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Author Topic: nationals  (Read 24167 times)
ssssmoke
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« on: July 11, 2009, 01:09:35 PM »

usac put on one hell of a show, the track was great everything ran smooth, they had pro drivers such as ryan newman and levi jones. and they worked thier tails off to get track ready after the rain. but the racing procedures were absolutely horrible. way to many races ending with 3 to 5 cars. several kids walking back to the trailers in tears. some race teams receiving more than three strikes and getting several laps to work on the cars in the pits. im totally dissapointed and will not be running anymore g next races. its not worth the money we spend to not get a chance to race a complete race. and im not the only one! the bottom line is the 2 strike system is not working and it has not been working. there needs to be some qm experience to handle on track procedures and an actual race director to go to not someone to tell you he doesnt have time to talk, thats not the job of a race director. Im not writing on this forum to be negative toward usac but to be heard and keep everything usac has been working so hard on moving in the right direction. lets fix this problem.
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crew chief
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« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2009, 10:02:08 PM »

Come on back to qma racing
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RBurns17
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« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2009, 03:01:16 AM »

Haha yea, and then you can voice concerns about their procedures on their forum...errr....maybe not. USAC will take criticism from this event, sift through it weeding out those complaints that are a result of disappointing performances and change the procedures for the better. Although, the positives comments have the complaints outnumbered 100:1, so I would say that they did a heck of a job. Can't make everyone happy.
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ssssmoke
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« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2009, 10:44:21 AM »

we will be racing qma next year. (grands so close). but i have faith usac will look into this and make all the right changes. they put on way to good of a show to let this hold them down, but they need to look into and talk to the clubs on what they can do to make it better. our club races are as good as can be. i still say good job usac.
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BQwkR
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« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2009, 01:32:06 PM »

I wasn't there so I can't have a complaint or perhaps even an opinion. But I do have two questions; were the boys and girls safe and did they have fun? If those who participated can answer yes to those questions, it sounds like it was a big success. If my little driver ever gets a chance to run nationals and these two simple things do not occur, we're out. DE Jr. is not having fun anymore and the races he's been in lately are far from safe.
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ssssmoke
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« Reply #5 on: July 12, 2009, 01:52:18 PM »

they were absolutely safe no question. fun? no. the show was fun meeting drivers and all and the whole indy atmosphere. my driver had one strike where we were at fault and ran over the other three times, 2 black flags, came off the track crying 2 times asking what he did wrong. thats not fun. i also seen several other drivers very heartbroken. its an easy fix and i have faith in usac to get it fixed.
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jss0707
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« Reply #6 on: July 12, 2009, 11:00:48 PM »

Sure - "Come on back to Q.M.A." - for all the "Judging Calls", ridiculously drawn out race days, & the counterproductive mollycoddling of our future race car drivers.  USAC's race program is not perfect (I'd challenge anyone to site one that is) but, it's sure got Q.M.A.'s program beat!
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RBurns17
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« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2009, 12:11:31 AM »

It's not always fair. But no form of racing is. The problem with judgment calls is that they are exactly that, a judgment. From different areas of the track whose fault a wreck is may look totally different. That's true in all forms of racing, and in all forms of racing (aside from NASCAR) there is a two strike rule. Some days it will but you in the butt. But I prefer it to getting a strike and the person at fault going back to their spot and not being punished because maybe the race director couldn't see exactly what happened from where he was.
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BQwkR
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« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2009, 09:05:48 AM »

Little league football is full of parents that are distraught over poor officiating of games. Especially if it was their kid that was flagged for pass interference or holding. Its manadated by rules that none of the PAID ref's have their dog in the fight. They try to be impartial but sometimes it sure doesn't appear that way. Kids cry, that's what they do; but they and the parents just keep coming back to practice on Monday. There has to be some sort of judging in .25. The patients should never be allowed to run the asslyum. Anyway; I think the tracks are too small for these race cars. Most of these kids have very little concentration and slow reaction times. They need a longer track. Thats probably why they strike out more often than crunch balls of the wall.
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goffin20
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« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2009, 11:46:08 AM »

"Most of these kids have very little concentration and slow reaction times. They need a longer track"

I disagree with that comment.  These kids have excellent reaction times and if they cannot concentrate they don’t need to be in a motorized vehicle.

As for a larger track, that could also be much more dangerous to the kids.  A larger track means faster speeds and the chassis could not withstand a wreck at higher speeds.  I have seen enough chassis mangled and bent on our small tracks and don’t think it would be safe on larger tracks at higher speeds.  This is the reason many don’t run the rumble series, because a wreck could easily total a car.

