[hrpiii]

I know there is a FB thread about some thoughts on improving/enhancing the drag racing. I also know there are quit a few people on this forum that don't have FB accounts. So I thought I would start one.

Think positive and offer suggestions for improving this event. I hope the mods remove post that get into bashing each other/event.

For me and my wife, we had a blast on the drag strip. Had a truly wonderful time and of course would of liked to had a couple more runs with our friends, but I know time is hard trying to get so much accomplished in two days on a track that everyone wants to have fun on. I also enjoyed watching those guys running 8's, 9's and 10's too. Wow those are some great times and happy those guys are there having fun too, and letting us enjoy their beautiful cars with lots of power.

Now with that said, IMO, the drag racing event is moving away from what it was originally and into something different. When Camarofest first started, I think the main goal was to get those people that just purchased their first muscle car, or wanted to take it on the track for that experience and just have some fun with it in a safe environment. That was the foremost thing, and I believe it is still there, but not as predominant. I feel like it is turning into a small LS Fest with all the different brackets, qualifying, and elimination rounds. Not that it I want that to go away, but where will we be in 3 years from now at this rate. Test N Tune was the dominating time a couple years ago, and now qualifying and eliminations are dominating the time slots. At this rate, Test N Tune will be for 30 mins on each day? I know when they called Test N Tune times, the lanes stacked up very deep, which is awesome and shows what the crowd was wanting to do!!

I also know that I could have had a few more runs in my class, but it wasn't that I wanted "more" runs, I wanted to "race" my friends that were in different classes and the only time I got to do that was in the Test N Tune. We all had similar times with different classes but couldn't get time to go against each other.

There is also a perception of "bracket racing" that was intimidating to a few new people. Even though they could use the qualifying times to make some runs, the perception of "Racing" their car was something they were a little scared of and only ran in the test n tune calls. Oh I know, a run down the track is no different, light turns green, you go. But the perception or pressure they felt they were "racing" someone was intimidating. So there is that challenge that we need to help people get past or have a better understanding of. Maybe something like classes we have at the NCM track, a class of "Novice". This not only would give them some confidence, but also an opportunity for those that race a lot to help them understand the staging process, and launching. Understanding all this will help promote the sport to a whole new generation of "I want to do that and get better" group of people. I know our fellow Camaro drag racers would love to help those wanting to get better, or make their first pass, but how do we go about that? Is there a 'drivers' meeting to kick things off, or a set time. Maybe have a few people at the line to help them and give pointers during the staging process.

There did appear to be quit a bit of time between class runs, either qualifying or eliminations that some Test n Tune could of been used. I'm talking about when they were not prepping the track for runs, it appeared to be an opportunity that could of been used if all Test N Tune cars wanting to run would of already been in lanes 1 & 2. I'm already in the stands watching others run, and when it's time, we go to our cars.

I hope next year we do have some time set aside for "Call Outs". This just sounds fun, and give some bragging rights for a year.

I know we touched on this before, but any thoughts on some Night Drags, like maybe Friday Night Only. Maybe 7-9/10p, where we could still wrap things up and get back to the parking lot to socialize. I know this would be a huge challenge for those helping coordinate stuff, but it is an opportunity.

Those are my thoughts and opinions and hope to keep improving in the drag racing event. I know we all can't have what we want or run as much as we would like.... but at the end of the day, I would hope everyone can say, "I have a blast and truly enjoyed myself on the drag strip". If you can say that, the event was successful. And I know I can say that, as me an my wife had a wonderful time!!