Heartland Park Sucks

pbft said:
These are my observations.

Audio system almost uninteligible. Many spectators (what few there were) complained to my wife that they couldn't understand much of anything.

Track prep almost non existant.

Timing light system screwed more than one competitor.

Track cleaning crew took an inordinate amount of time to clean the track after breakage. Not the usual track support equipment we see at much smaller tracks.

Track safety - This is a BIG one. One competitor blew a turbo (I think), big flash of fire, he stopped on the track after the top end lights. It was at least 5 minutes before ANY track personnel showed up to see if he was alright. TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!

THE NHRDA NEEDS TO SCHEDULE A DIFFERENT TRACK FOR THE WORLD FINALS NEXT YEAR, A TRACK THAT CARES ABOUT ALL THE EFFORT WE, AS NHRDA COMPETITORS, GO THROUGH TO PROMOTE DIESEL MOTORSPORTS.

I, FOR ONE, WILL NOT GO TO THE WORLD FINALS NEXT YEAR IF THEY ARE HELD AT HEARTLAND PARK IN TOPEKA.[/B

Jim Calhoun
Click to expand...


^^^
What he said in spades.
 
I bet the track, the crew, and the whole day went better for Hot Rod Power Tour on Sunday. Which is total BS. I got the same vibe from the whole day as last year. I'm highly disappointed because HRP is a nice facility.
 
I think they had some replacements for the track crew. As far as the bad audio, I thought most of it was from Big Don (silly name) seemingly resting the mic on his tonsils.

And I showed up late, I only planned to watch eliminations, but when everything kicks off three hours late there are deffinately problems. So I watch qualifing in one lane? Why did they send 90% of the runs down the right lane and rarely use the left, made no sense to me. It almost seemed like the crew wanted every car/truck to run for 20 minutes befre making a pass...how long was the NX dragster sitting at the line running before changing lanes and then having issues?? Had to be close to 10+ minutes!!!
 
Ennis gets my vote. They opened the track for testing the night before the NHRDA event, the track prep was good, and the number of spectators was significantly higher.

Heartland Park is a great facility and a central location but it has not lived up to expectations.
 
SHughes said:
As far as the bad audio, I thought most of it was from Big Don (silly name) seemingly resting the mic on his tonsils.
Click to expand...

The 9/11 tribute song and both National Anthems which were played before the first round of eliminations were practically inaudible also. Big Don may have been over modulating a bit :D, but it wasn't all on him.
 
SHughes said:
I think they had some replacements for the track crew. As far as the bad audio, I thought most of it was from Big Don (silly name) seemingly resting the mic on his tonsils.

And I showed up late, I only planned to watch eliminations, but when everything kicks off three hours late there are deffinately problems. So I watch qualifing in one lane? Why did they send 90% of the runs down the right lane and rarely use the left, made no sense to me. It almost seemed like the crew wanted every car/truck to run for 20 minutes befre making a pass...how long was the NX dragster sitting at the line running before changing lanes and then having issues?? Had to be close to 10+ minutes!!!
Click to expand...

Here's some more from Big Don at my local track.....[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn9nJXHNtD8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn9nJXHNtD8[/ame]
It would be another great track for the world finals but is a IHRA track, Ennis gets my vote as well. Big nice facility with a first class track and crew.
 
SteveBricks said:
The 9/11 tribute song and both National Anthems which were played before the first round of eliminations were practically inaudible also. Big Don may have been over modulating a bit :D, but it wasn't all on him.
Click to expand...

Very true...I didn't realize there was a trbute song and was walking around for most of the National Anthem before I realized it was playing. As a military member I felt like a complete douche!!!!!
 
I thought big don was awesome in ennis this year. I might be biased because I was the " big don pick"

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd9EUVLpj4w&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd9EUVLpj4w&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]
 
stock600 said:
Here's some more from Big Don at my local track.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn9nJXHNtD8
It would be another great track for the world finals but is a IHRA track, Ennis gets my vote as well. Big nice facility with a first class track and crew.
Click to expand...

I liked the Crandall track but the crew at the last event really did a poor job last October. The other bad thing is how tight staging is no getting around the water box for the 4wd boys.

As for Big Don I think he does a great job on the mic and helping to keep things upbeat for the crowd. Remember guys if we don't draw crowds we wont last long. They are the ones the sponsors are looking for not how fast or how many of us run the track....
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top