First of all I would like to thank each and every one of you that attended this year's Mopar Atlantic Nationals. I also appreciate all of the positive comments and your suggestions for what it will take to "fix" the event.

Over the last few days we have had some serious discussions regarding this event. Let me ease some minds out there by saying the"Mopars" are not dead and will return in 2007.

This event is certainly not the only one to see a down turn in recent years. In fact, the entertainment industry in general has been struggling the last few years. Especially in our area. Why? I suppose we could hash that out for a couple of days at least. We seem to have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to keep our share of the entertainment dollar!

Some personal observations that may have some merit. I was able to greet hundreds of walk-ins on Saturday and Sunday morning. Being involved in the Mopar hobby for over 35 years, I recognized and was able to speak to quite a few of you. There was a trend that became more and more apparent as I talked to many of my friends. "Dude, where is your car?". "Oh, you know how it is, mortgage, car payments, kids. I couldn't afford to bring the car out. Maybe next year". Over and over again, same story.
Many of the guys who were "twenty somethings" when this show was in it's heyday are now saddled with family and other obligations. The cars are in garages. Mine has not seen the light of day in five years! At least they showed up as spectators. How many didn't show up at all? Unfortunately, a lot.
We need more vendors? Yeah, I'm sure. Do you know how many vendors tell me that they are "done" with shows? Ebay has changed things forever. Sorry, but it is true. Why load up a pickup with stuff when you can sell the same items from your living room? We'll probably see even fewer and fewer vendors in the future but we will probably see more companies promoting parts for the new generation of Mopar performance cars.
It is very possible that we will soon see a noticeable upswing in participation with the increase in popularity of the LX platform cars, the SRT4 Neons and Calibers, the new Challenger, etc. No they're not the classics, but new blood and some change is definitely in order.

Regarding promotion. It is possible that there are some Mopar fans that don't know about this event, but I doubt it. This event has a 20 year history! EVERY hardcore Moparfile knows about it. It was promoted in all of the enthusiast magazines, along with this, the biggest and best Mopar oriented website on the planet.
N.J. radio stations ran ads for the event starting ten days prior. Thousands of direct mailers went out along with an equal number of emails. Why would we not promote this event? This is a business that has existed for over 40 successful years. E-town has not forgotten how to promote an event.

I was the one trying to locate display cars for this event. We offered free admission for car owners to show their historic or noteworthy cars. It was like pulling teeth! No one seemed interested! Of the group that did commit, fully half of them did not show up. What's up with that?

Same thing with the "celebrities". Some of our heroes are just plain worn out. Don't want to do it anymore. One of them wanted five grand just to show up and sign autographs for part of one day! Holy smokes!

How do we revive this thing? It will take a lot of thought and a lot of work, but as I said earlier, we have not thrown in the towel!

Please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions or suggestions regarding this event or if you want to discuss certain points of this post.
Walter Frey
P.S. The "burger girls" were thrilled to learn of all your praise!

I agree Walt the show must go on

I did not go this year, for a few reasons, but times have changed. I remember going in the mid 90's with a trailer load of parts, selling almost everything, and chatting with Don Garlits and having him sign the dash of my truck.

Personally I don't go for the swap or even the car show part, I like to participate in the racing and watch it as well. Cars been off the road the last few years so obviously no racing, but I enjoy watching it.

I figured the show would always go on as long as the cost to promote and run it for the weekend did not exceed the income it produced, regardless of how small it may have become. Times have changed and there are certain things you can't do anything about....stars of the show getting older and retired, the economy, and simply that many of us are not as young without any cares in the world. Get married, buy a house, and suddenly car stuff takes a back seat in life. I know this has happened to many of my friends, it's not that we don't want to go it's just the reality of getting older and different priorities.

Well I was in Jersey visiting my Daughter and took Her and my Wife to the show Sunday.I thought the whole event was pretty good,the people were very nice,but I thought it would be a bit larger event.My first trip back east was a good experience.Thanks

its great to see the show goes on and its good to see people are trying to improve it.and if nobody shows up next year i still have a reason to go.i can't miss out on some burgers

Keep up the good work!

I went both days again this year and will keep supporting this show.

