They announced it as a sell out crowd, and I believe it!


 

Today (Saturday) was for qualifying rounds 2 & 3, but I heard that the crowd was big also for Q1 on Friday night.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is eliminations, so I'd expect another great crowd to be on hand. 

Didn't know there were that many race fans left out there, but it sure was great to see and to be a part of.  Lots of smiles - Folks enjoying a nice September day with a hint of Nitro in the air....

Joe,  Crowd was bigger than usual on Friday. Your right Saturday was mobbed! Hardly any seats in General Addmission and had to be 8-10 deep at the fence. Thank goodness Kenny Koretsky bought the place. Saved it from becoming another lost speedway. 

Here's a tip to those who are going next year. Instead of parking in the main track lots follow the road to the right and behind the track offices you can park on the hill. Plenty of shade and not many cars. The best part is the track hires school buses to pick you up on the hill and drop you off at the spectator side ticket building. It gets better yet. Then you walk across the road and take the free shuttle to the crossover at the staging lanes. Saves about a mile of walking. Buses run till 7:00 PM. ALL FREE!

If you never been to a NHRA National event it's a must go. Even though the ticket prices are getting pretty high, $60.00 for G.A. on saturday, you'll see and meet every one of the Pros and watching the crews work on the cars less than 5 feet away. No chainlink fences between you and the racers.  Don't blame the track for the prices the NHRA set them and makes most of the money from the event. 

They need to work on access. Hour and a half to get from home in Jersey to 1 mile from the track.

Over an hour and a half to get into the parking lot Saturday.

I'm sure they're aware of it.  I had a similar situation on my last visit back in 2007, so I don't think it's a new problem, but definitely something that I'm sure they'll want to improve if possible.

On Saturday, once we made the left off of Rt 10, we had about 15 minutes of traffic before we got to the track. It was moving slowly as we got in sight of the track, so I ended up paying for parking on the hill directly across the road from the staging lanes.  I think I got to the parking spot right around 12 noon.

Tiny roads leading into the place make getting in and out difficult, and I was thinking that all available parking on Saturday was probably maxxed out by the time I got there, and I also figured it would take a long time to get out if I was parked way in the back on the spectator side, so we opted to pay for an easy access spot, which is something I almost never do, but ended up being worth it this time for sure.

I was turned on to drag racing by my buddy from PA some years ago -being in stock cars all my life , we went to maple grove where he had gone all his life-i was blown away , and went with him for many years after that-when i heard and felt  them set the clutches on the top fuel cars while standing 35  ft away  and that nitro kicked in  , i was stunned !!

The stat that stayed with me was that "1 cyl.of a top fuel dragster , put out more horsepower than a nascar cup v8 " !!!

The NHRA had it right way before NASCAR did as far as fans "up close and personal" and involved !!

Also , maple grove --- the best racetrack  hamburgers ever , and i've had 'em from new england to florida !!!

blessings !!

bill----------