It was very nice meeting you Mack
both of the cars you brought were georgeous
both of them...
best regards
cheapst

Nice meeting you Mack. Love the Challenger!

Phil the photographer is starting to get photos of the race up. So far he has Friday's Test & Tune.

SGMP All-Mopar Southern Nationals photos.

My buddy that went down said that the turnout was very low this year.. but the staging lanes in that one pic looked good..

So how was it in yall's opinion? He was selling parts so i don't know of that was what he was talking about or not...

turn out for this show is never great, but yes this year was particularly low.

Thanks Dc.. I am in the process of planning a new ride and I keep thinking dart for some reason....LOL...

I can think of 8 or 10 cars right off the top of my head that were not there this year... I know that the price of fuel is a big concern... Hopefully next year will be better......

After I saw a post on Alpar by Myron, I typed this letter to the president of the host club.
DC
-------------------------------------------------

Hello, I stopped by and talked to some of the members Sunday morning
at the tent to say hi and see how things were going. I'm a racer, and
have been to this show since 2008. Granted with the economy the way it
is, it's kinda understandable why the turn out was so poor. However, we
the racers have been trying to get Tim at SGMP to move the race to
early or mid April just to take advantage of nicer weather and temps.
Many of us thought we had them convinced last year to move it, but for
some reason they kept the same dates. I know what their logic is,
Holiday weekend and Monday to travel. We don't buy into that because if
you looked around the track by 3pm it was empty and everyone was
already heading home.

To give you a racer's perspective of things I can tell you the heat
just kills us, the track and our enthusiasm to keep coming back to this
heat. While we got lucky this year with the lack of rain. Years past
have not been so lucky and reap havoc on the drag racing schedule for
the weekend. While the racer turnout was o.k this year and the smallest
in the past. I can tell you I know of a LOT of racers who choose not to
come because of the heat and the weather. I'm pretty sure the same goes
for the car show crowd as well.

I'm not a car show guy. The way I see it the Host car club has to
take an active roll in promoting and conducting the races too. The
track does a good job running the races but they run the races like any
other bracket night. The payouts are a little sketchy too. Car count
has a lot to do with that but, there is room for improvement. There
needs to be "Manufacturer" class sponsor to help with the payouts and
prizes for each class. When I first came to this show in '08 it was run
pretty good with a LOT of emphasis on the races, prizes and money.
That's what brings the racers in. In '09 the "Arm Drop" race was the
feature of the race with a payout to the winner of $1350 and a huge
trophy and bragging rights, Last year (which I won) had no club
sponsorship what so ever and was worth 500.00 to the winner and 200.00
runner up and no trophy. This year it was almost an after thought. The
Arm Drop race was a joke with such a wide margin between the cars
involved and no one enforcing any rules. There were several sand
baggers getting away with murder. This absolutely made int NO FUN for
those involved. But what it proves is no one' cares about how it's
being done and the track is just doing the very minimum possible. When
MOPAR MUSCLE Magazine was the title sponsor there was some pride and
class to the show/race. You guys need to get them fully involved again
and get some real sponsors for each class.

We realize this show was thrust upon your club. But now it's time to
step up and turn this thing into the next "Garlits Show with Drag
Racing"! It can be done. You just have to throw the bait out there to
draw the crowd!

The bottom line is you can't let the track run the racing event
without any club participation. Otherwise it's just another bracket
race during the heat of the day. People would rather stay home and run
their local track with better payouts at night like they normally do.

1) Earlier date, Mid March to mid April
2) Major Class sponsors for racing (that way the track won't have to
solely rely on the entry fees for the purse)
3) Get Mopar Muscle back into the picture (Magazine exposure and
coverage afterwards for this event is huge)
4) maybe involve Jr. dragsters to get more families out there racing??

If you have any questions or would like to talk, feel free to contact
me:
813-732-4327
Chris Duerden

Chris, a well thought out letter and I agree with every word of it... Let's hope they will listen... Do we need to add several other names to this??? Feel free to add my name if that is what you want to do... Mack

i had alot more time on my hands at the track this yr to paroose than yrs past....
so i popped into the tower a few times.
struck up some light conversations..
i mention'd to them about running it earlier..
and how the weather was upper 60's low 70s about 3-4 weeks earlier...
their retort was ,that time of yr is the rainy-ist time for them? i dont know ...?
they did say though..that they loved us mopar guys...
ive had more than a few tell me this..over the weekend..
the staging crew..the starter..the girls at the booth...
the guys upstairs...
they said we were the nicest most polite..thankful and had the most sportsmanship..
the sportsmanship comment came from the Lad calling the lanes..
he said it was nice not to be argued with 3 times a round...
and that he loved when we all show up?
so for whats thats worth...
the guys in the tower..said definately again next yr...that it was a struggle but everyone seem'd to comment their appreciation..
so ...?
fwiw...

cheapst..
i am hoping to plan for next yr..my self..


.

Well after hearing from several people in the last couple of days and putting up with the heat, crappy payouts and all the expense. I can say I won't be attending this show/race next year if there are not drastic changes! When I look at what I spent for the weekend vs. what I got in return? Hell I even had to BUY a T-shirt this year. I can stay home, enter a bracket race at Sunshine (My local track) for 25.00 and win 1000, RU 400.00, semis 200.00.

As far as the weather goes. i was there in Feb. for the ORTC race and it was beautiful! Not sure what their deal is but it needs to change!

Lets go back to Silver Dollar Raceway in reynolds GA.. I will even let a few of yall stay at my house as I am just 40 minutes from that track. i spoke to Ed and he said he would love to have the mopar guys back there.. Have it towards the first part of April and it will be in the upper 60's to low 70's...

Allpar.com has a little article about the All-Mopar Southern Nationals. I'm curious what is meant in the opening paragraph ..."but it will be soon."

Allpar article on the All-Mopar Southern Nationals.

Well that was some of the worst race coverage I've read in a while. Written like he's never been to a race before

There was probably 140-150 race cars maybe and what about 15 show cars? C'mon!