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This event is certainly not the only one to see a down turn in recent years. In fact, the entertainment industry in general has been struggling the last few years. Especially in our area.

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not Carlisle, mason dixon, or any other show on the east coast had fallen off so hard, in fact they keep getting bigger!

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We seem to have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to keep our share of the entertainment dollar!

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PLEASE at least try and sound like its not all about the dollar, hell, its expensive enough to get in e-town, let alone feed anyone - and the eye candy only lasts till your pockets are empty.

besides the food is nothing to write home about.

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I couldn't afford to bring the car out. Maybe next year". Over and over again, same story.

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end your trying to get MORE of that entertainlent dollar???

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I was the one trying to locate display cars for this event. We offered free admission for car owners to show their historic or noteworthy cars.

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you didnt mention that you posted that a month before the event... HELLOOOOO???

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How do we revive this thing? It will take a lot of thought and a lot of work, but as I said earlier, we have not thrown in the towel!

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with all due respect. YOU AINT KIDDIN...

get off your seat, and start NOW for next year... it makes you look unprofessional to ask for celebrities, and speial cars a month or 2 before the event... do it a year in advance, if you had 10 more months of that it might just start to change.

you really need to know that all the things that turned people off from e-town were you ( planning ) decisions.

- you changed the date, it was ALWAYS the first weekend in june, and how many times did it rain? NEVER - now in may it rains every year!!?!?!?

- you make spectators walk over 1/2 mile when they buy thier parts to thier cars, they go from the vendors, all the way around the track, and behind it, back around the go karts, and to thier cars, try that with a rear housing, heck, make it an event, and hand out prizes for all those that dont fall over trying to do it.

your admission prices are high, and the return for those prices dropped DRASTICALLY - it was fine when bob riggle was whelstanding down the 1/4 mile.. now we pay more for LESS.... and you come here talking about getting a bigger piece of the pie? you have to OFFER more to get more in return

- the food - does it have to cost a family so much? really, its a vending company thing, but they HURT you for not so good food.

dont even get me started about the mufflers, you have tons of hemi cars there and cent even hear them run for most of the weekend.... and for me its not a 2 day event anymore, so if you go saturday, you mite as well forget hearing all the COOL cars even run...



Mr Frey, these are all things in YOU CONTROL.... nor ours... you start at least making the place better with the things you can control, and it will be a better show, and in turn attract more people.

you seem to think the muslce cars are taking a downturn, ??? and waiting for the next gen to come fourth.... my answer is goto Carlsile, or the nats and then tell me about how the muscle cars must be dropping off, and the vendors are not coming out, and the people are leaving thier cars home... THIER NOT at those shows... its YOUR show they are, and you can fix alot of it by changing the things in YOUR control....

thanks for your time - and stop letting the neighbors run the place, it started with the mufflers... what next?

the general parking was actually close to the swap meet this year... but everything else i have to agree with djvcuda about...

Walt, thanks for giving us a space to try to point out the deficancies. The fact that you are so committed is a great thing. But, like it's been mentioned, other similar events are growing by leaps and bounds every year. The main issue, has been, and continued to be, the lack of response to issues that started cropping up years ago. Now, the pile is so huge, it will take a large shovel to dig out. I've been involved with planning smaller local shows, so I know a little about things. First, you have to be willing to spend a little to give the majority of participants what they want. You do that, satisfy at minimum 80-85% of the people mostly, and 50% of the people totally, and you will make that entertainment dollar, and grow. It's that simple. So, FIx the teenageers working the gates. No matter what you register for, if you cant get in, you're not happy, at 8am, on the first day of the show. Now you have build the rest back up. They get thousands thru those gates, racers and fans, for major events. So get the people, and make them work. It's not a volunteer deal if the entrants pay $40 a day. Serve us. Next, if you sell a majority of race spots, plan race stuff. Make sure you plan for oil downs, and MAKE sure the guys racing get their chance to run their car. That's what they paid for. Let Sunday be the day the race cars test and run. If it's billed as a a true "National" show, it needs good judges, it needs good class structure, and it needs good layout. No exceptions. Show car guys are a different breed, and to keep them coming and bringing the big draw cars, you need to make the environment worth their efforts. If you find the restoration 100pt show cars are lacking, but lightly modified and heavy modified classes fill, then a fun field or similar participant judged thing for one day might be the ticket to draw. But that means a cheaper fee to get in. If the internet is hurting sales, make it worth a business's while to bring a trailer down, maybe a resotration/performance midway, as opposed to a swap meet. Give them A fre ticket both days, tell them to bring a car too. It's not like you dont have the room for them to spread out. Size of the facility means swap meet items and parking lots are a haul. Just the way it is. The mailing I got was 1 month ahead of the date. I cant clear time for that, and the hotels book up fairly quick. Fliers need to go out in February, not April. Also, for example cars, a free ride dont cut it, unless they live accross the street. Try coverring the hotel costs, and a free ticket in. Then they are only into it for the fuel and time. If you expect to make that entertainment dollar, you better be willing to accept that friendship only draws promises, many get left unfulfilled. $$ draws results.

