Morgan Lucas Racing
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Wed, Sept. 17th 2008
“This place is unreal!”
I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard someone exclaim that statement over the weekend at zMax Dragway in Charlotte. If I did, I might be almost as wealthy as Bruton Smith himself.
We expected the new track to be impressive, but even I was stunned by the size, layout, and accommodations of this incredible racing showplace. No, we didn’t get to see four cars racing simultaneously but I was told be several of Bruton’s people that at some point in the not too distant future, there will be some special events at the track in which four race cars will be heading down the four parallel lanes at the same time.
The track is located right across the street from Lowes Motor Speedway, sight of NASCAR’s longest annual Sprint Cup race, the Coca-Cola 600. I won’t go into a long, wordy description of the facility since you probably watched the ESPN2 coverage of the Carolinas Nationals this weekend and saw the track on the tube.
I had the pleasure of being the guest of team owner Ken Black all weekend in his beautiful luxury suite located over the John Force Grandstand lining the left side of the dragway. The layout of the tower, grandstands, suites, and all the amenities are first class all the way. The pits are well laid out, the parking is ample, and we were able to get out of the parking area and onto the interstate within minutes after leaving the track. Bruton deserves the great reputation he has earned from knowing how to construct and maintain fan-friendly racing venues.
As for Morgan and J.R., it was far less than a satisfying event.
Morgan suffered yet another first-round loss and J.R. was a second-round victim. It has been a familiar pattern this year and if you go back and read the previous “Over-Center” columns I’ve written this year (and I certainly don’t expect you to), you find more than a few national events at which the guys advanced no further than the quarter-finals. It’s been painful to watch.
One of the real downsides to the Countdown format has become a vivid reality to Morgan and J.R., along with the other teams which missed moving into the Countdown to 1.
Unless you win the race, don’t expect much media attention.
It’s also a situation in which NASCAR teams have been burdened with. There are a lot of teams outside the Countdown playoffs who have sponsors, fans, and merchandising deals which are vital to their livelihoods and financial viability. If they don’t receive TV or print exposure over the course of the closing races of the season, they feel it. In the NHRA, non-Countdown teams have to literally win a race to get that vital media play that keeps the bills paid. For Morgan and J.R., it places some real performance anxiety on them with only five races left in the season.
The answer? Non-Countdown teams are going to have to really put their heads together to come up with media-drawing promotions and off-track activities to get some love from TV and print. And the media outlets are going to have to step outside the path of least resistance and present some of the interesting and entertaining stories surrounding those non-Countdown teams to add some variety and spontaneity to their coverage. Will it happen? That’s the million-dollar question.
There was definitely some terrific track prep performed at zMax for the race. We saw pair after pair of race cars in all the pro classes, along with the bikes, make straight, powerful runs all weekend on a track with very little rubber on it. There were a few runs afflicted with tire smoke but even with 130-degree track temperatures all three days, the percentage of cars going up in smoke was remarkably small. The final rounds in Top Fuel and Funny Car were not decided by tire smoke, and that was a welcome surprise.
From the all-concrete racing surface at zMax to the all-concrete racetrack at the Motorplex in Dallas next weekend. No time to feel sorry for ourselves.
We’re on our way to Texas.