Post 2014 first race

[W&K Creations]

Much thanks to John, Joel and the rest of the crew (sorry for not naming anyone else personally as I only really saw John and Joel on the feeds LOL) for putting on a great race as usual. It takes a lot of hard work and time to get all those things run and done!

And much thanks for getting the results and times posted so quickly to the NPWDRL website!

I did notice a few things:

- the video feed was still choppy, at least for me. It started out great with the SR and SS having no issues at all....but about a third of the way thru SP and all of Elim and Unlimited, it got progressively worse....choppy, delayed, and finally I pretty much didn't see most of the Elim and unlimited runs. It could be my computer although I kinda doubt it with the setup I have....more than likely its like John said in the beginning....choose either video quality or sound....while I like sound and hearing the stuff going on behind the scenes, next time we may just have to choose video as Id rather see the runs in their entirety. If others didn't have any problems please speak up as it means I need to look at my own setup perhaps a bit more....ill still look at making sure everything is updated anyway before the next race. John did say for people to call him if it got worse....I completely forgot so cant blame the crew there as its something out of their control...it seems other than John's own shop where the feeds were pretty much spot on, anywhere else will come at a certain price or some issues due to the location connection /images/boards/smilies/frown.gif, at least for some of us LOL.

- Radioactive had a great idea on Chat about trying to create a text system on race day to let racers know what times the races will start particularly if there is a delay. Delays will happen for a variety of reasons, a lot of it unavoidable...being able to get a estimated time really helps to plan out the day for a lot of us (I know im not alone in thinking this)....Radioactive said he is going to see about setting something up for the next race he is attending! I think this is a great idea and would be much appreciated if we can figure out a way to do it that doesn't take up any more time for the crew there as they are already doing a lot as is!

But in all another great race and I had a lot of fun watching, eating a couple hot dogs and a beer, and those peanut butter filled pretzel things from Costco....man those things are addicting!

WK

 

[GravityX]

First off, great job once again for putting on a great race.

I'm with WK on this, but my situation was slightly different. Early on in the race the video feed was very spotty. With both the SR and SS I got a lot of black screen. It seemed around 20 or so heats into the SS class the video became stable right up to the unlimited and eliminators. Sometimes hitting the F5 refresh helped (I wish I had a button like that on my car). I'm not sure what, if anything, can be done about the A/V sync, there seems to be video delay. Sound always seems to precede the video. But as WK said, I could live without the audio if it meant a better video feed. But at the same time it's nice to hear all the comments made during the race that sometimes come across as tips and such.

I also like the idea of a text system to keep the racers in the loop of any delays. I know the radio stations around here use a text alert system for traffic or breaking news. Not sure how that it is done but it would be a cool idea if it could be done here. Some of the racers here get very antsy when times are not spot on. I know you guys are very busy with other things on race day, but the idea of a notification system would be a nice touch to the already fine work you guys do.

GX

 

[Rocket car]

+1 on the texting idea. My video was ok , but not great. Lost it a few times.

 

[kcracer]

The text idea is great I left work early cause I thought race was going to start around 1 and didn't want to miss any action when I could off stayed a couple hours longer and made more $$$ for another car lol. The video wasn't bad died a couple times I liked having the sound but noticed sometimes it wasn't in sync with the video maybe it was just my computer had fun watching. Just wish car would have ran better always next time

 

[IAE Racing]

Great work and thanks GUYS! Keep up the good work.

 

[Quicktimederby]

It sounds like we need to just start planning on a later start time. Once the last boxes showed up within minutes the race was started. So that being said maybe we should plan on a 3-4 starting time. I totally get the frustration of waiting and trying to plain a day around it, it is very frustrating on our end also, being ready to go and having to wait. I think a later start time will help that situation out a lot. As far as the video feed I know john has already purchased the equipment and subscriptions need to provide a better viewing experience.
On a positive note the day of racing was a incredible one! You guys are building some incredible cars! The track has never operated so smooth and flawless, we are lucky to to have this type of quality of racers and track. Some of you guys made some huge jumps and that was very impressive to see, congrats on all you guys do!

 

[TRE]

all i seen was the computer screen with times never seen one race

 

[resullivan]

There were 2 cameras. One of the times and one of the card.

 

[OPARENNEN]

I was just looking at the results.
When you ask to look at the Unlimited Finals, I end up seeing the results for Eliminator.
Somehow the pointer needs to be updated.

 

[Mister B Racing]

I have an older computer system which is why the video was spotty for me. I usually saw the staging of the cars then a pause and then I saw the cars at the finish line. Also saw the results on the screen.

It was also cool to see all of the race results and individule stats posted on-line so soon! Can't wait for the videos to be posted!

Thanks to everyone who helped to put on the race!

 

[Flying W Speedworks]

The race was fun to watch and great to be a part of as a first timer. For the record, I probably would not have entered, but greatly reconsidered when I saw that there was a novice category. Thanks for doing it. Now I have to find some speed.