3 things that id like to see change.

1). PARKING!!!!...parking for those that have to park and walk 2 miles to get on the other side!!!..people with kids,elderly people or handicap people have to trek 2 miles to the other side where the show is and then walk another 10 miles around to see everything!!!!!...move the stupid motorcyles and let us park up front...or make room on the pit side for parking.

2). KING OF THE STREET!!!!...i used to LOVE walking around the pits and looking/talking to the people about there cars...theses cars ROCK!!!!

3). try and get a MOPAR PROSTOCK car/team to come and do a match race with each other.

just my

mike

I was glad to see parking on the same side of the track as the show this year.

Maybe swap the pits with the spec parking??

Although I had fun this year it seems like its in a catch-22. Attendance gets lower so more people don't show.

Sounds like you need to make some changes to start luring people back and get that catch-22 moving in the other direction.

I was pre-registered both days. On Sunday, I arrived at 6-55AM since gates were supposed to open at 7AM, Due to the staff saying they were "waiting on more of their people" they didn't let me in until 7-50AM. There were only 2 other people in front of me. The non -preregistered line was already huge at that point. If I could set my alarm clock, then so should the staff. Getting in is my biggest gripe, but I still come every year !

Walt,thanks for chiming in...you have the show and my people will show EVERY YEAR!!....As far as spectators walking BIG DEAL....you did'nt have to walk as far as the racers did,being pitted where we were,i hope next year were closer to the staging lanes,From what i hear most people come to see the racing anyways!!!

Walt, Thanks for listening to everybodies gripes. It is hard to please everybody but at least you are trying. I have been to every Atlantic Nats and will come to every one in the future because I have a good time racing there. My complaints are small but not enough to keep me away. Like why couldn`t I pre-register to race 2 vehicles on Sunday? The yearly rain but you can`t help that, June was to hot and muggy, I know Raceway has a full schedule but how about the early fall ( Just a thought) Glad to here it will exist next year, I`ll be there.

Its no Walt's fault about the noise restrictions, they have been at e-town for YEARS! This is not the fault of the track, it is the fault of 70 percent of the yuppies that moved into e-town and don't want to hear the noise of the track(its not their fault they moved near a nationally reconized race track, noooo....)
At the nats, the funny cars can't even start till 10AM, and if your street car is too loud you can't even run it on a fri or sat.

My biggest gripe would have to be where the racers were pitted. You couldn't hear the loudspeakers and in some spots there was no reception at all on the radio to listen to the track announcements and we had two radios going. Other than that it would be cool to try to block some of the wind at half track. Saturday afternoon was pretty tough. Atleast for me in the left lane. The wind took me near the wall post haste. Those are my only gripes. The Hemi Shootout alone was well worth the trip for me. Warfish was very impressive.

Want my honest opinion?
I've worked in the entertainment industry for most of my life. I once heard a saying that: you don't have to have a 10 Million dollar budget to get a good film produced, you just have to have good spirits and GOOD HOME MADE FOOD. Food is the greatest spirit lifter in any case.
The speakers in the tower need some up-lifting in their monolog and a little more decibels added in. I could hardly hear them commenting even when there was'nt any cars running.

