SCCAForums.com

Chris Hammond:

You guys are just afraid of arkansas. It's those freaks just north in southern Missouri you have to worry about, it's scary country there.

Do you mean someone like this guy, Chris?

---

2002 Mercedes C230k, retired, 2005 Nationals STU DFL

1969 Beach Solo Vee and 1985 Lynx B Solo Vee

Come on Ron, you couldn't possibly be an ignorant enough f*ck to accuse the National staff of lying about hotel rooms and wanting the event to shrink, could you?  That is completely ridiculous.  Aren't the National staffers in your region?  How do you face them after accusations like that?

I think the availability of HPT to be rented isn't the issue, it's the price and the resultant effect on entry fee that would be the issue.

DaveW

Full disclosure:   My company has a financial interest in Nationals being the largest event possible. 

I owe Ron Williams an apology.  My intention was not to call him an ignorant ^$^%, I just used a poor anology and let the curse word overwhelm my point.  Probably why cursing isn't always a very good thing to do.  :( 

DaveW

Come on Ron, you couldn't possibly be an ignorant enough f*ck to accuse the National staff of lying about hotel rooms and wanting the event to shrink, could you?  That is completely ridiculous.  Aren't the National staffers in your region?  How do you face them after accusations like that?

I think the availability of HPT to be rented isn't the issue, it's the price and the resultant effect on entry fee that would be the issue.

DaveW

Full disclosure:   My company has a financial interest in Nationals being the largest event possible. 

I'm going to try to get back to my original points, a little softer this time. :)

1)  I don't think it is fair to mischaracterize the National staff as lying about the number of rooms available.  THe wording used certainly implies that.  In my VERY BRIEF conversations with any of the National staff about the Nationals site, one thing is clear:  THey care about growing/sustaining that event as much or more than we do. 

2)  We keep acting like there is a long pick list of sites for us.  There isn't.  We HOPE there is ONE site in the entire country that can accomadate us in the format we are used to.  I'm not a big fan of HPT's surface and size, but if Mr. Iwrin unfires SCCA and we can stay there, I could support that decision.  I could also support a move to Ark.  If the surface is good, people will figure everything else.  I haven't run a map, but I wonder how many hotel rooms are within the same distance of Blytheville compared to the 15 minutes from Wanamaker to HPT?  Or Kokomo to Peru.

DaveW

I will say that I had a much better experience with teh surface at MidDivs last weekend.  Never got the hang of that place, but things went better this past event.  Grip was great, not much sand at all after two days of running.  Maybe it was the hotter weather....maybe it's getting 'seasoned' like Milwaukee did, dunno.  Still have things that aren't my favorite about the place, but the surface was definately more to my liking.

---

Patrick Washburn
STU Evo - SOLD!
<----- 2009 - Regain the coveted Tri Pod Trophy for the Hiedi's

Patrick Washburn:

I will say that I had a much better experience with teh surface at MidDivs last weekend.  Never got the hang of that place, but things went better this past event.  Grip was great, not much sand at all after two days of running.  Maybe it was the hotter weather....maybe it's getting 'seasoned' like Milwaukee did, dunno.  Still have things that aren't my favorite about the place, but the surface was definately more to my liking.

I agree, the surface was much better.  It weathered a lot thanks to the crappy winter and wet weather.  You can see a lot more aggregate in it now.  How much sand will get kicked up by 1200 people, dunno.  I didn't notice that much offline last weekend, although I did hear a few people mention it.

Dave G.

First, we ran the "Blob" from the 2007 Nationals. Clockwise on Saturday (and I learned from my lousy Thursday Nationals performance) and it was pretty grippy.

Second, we ran the Blob backwards on Sunday and that was FANTASTIC. Really a fun course going ccw.

Third, we had about 145 entrants total.

Lastly, it DID get sandy off the common lines on Saturday and more so on Sunday. At the Sunday start line there were long rubber tracks, and just to the right of the tracks were long piles of grit !!!. I ran third heat (as A/S ran third heat on both days) so by then the third heat drivers certainly had to keep close to the "lines" or it was away-we-go.  Sure am glad A/S runs Tuesday/Wednesday. Hope it's DRY !!!!!

 And LAST lastly, if we return to HPT in 2009 a truly hope that the SCCA arranges for a sweeper/vacuum truck to not only clean the racing lines, but actually REMOVES the grit. Right Mr. Hollis?????

---

Bob Buxbaum
Lee's Summit, Mo.

snaponbob:

 And LAST lastly, if we return to HPT in 2009 a truly hope that the SCCA arranges for a sweeper/vacuum truck to not only clean the racing lines, but actually REMOVES the grit. Right Mr. Hollis?????

Silly me, but I was kinda hoping they would do that *this* year.  

