Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green

My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 23, 2011 03:26AM

Dick Morgan

Moderator
Registered: 03/25/2008
Posts: 1,446

Finally had a chance to sit down after the weekend at Bowling Green. Time to evaluate the show.

The 45th running of the NTPC at Bowling Green has to be one of the best truck and tractor pulls that I have attended in a long time, if ever.

1; The track was consistent and the track crew did a great job of keeping the dirt smooth, level and free from holes. The vehicles were unhooked and moved off the track in a timely manner.

2; The announcing was clear and concise and kept the crowd informed with current distances and “who’s on the bubble” information.

3; The sled and the sled settings, flawless! The sleds of today are a work of art. No sled breakdowns or malfunctions. The show had a pulloff in almost every class throughout the weekend. This show, with the huge number of pullers really benefits from the NTPA’s 300’, 310’ 320’ pulloff rule. The number of vehicles in the pulloffs is kept in the 3 to 6 vehicle range.

4; The crowds were in the “record number” range which is a testimony to the pulling fans dedication to the biggest and best pull in the world.

5; The Diesel FWD’s were a huge hit with the crowd. This class seems to work outside much better than at an indoor event. A fun class to watch.

The weather while out of the control of the BG staff was not a factor in the show except for the final two Super Semi’s in the final class in the Sunday session.

Areas for improvement;

1; With this many vehicles I would like to see BG go with the format that Tomah uses in their SF class. I know that they moved the SF class at the rate of one hook in under 3 minutes. Still when you have 72 in the class you are looking at almost 3 hrs for just one class.

2; I felt at times they could have moved the vehicles to the starting line a little faster. It seems like they waited until the starting line area completely prepared before they started the vehicle and moved it to the sled.

3; A “Family Friendly” seating area needs to be established that the fans can purchase and be sure that they are in an area that they are comfortable with their children.

4; I’m not sure what arrangements the NTPC has with the Wood County Fair Board , however I would like to see an upgrade to the lighting system. Granted this pull is one of the best run, best-attended pulls in the world, therefore every effort should be taken to give the fan and pullers the best environment to pull under.

Over all what can you say about the 2011 NTPC event, just the absolute best pull that a fan or puller can attend. If you have never had the opportunity to go, you really need to attend the 2012 show. It’s more than just a pull it’s an event!

Link to NTPC Bowling Green

Dick Morgan

www.PULLOFF.com
Independent Pulling News

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2011 12:43PM by Dick Morgan.

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Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 23, 2011 05:39AM

Bryan Lively

Moderator
Registered: 01/11/2009
Posts: 1,579

Good points Dick, I personally think the Saturday night show was possibly the best session of pulling Ive ever been to on this scale. The response to the diesel trucks on the North Side was pretty remarkable. There was one sled breakdown for maybe 5 minutes due to loose wire on Friday during Super Farms; I dont think you can ask for more from a sled operation crew than what we saw in BG. They did an excellent job.

I agree wholeheartedly on point #3 of improvement. I think several kids got introduced to some sights and words on the Northside that their parents didnt care for them to learn. YES, that side is meant for the rowdier participants of the event, but there is a line that got crossed or blurred however you want to look at it. In the least, if it isnt already done, ticket buyers need to be advised on the atmosphere on that side, kinda like the legendary infield at Churchill Downs; beware those who enter! Lighting is a question too; need more!

For the pluses and minuses, it is hard to give this edition of the NTPC anything less than an A+. The forward thinking of Mike Ott and the Blue Shirts to provide continuous improvement in this event is what makes it the best of its kind; the line forms behind them.

Bryan Lively -

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Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 23, 2011 09:28AM

sleds

I agree, best show ever. They should impose an age limit on the north side. The only other thing, is the sleds, they do a great job with setting them up for the distance, but boy do the drivers, tractors, and sleds themselves take a beating. Those are the only ones I have seen that slam the transfer that hard into the front. So hard it bounces back and forth a few times. Which ends up creating a large wave/hole in the track, the tractors start bouncing bad, and heck some guys shut offs got pulled, turbos blew, and tractors slamed hard on the ground when that transfer hit. Not sure if they can do something to fix that or not. I noticed it last year too.

