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My bone of contention was the clause that the property could not be used as a race facility, even if some wanted to buy what was a viable facility. Attendance went down at Nazareth, just as it did at all the former Penske tracks when ISC bought it from Penske and promotion evaporated. Penske promoted the CART races in Baltimore. The IRL races were barely promoted in Philly.
For what it is worth, here in the northeast, where the number of lawyers far outstrips common sense let alone any sense of personal responsibility. There is no way I would leave a race track in any sort of usable form - somebody would find a way to convince the judge or jury that ISC was at fault because a couple of teenagers used a plasma torch to cut a hole in the fence, the gate blocking any tunnel or bridge ,and ignored approximately 200 "no trespassing" signs. They would probably even find them liable if the kids drove in an articulated loader to move the piles of dirt blocking the track.....Quote:
Originally Posted by garyshell
I am no fan of ISC - but what harm does Nazareth do to them if someone else operates it?? I do not see how it draws from any other ISC property....
All that being said, I think the state of the track has a lot more to do with the intended development that did not materialize due to the economic bust than any grand plan to monopolize racing... (although I tend to agree that the France family has aspirations to that effect and has taken many actions to meet that goal....)
As well as most any other place the IRL races.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigelred5
I live in the region (south Jersey) and this is correct... There was little to no promotion of the Nazereth race after CART. We heard a little about the Dover race - but very little... When you get down to it, NASCAR does suprisingly little local promotion for races - we never hear much about the races in Dover or Pocono all said and done...Quote:
Originally Posted by nigelred5
Anyway, the other issue is that when the IRL was at Nazareth, aside for the political issues, the cars sounded terrible - who wants to sit in a bowl and listen to that sounds for a couple of hours????
I live in Southern Maryland and remember quite a bit of promotion for the Dover IRL races (which I attended).Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris R
They did promote the hell out of Dover in the Baltimore and DC area for both horrible races, but this region is the primary market for the Dover race. Those races were also in what the second and third full seasons of the IRL? That was also the IRL and Dover promoting that race, not ISC. Honda sponsored the Nazareth IRL races, and that promotion barely left Car Dealerships. A friend of mine that worked for onda at the time told me the number of tickets distributed free by the local Honda Dealers far exceeded actual fan paid attendance, but that hasn't much changed anywhere.
Back on topic, the war is over, hopefully most of us are moving on. If I was in new England, I would absolutely attend New Hampshire. I will be attending Baltimore next year. I actually already have my reservations at the Hilton.
Who wants to listen to race engines on an oval? You kidding me? You are serious right? It is RACING dude....That is part of the deal.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris R
Back then the sound WAS a problem. IIRC Honda revised the exhaust and some of the timing to alter the really bad gutteral droning. It was a complaint everywhere, not just at Nazareth as I recall.
I think maybe I mis-spoke or was mis-understood.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa
There is good racing sound and bad racing sound - those cars sounded terrible........ I would not have gone to a short oval race to hear them.... I'd go for champ cars or todays car no problem.....
All that being said - I much prefer the sounds of a road course with a wider range of pitch and tone changes due to "working" the engine and the way sounds rolls over natural terrain....
lol...I personally don't like the exhaust note of this Honda incarnation as much as I liked the old turbo's that ran at Nazerath...Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris R