Projects Thinking about starting up an event in Upstate NY.

Ok, so i've had this idea in my head for quite a while now.

Here in Upstate NY, city of Rome to be exact, is the former Griffis Air Force Base(former home of the SR71, defunct in the early '90s). This was the home of Woodstock '99, Hot August Nats, and Thunder at the Griff(motorcycles).

I think this would be the perfect setting for a HAMB friendly show, It would be even better if we could do some drag racing down one of the runways. How cool would it be to have a Timing ***oc. there? There is a brand new hotel right on site, and numerious other hotel/motels in the surrounding city, plenty of parts stores/garages(my shop is 15minutes away from the city), restaraunts, shopping for the miss....

My wife's uncle works on the base(government is still present even though base is 'closed') He can tell me who i need to talk to if we were to do something like this. I could talk to the local car club ( the tappet twirlers) and see if they would like to play a part in it.

Im willing to do some of the leg work, whats been stopping me is the fact that i dont want to waste my time. It would **** to go through all this work and have nobody show.

Thoughts anyone?

 

There is a pool of 20+ hot rod guys from the Binghamton area who would do anything to help promote and volunteer if needed. We also have a large # of friends in the Syracuse area that would do whatever it takes to get more gatherings in our area. It is a great location from the sound of it. Thanks, Joe

 

Start small, the Pileup was a few cars at Marty and Sons bodyshop. Be carefull what you wish for!

 

Sweet, i was hoping to hear something like that. I played hockey for Broome back in 2001, never saw a hot rod. Now everywhere i go i hear of Rolling Bones, how did i miss that? I know some of the 'Villians and Misfits from the 'Cuse area. Im sure they wouldnt mind lending a helping hand.

 

There is also a small privatly owned air strip, i believe its called Griffiss Intl. If things dont work out with the A.F. we might be able to rent the strip.

In all honesty i dont know jack about taking on something like this.

-Joe

 

The Central NY Region of the Sports Car Club of America used to schedule Autocross events on the runway at Griffis, so there is precident for automotive events on the paved surfaces there. However, these autoocrosses are considered non speed events, and insured as such through the au****es of the National SCCA.

You might want to consider 1/8 mile drags to keep the speeds down to be more acceptable to the powers that be. If you have compe***ive driving events, Car to Car, (autocrosses are one car at a time against the clock) you might need to come up with some sort of insurance. This type of coverage is becomng more and more difficult to get. I know this is the case with Ice Racing as in recent years it has become prohibitively expensive especially on one off events.

YOu might need to be under the sanction of a recognized club even to get some companies to consider providing coverage.

I do not know the details but the SCCA has not been scheduling events there in recent (2 or 3) years.

You can google CNY SCCA and send an email to the Auto cross chairperson to get some current information about the situation there.

Would the club in Rome (Tappet Twirlers) be of any ***istance??

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^Do a streetkhana like the old Rod Runs, autocross with hotrods. Jousting games etc..................you dont need to haVE a drag race to have fun. Rodruns were cool when I was a wee tyke in the 70s.

 

Why did the other shows go away? That would be the first thing I'd find out.

Is there a good open date for a show like that? There even is a show in Lee Center, a generic type car show - I've never been, they want way too much for a swap spot, so I have no idea what shows up there.

From the swap standpoint the only holes I have are parts of June and parts of August, and even then there are shows I could go to if I thought I'd make a buck at them.

 

.............about 2 years or more ago and in the town of Norwich NY...there was talk of making a year round type of race track at the only airport there....it never come to be...I don't know why but it might be good to see why it did not happen...the town sure could use the money that it would bring in...I have a home in New Berlin and I have attended shows at the Stone Barn Castle and Town of Onieda both were great...Miller

 

I remember that well----you should have seen and heard some of the ******** comments from some of the townsfolk. I think that a lot of them watched "Hot Rods to Hell" too many times! If you had a dragstrip, it would attract both the cycle gangs headed by Lee Marvin and Marlon Brando, and they'd **** all the women, kill all the cattle, and burn all the crops.

 

Well that is good to know, so if you hear that sort of junk you will be 1 step ahead of them and show them where their wrong...I hope you get it going I will attend..I have attended the 1 in Norwich fair grounds...Miller

 

I'd bet that if it was advertised properly and word of mouth got around, there would be a hell of a lot of cars showing up. Our area hear only has a couple shows and really only 1 in the fall in Sidney where HEATHEN is from that has like 400 cars show up if not more. There's a **** load of cars all over and the numbers seem to keep growing. Go for it and if it works you might get alot more then you plan on

 

The guy that put on Hot August Nats owns a pizza shop in the city, i'll stop in and ask him what he had to do. Im sure he could help out quite a bit.

Rome's car club, the tappet twirlers, doesnt really have many hot rods. Maybe a T-bucket and a '37 Ford. The rest are all 60's muscle.

 

Comment about the Rome club was perhaps for some hands to help and some experience staging an event.

