More on the GS Nats, complaints??? The Buick "thing" in general

[EightSecV6]

I personally feel the organization and professionalism of the GS Nats has been on the rise at a rapid rate for the last 3 years. I have had my problems with the "club" in the past but I have no complaints about the way things were run this year at all. The fact that I had a serious race car there (not necessarily performing as such!!!!) as well as several others was taken into consideration while prepping the track and allowing us to use lanes 8 and 9 in order for us to come right to the lanes and race instead of suiting up and sitting with the street type cars for 20 minutes while baking in race gear.
I think the days of the cars lined up past the fence in the staging lanes are over. The cars are no longer a "high end" vehicle.The Grand National is no longer the "family" oriented car it was 10 years ago. These are not negative comments but as all things change,the Buick movement has as well.The younger generation can afford them now and do not have the funds or means to spend $35k plus on engine combinations.
I feel very fortunate to have been able to buy one of these cars at a young age and see the "Big Names" run them when they were HOT. I remember a time at the GS Nats when you expected to see Lawrence Conley, Jim D'Allessandro, Gary Oswald, Buddy Cox, Kenny D, Ron Fruchy, Lou Czarnota, Pete Barton, Bob Borelli, Humberto Rodriguez, The S&S race team (BIG tractor trailer rig), Barry Walker, and Alan Witter all at one time!!!! There would even be alot of the "higher end" sportsmen there names like Gary Harris, Pete Bernard, Ski,Bob Peterson, Jack Pendzimus, Brady Perry, Travis Beckendorf, Jim Haas (yes even he used to have one of the baddest street TR's around), Vic Guilmino, Nelson Hernandez, Terry Houston,Eric Rankin,John Gallina,Dale Cherry, Joe Copson and the list goes on. Alot of these guys are still into it but not as strong as they used to be for one reason or another. Some of you will recognize all of these names and others will hardly recognize any at all, hence the generation gap.
I can see the decline in the Buick Thing as our business has evolved into something totally different than it started off as. We are however, going to attend the GS Nationals as long as they exist whether we have our differences or not. I have been obsessed with these cars for over 17 years and while my factory 86 GN Moonroof car now has only the original quater panels and sheet metal between the tail lights on it, it is still MY car and I will continue to campaign it until I run out of parts!!!!
Thanks ,
Bill Anderson

P.S. sorry if I forgot any other names, chime in if you like!

 

[FlyinGN]

Its very true Bill. I have been in it since the begining also and remember all those guys and know a good number of em.. When I read Brady Perry I was like *wow*. A name that I have not heard in years., Wonder where he is? I used to crew with Joe Copson.. Fun days those were..

 

[N2HIPSI]

Amen!!!! I appreciate all of the people in this post because they set the path in motion for me to personally enjoy my car. They have saved me tons of money thru their experiences in the beginning. I have had the priviledge to personally know Alan and Gary, and Billy has built my my latest engine. I have met many of the others and they have always had time to spend with a "rookie" kid with a very small budget and big dreams. Thanks to all!!!

Marley Hay

 

[Taffy]

Does Eric Rankin still run his car? The first baddd TR that I ever saw run was Eric's. It was at Lebanon Valley Raceway in New York. I have heard about him in a long time. ERIC.

 

[BUICK528]

 

[XXQUICK6XX]

Nats

I have to agree whole heartedly with Bill as for me i'm in it for the long haul. Always enjoy the atmosphere and the new friendships I make there. Plus especially those late niters in the parking lot's.

Steve

 

[sackracing]

maybe just a little too much test and tune though. they should have run some heads up classes friday night instead of the test and tune. they did say they were going to run tso friday night, some people hung around for it and they decided not to run it without giving an announcement. after two hours we rode to the tower only to find out it was put off till saturday.

 

[GNX Guy]

Hey what about me? Just kidding. Excellent post. Could not agree more. Big generation gap. I've been here since the begining, still have my 87 that I ordered new from the dealer. Major changes in the clientel buying these cars. I miss seeing all those guys you mentioned, well I did see Alan Witter.

Joe

 

[jmidolo]

Great post Bill, it was nice meeting you last week, even if you prolly don't remember me from meeting 200 people

One thing I did notice as you and others did too is the organization tends to be getting better. Nick did a great job I feel in running and/or helping to run things.

I've only been going since 98 (year of the monsoons) and that was huge even with the rains.

I would expect from what I've heard from people that have been going for years like yourself is that the early 90s were the hayday as far as attendance, when the TRs were allowed to run and were getting very fast.

So, my point is, maybe the reason it was so "Unorganized" was the fact that the attendance had jumped SO much in such a short period of time, everyone was offguard. Now things seem to be running a bit more smoothly is becuase the group is back to a more managable size?????

