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Post by midway on Feb 24, 2024 22:25:59 GMT 12
Meyers JR deserved to win he played his cards cool and proved once again you dont have to be a regular visitor to the springs
Pickens lost his ability to stay cool and spun himself and was sent to the back and lost all chance ..
Good effort by COOPER ,And like wise by larsen..
You see alot of faces in the pits over the years and one tonight was the Chicken man who has sponsored Rodney Wood way back in the early days of stockcar ,racing and still is there today ,an absolute Legend in the speedway sport ..
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Post by percy on Feb 24, 2024 22:41:14 GMT 12
I'll do my usual summary tomorrow but stars of the night were everyone who repaired the fence
That was some decent damage and an impressive response
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Post by twincarb on Feb 25, 2024 8:19:15 GMT 12
What was the problem with Allards Car ? He gets a lot of bad luck at NZ titles
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Post by orapiuwharf on Feb 25, 2024 8:26:28 GMT 12
Meyers JR had an amazing drive. I was watching him closely. He avoided all the bumps making it look like he was driving on a oval billiard table. He was the only one doing this. Everyone else was driving on craters of the moon. A well deserved win. Great to see Cooper in 2nd.
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Post by Ned on Feb 25, 2024 8:43:17 GMT 12
What was the issue with Larsen car? Standring was explaining but it’s often difficult to hear anything he says.
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Post by dogman on Feb 25, 2024 9:00:59 GMT 12
Al lard broke the torque tube
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Post by cae76 on Feb 25, 2024 9:26:41 GMT 12
Congratulations to Joel Myers jnr getting 1nz and to Dean Cooper and Jamie Larsen on their placings.Myers is poetry in motion in the last couple of seasons competing in the South he has well truly sorted the different track shapes and surfaces of the Speedways in New Zealand.
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Post by percy on Feb 25, 2024 12:06:35 GMT 12
Well, another NZ Sprintcar Title in the books and I'll make the prediction it wont be a finalist at the SNZ awards. But lets start with the positives.
The addition of Hayden Guptill and Louise Smith to the commentary team added a lot. I'd heard positive things about Guptill but never heard him live and I'm happy to say all the reports are on the money. Articulate, knowledgeable, nice to listen to. Louise is the best at her role in the country and no matter how many times Standring threw her into an interview she was able to ask an intelligent question.
I'm a huge fan of less is more for these titles and once again it proved a winning formula. A lesser schedule provides flexibility if things go wrong and takes all the pressure off the time schedule. These big title meetings have a history of things happening. For the fans 75% of race laps were either Midgets or Sprintcars, brilliant.
Unfortunately the list of negatives is much longer than positives so I'll just mention the main ones. How they missed the night one track by that much will be one of the seasons great questions. Night two was a better show on a rutted track but neither night reached any great heights despite the propaganda. Granted the track team had a tough job with only one show prior to the title but the race teams and fans were entitled to better than what was dished up.
I have no idea why points were withheld from fans. Imagine going to the cricket and not having a scoreboard. Points are everything in this format, the highest point scorer has won every open wheel NZ title this season. The format lends itself to points updates with the heat races clumped together. That there wasn't even an overnight points update was a disgrace. The points context makes the racing so much more exciting. There is simply no excuse for keeping fans in the dark.
Security give you the nth degree upon entering the stadium just in case you have a can of fluid in your bag but when it comes to getting people away from the safety fence, nowhere to be seen. Plenty of attitude at the front gate but when it comes to actually keeping people safe, hopeless. (no I didn't have a can in my bag!)
Unfortunately the title race was a fizzer. Allard a non-starter, Pickens spinning when he was just about to apply the blowtorch. Feel for both Jamie's and Max Guilford who appeared to suffer the worst from the big crash. Great to see Dean Cooper get a number. The cleanest, fairest driver you will ever see. Can't recall the guy being involved in anything untoward through his career.
Myers Jr had it all to do coming into tonight and he did it. Pickens left the door ajar with a poor 4th heat, only advancing two spots from grid 9. Myers Jr took full advantage. Yes, he had some luck with 3 DNS and a DNF giving him free points in his 4th heat, but he also passed cars and was able to seize control of the title by being the top point scorer.
Thought the call to yellow the double file restart when Pickens passed Myers Jr was interesting. The field is entitled to go when Myers Jr accelerates and for mine he did, balked, then stuffed it up. For mine Pickens was entitled to go and did little wrong, taking advantage of Myers Jr slip up. Now I'd hate to see a title won on a double file restart but I don't make the rules and I struggle to see how the rules were applied in that instance. Only explanation I could think of is maybe Pickens was slightly in front of Myers Jr at the time of the restart? I'd have to see the footage again to analyse that.