Dave G.

snaponbob:

 And LAST lastly, if we return to HPT in 2009 a truly hope that the SCCA arranges for a sweeper/vacuum truck to not only clean the racing lines, but actually REMOVES the grit. Right Mr. Hollis?????

AFAIK, the vacuum sweeper is happening in 08. 

DaveW

My intent of my last statement WAS definately not to imply that the national staff was lying.  I said to the staffer, " that town is kinda in the middle of nowhere isn't it?" The staffer replied "No, It has 850 hotel rooms." I thought that kinda unusal for a town that size so I googled hotel rooms for Blytheville and got six hotels on several hits. I'm not sure what the distances are from the site to any of the hotel rooms in that town and have no idea what the distance is to the surrounding towns.

My whole intent was that I didn't see it feasable for a town that size to host an event the size of the current nationals. I maybe wrong. If we do end up in Arkansas I'll be there to run and hope all of the others that have run nationals in the last few years will be there too. It's been a great 12 years running in Topeka and I hate to see it change.

---

Ron Williams

Multi-time national champion---ship trophy winner

gareno:

That's kind of my point. A city any smaller than Topeka, will certainly struggle to accomodate. And yes, we are right on the edge of nowhere, we can see it from here.

Salina seemed to handle our roadshow for 12 years. I still miss Ranger's Steak House (does it still exist?).

---

Matt Murray

I am perfectly capable of learning from my mistakes. I will surely learn a great deal today.

If I recall and I might be wrong, but the last nationals in Salina in 94 had around 500 competitors

---

Ron Williams

Multi-time national champion---ship trophy winner

How many rooms within 45 minutes?   That, I think, is a better indicator.   Maybe even 30 minutes...

---

Tracy Ramsey
Team Blenderblaster
2000 MR2 DP Spyder

Ron, I did a bit of Google surfing earlier today. Within about 40 miles of Big B there are at least 20 hotel/motels listed. How many rooms that equates to is unknown. It tried to actually call some of the Blytheville government offices and, welllllll, um, nobody answered any of the numbers. Full disclosure - I did NOT call the city jail.

 

---

Bob Buxbaum
Lee's Summit, Mo.

ron:

If I recall and I might be wrong, but the last nationals in Salina in 94 had around 500 competitors

I don't think it was that low. 700-800 seems to stick in my mind. I've sent an email to Rocky asking.

It is moot, in that Salina is no longer viable. I do seem to remember 75 second courses.

---

Matt Murray

I am perfectly capable of learning from my mistakes. I will surely learn a great deal today.

Name brand motels in Blytheville 

Comfort Inn -  105 rooms

Days Inn - 61 rooms

Travelodge - 56 rooms

Holiday Inn - 150 rooms

Comfort Inn & Suites - 79 rooms

Super 8 - 51 rooms

Best Western - 40 rooms

Hampton Inn - 87 rooms

629 rooms total

 

But as Mr. Isley pointed out, how many of those are regularly filled.

 

The Holiday Inn just refurbished its rooms, so they must have plenty of people coming through on a regular basis.  

 

But I'm sure that there are plenty of rooms in Memphis.

---

David Avard
89 Honda Civic Si black (STS)
07 Mazda 3s (HS?)

Since this place is so close to the New Madrid Fault, what are the rules if the "Big One" hits and knocks a bunch of cones out of their boxes?  :^)

 

---

#49 SM

Oh hey it worked in Salina!!!

 

Uh....  I assume that means people think Salina is small?  It dwarfs Blythevile.  More than 3x the population and a travel center and distribution hub at the intersection of two major freeways.

Salina would be nirvana compared to Blythevile.

---

Dr. Conemangler
#15 STS '91 Civic Si
CalClub

Davard:

Name brand motels in Blytheville 

Comfort Inn -  105 rooms

Days Inn - 61 rooms

Travelodge - 56 rooms

Holiday Inn - 150 rooms

Comfort Inn & Suites - 79 rooms

Super 8 - 51 rooms

Best Western - 40 rooms

Hampton Inn - 87 rooms

629 rooms total

 

But as Mr. Isley pointed out, how many of those are regularly filled.

 

The Holiday Inn just refurbished its rooms, so they must have plenty of people coming through on a regular basis.  

 

But I'm sure that there are plenty of rooms in Memphis.

 

The other 221 rooms are rented weekly and monthly and accept Section 8 funding....Either that or they are located in Atwater.   

---

Dr. Conemangler
#15 STS '91 Civic Si
CalClub

Scariest thing of all about Blythevile....

 

22 miles away is a place called, Cole's Lounge.  

---

Dr. Conemangler
#15 STS '91 Civic Si
CalClub

SteveEkstrand:

Scariest thing of all about Blythevile.... 22 miles away is a place called, Cole's Lounge.  

Next! Move on to another site.

---

Matt Murray

I am perfectly capable of learning from my mistakes. I will surely learn a great deal today.