Suggestion/Comment Box :)

[NJSPEEDER]

hey gang,
i wanted to get some feedback of ways to tweak the event for next year. we have a few ideas going forward and a few things working to our advantage now that we have teh first year in the books.

we have a few ideas that we plan to persue:
1: pre-registration
2: portable chassis dyno
3: media coverage
4: pre-plan the days schedule better so that all tiems are very specific.
5: increased web exposure
6: add "show and go" class
7: fidn ways to identify drivers/cars to the crowd better(write SN on window)
8: king of the hill for bracket winners, possibly "package racing" based
9: clinics for new racers
10: organize car show parking by class/gen

we also have a better plan to persue sponsors/vendors for next year as well. this shoudl lead to more prizes, give aways, and maybe more classes.

thanks for your support this year. let me know what we can do to make the event even better in teh future.

later
tim

[j0n]

i already mentioned my gripes...and i can see that one of em made the list

[NJSPEEDER]

list the stuff that i didn't mention on the list again. that way we can get more feedback on those ideas and go from there.
i really want to tep this thing up next year. to do that i need to know what you guys think did and didn't work now. i am gonna get started working on this on september 1st. the more i learn about your ideas the better start i will get on next years show :)

later
tim

[90FormulaWS6]

1. Earlier or later in the year so that more people will race... im guessing a lot of people figured that because of the heat why run

2. Make a website dedicated to the event instead of only a forum... its possible that many people who arent regulars on the forum thought that this was just a club gathering and not the "EAST COAST FBODY NATS"... ECFBN sounds way better than a club meet

Thats it for now... if I think of more then ill let y'all know

[ShitOnWheels]

Yah, early spring or early/late fall...it was way toooooo hot, and I was only there an hour, and came close to passing out within 20 minutes.

[Fasterthanyou]

5: A time perioed allowed for car show cars to take a couple trips down the 1/4 when nobody else is racing.
6: Air conditioning for the whole event or plan for a cooler time of the year. Being outside ALL day during the summer with very little shade can turn some potential's away.

[j0n]

show and go class...try to emphasize the heads up class and run it after all the other elims are finished so that everyone can watch some crazy 9 second cars

[jimmyboy8301]

First off I want to say that hindsight is 20/20 but these are my ideas.

1st off if it's in august again. Definately a NJFBOA pool would be good, or at least a slip n slide.

Breaking up the show cars by gen instead of grouping them all togethor. Having a more centralized track, nothing against Island but it's a haul and a half for the sourthern guys and a good haul for the central guys. Atco or E-town are more centralized through the state.

[camaroracer1992]

a possible show and go
def earlier/later in the year so its cooler.
maybe when people are racing write your screen name down so people can associate the names with faces

[NJSPEEDER]

with teh date/time of year in mind, would you guys be interested in meets put on by other state/regional f-body clubs if we coudl come up with a shared format and class system?
i have talked to guys from a few clubs that are with in a few hours drive of new jersey and there is some interest in this idea.

later
tim

[90FormulaWS6]

absolutely... we could even rotate the places of the event... this year NJ, then MD, then PA, w/e as long as it is annual and we can race and show at the same facility

[NJSPEEDER]

we were thinkign have the east coast nats in new jersey every year hosted by our club, and add dates in pa/de/md/ny using the same or similar classes.
this is not an absolute definately gonan happen thing, just something that has been discussed.

later
tim

[camaroracer1992]

im ok with the rotating events, etc. ill drive up to 3 hours for events liek this.

[ShitOnWheels]

To keep it an anniversary event, I'm guessing maybe mid Sept would be cool. I know many of the youngins go back to college, but with enough notice they can get away from the frat parties, I mean studying, for one day on the weekend :)

The idea of having other meets in surrounding states is pretty cool. But logistics are interesting...every month leading up to the Nats? Well, problem is the heat again. You could do the other states earlier in the year when it's cooler, but then you have a gap to the Nats. I guess it depends on how the logisitics work whether the idea would work.

[kazman]

1. later in the season, say end of September or October. It will be cooler and the brackest should be finished by then.

2. For the bracket classes, drop the required mufflers, carpet , etc. I think that was a carry over from the old GM high tech day where they wanted nice cars for pictures. Heads up classes should stay as is.

3. More advertisement on the web sites, camaroz28, ls1, godragracing, motor city, eastern f body, etc.

4. NO FLAMES... ADD CORVETTS, OR MUSTANGS.

5. $$$$ Payouts for the fast heads up cars. It will attract cars and spectators. (ie Atco thursday night quick 8 events)

6. add a drag racing clinic before the race for first timers. have them walk the track, see the starting line, how burnbox works, etc.

7. The breakdown by tire class is a great idea. Street, drag radial, and slicks. Makes it fair. I think the 6 cylinder class could be merged with the other tire classes.

8. King of the hill race. winners from the brackets run one more time by themselves. Best package wins (rt and et). Red lights and breakouts loose. This way a street tire car wont go against a slick car.

9. Best RT award, Best ET (to dial in) award, Best overall package, Closest MOV award to the winner and looser.

FYI the car count for all the events this year has been down even in the weekly bracket races.

[ShitOnWheels]

4. NO FLAMES... ADD CORVETTS, OR MUSTANGS.

Not flaming, but this is an F Body club, and an fbody event. Â*To add others kinda defeats the purpose.

All the other ideas seem like good suggestions.

