kman.
dino
Ok Gang …waited for some details …So Here goes;
Grab a bag of Chips ,cause this will be lenthy.
After setting the Date, with Wayne the managers assistance, I went into ‘promo mode’ for the ‘8th’ for 11 monthes.The usual sponsor hunting,endless phone calls and coming up with new ideas. My new stategy to get the general public paid off.See in the past , I concentrated on getting the word to the participants. That had ‘Howies” general admission gate and the car show car count ,remaining level and stagnent for about 4 years.So we switched Car Clubs last year (Dead End Cruizers) ….Super organized ,fantastic efficiant group.They got 4000 show only flyers to blanket the Albany area,and we put out another 3000 to shows/cruise nights ,including every Goodie bag at the Aderondek Nationals. So since the Cruizers came on board,the Show Car Count this year was DOUBLE of 2014,and up 31 % from last year . We had 210 cars this year- A record. Also Up 36% was the Spectator Gate,since I hit Albany for a month with the Albany Times-Union website with a direct link to our new this year YouTube Commercial. I was on numerous Radio shows from Newburgh to even WheelzUp …and the joining of the the Columbia County Chamber ,got us on 3 more Radio stations ,free ads in Newspapers in the Area,and Chamber newsletter promo to all 880 members. Howie wa quite Happy…Of course,we’re invited back.Look at the photos of the Stands on Sunday….they’re packed.That outdoes the Hot Rod Reunions at Epping and most ‘Nostalgia’ shows all over the east coast.We Are now The Premiere Northeast Nostalgia Drag event. A “Howie-ism” ,when told the only complaints,were the food stand lines were too long.He said,”thats a Good thing,isn’t it”? He planned on last years figures,and will adjust for next year. If you missed the Sat. night “FlashBack Party”…shame on you…HOTROD Band blew the rafters off…Next Year ,we’ll do it again BE THERE ! .Top Speed of The Meet..”TIME BOMB”-213….Best Participation- NETO….Long Distance- Tom Blake….Oldest Running Dover Car- “Alley Oop’/Bobby Schlegel ( all getting in the mail- except Tom ) .Now…On to the Race………
Last year we had a record of over 465 cars entered for both days (up from 403 in 2014)…Blew that apart with 604 this year-both days. Sat was 273,Sunday was 331.NETO brought in biggest participation with 47 cars on Sat….41 on Sunday.Add to that East Coast Gassers best car count yet,and Gasser Racing Series ,along with NENDRA.By all reports from Pro Photographers and media guys, our event had the most gassers ,they ever saw at one event.We were running great on Sat,with Wayne expertly filling the lanes constantly,while keeping your wait in lanes time to a minimum.Sunday we started on time ,but experianced about an hour and 45 min. down time, of clean-ups.That pushed our Elim.start time & Show up to 2pm from expected 12;30.Wayne is compulsive at giving every car two time shots on Sun. Last run went off at 8:30 ! Oh- I pulled out at 9:30 to head south.Stayed to the end ,to shake each Dover Elim. winners Hand. Yes,we did suspend running the King Of the Hill feature of all Dover Elim. Winners.Had to, due to time constraints.We will adjust that for next year ,by changing our format. I had to scramble with behind the scenes ‘mid course’ corrections as reports came in starting Fri.at Midnight and through Sat., of Broken Feature Cars not going to make it. Two cars broke at Atco sat., and the Yellow Bandits Rig broke down in Penn. Thats why we went to ‘Old Skool Freak show” sunday with former Dover Racers Billy Masiello and Bruce Fiorito filling in to run ‘Earthshake’r & “LiL Missbehavour’. Bruce And Billy Loved It and so did the Fans. Tech lanes both days were backed up to the main gate on Rt.20.THAT will be fixed by Wayne saying Tech Will open next year at 7am. That also will get inspections stated an hour earlier.Another new record,was the amount of Former DOVER cars/drivers entered and Dover Originals in that display.”Drag Alley had more than last year too.Ya mighta caught,I almost forgot the National Anthem,with all the confusion going on…Lots of stuff ,behind the scenes to attend to, BUT…It all was good…’Got er done” and folks had a great weekend.Our headlined Funny Cars and crews were a pleasure to work with a crowd pleasing final of indentical 6.60 E/T.s with The Time Bomb beating Chuck’s Mustang by what they both said was mere inches at the line.I coudn’t have pulled it all off without the unending support of some very special people. Bob ‘V-Bob” Bartkus has been my ‘got your back’ guy from the beginning. His devotion and help all during the event,but for monthes previous….every year. Thanks ya old fart. Bobby Schlegel’s hard work and support in the N.Y./ area is always an asset.As is Brian Marasco, Richie Head, Phil Little and the Dead End Cruizers, the entire Fred’s Speed Shop gang,Bob Sweatland organizing the Funny Cars, ALL OUR Sponsors that finaince all this ….But goes without saying: Howie,Wayne and the Whole Lebanon Valley staff ( office-track crew-top end,staging lanes,gates ,starting line,tower,tech) ….They have proven to be the Best Track organization on the east coast,Without them, we’de have nothing. Thanks for another great year…2017 ,here we come ….. ‘Dino”….’keepin the memory alive’…probably forgot something or someone…digest this first..Ill reply with more…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDyGs8tdfwU&feature=youtu.be
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