Bring a good STICK VS AUTOMATIC race to the plate, and don't forget we all have to open to the other makes too. IE: Bring on some Bowties and Blue ovals to the mix for some trash racing and raving. And don't forget a good payout if possible. The Mopar Nationals in Ohio used to do the same and now that they have laxed over inviting the other competition, they too have lost attendance aside from some other serious issues they need to address.
I hate E-bay because it among other Hi-tech stuff has conditioned most in the world not to attend even their own funerals. Leave it to beaver on the screen.
People are under this spell of having everything come to them on a electronic plate and not have to work their legs, arms and negotiating tools to get that rare part while looking the vendor in the eye. I remember having the greatest joke/snap fest with my buddies about every day people and every day parts at these swap meets. We'd come outta there bending over and wanting to come back the next year.

Lets get outta the comfort zone of our couches and "American Idol" and walk the talk and maybe even vote for good politicians in the intern.
Bring a little element of the ever so popular Real Street Races to the program, not the Friday night Mopar vs the World stuff where people race strangers that they'll never see again nor care about, but some real simmering local grudge matches that can take place on Saturday or Sunday for the world to watch. I care some what for my competition on the street.
Last but not least, I think America is right now in a drastic Moral down swing that is just under the skin, We all know what that is about, but we'll keep that tucked under the rug just like every thing important. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.
FMJ

at least not EVERYONE is kissing butt here, and hopefully good ole walt will listen to our suggestions, at least ya better start, since e-towns fat lady is starting to humm.....


seriously, I bet alot of guys bit thier lip on this one - I get 3 PM's saying that they agreed on what I had to say about E-town.... but i guess since it was sponsored by Mopats, some feel a little shy about speaking thier mind - ???


PLEASE give your honest opinions here, it might just get thru this year!!!!

Dave, they're looking for CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISISM, not the same old women crying about how it's a dieing show (as I'm quite sure they've heard time & again).

Let's try to help, not OK?

maybe all the people sold their mopars and have nothing to bring or get..or the family issues come in....heck..i missed out on showing my car for 5 years in row...1990-1994...but i did visit on sunday or saturday...no matter what....still paid for the show incase something cancelled in life..

I'd like to see a turbo mopar-car shootout early in the day on saturday, that'd be real neat. Get in touch with the omni guys or SRT-4 guys for that. Almost all of the cars are muffled, and alot of them are scary-quick.

Whatever you do DO NOT allow brand-xer's in on Sat. and Sun. you'll lose even more people!!!

Hey guy's.
I'm all for Mopar, but lets face it, the stands erupt when a Mopar beats up on the General or Henry.
I remember hearing people wail when ever the Mope's had the win light.
Fast class should get a good payout, maybe sponsored by their mother makes, ie: Mopar sponsoring Tom's Chally or Daves GTX, and GM sponsoring that fast Stingray every ones talking about.
Super Stock nostalgic should get a nod.
I'll even race Mr. Jay Leno and his rides for a charity to kids. the winner gives the pot to the charity of his/her choice. Bring it on.
Maybe a local fast street racer can get it on with the al-mighty "Silver Bullet" or its clone for bragging rights, should be a loud crowd both from the Jersey side and Michigan.
FMJ

Mopar vs the world is on Friday night! I don't want to see other makes on Sat or Sun during the Mopar show. ~Mike~

Walter the Mopar Atlantic Nationals were a lot of fun and thank you for the chance to help out with the Hemi cars.I will alway surport this event being somewhat close to home.The changes i would like to see are mostly with the bracket program starting with street.I was dissapointed that there was no payout,for 18 of the 20years they had a payout now for the last 2 years they deside to give a trophy and no money,WHY? I canot see the reason raceway park can't have some kind of payout.I talk to a lot of guys that said that if there is no payout in street next year that they will not come.I think raceway park should rethink this and offer a payout for street again.I also think that the entry fee should be $30.00 for street and pay $300.00 to the winner and $150.00 to the runner up,$75.00 to each semi finalist and that a minimun of 64 cars must be met for a full payout.I think that is fair.Also allowing race cars in the class will keep some people away.By that,I am saying to set some kind of rules and inforce them,like making sure ALL Street cars have DOT tires,Closed Exhaust,Current Regeristion and so on.I dont have all the answers but i do have have some solutions and idears that i hope can help make the Mopar Atlantic Nationals a little bit better next year.

