First time attending an NHRA event - when to go/what seats to get/what to expect????

[grancuda]

Looking to go to the Heartland Park event this weekend and just curious of what to expect. Couple of questions:

How to obtain a PitPass? Are all tickets pit pass tickets or just pit side tickets?
When do Super Stock, Stock Eliminator & Super Street run, we want to see the big name stuff but some stock type stuff too.
Is it better to go on Saturday or Sunday for the most racing action-not necesarily to see who wins the event
What do they do in the event of rain? It shows rain for saturday but clear sunday - will saturdays event be on sunday?

Just wanting to know more what to expect in going to a big event and I don't see a lot of info on their site.

[Bamfster]

IMO ... Friday night under the lights is the best. That's when the pros usually set it on kill and try to set low et, etc. 1st round of the sportsman classes is usually run on saturday. The super classes are run off an index ....

I usually go on friday night and sunday (mile high nats), if sunday is a rain out, the race is usually run on the following mondayr the next day that the weather will allow.

[Joe Grippo]

Friday or Saturday is the best day for Sportsman action, sometimes they can get down to around 32 cars or so in each class by Sunday.

Each ticket is a pit pass....and bring extra money and a camera!
Have fun!

Here is a link to the schedule, though it will probably get shuffled around...

http://www.nhra.com/UserFiles/file/EventSchedules/NHRA_2011_TKschedule.pdf

[1988montecarloss 2]

do they have an nhra event with the top fuel and funny cars at epping every year?

[groucho]

What to expect? Expect an empty wallet. But, seriously...go the 1st day whether it's Thurs or Friday for that event. You'll see everything go down the track....not just the qualifiers....and you can sit anywhere without fighting the crowds

[Stich496]

do they have an nhra event with the top fuel and funny cars at epping every year?

first year as NHRA .. last time I looked the site for N.E.D. didn't have this years listings of events up.
maybe Brian knows something

[Turbo Regal]

Check with the website to find out which classes are running. We have been to some events where they did not have all of the sportsman classes on the program for that event.

Going Thursday or Friday will give you the chance to see more sportsman cars and time to talk with their owners. Most of them are happy to discuss their cars with spectators as long as they are thrashing to get them done before the next round.

We always bring a portable grill and go between rounds or during an oil down delay to grill and drink beer. The burgers or brats you grill yourself will be way better and cheaper than anything sold at the track.

[LORENSWIFE]

Expect overflowing porta-potties

[daved931]

do they have an nhra event with the top fuel and funny cars at epping every year?

This is their first year as NHRA (as stich496 mentioned). They used to have IHRA top fuel and funny car every year. It was a blast to go to.

I don't think they're going to have any of the top fuel or funny car there this year. Last year what I kept hearing was they were only getting local/regional events until they invested a bunch of money in the facility.

[studemax]

Expect overflowing porta-potties

ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE!
Heartland Park has excellent bathroom buildings scattered around the track with lots of places to clean up.
I've never seen a PortaPotty at HPT.
It's a world class racing plant, not a Mom'n'Pop bullring or dragstrip.
You owe the owners of Heartland Park an apology, big time!

[LORENSWIFE]

Sorry Heartland Park...out here that is what I have seen...
~Gail

[JeffMcKC]

Heartland is a very nice track one of the Mega Plex's Paved and only thing it lacks is a Tree for shade, you cant by a shade tree.
I would go bang for the Buck on Friday for the whole day. Plenty of every car that runs, and night flames

[Ron Ward]

Heartland Park Topeka is a world-class facility. Along with the drag strip, HPT features a 2.6-mile road course, a 3/8 mile banked dirt oval and 700 acres they can use to expand for future use. I have been the track announcer there since the mid-90's and having traveled all over the country and experienced scores of other facilities, Heartland Park Topeka still stands out as the premier multi-use motorsports park in the country.