I sure wish that they had allowed a second round of Q16 qualifing...I also thing Heads UP would be pretty cool too rather than bracket racing them...What do you feel as a racer in that class would be better?

 

[Scott231]

Bill - Congratulations on (only) running 8.1 in a brand new combination!

One name you forgot, and I was delighted to see that he had returned to the Nationals for the first time in many, many years - Ricardo LaCosta! One of the original wheel-standing TRs from the early 90s. Some of you may remember his "hood incident" from ~10 years ago.

 

[VETKILR]

The generation gap may be true, but im 21 and have been going to the gs nats ever year since 1989 with the exception of 1994, 95 and this year b/c of moving into new house. I though have to say the gs presence used to be a lot more than it is today. Dont get me long i love the turbo cars, makes me happy too, to see them as how fast they are since mine is just a 22k mile 12 second car. But i think more people used to race their cars there. The GSCA has done some good "propaganda" every year saying it gets bigger and better. It may have more attendance by car count has not been up since the move to Columbus the one year. Ive never been a gsca member, just got with my stepfather whose been a member since 1985. We have raced there and such and no quite a bit of people, more so the v8 guys than turbo people. The cars are getting faster, but like this year a lot of notable were not there not there John Schmidt, Duttweiler (though he hasnt been in years at least to race), Mike from TA never brings his car, a lot of fast v8s have not shown up in years. I am a BPG member and though wish the GSCA great luck as i will definitely be coming back to BG. But i do think payouts for the heads up/super 16 cars needs to go way up. With RL and BJ taking in great profitts ( i have an irs friend believe me, how do you think richard did a body off on his gs which is fine with me but dont bs the racers like benisek and all them who comes from california in a $50k towing vehicle and trailer and probably a $30k race car probably more to win $300!!! Something has to be dealt with that.

Also i agree with Alan a gentleman on v8buick.com who says the gs nats have now become a place where so many people come to see others cars and do not bring their own. I do agree i dont have to worry about my car i just take my daily driver down and look at everyone elses. i know everyone has a different opinion but the the pics of the car show this year were sad. Ive never seen such a small display at bg every. ITs too bad but its a sign probably of bad economy, people not wanting to drive that far to bg b/c of insurance reasons, dont want to break down far away from home with those with no trailer, and simply dont want to beat on their car for long trips on the highway.

I think these are some reason that the quality of truely fast cars at bg is draining. I know i cant wait for the BPG nats next year as a lot of people are already saying they will come. A new event is indeed exciting. But i still like the gsca and the gs nats, but i do believe they must start paying the racers more and bringing out the nos reproduction market. People in here dont realize how much old cars are to redo. Yes turbo motors are definitely not cheap i know that, but look at the gs how much for nos grille or something of that nature. I will never cut up my gn as i have no money to make it an 8sec car and no desire too. I like watching other people make the fast runs. Its all up to the person how they want to do that car. I like how everyone does their car as its evidence of the person's own tastes which it should be and no one should attack that.

In conclusion the gsca must: 1. make larger payouts and not take so much and give the run and hide approach, like bj and rl hide and the bs he does not have a computer, i just dont buy it. He always says hes willing to address the concerns of clubmembers, well he needs to step into 21st century technology. 2. Must allow non members to come and race and participate. 3. if rain or bad weather arises everyone should be refunded for that, no questions asked!!!

This is not a flame, just things that need to be addressed. I hope this even does not fall by the wayside. I love going there every year i just feel they need to make some changes, before they start losing their attendance and cars. WE have seen the Mopar Nats and all the rest die b/c of this. Let us not go down as a statistic especially since both clubs are fighting for our similar belief: to advance and celebrate Buick performance.

 

[86brick]

Originally posted by Scott231
Bill - Congratulations on (only) running 8.1 in a brand new combination!

One name you forgot, and I was delighted to see that he had returned to the Nationals for the first time in many, many years - Ricardo LaCosta! One of the original wheel-standing TRs from the early 90s. Some of you may remember his "hood incident" from ~10 years ago.

Scott, was Lee Fredrick there with Ricardo? Those two guys have been into racing TRs from the start and my dad has known both of them for a long time.... For the South Florida boys these were the days of when Hollywood Moroso was open when most everybody was running low 13's and a couple of the fastest TR guys were just getting into the 12's...... Also, how did Ricardo's TR run?? I think I heard it went 8.80's, but I'm not sure..... He now has a twin turbo Stage II motor so he probably wasn't even pushing it!

 

[GSX-PKV]

Just a suggestion. On Friday, the racing should go on while the car show is in progress! Present the car show winners their awards in the circle track area and NOT on the dragstrip.

On Friday, racing stopped in order to run the car show "awards!" For what seemed like forever, to those patiently waiting in the staging lanes, the "show winners" cruised slowly down the track, wasting valuable racing time while we watched the rain clouds rolling in.

