NOLA too far

[ShadowBolt]

As much fun as we had at NOLA last Nov. for me this time it was just too damn far. Even getting on the road at 3:30 Sunday afternoon I still did not get home until 1:15 AM (9.75 hours construction and wrecks). Then I went to work the next day (Monday). I was going to make NOLA and Hallett and skip TWS in Sept. If I had it to do over again I would have skipped NOLA and made the second TWS event instead. When it all comes down to it I do this for fun and that drive was NOT fun. Racing for fun, the drive to TWS (two hours) MSRC (3.5 hours) MSRH (3.5 hours) and ECR (4 hours) is really not bad. Throw in one long haul.....Hallett (8.5 hours) and it's not that bad. Two long hauls back to back........I don't know if I will try that again. If I could take Thursday, Friday, and Monday off it would not be that big a deal but my boss is a complete A-hole when it comes to taking off work.


JJ

[edrock96GT]

I'd have to agree. I was just saying the other day that perhaps our out-of-state events should not be points races. I'm all about going to different tracks, but as far as points, that puts me in a bind already having to use all my drops due to car issues. Having to miss points races due to cost/time pretty much shoots you in the foot when you're points racing.

[michaelmosty]

I agree the drive sucked!!! Our drive was exactly 9 hours, 3:30PM - 12:30AM.
It was compounded with the fact we only had 2-weeks b/w the events.

For constructive criticism, I'm also not a fan of the 7 event season. I understand it is necessary "if" we want to run all 6 tracks and TWS both ways but I'd prefer to see us back to 6 events for next year. Maybe do NOLA every other year?? The year we run NOLA we only have 1 TWS event, the year we don't run NOLA we do TWS both directions.
Just thinking out loud.

[Fbody383]

I know part of it may be Dave's ability to schedule track dates... what about every other year doing another "non-Texas" track that may be a haul - Barber, Road Atlanta, etc.? Try to schedule up another big crossover event every other year.

[kbrewmr2]

Really what it comes down to is where you live, your towing speeds, and your time-tolerance for being on the road.

If you live in El Paso, yeah NOLA is a huge ass haul. If you live in Baytown, it's better than alot of in-state tracks. Shrug. You won't be able to make everyone happy....

Barber - NASA doesn't run there anymore. Mid South is trying to get on the schedule though.
Road Atlanta - it's fun, but don't you guys go writing off cars there...
etc.

[GlennCMC70]

6 events is a full season. 7 is too much. If guys feel they cannot run for points due to a high number of regional events (7), they are more likely to run much less than 7. For example, I know I can't make 7 events, And I likely can't make 6. If I know I'm out of the points hunt, I think I'll just run 4 events. If the season was 6, I would likey find a way to run 5 and use drops for the 6th. If we just need to run 7 events, we need to use the whole calendar.
No more under 30 day back to back events. Avoiding the summer months is what caused this. If the heat is too much, the track can go green from 6am-noon and 6pm-8pm Sat and target being done by noon Sunday. Racing in the heat shouldbe considered part of being a well rounded racer.
NOLA looks like a very nice place. Should be at least a cross-over event for TX. TX racers just don't do enough out of region racing. We get the benefit of it, but rarely return the favor. I can see it dropped off the TX schedule. I still want to race there either way.
Hallett - Same deal as NOLA. Love the track, but I can see how H town racers dread that drive. We all love Hallet (The Hallett Effect?).

Keep the thoughts coming in. We all know Dave B reads this forum. Perhaps other groups are having the same conversations.

[ShadowBolt]

I agree the drive sucked!!! Our drive was exactly 9 hours, 3:30PM - 12:30AM.
It was compounded with the fact we only had 2-weeks b/w the events.