[enRo]

1. Earlier or later in the year so that more people will race... im guessing a lot of people figured that because of the heat why run

Then it wouldn't be an anniversary meet now would it :-D :lol:

Since I wasn't there, I can't judge on what should be changed and whatnot. But I'd say keep it at Island Drag. Also, maybe a pre-determined rain-date if at all possible (I highly doubt).

[NJSPEEDER]

the event will most likely be in mid august for at least 1 more year. this is planned as our anniversary meet, so having it around august 10(the date we went public) is sort of a big deal.

the muffler and carpet thing wil be a sticking point. having cars allowed to come in "gutted" or running through dumps tends to lower participation because those who do not race on a regular basis do not want to compete against what many view as a "race car". the muffler and interior rules that were used are common to many other special events as well as weekly program classes at many tracks.

keep teh ideas coming gang!!!

thanks
tim

[kamikaz]

4. NO FLAMES... ADD CORVETTS, OR MUSTANGS.

Not flaming, but this is an F Body club, and an fbody event. To add others kinda defeats the purpose.

All the other ideas seem like good suggestions.

I don't know,it's worked well in the MAFB club that i also belong to.we used to rent MIR and run with Vettes and Vipers and had a strong F-Body turnout and it feels good being able to spank those 2 types of cars :wink:

just my 2 cents

Later,

Santos

[NJSPEEDER]

the show will stay f-body only. vette and mustang guys have enough events of their own, we don't really need to help them. :P

later
tim

[ShitOnWheels]

the event will most likely be in mid august for at least 1 more year. this is planned as our anniversary meet, so having it around august 10(the date we went public) is sort of a big deal.

the muffler and carpet thing wil be a sticking point. having cars allowed to come in "gutted" or running through dumps tends to lower participation because those who do not race on a regular basis do not want to compete against what many view as a "race car". the muffler and interior rules that were used are common to many other special events as well as weekly program classes at many tracks.

keep teh ideas coming gang!!!

thanks
tim
It can be mid Sept and still be an anniversary event. Doesn't need to be that close to it, at least IMO. I know many people have no problem racing in the heat and humidity, and others like to be outside in it, but it seems like it takes away many participants who would come when it was cooler. :shrug:

[NJSPEEDER]

by mid september school is back in and vacation time is used up from trips to teh beach. car shows are held in the heat of summer because that is when people are available to attend them.

[Squirrel]

Breaking up the show cars by gen instead of grouping them all togethor. Having a more centralized track, nothing against Island but it's a haul and a half for the sourthern guys and a good haul for the central guys. Atco or E-town are more centralized through the state.
+1
It can be mid Sept and still be an anniversary event. Doesn't need to be that close to it, at least IMO. I know many people have no problem racing in the heat and humidity, and others like to be outside in it, but it seems like it takes away many participants who would come when it was cooler.

[Untamed]

I love the "race clinic" idea. While I'm not likely to race my own TA anytime soon, I'd at least like the opportunity to understand more of what its about, and at least talk intelligently to those who have been around it for years.

[Tru2Chevy]

Breaking up the show cars by gen instead of grouping them all togethor.

We were discussing that idea on Sunday morning, but we had no idea how many of each generation were going to show up. If we can get at least a pretty good idea of how many cars will be there in advance, it will be easier to setup that way.

Having a more centralized track, nothing against Island but it's a haul and a half for the sourthern guys and a good haul for the central guys. Atco or E-town are more centralized through the state.

E-town is most likely out of the question due to problems in the past with track management. Anyone who was around and knew Tim when he ran the first two years of the East Coast 'Nats there may have heard about it.

Atco would be great, and we actually spoke to them at length about putting together an event way before this club was formed. The only problem with going there is that we would have to pay $15,000 - $25,000 up front to rent the track depending on whether we want it for Saturday or Sunday.

The idea of moving to another track is being discussed, and it may happen in the future. For right now, the plan is to stay with Island.

- Justin

[jimmyboy8301]

wow for 1 day? thats a lotta hooch.

[Tru2Chevy]

wow for 1 day? thats a lotta hooch.

Yea, Tim was in the process of planning pre-registration and sponsorship for an event that was to be held at Atco last summer, but due to some issues with the "other" club, final plans were never made.

With a decent preregistration payout and a few good sponsors, that cost is taken care of faster than you would think. The problem lies in commiting to a date, and then trying to get all those cars preregistered so that you can pay for the track in advance.

- Justin

[BonzoHansen]

Sounds like you guys had a good time, great. I heard about this a little too late or I would have attended. Next year.

*Spread the word more. There are a number of sites to post at. Off the top of my head:
http://www.njcarshow.com/
http://www.pro-touring.com/index.html
http://www.lateral-g.net/
http://www.lt1tech.com/
http://www.camaros.net/
http://www.nastyz28.com/
http://www.thirdgen.org/
http://www.3rdgen.org/
http://www.camaros.org/index.shtml
http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/index.php?

The time of the year isn't so bad as long as it isn't 100 degrees. There are a lot of other events that occur that you may/may not want to go up against. Not too many in August. June & Spetember are pretty loaded. April & May can be rainy. July has shows too.

Even though I didn't make it, thanks for your hard work and I hope me & my 77Z28 will be there next year. (and maybe the 67 someday :wink: )

[NJSPEEDER]

copy adn paste :)
thanks for the list of sites. i will definately take advantage of them :)

i agree that august isn't normally that bad a time to have a meet. this year teh weather has been abusively hot and humid all month for some reason. usually it is only 100degrees and 75+% humidity for a few days at a time, this year it lasted for weeks.
i am sure we will get more pleasant conditions next year, not like it could get much hotter. lol :P

later
tim