There was actually a 2 1/2 plus hour "lull" between the top end track incident and cleanup and racing after the car show awards. They even interrupted the program a couple times to race a couple of mini vans!!!! Just my 2¢

 

[Nashty]

How about they start getting TV Tommy Ivo to bring the twin engine dragster (Buick powered) out for some exhibition runs.

Make available a schedule of events daily so we know better what to expect as things change.

Race OR show, your choice. That was a huge waste of time.

Race later on Thursdays.

Reduce the amount it costs for new people to race. This year a buddy of mine had his nephew drive his car down. It costs $120 to get your car in to race on the first day.

Consider moving the Nats to a new location. I love BG but maybe somewhere more central makes more sense. If not, soon there will be other events just as significant as nationals which will hurt ALL events. How about St. Louis? Get more people to go!

Have a community posting board for things to sell or trade.

I saw GM High Tech Performance's editor there, where was Car Craft? How about some TV shows like my classic car?

Get the dyno back but this time advertise it better.

More vendors, how about a Summit or a Jegs?

Miss Buick contest!!! Advertise it in town too, we could use a trophy girl and someone to pose with your car. Add a nice backdrop for photo opportunities too. Those racing photos are expensive.

Use an FM radio channel to broadcast announcements.

Burnout contest.

TB.com doesn't need a tent but a board where we can all come to locate ourselves so others can find each other.

COME TO THE TB.COM MEET AT TOOT'S !!!! No free beer this year and attendance crashes. For those that came, it was nice to meet you and I'll do it again next year.

 

[Scott231]

Originally posted by paul vilser
Just a suggestion. On Friday, the racing should go on while the car show is in progress!

That'll never happen. You would then force the spectators to choose which could pull people away from the car show. The car show people need to be stroked also. You've got Tues-Thurs to do nothing but race, and Friday from 2-8 and Saturday. They need their chance to (pardon the pun) shine.

Present the car show winners their awards in the circle track area and NOT on the dragstrip. On Friday, racing stopped in order to run the car show "awards!"

Again, that is done in that format so the show winners have an audience to see who won...and the audience is there cuz everyone boogies over to the racetrack to watch the racing.

I spoke with Richard and Nick Micale (the new Race Director, newly crowned on Friday night) on Saturday and there are some small changes being discussed that could make things run nicer and more smooth next year.

 

[buickman69]

As a 11 year member of the GSCA and attending the Nats, I was wondering this year "just how much longer' will it last??"
Attendance is WAY down compared to the "good 'ol days" of the early and mid 90's. Seems like every year it gets worse and worse. Saturday morning was practically dead compared to just 5 years ago. There is a lot of vendors who didn't show this year and the last few. I'm worried.

The V8 cars are getting less and less. I didn't see 1 Riviera all week (V8 powered).

I got there Sat morning and the lanes had several cars waiting to race but the track and nats people wasn't running them. After a while of everyone sitting waiting to race then it starts raining and they announce "we can't run cause it's raining" DUH!! instead of stalling they should have been running the cars through cause they knew it was going to rain.
That's my only complaint about the event this year.

I just wish everyone would come back and it could be like it use to. I've just been coming in my daily driver for the past several years and it seems like a lot of others are doing that to.

If the attendance keeps falling off, then I don't see how it can keep going much longer.

 

[86brick]

Bunch of pessimists!

Just sing along with me...........

It's the end of the Buick world as we know it!!!!!!

Any of you guys that think the GSCA and Turbo Buicks as well as V8 Buicks are going to die off please sell me all of your unwanted parts and cars for a very cheap price and go buy a Chevy or a Ford like every other belly button out there!!!!!!!!!

Then you won't have to worry about getting parts or going to events.......

Mmmmmkay?

The glass is half empty

 

[8587GN]

We left the car at home due to the weather predictions on Sat.This could have a BIG factor in the car count. Had we known that they were going to run the heads up classes on Fri nite...well that would have been a diffrent story. The vendor section was way down,trying to find parts for a GS is hard anyways,and your supposed to be able to find them at BG[years ago you could].We didnt even spend the night there.Drove down Thur nite and left after the racing on Fri[71/2 hrs each way] Its up in the air if we`ll go back next year,partly due to the BPG event in August[and closer to home]

Keith,not complaining

 

[jdodman]

It's been 10 years since the last time I attended and this year was everything I had hoped for and more. Great time !! Track was in fairly good shape, the weather held out all week. I thought it was well run and everything went very smoothly.

 

[et10sec]

move bowling green

i liked columbus, ohio, 5 years ago. national trails raceway they where great, gave us plenty of track time. nice hotels, brice road, e&w root beer! ed zeliesko