As many of you may have heard, this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment Nationals is going to be run in a different fashion than NHRA national events typically are. Because of the horrendous amount of rain that the track and area have received this spring, major alterations to the norm were made. The largest was that any sportsman categories starting from top sportsman and top dragster on down have been postponed to a later date. So the entire event will be run with the following classes. Factory Stock Showdown, Top alcohol dragster, top alcohol funny car, pro modified, pro stock, nitro funny car, and top fuel dragster. Those are the categories that pit on the paved, right side of the track typically.
The track also had to cancel much of their camping and they have had to work hard on parking plans to make sure that the fans are able to park their cars and not worry about them sinking into the soft, wet Earth. This is the kind of thing that is just gut wrenching to watch happen, especially to a facility with the pedigree, the care, and the reputation of Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. The cool thing is that this is one of the few places in the world of drag racing that can handle this level of shuck and jive and this area has some of the most hardcore fans in the sport of drag racing.
The video below was made a few days ago and the crux of it is Bill Bader Jr. describing the situation and the reasoning behind the decisions made to change the event to make the best experience for fans and racers alike.
There was plenty of uproar on the internet from people but in the end the overall response, especially from racers who appreciate the fact that their stuff won’t be stuck up to the axles, was positive. The announcement of the culling of classes was made on Sunday which was early enough that most racers had not left home and headed for the track. For those screaming and yelling about the decision, would it be better to have hundreds of sunk rigs? Cars in the mud? No. No logical thinking human can argue that.
This was a decision made to make the best of a crummy situation. We’ll be there this weekend to keep you posted on just how different it is.
First class facility run, run by a first class family!