Rough driving and not having or giving position is the #1 cause of strikes.  When a driver doesn’t have position and stuffs it in the corner and charges another car, that could have been avoided by the driver waiting to make the pass.  When a driver bangs on the back of another car on the lineup, jumping over his bumper or tires or spins them out, that’s rough driving.  You are supposed to stay close but make NO contact with the other car.  The QM's do have brakes but they prefer to use the other cars bumper to slow down instead of their brakes.  When a car passes but then forces the outside car into the wall, that’s racing room and could be avoided by the inside car leaving room for the outside car as they should have.  The majority of strikes can be avoided, very few are just racing incidents.

Back to the kids, these kids amaze me every time they buckle into a car.  You see a 5 year old running around acting a like a 5 year old and you say there is no way that kid should be in a race car.  Then you see them buckle in and they mature 5-10 years.  There are alot of 5 year old QM racers that have better reaction times and drive better than 75% of the drivers on the public streets today.  Practice and training will improve their reaction times and they should all concentrate and pay attention when in a car on the track.
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BQwkR
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« Reply #10 on: July 13, 2009, 12:27:17 PM »

Scott, I agree with most of what you replied. If they can't concentrate and don't have good reaction time they should be barred from racing or at least sit on the bench for a while. But then again, .25 doesn't have a bench, or is this 1,2,3 strike and you're black flagged thing supposed to suffice. To imply that a child has better reaction times than 75% adults on the road leads me to believe that there must be a lot of retirement centers in your town or your just being silly.

Your "coulds", "woulds", "shoulds" and "I thinks" don't cut it. They are opinion type words and not based in fact. If these cars are so flimsy and are not engineered to withstand another 100 feet of track, then I think our kids are not safe in any event. Scott, I've read your other opinions on this black board and most of them have been right on but I got to drop the black flag on you for this one.
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Swartz
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« Reply #11 on: July 13, 2009, 12:39:11 PM »

BQwkr, since you wern't there, you wouldn't know that at least one kid in Hvy. WF got his car destroyed in practice and (ouch) learned the downside of wearing a crotch belt. These cars are at their limit on 1/20 mile tracks.
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RBurns17
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« Reply #12 on: July 13, 2009, 12:41:44 PM »

100 ft of track isn't going to do anything. It's not a matter of ability that is causing strikes. It's called patience and give and take. Something that the kids are going to learn with the system USAC uses. I'm sorry and I don't mean to offend anyone by this comment, because it's not pointed at anyone specific, but if my driver strikes out of a heat race AND a b-main, leaving him no chance at making the show. We're going to go back and evaluate what we're doing wrong because we either contributed to the situation somehow, or got hit by a one in a billion chance.

I can understand where you would be upset if the number of strikes was miscalculated. But don't bash the strike system as a whole because it works. If it didn't it wouldn't be used in almost all other forms of racing and guess what, the magic number is always 2. If you're in two cautions, you're out. The only way to make racing 100% fair is to run the entire race under yellow with no passing allowed and leave the results up to the luck of the draw.

Not to mention adding 100 ft of track is logistically crazy. How much speed do you suppose we would pick up? How would that impact the safety of the drivers? Or of the fans for that matter. At what point would we have to add catch fences? I know, judging from some of the wrecks we've had, we're not far off that anyway.  Let's not sacrifice the safety of our drivers to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
« Last Edit: July 13, 2009, 12:48:10 PM by RBurns17 » Logged
goffin20
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« Reply #13 on: July 13, 2009, 12:46:50 PM »

Actually, the comment about the chassis not holding up on larger tracks at higher speeds was a concern of a chassis builder.  As he stated, they were not designed for larger tracks and higher speeds, especially those with fixed hard walls.  The soft wall systems have helped alot.

In regards to the 75% comment, that was both me being sarcastic as well as truthful.  I drive everyday as many others do and I have to tell you, our kids do pay more attention and drive better than many people on the road do.  Yes, some are old, some are young, some are just not paying attention, reading, texting, talking etc and most could not react in an accident situation as well as our QM drivers do.  It would also not be fair to say I lived around retirement centers any more than it would to say I lived around a lot of colleges or high schools.  Age, race or gender has nothing to do with my comments.

As for my could’s, would’s and should’s, just watch some races and you will see exactly what I am talking about.
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Swartz
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« Reply #14 on: July 13, 2009, 01:41:42 PM »

Scott, I have been rear ended twice this year while setting at the stop light in Hamilton at 127 and High street. Neither person was texting, talking or had anyone else in the car. Both were middle aged men, well, my age. Middle aged if you intend to live to 100 and something. Ya can't fix stupid.
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