Now, with all the pleasantries out of the way, let's cut to the cold, hard, real facts. HPT is a LARGE X HUGE facility. As Jeff mentioned earlier, you cannot buy a shade tree for miles. So, plan accordingly. Take some sunblock with you... lots of it. Wear comfortable shoes that you can walk in ALL DAY LONG as it is a half-mile walk any time you leave the grandstands. Heck, you will walk around 1/2 mile just to get from your car to the ticket booth. If at all possible, get tickets for seats on the pit side. This will drastically cut down on the walk between your seat and the pits (it is 3/4 mile from the southernmost seats on the spectator side to the Top Fuel pits). They have concessions stands on both sides of the racetrack. Although the food is quite tasty, it is also quite spendy. If you decide to eat at the track, I highly recommend the italian sausage with peppers & onions. Mmmmm! Five minutes north of the track, there is a Subway Sandwich shop and a great little BBQ joint called Pat's Pig. That are great for reasonably priced meals and there is Junior's Bar & Grill right between them that serves a fantastic menu and ice cold barley pop. For breakfast, be sure and stop by Banjo's which is right next door to John's grocery store.

Drink water and lots of it. The restrooms are neat and clean and on the south end of the pits, the restrooms feature nice, hot showers. The parking areas outside the track are gonna be a muddy fuggin' mess, so you may need a shower before it is all said and done!

I will not be attending this weekend. I have been to many of the national events at HPT, but this weekend I have home repairs and an APA State Pool Tournament to attend to. I hope you have fun.


Ron

[pdub]

Maybe the question is from a newcomer's standpoint. I can address that. I sure don't know where to sit or what to do at my one and only stright-line racing event ever.

But I had Matt as a tour guide and host at the Reunion in Kentucky last year. Got to meet and shake hands with Brian for just a minute.

Matt talked a lot ahead of time about, "Got to get close to the starting line." He described the feeling about your heart flutters when they go off the line.

He described it perfectly, but he didn't describe it at all. Those old nitro Top Fuel cars, when they went, standing there beside the fence with people yelling for us to sit down so they could see...yes, it rattles your guts like a vibrator couch being hooked up to 1000 volts. I didn't really like it, that feeling. I like being in control. Or at least thinking I'm in control. Now by body flesh and all my innards are under the control of that pulsating ..."sound" is not the right word. It's an awesome force to be felt, hanging on the fence at the starting line.

That's what I learned with my first trip out to a drag race.

And if I told that story at work, to the fellas I used to work with in production, they'd call me a one-nutted hairless candy ass for not liking it. And they would be right.

[BigDad]

Heartland Park Topeka is a world-class facility. Along with the drag strip, HPT features a 2.6-mile road course, a 3/8 mile banked dirt oval and 700 acres they can use to expand for future use. I have been the track announcer there since the mid-90's and having traveled all over the country and experienced scores of other facilities, Heartland Park Topeka still stands out as the premier multi-use motorsports park in the country.

Now, with all the pleasantries out of the way, let's cut to the cold, hard, real facts. HPT is a LARGE X HUGE facility. As Jeff mentioned earlier, you cannot buy a shade tree for miles. So, plan accordingly. Take some sunblock with you... lots of it. Wear comfortable shoes that you can walk in ALL DAY LONG as it is a half-mile walk any time you leave the grandstands. Heck, you will walk around 1/2 mile just to get from your car to the ticket booth. If at all possible, get tickets for seats on the pit side. This will drastically cut down on the walk between your seat and the pits (it is 3/4 mile from the southernmost seats on the spectator side to the Top Fuel pits). They have concessions stands on both sides of the racetrack. Although the food is quite tasty, it is also quite spendy. If you decide to eat at the track, I highly recommend the italian sausage with peppers & onions. Mmmmm! Five minutes north of the track, there is a Subway Sandwich shop and a great little BBQ joint called Pat's Pig. That are great for reasonably priced meals and there is Junior's Bar & Grill right between them that serves a fantastic menu and ice cold barley pop. For breakfast, be sure and stop by Banjo's which is right next door to John's grocery store.

Drink water and lots of it. The restrooms are neat and clean and on the south end of the pits, the restrooms feature nice, hot showers. The parking areas outside the track are gonna be a muddy fuggin' mess, so you may need a shower before it is all said and done!

I will not be attending this weekend. I have been to many of the national events at HPT, but this weekend I have home repairs and an APA State Pool Tournament to attend to. I hope you have fun.


Ron

We found most of our fun at Babydolls