NSS - Open Practice - Important Announcement

[Mark Keeler]

New Smyrna Speedway has a previously scheduled Open Practice set for Thursday 4/19 from 6:00-10:00pm. Pit Gates open at 5:00pm. Cost is $10.00/person.

IMPORTANT: Due to lack of attendance a previous Open Practices, Thursdays practice will determine the fate of future Open Practice dates.
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[Frasson118]

KILL practice nights. Every lap a car turns during practice, is a lap they will NOT be doing on race nights.

Most tracks all over the country have a single practice night.... a week or two prior to the season starting. After that, if you want/need laps, bring it to the RACES.

[Racer101]

DON'T KILL practice nights. People build race cars to race them, not practice them. So they WILL show up race night. Practice nights are a good opportunity for guys to shake down their cars without the pressure or time crunch faced on many race days. It's a chance to improve on their car in order to put on a better show come race day. And it is much cheaper than paying pit entry on a race night, plus entry fee. If it were me, I'd much rather run on practice night to see where I'm at with a car before I try and show up and race it. If the car sucks, why pay the extra money to come race it? To put a car in the pits and something thats not competitive just to ride around the track? That's not entertaining.
Yeah I will give you that if a guy comes on practice night, he may not practice as much on race day (if the car is right), but who is there to watch practice?
Practice nights are good.

[Frasson118]

Only good for teams with enough money. These practice nights only put the low dollar teams just that much more behind.

When, and where I grew up, the only way to get better was to get OUT there. One practice night (maybe) for the entire season. Langhorne, Trenton, Nashville, Eldora, Syracuse, Winchester, Knoxville...... have ANY of these tracks ever had a practice night? Why does every track around have a practice night for every 50'lapper that comes down the pike... no matter what division is running it?

I don't see TBARA doing it. They bring their cars, run 2 practice sessions, a heat race, and a feature. Right there is 3 opportunities to get your car right for the feature. Some hit it, some don't. They didn't need an entire separate night of expenses to figure it out. They come, they RACE, they go home, and come back next time out.

Practice nights are KILLING racing in Florida..... and I'm stickin to this one....

[jnyg23]

practice nights are good just not before a big race.and mabye only once a month or so

[HMC54]

I know practice nights for me have been very helpful. I get to try all kinds of shocks, springs, & gear ratio changes without thrashing on race day. Plus the sun is down & the track condition is about the same has when we race. Unlike our practice at 4:30pm on race day when the track is slick. I just looked at the schedule, & the track could cut back to only one practice night a month. Whatever the outcome is, I thank the track for having practice nights.

[UREZ2PASS]

Ever wreck a racecar ? Practice nights give you an opportunity to test your stuff before race night for $10. It's also an opportunity to break-in engines, transmissions, and test set-up changes. There are tons of reasons test nights help DRIVERS.

Fans need to sit this one out !

Money teams will rent the track anyway.

[Frasson118]

I guess me, and the rest of the country, are wrong. Got it all figured out here, yet wondering why there's no cars.

How come everyone else can overcome a crash, rebuilt transmission, or break in a motor without needing a practice night to do it? The rest of the country manages.

[UREZ2PASS]

I guess me, and the rest of the country, are wrong. Got it all figured out here, yet wondering why there's no cars.

How come everyone else can overcome a crash, rebuilt transmission, or break in a motor without needing a practice night to do it? The rest of the country manages.

If you said it, it must be true. Sometimes, I would like to put you in a great big slingshot and shoot your ass back north.

[UREZ2PASS]

If you said it, it must be true. Sometimes, I would like to put you in a great big slingshot and shoot your ass back north.

Sometimes, I amuse myself. LOL !!!!!!

[MOE #15]

Really

Really you still blaming the north. COME ON NOW

[Racer101]

Racing cars is expensive in general. The teams with money will spend it to win. They will buy tires and rent the track if they have to. And the teams without do the best they can. Don't tell me that this isn't happening "in the rest of the country". So if the lower budget teams can come to the track on occasion for $10 a person and tune on the car, I don't see how that's bad. Besides, it's not like this is the same situation as with NASCAR in years past where testing expenses got out of control. I don't see what harm a test night can do every once in a while. I'm not buying that open practice nights are what is killing racing in Florida. There are other factors. Besides, based on the first post here, nobody is showing up for practice either....

[ocalasp76]

I just set up the car for the first race this year for the e-mod. Some set up and practice is needed, plue we have out of state guest who won't be here this weekend. Bringing 3 others with me..........if it don't rain
-JIM-

[MOE #15]

Oca

Good luck and hope all of you have a great time.

[Winger]

I think what Jerry is getting at is the expense of practice. What does it cost you to make a trip to the track and back with the hauler? Cost of admission is negligible. Cost of gas along with the biggest expense being tires is prohibitive to some. I understand wanting to practice but it does get expensive. Low budget teams can't afford to practice so it puts them at a slight disadvantage come race day. Heck, I even had a driver tell me he couldn't afford the tires to practice on race day. He was a low budget team and was basically a field filler. If a car races only one track and has a good setup, that driver may not need much practice to be competitive. But if you race at different tracks and are not real familiar with a track, practice can benefit you. Practice can make you fast for time trials but I don't see many guys practicing to setup their cars for passing. I assume some do.
If I drove and could afford it I'd like to practice. If I'm a low budget racer and really can't afford an extra set of tires, I'd feel it's giving the money teams an advantage. So theoretically, it would put everyone on equal footing if you didn't have an extra practice night. Seriously, you have hours of practice on race day.
I won't speak for the rest of the country, but right here in Florida the dirt tracks do not have these extra practice days all the time. These guys go to the track and may get 10 laps on a wet track if they are lucky. Many don't even practice at all. What I have seen happen if a driver wants to shake a new car down or try a different set up at BRP, is the track allowing them to have some practice time AFTER the races on a track that has been raced on. I think I'll agree with Frasson on this. It's an unnecessary added expense. I hope EZ doesn't have a double barrel slingshot. LOL
BTW Jerry, Syracuse has lots of practice for their big race. I think they use to get one day before the week of competition started and then quite a bit more during the week.