 

...I have been at shows where you sign a waiver so you can't sue them or the owners of the property etc etc...is that waiver legal?...Miller

 

I would be in from up here and there are allot of us eastern Canucks that will come down as we do Syracuse but you will be closer. But my car at this time is a 67 Bellflower type build would I be allowed?

 

I've had the same thoughts. I live 25 Miles SW of Syracuse.I've been involved in Snowmobile Racing for years. It takes a LOT of
folks to put on any show. I'd be willing to lend a hand if you get
past the first hurdles. PM me if you need any help.

VR&C (Mark).

 

Here is another aspect. I wouldnt want to be the one to tell a guy that drove all the way from Canada that he can not join in.

At the same time I hate seeing 3 row of corvettes, followed by 4 rows of mustangs, followed by....

I guess some rules would have to be made.

The insurance issue has definatly crossed my mind. I weld, Im no lawyer, so i that is not my specialty.

Also, i would ***ume that there would need to be some sort of public facilities. Clean up afterwards would be an issue. I know after Woodstock the whole city was thrashed.

Lets keep this ***********, maybe we could make something happen.

 

http://www.shadows-alley.com/tappet_twirlers/events.htm

Scroll down to 2003 events on this page. This was Hot August Nats when it was at Griffiss AFB. The following year it was relocated to the Onieda County airport. Hasnt happened since...

 

Wasn't Hot Aug Nats done by some of the Right coast guys??

 

All the way from Canada isnt that far a couple hours or so. Having a rule stating a non muscle car event would keep out that style of car. Some times being different ****s. ALLS GOOD.

 

My brother was telling me that the Utica - Rome speedway was going to build a brand new dragstrip , in addition to the circle track they have , I`ll ask him whats up with it if you are interested .......

 

Do you have a "Chamber of Commerce" ? I'm just thinking of the Hot Rod ReUnion in B.G. Kentucky, etc. the Mayor and Chief of Police attend the NHRA inductee's ceremony and thank all in attendance since it has a huge impact on the local economy for the duration of the event. Just a thought, get the stamp of approval from the local politicians...

I certainly understand the event in B.G. is a huge event, however; it is interesting the local politicians support the event.....

 

The rumor i've heard was that they want to "re-open" the dragstrip. That was a big thing back in the day, you still see cars driving around sporting the window sticker/badges. However, you can now purchase copies of those badges at swap meets...

Heck, another option is having this in a hay field. I grew up on a farm, surrounded by my relatives farms. Plenty of space for anything we would do. No noise ordinance, no local PD, on private property so no permits and what not... Procedes would just go to cover re-seading of the hay field. We could call it the "hayride" or something stupid like that.

 

Why not start small and have an garage day at the shop??? With a bring your own BBQ.

 

For a Drag Race, find a property owner who will talk to you, find a liability amount that will satisfy him, get an insurance quote (K&K is one, or talk to a local Insurance Broker who will submit it to a number of carriers), check on a local permit (1 time use permits are usually not a problem as compared to a conditional use), sometimes permits are only required after certain number of people attend.
You'll need to provide barriers, we kept our racing limited to 1/8 mile for many reasons but one benefit is barrier requirements. Barriers may be tough to get but check with some larger construction companies about borrowing K-Rail or Jersey Barriers or some concrete plants make what I call "Bunker Blocks" that work also. Trucking the barriers is costly so that will have to be addressed, and we keep the spectators on one side alloing us to only have barriers on one side. We have a Flag Start with NO Clocks and people LOVE IT!
If your doing it for the love of it decide on a cause or need which all profits will go to and you'll find more doors open to you. When I started pursuing our Eagle Field event there was a time I thought "what did I start", but it has been the most rewarding thing I've done. You'll be told it can't happen, BUT we did it! Rocky

 

I think a HAMB friendly event would draw New England cars, due to proximity to Thruway and ease of M*** Pike to connect. Would love to see it. My advice would be to do it in stages, do the car show first, see what the turnout and sentiment is and then perhaps go to the drags idea. Having worked on the nostaliga drags in the 80s at NED, that is a lot of work even when you do it at an established drag strip, let alone at a vacant facility. You might want to contact the guys who do the Winterport, ME drags, that is an airport setting done once a year I believe.

 

I think there a lot of guys that don't belong to a club, because they live to far from town to go to meetings, and maybe they are just lone wolfs. That would love something close by to go to. Old timey drags are great, and that's were you can limit the years, ex.- 1960 and older. Check out the the drags at beaver springs, PA on Oct 2nd.

 

I like that the Rome/ Utica area is really central and not a far drive for us. Besides Syracuse and some local shows which are fun, we have an average drive of over 3 hours and if you break down it can be really stressful especially around Philly. We also like to buy/sell/swap car parts and hear a band. We'll also help set up. The Hate Hot rod Show in Endicott was a blast of 50+ cars through the day. I know the owner of the property where it was held has it sold the property so they are looking for a place to gather. We'll just stay tuned and told a bunch of guys to post to show they are interested this weekend from upstate. Joe Lockwood is a great guy and he knows alot of people too. He alone is a show with his killer artwork.