24 Hour Races

[BigMoneyWasters]

It seems as if the days of the long races are slowly coming to an end. The only 24 hour race is the VIR one and it is so freaking hot during August it makes that one especially tough. I miss the long NYE races like Miami in '14 and The 38 at PBIR in '15. Would love to see a 24 at Daytona, that's a novel idea!!!

[csadn]

1 minute ago, BigMoneyWasters said:

It seems as if the days of the long races are slowly coming to an end. The only 24 hour race is the VIR one and it is so freaking hot during August it makes that one especially tough. I miss the long NYE races like Miami in '14 and The 38 at PBIR in '15. Would love to see a 24 at Daytona, that's a novel idea!!!

24 at Daytona is a No-Go for obvious reasons.

 

In the most-recent Red Flag thread, there is a discussion re event lengths, and how many racing hours is "enough".

[Kentite]

Nelson Ledges is scheduled to be repaved for next season. Return of the Longest Day?

[dogtired]

1 minute ago, Kentite said:

Nelson Ledges is scheduled to be repaved for next season. Return of the Longest Day?

Hells yeah

[DuncanDana]

 

So this is a topic we discus often with teams and between ourselves at meetings and events. And since this comes up from time-to-time here, let me through a few items on the table for the conversation. Not arguing for or against, just some things for thought.

 

1. Tracks usually book on a daily rate. But many quickly figured out that an 8-hour club race and a 24-hour race are different and have adjusted their pricing.

2. Many tracks have sound restrictions because of local communities making overnight races difficult or impossible.

3. Lighting, if you've driven the Patriot course at VIR at midnight you know the problem. 

4. The lighting thing leads to the related issue of safety, and having track workers out to service incidents at night.

5. Every time we open this topic with teams the answers are 50/50 between those who favor single long events and those who favor double day formats.

 

Interested to see what everyone has to say.

 

Dana

[dogtired]

Well, let's begin with the popular marketing go to.... Single Class Racing. .. nobody else does it.

 

Except for IMSA, LeMans, LDRL .... who else runs true 24s?  LeMons bailed years ago, not sure about Joey, AER... unlikely. 

 

I was at Homestead. .. great weather, terrible support from Florida teams... nothing new.

 

John's traveling circus add an hour race is impractical.  But, I'm sorry... if you are going to hold a Chumpionship. ... in an Endurance Series. ... it should be a long ass race...

[reidry]

We prefer the double format simply due to the fact that it gives an opportunity to recover from a mechanical or an incident and have a shot at a decent finish on day two.

 

Ryan

Empty Pockets Racing

[craig71188]

I agree that having two races a weekend is the best answer for most folks.  That said, one 24 hour race a year would be very cool.  To be the group that reincarnates the Longest Day would be great marketing.  The Longest Day was typically held in late June (as close to the summer solstice as practical for maximum daylight).  If you are doing endurance racing, doing a 24 hour is an experience you should have at least once in your life, period.  Give the date a little space between race weekends before and after in the region to let folks prep/recover, but do have at least one a year.

[Snake]

Love to see a 24 hour race @ Daytona    

[Ronh911]

My team prefers 14+ hour races, the longer the better.  

[Andrew D Johnson]

11 hours ago, dogtired said:

Well, let's begin with the popular marketing go to.... Single Class Racing. .. nobody else does it.

 

Except for IMSA, LeMans, LDRL .... who else runs true 24s?  LeMons bailed years ago, not sure about Joey, AER... unlikely. 

 

I was at Homestead. .. great weather, terrible support from Florida teams... nothing new.

 

John's traveling circus add an hour race is impractical.  But, I'm sorry... if you are going to hold a Chumpionship. ... in an Endurance Series. ... it should be a long ass race...

 

Nobody does single class racing except Chumpcar, and Chumpcar is doing a damn good job of it right now. 

 

WRL does a 24 hour race at High Plains each year (24@5280).

 

The east coast Chumpionship was like 16 hours last year. 8+8 hour with impound overnight. I only saw one car getting work done to it, and I was informed it was for a safety reason. 16 hours is plenty long for a Chumpionship IMO.

 

[Kentite]

24 Hours at MIS?

[Andrew D Johnson]

1 minute ago, Kentite said:

24 Hours at MIS?

 

The 14 hour race at MIS in (2014?) was a LONG race, it felt like it went on forever. By the end of the race, there were not that many cars running either. 

[E. Tyler Pedersen]

We always did a 24 hour race since I started ChumpCar back in 2013.  One year we did VIR and then we did the Homestead race for NYE.  I really wish they would have shot off fireworks at the finish to celebrate NYE like JC promised, but that is neither here nor there.  I would like to see longer races during the year besides VIR.  It would be fun to do a 24 hour then a longer 25 to 28 hour race somewhere else.  I would go to Nelsons for the Longest Day.  I would also travel somewhere in December to a warm place to do another 24.  There is nothing like crossing the finish line after 24 hours and it really tests your ability on race craft and keeping the car together.  I am probably one of the crazies around here that thinks 24 hour races are enjoyable.

27 minutes ago, Kentite said:

24 Hours at MIS?

No way....

24 minutes ago, red0 said:

 

The 14 hour race at MIS in (2014?) was a LONG race, it felt like it went on forever. By the end of the race, there were not that many cars running either. 

I think there were 10 or less running at the end of the 14 hour race.  MIS always should be a 7+7. 

