berad and NDA2001, you guys are missing the point. Nobody here afraid of a time slip, and nobody trying to get around the rules by running slicks and trailering. Maybe you should read the posts more carefully. The point is that if you’re NOT going to trailer, and to follow the rules drive to/from the event, distance is an issue. SOME of us have hand built custom cars that we’ve put tens of thousands of dollars into and that we don’t want to thrash for hours of driving just to get to an event, and then the same to get back. When you’ve got Tri-Coat PPG paint that materials alone cost $1k/gallon on the complete bottom of the car, coated exhaust, etc, those miles add up. Driving 30-45 minutes to get to a strip is one thing. Driving at least 3 hours round trip is something else. When I do that it’s called “Power Tour”, not FLD. Maybe you’ve heard of it. Maybe you ought to think about the guys like me that have really carefully built 44 year old cars into customs and want to have fun with them too. You know, not everyone has a 6 year old Honda. BTW, I’d be more than willing to put some hard cash betting that I’ve spent WAY more time collecting slips at strips… starting more than 30 years ago. No fear here.
Hey Mike, at least it’s nice to see that the FLD folks are equal opportunity in their ignoring everyone. I think it’s obvious that they don’t want help. I think it’s equally obvious that they need help - but are for whatever reason unwilling to accept it. Too bad. The lack of communication and the distance are deal breakers for me. Right now I’m frantically trying to get ready for Good Guys PPG Nationals and Pontiac Nationals, so scheduling is real important. I just checked today, and though they never respond to anyone, they did change their posted schedule. Now it says: May 9 - Steel Valley Dragway - Steubenville, Ohio - Till Dark May 29 - National Trail Raceway - Columbus, OH - 6 PM till Midnight June 13 - Steel Valley Dragway - Steubenville, Ohio - Till Dark June 13 - CarFest at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex Pre-Registration: 4:00pm/Racing Starts at 5:00pm / Cost to race: $25.00 July 11 - Steel Valley Dragway - Steubenville, Ohio - Till Dark August 8 - Steel Valley Dragway - Steubenville, Ohio - Till Dark August 28 - National Trail Raceway - Columbus, Ohio - 6 PM till Midnight September 12 - Steel Valley Dragway - Steubenville, Ohio - Till Dark September 18 - National Trail Raceway - Columbus, Ohio - 6 PM till Midnight October 10 - Steel Valley Dragway - Steubenville, Ohio - Till Dark Notice all the "TBA"s are gone, and as usual nothing about PID. So, I’m pretty confident that we can kill the entire idea of PID happening. Everything is in Ohio except for June 13 at BeaveRun. So, we’re done with FLD. OTOH, I see that PRP is going to be having “Stoplight Drags”. I’m going to check that out instead maybe.
No. You are missing my point, which is this:
If the FLD’s are so troublesome and problematic for you and they deny any offers of help, why not just let them fail? Don’t go. It’s easy.
These events were marketed and put on for street cars, if you have $1k/gallon paint on the bottom of your car and you are afraid of a 3 hour trip, this does not sound like a street car to me, sounds like a show car you happen to drive for 10 minutes on the street once a decade.
You’re just plain wrong. These events were marketed and put on for local hot-rodders, street cars, tuners, etc. And, to get local participation for viewers. An opportunity to allow local communities to see “Street Legal” cars get exercised a little. To be honest, you’re statement is full of shit. The very fact that I and others are talking about going to FLD, or “Stoplight Drags” at PRP shows that we’re certainly not afraid of running the cars, and that they get driven a heck of a lot more than “10 minutes on the street once a decade”. Or maybe you think FLD was only put together for daily drivers? Funny - when you go to their web site, the cars that are highlighted first are vintage 60’s muscle cars that are NOT daily drivers. Unless you think a blown Dart or a 63 LeMans are daily drivers.
Please provide me with a bullet list of items and I will contact Michael to respond. Last I spoke with him the PID event was slipped to the public prematurely. An agreement has not been made with the PID owners and they are extremely difficult to work with since there real jobs require them to travel. In my eyes the chances of anything happening at PID this summer are slim to none. The FLD guys are extremely busy people and they operate FLD strictly as a side gig. I can only imagine how much they have on there plate right now with what happened at the airports. They have advertising and sponsorships sold but no place to hold events! Can you imagine the pressure?
I am sure they would love for you to volunteer but is probably hard to setup plans with so many things in the air. So I ask again, provide me with a list of questions for Michael and I will communicate them with him.
As for the premature slip to the public I’ll take the blame for that (although I did ask if it was OK to share that information after Michael announced it to us at a gearhead gathering).
Poncho, As for the 63 Leman’s not being a daily driver Rob drives the car regularly! He’s even driven it from his home in Butler to the Clairon FLD’s while I trailered the Jetta. The only time I have seen that car on a trailer was when he brought it to my place to dyno with the intent of blowing it up and when he took it to Rockingham where it ran 9.0 on street tires through the mufflers. He probably could have driven it there and saved a bunch of $ on fuel rather than trailering it. As far as the Power Tour goes… big deal… talk to me about Drag Week and you’ll perk my interest!
Mike, I’m sure the '63 Lemans isn’t a “daily driver”. Driving regularly isn’t the same. But that isn’t the point. I was just saying that some may not want to drive 3 hours, but would certainly drive 45 minutes. Maintenance is a bitch, and honestly, this pig eats gas! This particular car is really built more of a Pro-Touring custom than a Pro-Street/drag car. Currie currectrac billet adjustable rear, SPC billet adjustable front UCAs, Howe tall ball joints, etc. It’s a vert, and I didn’t want to ruin it with a cage, so even with 600hp I’m limited to 13.49 under NHRA/IHRA. That’s also why I went with the TKO600. FLDs with street tires would have been a blast just to play around, but… What’s in that Lemans? 9’s on street tires through the mufflers?
Huh? FLDs are happening this year. They’re just all in Ohio (and once at BeaveRun). Again, are you actually reading what’s written?
Mr. Poncho, I can read the mother fucking 4 pages of you bitching about FLD’s. GET THE FUCK OVER IT. OHIO IS BEAT. THEY’RE NOT GOING TO DO SHIT FOR YOU. SHUT THE FUCK UP!
Was that clear enough for you to comprehend? :burnout:
Ummm… I don’t think the guys that run the FLD’s are any happier about getting screwed by the FAA and PennDot than the rest of us are.
We should spend our energy writing some letters to the f-wads that ruined this for all of us instead of bitching back and forth about how fucked-up it’s going to be driving to a little shitty-ass track in Ohio.
I think we can all agree that this whole thing just sucks…but really…wtf is bitching about it on here going to do? Write letters…inundate them with e-mails…that’s about all we can do at this point…