[jjones752]

Yellow flag laps have always counted in long races; they stop counting them after lap 75 for Turkey Night. If they didn't count them the race may still be going.
Say what you will about track prep taking too long, on a track that short with 100 cars on hand it's a necessary evil, and no one does it more efficiently than Jimmy Naylor. The racing was as good as it was for both the sprint and midget features because he took the time to do a little grooming.
Turkey Night may have had the longest tenure on the half-mile at Ascot but it started on a little quarter at Gilmore, then moved to another quarter at Gardena before that (Gardena was lengthened to 1/3 but that was after the TNGP moved on). I haven't been to Turkey Night since moving out to Indy in '09 but having watched the live-stream from both the PAS and Ventura (and having been a regular at both, as well as Ascot and Bakersfield in my "Cali" days) I have to say that the close-quarter "jet fighters in a gymnasium" quality of the racing at Ventura definitely adds to the show. I think of all the tracks that the TNGP has run post-Ascot, Ventura suits the program the best. But I was born and raised there, and it was my home track for many years so call me biased.
You can't please everybody but I was pretty much glued to the monitor from hotlaps all the way through, at least while there was action on the track. Downtime is what it is, a "newbie" may not like it but they could always tune in later. Editing? Really? There's really nothing like seeing it as it happens, in person preferably but live stream, especially the quality that was delivered by Speedshift last night, is a pretty good alternative.
Rico's still recuperating from his crash at Eldora, BTW.

[ISF]

The racing program last night was interminable but we enjoyed it a lot, nonetheless. The support class was part of the reason and the hour long autograph session and lengthy interviews didn't help with time efficiency. I too prefer the longer traditional track venue's. However, the shorter tracks have their place and are plenty exciting and seem to enhance car counts.

I thought I heard one of the announcers say Rico was in the press box at some point in the broadcast. That tumble at the 4 Crown must have been worse than we thought.

[jjones752]

Having gone to TNGP at Irwindale almost every year until '09, there was as much down time there as at any of the dirt tracks it's been to since, and they ran 3 classes, not just 2. At least the autograph session last night was during track prep time; at Irwindale they brought all the cars out onto the front stretch and let the crowd out onto the track, and it seemed like it took a good hour to herd them all back into the stands after "last call". Now THAT was annoying...

[ISF]

We went out to the 2012 TNGP which was the first time on dirt after it had been at Irwindale. They brought the cars to the front stretch and lined them up at around 2 PM on Thanksgiving afternoon and the drivers, and in some cases their family and crew members, would hang out next to the racecar, interact and sign autographs for about 2 hours. We thought that was much better than what they did at Ventura last night. It seemed much more relaxed and unregimented and less time consuming during the racing program.

[flagboy55]

Jim, what I meant by editing is that would probably provide a better product for the masses if it were going to be on television as a free program. I understood completely what live means and appreciate that. A well edited, say 90 minute program I think would be way more attractive to folks that aren't the most familiar with this type of racing. Like I said, I'm glad I bought it but I would have to say even the most diehards of us would say it could have been streamlined. I hope the folks at the track enjoyed it

[jjones752]

I get what you're saying, but it's tough to cater to basically three diverse groups; the competitors that probably appreciate a little extra downtime to get ready (I know I usually do), the "hard-core fanatic" (which I am when I'm not part of group one) that sees streaming coverage from first hotlap session to victory lane as the best thing ever, down to the casual fan or newcomer that wants it sanitized and pre-packaged. I guess in terms of a live event the Chili Bowl does it best with streaming of the prelim nights and the early alphabet on Saturday, then shifting to MAVTV from the c-mains on, but when you don't have MAV (like me) you feel cheated that you get to watch the food being cooked but you can't stay for dinner.
One thing to remember is that out there at the Commotion by the Ocean it was only 10:30 when everything wrapped up; that's really not all that bad.

[revjimk]

Originally Posted by jjones752 Yellow flag laps have always counted in long races; they stop counting them after lap 75 for Turkey Night. If they didn't count them the race may still be going. Say what you will about track prep taking too long, on a track that short with 100 cars on hand it's a necessary evil, and no one does it more efficiently than Jimmy Naylor. The racing was as good as it was for both the sprint and midget features because he took the time to do a little grooming. Turkey Night may have had the longest tenure on the half-mile at Ascot but it started on a little quarter at Gilmore, then moved to another quarter at Gardena before that (Gardena was lengthened to 1/3 but that was after the TNGP moved on). I haven't been to Turkey Night since moving out to Indy in '09 but having watched the live-stream from both the PAS and Ventura (and having been a regular at both, as well as Ascot and Bakersfield in my "Cali" days) I have to say that the close-quarter "jet fighters in a gymnasium" quality of the racing at Ventura definitely adds to the show. I think of all the tracks that the TNGP has run post-Ascot, Ventura suits the program the best. But I was born and raised there, and it was my home track for many years so call me biased. You can't please everybody but I was pretty much glued to the monitor from hotlaps all the way through, at least while there was action on the track. Downtime is what it is, a "newbie" may not like it but they could always tune in later. Editing? Really? There's really nothing like seeing it as it happens, in person preferably but live stream, especially the quality that was delivered by Speedshift last night, is a pretty good alternative. Rico's still recuperating from his crash at Eldora, BTW.

Good points, makes sense, thanks (from a "semi-newbie, 7 years)
I agree that midgets are better on a short track....

[revjimk]

Originally Posted by jjones752 I get what you're saying, but it's tough to cater to basically three diverse groups; the competitors that probably appreciate a little extra downtime to get ready (I know I usually do), the "hard-core fanatic" (which I am when I'm not part of group one) that sees streaming coverage from first hotlap session to victory lane as the best thing ever, down to the casual fan or newcomer that wants it sanitized and pre-packaged. I guess in terms of a live event the Chili Bowl does it best with streaming of the prelim nights and the early alphabet on Saturday, then shifting to MAVTV from the c-mains on, but when you don't have MAV (like me) you feel cheated that you get to watch the food being cooked but you can't stay for dinner. One thing to remember is that out there at the Commotion by the Ocean it was only 10:30 when everything wrapped up; that's really not all that bad.

From your previous post: "Downtime is what it is, a "newbie" may not like it but they could always tune in later"... thats what i did, alternating between races & basketball tourneys I recorded during Thanksgiving dinner. Worked out great... miracle of modern technology!

[Dick Monahan]

Not to be a downer, but from what we could see on video there were very few people in the stands. How bad was it?

[jjones752]

The camera angle only shows the first few rows; nobody ever sits down there at Ventura, it's not a good sightline. The reserved seats are from halfway up. Judging by the crowd noise (cheers, etc.) it sounded like a decent crowd, and the comments from drivers, Aggie Jr. and others seemed to indicate a good turnout.