Other than that, what an excellent weekend for everyone.

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	Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 23, 2011 09:52AM
patches Registered: 04/04/2008 Posts: 1,523	dick,the only thing i could add to your list would be,that all pullers who are interviewed need to speak up.whether they are interviewed in the winners circle or at the end of the track,it is nearly impossible to understand anything they are saying.. Reply Quote

Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 23, 2011 10:00AM

Another one

They need to ditch the sunday night show and go to thursday night. This change would help the pullers with work, the friday noon show attendance would be up and it would make saturday nights show the last big hoorah for the weekend. Tomah did this with there sunday night show and it has improved there show tremendously! Sunday afternoon in tomah is fead like BG but they also have 6 sessions.

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	Tomah and BG sessions August 23, 2011 10:59AM
Anonymous User	Tomah and BG are the same except for the Thurs night show at Tomah. Tomah has 6 sessions and BG has 5 sessions Reply Quote

Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 23, 2011 12:23PM

JD John

Please explain the Tomah format of dealing with the Superfarms. I believe there were 62SF's last year and 56 the year before. The SF tractors in the pulloff came from the beginning, middle, or end of class-the track crew did great for a afternoon (sunny) day. I don't see a huge problem with 3 hrs as long as the crowd is updated and the track is consistent. Not all Nascar races are the same length either ... this is a 600 miler class! I would have a problem with a 3 hr SF class on Sunday.

The south grandstand and track area are family friendly. The "northsiders" have been there for 40 years and aren't going away. I started working at NTPC in 1969 riding on the back of the "HeartBraker I & II" sleds. The Blue Shirts have come along way for the benefit of fan and puller.

Specifically, where does the lighting need to be better. Would it interfer with the TV filming?
Specifically, where does the sound need to improve. The track and south grandstands seemed OK during the weekend.

Did anyone take any pictures of the tractors in the 'Retired Museum'? There's some real focus on preserving the tractors / pullers who pioneered the NTPC. The club started rebuilding a couple pioneer tractors that had been dismantled and one even found in a scrap yard.

Thanks in Advance John

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Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 23, 2011 01:22PM

Jake Morgan

Admin
Registered: 03/25/2008
Posts: 2,526

Lighting - track lighting is OK, not great, just OK. It’s average at best, but for an event of this magnitude it should be the best lighting around bar none. It has dark spots and I run a pretty high ISO to compensate for the mediocre lighting. Some additional stadium lights would make a huge difference. Right now most (if not all) of the lights on the north side point to the north side track and the lights on the south side point to the south side track. It should have more lights on the north and pointing to both tracks and more on the south pointing to both tracks, that way the vehicles are well lit on both sides of each track at all times. This pull is the biggest and the best, but its track lighting certainly isn’t. Keep the same polls, and just double the number of lights.

Family Friendly Area - We haven’t ordered tickets for this pull in years so I can’t really comment regarding any advice or warnings they give you, but they need to specify that the North side is… um… not as family friendly. If a fan were coming to the event for the first time would they have any warning? If so that’s great, but if not then that’s not a good thing. Personally I like the idea of an age limit on the north side. Maybe they should make the north side 18 and over.

Museum - I didn’t get any photos inside the museum, but one of the photographers with us did (hopefully they’ll get posted on this page, or on his page). I made a quick walk through the museum and I think it’s awesome that they are preserving our pulling past. Since I’m working at the event I never seem to have much spare time, but I hope to spend more time at the museum next year.

