Anyone got a TF Car I can borrow - I promise not to break it.. (1 Viewer)

[Smiley]

I hope you're just making fun. 'Cause if you're serious, you're gonna be in for a world of hurt. Current top fuel economics don't even make it feasible to show up as the #16 car (guaranteed qualifier), collect the $10K and take some money home. Even if you have a transporter (of any type) and a current legal car bought and paid for, the fuel costs (gas and nitro), safety certs, tires, taxes, fees, hotels, incidentals and the like are gonna cost you way more than you are going to make. Top that off with just idling down the track...WHOOPEEEEEE!!!!! were having some fun now.

It sure would be great if it worked that way...but like they say, if was easy (and cheap), everyone would be doing it.

Mike,
The lighthearted part was me doing it, but seriously - with 15 cars showing up, race teams with spare cars, and possibly a licensed crew person or test driver, they could get some extra exposure (as mentioned earlier) and they would be guaranteed at least $3,000 for making a pass (I know it costs a hell of a lot more than that to get a fuel car down track, but what's the exposure worth?

What about multi car teams putting someone in the 16th spot if you know that one of you main drivers has the #1..

The possibilities are endless..

 

[jpee]

Thanks, I will go back to my traditional Monster avatar in a couple of days, I just wanted to try something new.

Thank God!

I was on light duty pain killers... but that avatar almost got me going to Oxiconton

 

[Sandy]

I'd rather f**k a hog, than idle down the race track in a nitro car.

dont mince words Tony

 

[Andy]

I'd rather f**k a hog, than idle down the race track in a nitro car.

Now that was funny

 

[rit]

No disrespect to anyone on here, but most don't have a clue what costs are involved in running a fuel team. We are currently sitting idle, race ready with all the parts and pieces we need until we have a proper budget in place. I can tell you that the increase in payouts does absolutely nothing to make us jump to get to the race track. I am 90 miles from englishtown and we did not go this year. Diesel, nitro, tires, clutch discs, food, motels, airfare, need I go on? The $10,000 to qualify just pays for my crew and tuner for the weekend. The good news from this team is we are working on a couple of things that should get us out there full time and competitive. See you all soon. Rit Pustari

 

[Nunz]

Rit, good luck with your funding, it will be great to see you out there. And just to add to the silliness, if only 15 TF show at a race, could an A/FD attempt to qualify if it met all the safety requirements? Probably not feasible because of recent chassis rules, but I thought I'd ask. With TF being a little soft, maybe an underfunded team could try an A/FD with clutch management to try and sneak in soft fields.

 

[Mooseman]

No disrespect to anyone on here, but most don't have a clue what costs are involved in running a fuel team. We are currently sitting idle, race ready with all the parts and pieces we need until we have a proper buget in place. I can tell you that the increase in payouts does absolutely nothing to make us jump to get to the race track. I am 90 miles from englishtown and we did not go this year. Diesel, nitro, tires, clutch discs, food, motels, airfare, need I go on? The $10,000 to qualify just pays for my crew and tuner for the weekend. The good news from this team is we are working on a couple of things that should get us out there full time and competitive. See you all soon. Rit Pustari

I hear its about 3 million a year to race a fueler , would that be true?

 

[rit]

Tim Wilkerson says his budget is about 1.5 million. Fire and rods flying out of the block will put a major dent in anyones wallet, but Tim has a good tune up and I have not seen him hurt to many things in the last few years. I also believe not all of his crew gets a paycheck, but I'm not certain. My guess is that Tim does not pocket anything at the end of the year. The budget needed to run with the guys at the top is about 3.5 million a year or about $150,000 per race. Some might spend more but many spend alot less. Rit

 

[Paul]

Thanks for the insight Rit, I hope to see you guys back out on tour soon.