For constructive criticism, I'm also not a fan of the 7 event season. I understand it is necessary "if" we want to run all 6 tracks and TWS both ways but I'd prefer to see us back to 6 events for next year. Maybe do NOLA every other year?? The year we run NOLA we only have 1 TWS event, the year we don't run NOLA we do TWS both directions.
Just thinking out loud.
No wonder Michael and I are such good friends. I agree with everything he said. Six races a year with one being out of state is all I will ever do in the future. The next time I run seven events will be when COTA gets NASA nationals.

JJ

[Wade]

We chose to skip NOLA for just these reasons. Too far to haul, and with Wendi teaching, too hard to take extra days in the middle of the week. For us, one out of state event per year (if any), and preferably in the summer. Six events max. I would 100% be for alternating between Hallett and NOLA. Personally, I don't have Hallett fever. The track seems to be hard on cars, especially with overheating issues (engine and brakes) and the drive to/from the hotel is too long. I feel like I spend the whole 4 days in my truck. At least at NOLA the hotel is close.

[early70scamaros]

Barber - NASA doesn't run there anymore. Mid South is trying to get on the schedule though.

We have been talking to Barber since before our region began 3 years ago, but have never been able to get a suitable date. To get on the schedule, we may have to take a February date and hope for the best weather wise. When we do get a date, we would love for the Texas guys to come on over and whip up on us.

We left NOLA during the last Thunder race and pulled into the driveway at 11pm. We have committed to putting NOLA on our schedule in 2014.

From Memphis, it was a minimum of 5 hours to get to any NASA event when I started and we made a couple of 13 hour tows to CMP in South Carolina and three 8 hour tows to Road Atlanta each year. Even tough we had two drivers to share the load, it sucked to have to go to work the next day after getting home in the early am. So, I definitely understand.

The tow may cause us to miss Hallett for the first time in three years. I have raced in 6 NASA regions and the Nationals and there is nothing better than the show the Texas AI/CMC bunch puts on there.

Next time, I hope to bring more than a cap gun to a nuclear war.

Shawn Taylor
Regional Director
Mid South Region

[Suck fumes]

I'm all for skipping Nola indefinitely and adding TWS a second time earlier in the year.

[Terlingua 121]

I can feel your pain. Try driving from Tulsa to all of these events! Nothing except Hallett is close. I really don't mind the travel - but taking such a long break in the summer and stacking events really close makes it tough on everyone. I don't mind driving in the heat - we all live in Oklahoma and Texas - It is almost always hot. I like the seven events and rumming all of the tracks. We even try to slip in a couple of Rocky Mountain or Central events just so we don't have the lul in the summer. Each track has it's own virtues and short comings, but I am in whenever I can have the chance!

And I should FINALLY have my AI car ready at Hallett...time tp see just how terrible a driver I really am! Gonna miss having all that HP to make up for the driver!

Mike
Terlingua 121

[AllZWay]

Since we are all commenting... I much prefer a 6 weekend year or less. With family vacations and then 6-7 days off for race weekends is tough to get it all in.

As for TWS... I wouldn't mind skipping TWS completely. I prefer tight tracks as opposed to pure HP tracks.

[kbrewmr2]

If you guys get TWS dropped of the schedule I'm coming after all of you. That's my favorite in-region track (since COTA doesn't count since NASA doesn't run there yet). I especially like running there twice (both directions ftw!). Geographically it's also the best placed track - reasonable distances to Austin, DFW, and Houston.

If you want it to be less of a HP track ask Dave if your group can run a different config that uses the little squiggly bit of track between T3 and the carousel if you want. But don't screw it up for the rest of the people by getting it dropped all together!

- KB, 120whp and still loves TWS 2.9 and 3.1

[Suck fumes]

Yah don't drop TWS! It's not all HP, it requires a good setup also. I'm tired of running all the Mickey Mouse tracks...cough...msr Houston...cough.... We need to run the big boy tracks more often. Man I wish we could run COTA with NASA. That track is very technical!

[MikeP99Z]

Gonna miss having all that HP to make up for the driver!

Mike
Terlingua 121

You will miss the fat Hoosier slicks more than the HP...