[Andrew D Johnson]

8 minutes ago, Crank Yankers Racing said:

We always did a 24 hour race since I started ChumpCar back in 2013.  One year we did VIR and then we did the Homestead race for NYE.  I really wish they would have shot off fireworks at the finish to celebrate NYE like JC promised, but that is neither here nor there.  I would like to see longer races during the year besides VIR.  It would be fun to do a 24 hour then a longer 25 to 28 hour race somewhere else.  I would go to Nelsons for the Longest Day.  I would also travel somewhere in December to a warm place to do another 24.  There is nothing like crossing the finish line after 24 hours and it really tests your ability on race craft and keeping the car together.  I am probably one of the crazies around here that thinks 24 hour races are enjoyable.

No way....

I think there were 10 or less running at the end of the 14 hour race.  MIS always should be a 7+7. 

 

Agree with 7+7 for MIS. 

 

[Hi_Im_Will]

12 hours ago, DuncanDana said:

 

5. Every time we open this topic with teams the answers are 50/50 between those who favor single long events and those who favor double day formats.

 

Interested to see what everyone has to say.

 

Dana

 

Double night formats?   I love night racing (not sure about the rest of the team though).  I'd rather have a D8 overnight than a 24. 

 

For more normal formats, 8-12 hours is our ideal.  Much longer than 12 and it gets hard to keep the car together, and shorter than 8 it gets hard to justify financially, since we need at least 3 renters to make it worthwhile for Chris and I to enter a race.  At this point we've really built the car around D8 weekends.  

[Ron_e]

For us the more race hours the better to justify the long tow distances.  Double 7's and sprint races are not attractive to us.  

[Alchemy Autosport]

Absolutely we should have a 24 hour.  We were heart broken last year when we lost Buttonwillow out west.  I understand not having 2 super long races though.

[Jer]

I love 24s but there are so few it's hard to make them every year.  That being said, a repave and back to Nelson Ledges for a 24 would make my heart sing.  If I didn't have a ride, I'd tow my Miata back to Ohio for that race.  Love that track.  I feel blessed to have competed there in two 24s and a 14 (and some other format) in the past few years.   

Edited March 28, 2017 by Jer

[E. Tyler Pedersen]

1 hour ago, Hi_Im_Will said:

 

Double night formats?   I love night racing (not sure about the rest of the team though).  I'd rather have a D8 overnight than a 24. 

 

For more normal formats, 8-12 hours is our ideal.  Much longer than 12 and it gets hard to keep the car together, and shorter than 8 it gets hard to justify financially, since we need at least 3 renters to make it worthwhile for Chris and I to enter a race.  At this point we've really built the car around D8 weekends.  

 

I enjoyed the 6 hour night enduro that happened at Gateway two years in a row.  That made things fun!

[JBgotM]

I get that hosting 24 hour races can be a challenge. Tracks charge more, and Chumpcar likely has to charge more, and need a good size field to make it work. As mentioned, 24 hour races may not make sense at some tracks (noise restrictions, visibility issues, etc).

 

I am a fan of 24 hour races as a feature that the series can continue to promote. I would think 1 per region would be a decent expectation, more if that region has lots of members requesting and attending them. Should it be the championship race for an endurance series? I think there is some merit to that.

[DEE DEE]

Real road racers want a 24hr event VIR is perfect for that.   Nelson Ledges needs way more than repaving.  It was mentioned that someone felt blessed to have raced at Nelson in a 24hr event.   I say you should have dropped to your knees and thank the Lord that you made it out with no significant injuries.  The place is dangerous and is a flat out dump.  Never was an epic track and never will be.   The only thing Nelson Ledges represents is poor business decisions.  

[Floridiot]

We would love to do another 24hr race!  The 2 races over a weekend really doesn't interest us....

 

With that said, here are a few comments:

• Don't schedule it on a major holiday, families will influence race attendance...
• Florida is a long state, it takes about 7 hours to get from Miami to the FL/GA border...  Long Hauls are also a factor.  (Hence we haven't been able to make the VIR 24)

[Jer]

1 hour ago, DEE DEE said:

Real road racers want a 24hr event VIR is perfect for that.   Nelson Ledges needs way more than repaving.  It was mentioned that someone felt blessed to have raced at Nelson in a 24hr event.   I say you should have dropped to your knees and thank the Lord that you made it out with no significant injuries.  The place is dangerous and is a flat out dump.  Never was an epic track and never will be.   The only thing Nelson Ledges represents is poor business decisions.  

My primary concern at any race is the on track racing experience.  Nelson is a driver's track, in that a good driver can extract a great lap time.  Those tracks are not necessarily easy to find, say the anti-Daytona/Road America etc.  And for that I happily give up amenities in the infield.  And hey, keep it on the track, no lipping over the carousel, and you should have no problems...maybe.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2017 by Jer

[skierman64]

16 hours ago, reidry said:

We prefer the double format simply due to the fact that it gives an opportunity to recover from a mechanical or an incident and have a shot at a decent finish on day two.

 

This ^^^

 

2 hours ago, Crank Yankers Racing said:

 

I enjoyed the 6 hour night enduro that happened at Gateway two years in a row.  That made things fun!

 

Especially since it's always held on the hottest weekend of the year for some reason.

 

1 hour ago, DEE DEE said:

Real road racers want a 24hr event.

 

Not necessarily.