Hmmmmmm...

The interesting reading on this matter continues...!


A few impressions as I filter through all of this:

"We need more vendors? Yeah, I'm sure. Do you know how many vendors tell me that they are "done" with shows? Ebay has changed things forever. Sorry, but it is true. Why load up a pickup with stuff when you can sell the same items from your living room?"


While I'll agree eBay has changed things forever, a few things haven't changed... like the weight of a third member, or the crating costs for hoods & sheet metal... Oh wait, I DID forget one thing that's changed... Shipping costs & postage have gone up, due to the price of gas.

C'mon, that's gotta be the most sweeping lame excuse I've heard for why more vendors don't attend - go to Chryslers at Carlisle and wade through the vendor field... know why they are there...?

TRAFFIC! VOLUME! People who are there with wads of cash in their pockets, and who fought traffic, waited in endless lines, and PAID just to get in for the priviledge of wading through those vendors (and, on top of it, have to go elsewhere to see the racing)!

I sort of think whatever/whoever vendors told E-town that they're "done" with shows are 1.) not in the "heavy iron" business, or 2.) not in a "must-see-and-touch-it-before-I-buy-it" product line. Or, are we taking about 'Year One' or 'Just Suspensions' here...? Yeah, I agree - they can afford to be done with shows - they have very established reputations, and sell what are essentially commodity and exclusive items within our hobby... but if eBay has crushed the attractiveness of the swap meet, why do some - who could easily be Internet/mail-order-only business (Gunslinger, AAR Fiberglass, etc. and, oh yeah... all those guys selling JL's and Hot Wheels and whatever...?) still come out to these shows...? Ummmmm... would it be... TRAFFIC? EXPOSURE? i.e., the same personal selling that got some of those bigger guys I've mentioned where they are today...?!? I think, perhaps...!

Convince the vendor that there will be lots of spectator traffic, and he will come. As it is now with the MANats, I think if I were a vendor, I'd just hold out for Carlisle a month later... but E-town has the "early" advantage - Promote throughout the year, tell everyone how great it will be, backing it up with what attractions will be there, and get people (and their winter savings) out to E-town BEFORE they can haul out to PA and blow it on funnel cakes at Carlisle...

"How do we revive this thing? It will take a lot of thought and a lot of work, but as I said earlier, we have not thrown in the towel!"

Well, that's a nice bit of cheerleading, but while E-town may have a twenty-year tradition with the Mopar Show in question, it unfortunately has a now five-year tradition of being a bit worse each year - and that's going to take more than thought, work, and the towel to come back from, and I seriously doubt it can happen in a single year... But the Mopar community is a relatively small and loyal one, and you can be assured word travels fast (another thing the Internet hath wrought...) Put in a good effort in 2007, and I think folks will be VERY GLAD to hear that the show is on the upswing again - and if it's memorable enough, I should think 2008 could be the year E-town is "back on the Map" for must-attend east coast Mopar events.

Oh, and a word about the food concessions... personally, I never thought this was a pivotal issue to a given event, but... since it's been mentioned a few times in this thread, here's my two-cents:

Want to see how a race track burger ought to be served...?

Visit ATCO... enough said.


All comments written in the best of tough-love for E-town,


- Alan

Alan. THANK YOU.
Ebay sucks.
And I'd rather see the part than have back and forth mailings, shipping about a part that doesn't fit the part.
What ever happen to exersize in the morning, Fresh air, the sun, maybe a little rain that brings down the prices to bring up the spirits.
A friend of mine scoulded me for not bringin' my street thug to the races, said I was'nt supporting the cause. Well, aside from my thug being down with problems, I think that my 65.00 at the gate to buy a vendor spot, filling up at the local gas station and at the track race gas depot, making some heads laugh about some races was a good enough contribution on its own. I still go and spectate, sell, buy or grudge race when I can. Either way I'm there every year in some form or outta shape at the line.
And further more, put me in those food stands and I'll show 'em how to serve a good meal or two.
Your's truly.
Chef-Boy-R-Lee.