very true, although we have been barely skimming by. I would have thought a few more races would have been below by now. But as many of us said early on, later in the season we will see more. Hope I'm wrong though
Nitromater
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Amazing the difference a month makes...
- Thread starter Toejam
- Start date
very true, although we have been barely skimming by. I would have thought a few more races would have been below by now. But as many of us said early on, later in the season we will see more. Hope I'm wrong though
d'kid
Nitro Member
You may hit me for this PJ... I see, after the CD begins, less cars being dragged to the track... yes floppers and PS have their sweet sixteen, it's the long cars where I see the issues... after INDY...
4 weeks running
Charlotte 9/18
Dallas 9/25
Memphis 10/2
Richmond 10/9
Nope, don't expect full field for Richmond... at least with the long cars... full field in PS, 14 to 16 floppers... and I'm leaning to the 14 side... still don't know IF I'm going or not...
d'kid
Just Paul
Nitro Member
Scott Weis would be running NHRA, but since their cars illegal they are sticking with IHRA! Imagine that, a Car NHRA makes Illegal for 1000' racing is legal for 1320 in IHRA!
Joe, In TX Scott Weis was not in his own car. He was in Urs Erbachers NHRA legal car.
jackass
Nitro Member
I believe that Terry Mc and Laganas cars are the same ones raced in both series also...
Jack Wyatt said that the NHRA tech guys were very helpful... before he started tech that told him if they had any issues... fixx them and come get us.. no matter how late into the night or next moring it was....
I believe Jacks next race will be in Denver.... he wanted to go to Chicago..but limited funds and a match race the week after is whats holding him back.... wished the stupid chute would not have came out on him on sunday to see what he realy had.....lol
Billy
my friends call me Zappy
Nitro Member
Well folks we are half way thru the regular season, yup 9 down - 9 to go.
In all the PRO classes so far, we only have ONE short field, and only by ONE car.
Not too shabby in my opinion.
In all the PRO classes so far, we only have ONE short field, and only by ONE car.
Not too shabby in my opinion.
Hmmmm. I wonder if he'll run any NHRA races with it?
I agree and think Topeka might be an indicator of how the balance of the year may start to shake out. Look at how gas / diesel prices are climbing pretty quickly again. Heading for $3 again here in the Northeast. Starting with Topeka, it is 7 races in the next 9 weeks. Spanning from NJ to California and in between. Going to make it tough on the little guys with any hope of cracking the Top 10. Then you only have 2 races before the countdown.
I would think that the cost of racing in today's economy is going to start having an impact when these teams can only muster runs in the 5 second and higher range. What return are they getting on thier investment? Cannot be just for fun with such a large desparity from top to bottom.
I'm thinking the countdown races will be more sparsely attended this year.
clwill
Nitro Member
Interestingly enough, diesel is staying down. For the first time in several years, diesel is well below regular (at least around here) -- like it used to always be. For me that means the back-to-back schleps to the other side of the state (~300) miles for the next two weekends of racing is actually not that bad...
There is a ton of diesel inventory in the market and the demand is still down vs. last year, so prices should stay down. Be happy you don't live in the Mid West, standard regular gas inventory is below 5 year average lows and this is causing the spot price in Chicago to sit 45 cents above the NY harbor. Regular gas is going for $2.85 around here.
clwill
Nitro Member
Be happy you don't live in the Pacific Northwest, where gas is ALWAYS $.30-.50 more than everywhere else. We're paying about $2.80 for regular, but only $2.45 for diesel. First time in forever that I'm happy I drive a diesel truck...
megadeth
Nitro Member
It was just one month ago that TF Dragster was read last rights! That we'd be lucky to see 10-11 Dragsters in Pomona! Now we see 18 and possibly 19 cars! You gotta love messageboards!
This thread always seems to rise up occasionally so I thought I would be the one this time!
Car count looks a little thin lately! Starting to see some bye's I wonder what it will look like when the countdown is in full swing.
This thread always seems to rise up occasionally so I thought I would be the one this time!
Car count looks a little thin lately! Starting to see some bye's I wonder what it will look like when the countdown is in full swing.
14 TF, 14 FC, and 16 PS! Now with GM officially pulling the plug, fuel prices inching up, no economic improvement, etc ... I can't see it getting better this late in the year. I agree with you Bob, 14 cars might be a constant number in the countdown races, if not sooner.
rocketman
Nitro Member
Why would anyone wait for Saturday to run? If anything it would be the opposite. Run sooner than later in the event you need to run on Saturday if things didn't go as planned on Friday night. A friend of mine was going to debut a new sponsor in top fuel and run the swing but apparently that got nixed. I asked him how all that was going and I got no reply to the question.
They have 12 alky funny cars at woodburn and that's a good number even in good times so the drag racing economy is difficult to judge.
They have 12 alky funny cars at woodburn and that's a good number even in good times so the drag racing economy is difficult to judge.
Actually prices are coming down. Oil and refined gas have tanked the past week and the street is coming down.
To the topic of this thread, Denver car counts are horrific. I am not sure how much the elevation has to do with it, but this isn't a good sign. Before I pass further judgment stating the end is near I will wait and see what the car counts look like in Sonoma.
rocketman
Nitro Member
In Seattle you might see Ron Smith so you gain one TF car but you will likely loose Bob Posey. As far as NHRA Nitro Funny cars go, you will likely gain one out of Washington state unless he chooses to run top fuel then you would have 16 cars in TF and 14 in funny car. But then if he rents out the seat you will 15 funny cars, its all about being flexible.
The kelleys plan on going to Charlotte and Richmond . . . so at least thats another funny car. Maybe we'll get lucky again with the big guys having their stuff set on kill for the countdown and not making it down the track
BF
Nitro Member
Because if you're a "low budget" team and you don't run a top 12 ET it gets thrown out anyway? Why not wait until Saturday if there is a short field or only 16 cars?
