Midway Dragway......
 

IF Midway were to re-open under new management/ ownership, what would you guys like to see happen out there? I know the track has sucked in the past, well since it opened, but things may be changing so what would people like to see as a schedule? More T&T, grudge night, bracket racing, big shows? Need the input, things may be going down on it being re-opened.

saturday

If they make it a 1/4 mile they would get plenty of business. Its a two hour drive to the nearest 1/4 mile track. And saturday racing is always a plus.

I agree with the 1/4 mile idea. Making the lane as wide as Carolina Dragway's lane is another good thing, Get more involved in the racing forums to promote their track makes an huge impact also (grudgeracer.com, carolinahorsepower.com, and yellowbullet.com).

Bracket racing on saturdays or T&T? When the track was built, it was built as if it were going to be a 1/4 mile with enough shut down for it but only made it an 1/8 so they could get some fast clubs and doorslammers out there.

Saturday hours, T&T, A bracket schedule for all the 8.4 second mopars to come out(no pun intended), and maybe a few grudge events through out the year. It would be nice if they were set up to run the 1/4 if you like, although I am partial to the 1/8.


Ohhh and clean restrooms... none of this Dorchester BS. I was almost robbed by a roach.

Midway
 

I have allways liked the bracket racing on saturday's. It really sucked having no trophies or website exposure though and the payouts were allways low.Index classes may be a good idea along with the bracket program.You could get the car count back up by just prepping the track right and getting the scoreboards working.The track has just gotten a bad name for the track prep and lack of decent races put on. Hell remember when lowcountry was full every time there was a street car races.There were three classes.It was true street which ran on a 8.0 index with pro tree,and there was a middle class which i forgot what it was called and there was extreme street for the fastest cars.They allways had a hell of a turn out and a bunch of cars and spectators.There is a bunch of people out near there who race just got to get it on and poppin again...

Clean restrooms is a must. You can always still run doorslammers in the 1/8th mile if it was 1/4mile.

1/4 mile would be preferred, but we all know that won't happen.

more staging lanes.
more paved parking in the pits.
better lighting in the pits
better stands.

Pretty much, UP DATE THE HELL OUT OF EVERYTHING

hal needs promod shutdown area.

Where is midway? A friend of mine recently asked about it:bond:

1/4 please...

It's out on 52 through bonneau,then st, stephen,and past 521 where you turn to go to greelyville.Just keep straight on 52.Out about 6 miles past 521

Bracket Points program with a guranteed purse on saturday and test and tune grudge on every friday... and some kind of event on one friday of the month... run what ya brung... outlaw 10.5... 6.0... 7.0 index racing... street car shoot out... this track does not need to do a stock suspension race... a outlaw 10.5 will draw a big turn out as did at lowcounty and dorchester a few years back

Enough shutdown out there for WHAT to run the 1/4?

And I hate to say it, but they aren't going to get any fans in the stands running bracket anything.

Grudge racing and heads up style racing is the only thing that will get fans to the track. Bracket racing might bring a bunch of cars, but the stands will be empty.

Good track prep, clean restrooms, some decent food and a reasonable admission mixed with grudge or heads up racing should do the trick.

That is kind of a catch 22. I like heads up and grudge as much as the next guy, but 70% of you racing participants are bracket and index. They may not fill the stands as much as heads up, but their participation usually makes up the majority of the heads up payout. I wouldn't leave bracket and index off the schedule by no means..:bigthumb:

Turn it into a quarter mile track and for everybody on this side of south carolina and track prep.

The 1/4 mile shutdown was what the original owner said was going to be done, I don't personally know because I stopped racing once Lowcountry shut down. Track prep wont be a problem if it opens back up, what about sunday racing? Trying to get all the info and feedback possible in case it does open we can have a good track to go to that is closer for most of us.

I agree 100 percent lowcountry was mainly a bracket track and did great for years... midway will not make it not having a bracket program... making the track 1/4 mile will not be worth the money i promise you that

me and billy have talked about it many times while bored at work. If they could get a grudge and T&T night then it would kick ass. I mean if any of us wanna go see any good racing the closest we have is bowman and dorchester. bracket racing is fine and dandy but it just doesent have a crowd. We have rode up to carolina and darlington on weeknights before but darlington is a 2+ hour ride and carolina is even further. make a friday night grudge night at midway and that bitch would be packed up. and i think if the money is there then go 1/4 mile. it would be nice to have a 1/4 mile. maybe yall could bracket race the quarter lol

I didn't say don't have a bracket program at all, I said it will not get fans in the stands like grudge or heads up racing will.

I bet my left nut that the track could open once a month for grudge, and a heads up race (like 10.5, or SS, or both) and make more money than if they opened twice a week and ran bracket races.

But I understand that bracket races serve a purpose as well.