Overall I'd give the title a 5.5/10, the track just didn't allow the drivers to show what they could do
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Post by BarryB on Feb 25, 2024 13:05:42 GMT 12
Keeping the points a secret?
Barry B
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Post by midway on Feb 25, 2024 13:52:44 GMT 12
The track was the same for everyone that raced on it finals night ,there are a flurry of excuses as always ,but give credit where credit is due and Meyers JR deserves that credit ,along with the other podium place getters ..
One thing about horse racing there is no points ,just the finishing order of each race ,shame it doesnt apply to this debacle .Poor old PERCY would have heart failure ,but the average person that walks through the gate does she or he worry about the points ,a small percentage do ,the rest enjoy the racing as it unfolds ,thats what they pay for to see .
OH in his summary of paragraphs not one word on the extension for next season ,
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Post by BarryB on Feb 25, 2024 14:10:58 GMT 12
The track was the same for everyone that raced on it finals night ,there are a flurry of excuses as always ,but give credit where credit is due and Meyers JR deserves that credit ,along with the other podium place getters .. One thing about horse racing there is no points ,just the finishing order of each race ,shame it doesnt apply to this debacle .Poor old PERCY would have heart failure ,but the average person that walks through the gate does she or he worry about the points ,a small percentage do ,the rest enjoy the racing as it unfolds ,thats what they pay for to see . OH in his summary of paragraphs not one word on the extension for next season , Are you unfamiliar with the old harness racing Interdominion Series then midway, where the pacers and trotters of Australasia raced over three nights of heat racing [for points!!!!] just to make the Grand Final the week after the heats? To try and justify keeping the points secret by suggesting some people just don't care is ridiculous. People watching anything, from sport to a tv program, will enjoy things more, the more they understand it. Understanding what it's all about can generate repeat customers/viewers. Intentionally keeping customers in the dark only encourages the same apathetic attitude towards the sport which paying patrons have been shown by the promotion. It's a New Zealand title for goodness sake. Barry B |
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Post by midway on Feb 25, 2024 15:09:50 GMT 12
YOU sound like ALICE WORSLEY with THE MAD BUTCHER BARRY ,,Must of hit a raw nerve ,so in your life time in speedway how many times have you sat amongst the crowd and seen them fill in there programs the grid draws and points ,ON SATURDAY night many never had anything to write in ,so being ridiculous does not sum up to well does it ..
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Post by keyboardracer on Feb 25, 2024 15:45:09 GMT 12
YOU sound like ALICE WORSLEY with THE MAD BUTCHER BARRY ,,Must of hit a raw nerve ,so in your life time in speedway how many times have you sat amongst the crowd and seen them fill in there programs the grid draws and points ,ON SATURDAY night many never had anything to write in ,so being ridiculous does not sum up to well does it .. You're missing the point, it's not necessarily filling in a program with grids and points for every race. It's also things like hyping up the big movers of each race, hyping up grid positions and important battles ahead, etc etc We're talking about the NZ championship here not a club night.... |
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Post by openwheelfan01 on Feb 25, 2024 15:49:27 GMT 12
Great Summary of NZ Sprintcar Championship. interesting that in 5 heats from each driver some competitors started on same grid number twice. Take Michael Pickens 5 heats grid no's 9, 6, 4 9, 5. This done so long adds up to 33 then its alright starting on same grids more than once lol
Why is it so difficult get any points update take recent All Stars Midget car series unless you had programme how would anyone know actual points were over 6 Rounds. Especially as the programme listed the points for 1NZ as what i found incorrect. unless you get points still for not racing, even though in the series. beats me how they work points out lol
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Post by azzurro on Feb 25, 2024 15:50:30 GMT 12
YOU sound like ALICE WORSLEY with THE MAD BUTCHER BARRY ,,Must of hit a raw nerve ,so in your life time in speedway how many times have you sat amongst the crowd and seen them fill in there programs the grid draws and points ,ON SATURDAY night many never had anything to write in ,so being ridiculous does not sum up to well does it .. We have moved away from power to electronic. In a points format it is extremely beneficial as a competitor to know your points and exactly what you need to push for and not especially later in the format. It isn’t hard to share points and automate it. As mentioned by other pump up the crowd, get some atmosphere |
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Post by BarryB on Feb 25, 2024 17:03:16 GMT 12