Big classes - personally I don’t mind having the SF all in one class in two sessions. If you break up the class you’re going to have SF in every session and you’ll never really know who the best puller in the class is. The track was very consistent throughout the class and no matter how you split up the class you’re still going to see the same number of hooks (maybe even a few more if you split them… additional pulloffs). The SF class is huge, but the 540 Light Pro and the 4.1 Limited Pro will continue to draw numbers out of the SF class in the next few years. As the 540 class grows and gets more color it will soon be a fan favorite and it will need a spot at the table.

Flow – the show flowed very well, but I agree with my father that there were a few times when the starting line was scraped and packed and they didn’t signal the next tractor to fire up until the track was 100% complete. It wasn’t often, but there were some times when they could have gotten tractors to the sled sooner.

I’d give the show an “A”. I know that BG and the Blue Shirts will continue to improve the show and the facility and I’m already expecting 2012 to be bigger than 2011.

Jake Morgan
Owner, PULLOFF.COM
Independent Pulling News

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Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 24, 2011 03:05AM

Bryan Lively

Moderator
Registered: 01/11/2009
Posts: 1,579

I went to the museum Saturday morning for the discussion that was held with the retired pullers. Larry McVey, Lloyd McVey's son (Super Banana) was speaking when I showed up and he detailed the history of the twin-turboed, supercharged engine and how it was a step ahead of all single engine combinations of the time. John Hileman spoke briefly, as did Kenny Smith and Joe Whitney during my visit. The exhibit is wonderful. Drag racing and NASCAR folks have taken great pains to preserve their past, I would hope that the foresight of those who displayed their tractors at the NTPC would inspire others to keep the past alive and restore some of these tractors sitting in barns to their former glory. Im sending my collection of photos to Jake so he can post here unless he gives me a key to the door. lol.

Bryan Lively -

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Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 24, 2011 05:08AM

bandit496

Registered: 03/26/2008
Posts: 494

Sometimes, the "delay" at the starting line is necessary for some, let's call them "administrative duties". There may be situations where a track is trying to catch up with the other track for balance purposes and such. Sometimes, the next competitor is having difficulty starting. Anyhow, once in a while there will be a lull in the action.
As far as the sound system goes, there has been strides made, especially in the pits, but a comment that I heard repeatedly from spectators was to "turn it down" a notch. It was kinda loud for me, but I was close to a speaker . Concerning the SSD4X4, was it fan enjoyment or excess alcohol? Regardless of what the announcers were saying, the crowd was reacting with "enthusiasm". JW

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	Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 23, 2011 03:41PM
patches Registered: 04/04/2008 Posts: 1,523	john,my comment is not for the sound system or the announcers that are working.primarly i meant the pullers themselves need to speak up,or the interviewer needs to hold the mic closer to the pullers mouth.it just seams like the pullers are very hard to understand with anything they say.. Reply Quote

	Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 24, 2011 12:31AM
john B.	Speaking in public is one of the biggest phobias there is. Looking out at thousands of people can really give a guy the shakes if their not used speaking into a mic. Probably the reason for some of the meek voices. Reply Quote

Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 23, 2011 10:55PM

Anonymous User

JD John:

Four years ago, Tomah adopted the following system:

Super Farms appear in three sessions. The first appearance (recently, Friday afternoon) is a Region III class that is restricted to tractors with Regional National registration or per-hook license. The second appearance (recently, Saturday afternoon) is a Grand National Class whose rosters consist of GN-registered vehicles plus the odd-place finishers (1st, 3rd, etc.) from the first appearance. The third appearance (recently, Sunday afternoon) is a GN class consisting of GN vehicles plus even-place finishers from the first appearance.

Thus, each Super Farm tractor has two opportunities to appear, and the GN classes theoretically have equivalent competition for purse payouts (though, of course, the RN and per-hook vehicles do not figure in GN point calculations). All three classes are ordered by random draw numbers.

Personally, I like Tomah's system for Tomah, and BG's system for BG.

Jon

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	Re: My Opinion--2011 Bowling Green August 24, 2011 12:30AM
peanuts	What happened to the guy selling peanuts with the big hat and the cucumber microphone? Reply Quote