But, if someone is making business decisions- some form of heads up racing, whether it be organized or grudge, has to be priority number one if you want fans.

And track prep- there is more to it than dragging and glueing. From the times I have been there, it appeared that maybe they needed some professional help on track prep to get them headed in the right direction.

The problem with midway was the old owner was too damn cheap to pay for the glue and let the starting line guy do his job the right way. If the track opens back up then track prep wont be a problem. Ask anyone who raced out at Lowcountry when Ray prepped the line, there was never any problems with hooking and that's how it will be if it re-opens I'm pretty positive. What about a T&T/grudge every Friday and bracket every other satuday with some kinda event (10.5 shootout, true street, etc.) on the saturdays there arn't brackets?

If it were me, I would do a 10.5 race once a month with a free entry fee and a decent pay out. It might take a couple races to get the fans interested, but it will work. Dorchester use to do it, did hardly any advertising, and still packed the place out.

The payout has to be good enough to get the cars there that the fans will follow. With so many "events", it is spreading the racers thin.

i dont see the need for midway to turn into a 1/4 mile track... lowcountry was ran just like i said earlier t&t on fridays and had events once a month...
I like the idea billy had to bracket racing twice a month with a different event on days there arent bracket races... lowcountry was ran like this too. I remember now

i agree with all said but still the 1/4 would be nice. agreed that lowcountry did damn good robert with the 1/8th but just think how much more bad ass it would be with the 1/4 for those who wanna try

Orangeburg was setup to run a 1/4 before the huge remodel and I don't recall them ever using their 1/4 traps, I could be wrong though. It seems like 1/4 is what they run up north and 1/8 is what we do in the south, don't know why.

its not going to be turned into a 1/4 mile track so there is no need to carry this on any farther.... the man thats going to get it knows how to run it

Since when has orangeburg ever had 1/4 mile traps?

i was wondering the same thing... there is no room with what is there now

insurance costs. a northern track will have a turnout 3x that of a south eastern track

If thats the case then why do the up north guys come down south to race? The south is where its at, but you must not know...

If you look on youtube.com the bleachers are dead at those up north races.

1/4 mile would be cool; but I am from up north. 1/8 mile is fine. I have not been out to Midway; but, from my experiences around here, many tracks are missing all of the pieces. Top notch track prep, racer-friendly pits and staging lanes, clean restrooms, good concessions, nice grandstands, functioning scoreboards, and "headline" events are key to a track being successful. Not to say that any of the tracks around here are not any good, but noone seems to have all of the pieces in place. Maybe I got spoiled by running at Route 66 two days a week, but they definately knew how to get it done. T&T two nights a week with car counts around 300, or so, in the height of race season was not unheard of. They also ran a weekend bracket championship and many special events. One of my favorite events was known as the "Sherriff's Challenge". The local Sherriff's department (Will County) would host an event at the track to raise funds for the Wish Apon a Star Foundation. There would be a car show, open T&T, gambler's races, and exhibition races (even a 'grudge' race between local PDs). It was typically sponsored by one of the local dealerships. This event always had a high car count, and everyone involved had a good time.

Sorry to ramble on, but just a couple of ideas I had rattling around in my head.

From reading some of the comments about not wanting 1/4 mile tracks it looks like a few have their cars set up to go 1/8 and not much more. They must be afraid to get gapped in the 1/4. Just my observation from reading this thread. I may be wrong but I call it like I see it. :)

Gap deez nuts in the quarter!


And BTW- i went 8.31 at 97mph in the quarter with the parachute out at the 1/8th mile last Sunday. I bet that is still the fastest 1/4 mile pass on this forum. LOL!

I can tell you something else that will reduce the amount of track prep, and clean up. Thats teching the cars before they run, maybe not in too much depth, but check for major leaks, overflow cans, ect. But that will never happen, so better get some good clean up equipment..:bigthumb:

I must have missed where you said anything negative about 1/4 mile. So the comment wasn't directed at you.

I feel the only reason someone would be against having a 1/4 mile track locally is if they just couldn't compete on the 1/4. They only want to run 1/8 were apparently their car runs out of gear at the traps. we need options locally. If someone wants to run 1/4 mile there are no options for them within 2 hr travel time. Sorry I grew up near Raceway Park Engishtown, NJ. I guess I'm spoiled. :roll:

I don't care for the 1/4 mile. When your junk is slow like mine the second 1/8th is just riding anyway.

:cheers

+1.
Thats what I have always said. I usually pop in a DVD movie for the 2nd half of a 1/4 mile track.

I really dont know what you want me to tell you, there might not be as many in the stands but the car count is uncomparable.

You can always shut it down after the 1/8...it would be real nice to have a 1/4 mile track here local..definatly draw more people

I agree I would personally like to have a 1/4 track locally. The drivers always have the option of shutting it down at the 1/8 if thats what they choose to do.