 

[pwddc]

Thank you John and all the crew. I know it is a lot of work and there are many trials to put the races on.
It was so much fun, my wife wanted to watch too.
Thanks also to all of the experienced and creative racers in the league, who help instruct and encourage others.

 

[MBL Racing]

Yeah I was as excited as my son about his derby which also was yesterday; like MRB all I saw was cars staged followed by the times. I have all the faith in the world that things will get smoother, I was just going nuts trying to find out what was happening.

Any news on when the videos will be up????

 

[zeebzob]

Was anyone able to get the live feed working on the Livestream app? I saw that there was an event scheduled, but it did absolutely nothing at all. I really believe that mobile feeds are a must to propel the league into the future. Most of us do not have the luxury to spend the entire day in front of the computer. A viable mobile solution would also help in the event of a delayed start time. Just checking an app on my phone would be much more convenient than just sitting there waiting.
Another thing to look into is just simply turning the camera on and leaving it on, let the proxy racers see what's going on instead of having the same two videos play over and over and over and over...ugh.

 

[IAE Racing]

Congrats! You got it made!

PWDDC said:

It was so much fun, my wife wanted to watch too.

this has to be a first!

 

[DerbyDad4Hire]

Great event yesterday and thank you to all that supported the race. 1st race of the year in a new remote location and with a massive track upgrade and falling on a week with a holiday to screw up the mail and all in all it went very well I thought. A Huge thank you to Joel, KC, Shane and Keith for the massive help getting the event completed! It is turning into a team production.

Thank you for your suggestions. I understand it gets frustrating waiting on the race. One thing that would have helped eliminate the delay is if everyone would have followed the registration guidelines I have laid out. http://npwdrl.com/registration/ It is extremely simple and saves a lot of time on our side if everyone completes each step.

1. Tracking payment. Please include a paypal receipt copy if you pay by paypal with your cars. The accounting side takes up a ton of time if this is not done because I have to dig through the paypal account and see if you paid or not.

2. THANK YOU for including the return labels. Please remember you cannot get these at the post office. You must do it online. ONE THING THAT WOULD DRASTICALLY HELP IS IF EACH OF YOU WOULD TRIM YOUR LABELS TO SIZE. Using remote locations everything needs to be reboxed the same night and this saves us time if each of you take a few seconds and do this.

3. There is still a lot of sloppy shipping boxes. I promise a lot of cars are underperforming because of poorly fit shipping boxes. PROTECT YOUR HARD WORK!!!!! Use the 4' boxes too. THey are much better.

4. We wasted a lot of time because the cars were not labeled so we could match them to the correct shipping box. If you fail to do this and we repack your car wrong then it is YOUR FAULT. With nearly 50 boxes coming in it can get real confusing real fast and a few seconds on your part saves hours on ours. It also PROTECTS YOUR CARS!

5. PRE REGISTER YOUR CARS ONLINE!!!! If you do it early in the week I can get them entered in before race day and we can catch a lot of the problems before the race starts. This goes for EVERYONE. It is a quick simple thing to do that makes race day flow on time.

Running races this size takes coordination and cooperation from everyone involved. I want to get the races started right on time and that hinges on all the builders doing their part. Anyone that has ever helped out should understand. Please take the time on your part to make sure you are organized to help us out.

OK, now what is going to change...
1. The race times will be pushed back later in the day. We will have set start times for each class which will mean we will have to keep up a good pace. We will not be able to bend to accommodate any longer.
2. Street Stock Novice and Am will run together and will be broken out in the final standings. Pro will run separate.
3. I bought the new Livestream broadcaster. It will be a better viewing experience I think and I will have it running for the next race. We are also going to be looking to bring back the finshline slomo cam. I purchased 2 more video cameras to make the experience even better.
4. All car photos will be taken and posted. The last races pictures are already up.

Please let me know of anything else you want to see. Please remember that we can't control the quality of the live feed to every device.

 

[W&K Creations]

how awesome would a slow-mo cam at the finish line be!

And I just saw the photos of all the cars! Pretty slick!!!

 

[GravityX]

A lot of great tips and pointers John, here is what it boils down to; "Running races this size takes coordination and cooperation from everyone involved. I want to get the races started right on time and that hinges on all the builders doing their part."

I myself am looking forward to a great year of racing and will certainly enjoy watching the finish line in slow motion. Keep up the great work John! You keep pushing the boundaries of making this a great place to race our cars. Well Done!!!

 

[Flying W Speedworks]

how awesome would a slow-mo cam at the finish line be!

And I just saw the photos of all the cars! Pretty slick!!!

Can you point me in the direction where the photos are located? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Flying W Speedworks]

I am a newbie that forgot to label his car. I labeled my box, but forgot the car. I tried to email after I sent my car realizing my problem, but I had no idea of the magnitude of the race. Even if my email was received, it was probably a hassle to locate my car. Anyways, once again, I apologize for not marking my car. I will not make that mistake again.

That said, thank you for your understanding as well.