING) event to have an innagural race somewhere else. Now being a first year event, people more than likely dont like to travel to it. They sit back, see who is going to show up, what click of racers or tuners supports it or bashes it, spectaters dont know what kind of show they will be seeing so they are wishy washy on it. Now come race day you dont have full fields so purses could get cut, racers are unhappy, now the fans dont see the big names or low ET's they are accumstomed to so they are unhappy, the promotor most likely loses money on the deal and little Joey makes 14 time runs in his 16 second civic and he is the only one smiling. Now you want to promote and try a second year?? You have already lost crowd interest. Racers wont show up because word spreads of weak car counts and a bad day at the track and the event is labeled as.....NOT WORTH GOING TO. You know how hard that is to shake??


If I am a promotor, I am looking at this going....why ruin the good and SAFE thing I have going on here. Look at the crowds and racers that Atco and especially Englishtown CONTINUE to pull in. These races are a home run. Yes things can go wrong but for the most part, do they honestly need to branch out more?? Guys travel from all over to these races. Hell, there has to be atleast four COUNTRIES represented at spring/fall nationals.


Has it been tried in the past? Yes. Someone tried a race at Island Dragway and it was not a big turnout at all I believe 2 years ago. First race I ever won in my new car. And in 2011, there was the Latin American Drag Fest at Maple Grove. From what I saw, the event was a decent success with potential to grow. But someone put a lot of time, effort and MONEY into that deal and most likely lost.

We would all like to have events in our own backyard, but will they succeed?? Look outside the bubble of you and your friends. Is there 200 other racers that would attend the same race that is just 20 minutes from your shop? Can you bring in 2000 spectators? How about 150 show cars? Because if you can.....put a damn race on. I'll bring two cars and 4 people.

guy_from_nerk

Yeah 1 day out of the year lol, I run almost every Wednesday out there along with my dad and some buddies and rarely do they check my helmet to make sure its Snell/Dot or any of that. Like I said theres been times where I haven't even had to pop my hood. Hell I ran on slicks without extended studs all last year....I really need to put those on my car now that I am thinking about it haha

dturbocivic

Jim Halsey and the rest of the staff @ Cecil County Dragway have always treated us with respect

zdiddy22

Ive raced at Lebanon before on a Sunday. Track was prepped pretty well, but the track is in a bad location and I was the only honda there that day

FIxALPHA

It would be great to have more races but in NJ alone there are plenty enough. People forget about the smaller races such as Survival Series at Etown and Tuner Showdown at Atco.
With those events, there's probably about 10 import races for the season. That's not including Honda Days, water fest, wrx vs evo... Etc...

It's all about getting more racers and spectators. At the end of the day, this is a business

Vw1320x

I think we should start a mini North east points series. Each track can host an event each month. 5 events seems feesable.
E town
Atco
NED
LVD
MIR

blackeg

ive been there on saturday its pretty much the same thing. the track has come a long way in the past few years, but its still not perfect. the bald guy at tech inspection is a honda hating fiend lol. all that said being the closest track to me by far ill be there as much as a i can, knowing full well that id got a few tenths faster at englishtown

LM Racing

I love cecil county one of the best tracks I have ever been to, however they dont do much with import racing. Kind of a bummer

nonvtecallmotor

They have tryed in the past and they where flops...

Capitol tryed in the past aswell and they where flops too.. IFO promoted it well and they are pretty good and getting better...

Day-DayC

I wish there were more race's at capitol and MIR, yeah its close to home but more events are always better, cecil would be good too, lets try to focus more around MD. hahaha

JamaicanDave

What about delmar... anybody race there???

SIXTYdashONE

Yeah, remember those old NIRA Races at Island Dragway NJ? LOL

sh1thole!