YOU sound like ALICE WORSLEY with THE MAD BUTCHER BARRY ,,Must of hit a raw nerve ,so in your life time in speedway how many times have you sat amongst the crowd and seen them fill in there programs the grid draws and points ,ON SATURDAY night many never had anything to write in ,so being ridiculous does not sum up to well does it .. It's a pretty simple mantra to work to really. At normal club nights at any track, plus the likes of Demo Derbies and Fireworks nights (accepted these are not a WS thing) most of the crowd just goes to be entertained. Sure, they might still run two heats and a feature, but nothing is on the line. Championships, especially New Zealand titles, are a whole different beast. In most cases the crowd is bigger, more knowledgeable, many have travelled (possibly paid for accomodation) and in most cases paid more at the gate as well. These are the people that have gone to the extra expense to attend BECAUSE it's a New Zealand championship. They go to be entertained AND informed. It has very little, if anything, to do with your snide remarks. Barry B |
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Post by fastcarstragic on Feb 26, 2024 7:44:14 GMT 12
While I am sure Percy is well qualified as a speedway boffin, historian and rule book analyst his experience in race track preparation amounts to zero. On the other hand, Peter Murphy was a highly successful well respected competitor at the highest level and since his retirement from racing, a world renowned track prep expert. On Friday night he produced a technical track that first provided a low line then a high line that eventually widened all the way to the fence before the bottom came into play again. A great track if you were good enough to find it, was the opinion of a number of drivers that I spoke with. A qualifying night track that left all but one car still running by the end of the night.
As for the overall meeting, to come from not even knowing if this event could run a few weeks ago to pulling a monster crowd into a damaged stadium running on patched up infrastructure with generator power only but still with great commentary, full fields, big screen coverage, a full corporate lounge and great racing across 4 classes over 2 nights, gets a bug thumps up from me. It always amazes me how many are quick to bag but slow or never actually put their hand up to help or speak directly to the people involved.
Some people are just happy being miserable, I guess. Did the new one year lease cheer you up from a racing point of view or just so you can have another year of moaning.
I know the promotion will make some changes now they know they have some certainty around another year.
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Post by magilla on Feb 26, 2024 19:10:57 GMT 12
the thing with the points is they are pretty meaningless when some drivers have had front and middle grids and others had back and middle grids.
Until all the heats are completed the points are misleading.
When Pickens is under pressure and behind it sometimes looks like he panics and overdrives.
That not coming from me but from some drivers I have spoken to.
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Post by BarryB on Feb 26, 2024 19:58:29 GMT 12
the thing with the points is they are pretty meaningless when some drivers have had front and middle grids and others had back and middle grids. Until all the heats are completed the points are misleading. When Pickens is under pressure and behind it sometimes looks like he panics and overdrives. That not coming from me but from some drivers I have spoken to. Only if you look at the points only, in isolation. It's the same with any 3-heat championship. It's all about passing, and the points need to be analysed against the upcoming grid positions. Who needs to do what to get where? It's not rocket science. With the technology available to the commentary teams these days, and with the amount of people on the WS commentary team for the meeting, somebody could have taken a look at the grids/points. Not everybody is interested, granted, but then very few are interested in everything that commentary will deliver with regards every class over the course of two nights. Those closely following the advertised main event would be expecting more, I suspect. I can see why there were comments on here with regards Standring being difficult to hear also. I watched a video of the Feature on YouTube (the official WS coverage) and when he was interviewing the drivers before the main race he was not moving the microphone back to his own mouth when he was talking, but still holding it under the driver's chin. His interviews were thus rather one-sided. The team sure did a good job of fixing that fence. Re Pickens, I imagine, unlike Cooper who was thrilled with his 2nz, that anything but first would be unacceptable by his standards. It'll be quite unusual to see him without a small number on either the Midget or the Sprintcar for the next 12 months. When he spun and brought out the yellows the car was getting airborne off the ruts so was perhaps a little unlucky, but I guess he had to try something. Myers Jnr said before the race it'd be a difficult track to pass on, so getting to the lead was vital. Barry B |
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Post by magilla on Feb 27, 2024 16:51:02 GMT 12
Standring's mic was easy to hear on the Saturday. It was the Friday it was difficult to hear.
He is getting worse with his confusion. During interviews with the top three he was having to look at the drivers name on their race suits to remember their names.
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