 

[Ponyhntr]

Tim Wilkerson says his budget is about 1.5 million. Fire and rods flying out of the block will put a major dent in anyones wallet, but Tim has a good tune up and I have not seen him hurt to many things in the last few years. I also believe not all of his crew gets a paycheck, but I'm not certain. My guess is that Tim does not pocket anything at the end of the year. The budget needed to run with the guys at the top is about 3.5 million a year or about $150,000 per race. Some might spend more but many spend alot less. Rit

And to think that back in 2003 Jack Wyatt was running a full NHRA schedule on $5,000/race with the (old) Pirana Z deal! I still don't know how he did it, and I was working for him and getting paid too.

 

[Nunz]

Even in 2003, you could not run FC for 5k/race, probably not a Comp car either. He may have been getting 5K per race from hios sponsor, but you can be assured that he was dipping into his pocket every weekend. Some of the biggest expenses are fixed, and not unique to a type of race car. Everyone pays the same for hotel rooms, gas/diesel, airfare, etc...The fuel cars are expensive for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest has to be personnel, due to the size of the crews needed nowadays, not to mention an even decent tuner.

 

[jeff]

Im sure nhra would change the rules if you were ripping them off every weekend, Kind of a stupid idea to leech off the sport like that, the purse is already low enough for teams that actually want to compete let alone somebody scamming them week in and week out for a quick buck then they will never increase the purse. Im sure true competitors would frown upon this

 

[possum]

The costs have certainly risen a bunch but some of that is quite voluntary.

I've been going to races long enough to remember top fuel cars being towed by pickup trucks inside small trailers. The crews sleeping in the truck that they drove 2500 miles in rather than a room at a luxury hotel.

Not every racer tries to emulate a Robin Leach TV show, i'm aware of several who will spend well under $500 on their whole Seattle weekend... and that's paying entry fee, gas, etc.

I think the way the Top Fuel rules are written you can't run any other type of car. I'd thought of that for Edmonton with Pro Stock. You don't need a roll bar at all to run 12's but Pro Stock requires a certified chassis regardless of ET.

 

[Smiley]

Rit et all..

I meant no disrespect to anyone with this post, or make it seem like it was nothing to run a fuel car. While I have no experience with a fuel car or team, it's doesn't take much to figure out that it is expensive.

I was making light of the fact that there are at least 2 spots at every recent race that you can get $3k for showing up and making a run - now understandably it costs way more than 3K to make an actual run in a TF car.

Another scenario I thought of that would play to this would be...

Team Owner A has a spare car and someone on the team is licensed in TF. They are currently paying $X extra (not sure how much) for a "Hospitality Spot" in the pits - or even the extra cost of Nitro.. So the extra car gets a weak tune up and makes an awful pass, but qualifies 17th or 18th. They get $3k to help pay the "Hospitality Spot" fee, or even cover the increased cost of Nitro for the other cars.

Now in the real world I doubt it could work, but it sure would PI$$ off Graham being taken advantage of like that if someone did it.



I know with the increased costs there are many great drivers and cars parked, which is very unfortunate for them as well as us fans.

Hopefully all these things will work themselves out and we can see some more players back on the track next year.

 

[.]

I'd rather f**k a hog, than idle down the race track in a nitro car.

Keep your Midwest fantasies off of here. LMAO
J/K T, you can punch me when ya get out here to Pomona.

 

[Nitrohaulic]

Im sure nhra would change the rules if you were ripping them off every weekend, Kind of a stupid idea to leech off the sport like that, the purse is already low enough for teams that actually want to compete let alone somebody scamming them week in and week out for a quick buck then they will never increase the purse. Im sure true competitors would frown upon this

Say all that to Dale Creasy Sr's face. That's how he used to make his living. One shot qualifying. LOL, NHRA would never leech off of the sport.

I've had it explained to me how a certain match racing nitro funny car driver, if wounded, used to jerk the wheel one way right off the starting line, abort, then say "We overpowered the track." and that the maneuver was actually named after him.

 

[twok4hd]

When Tony said that, I heard the Dueling Banjos song..

 

[Nitrohaulic]

When Tony said that, I heard the Dueling Banjos song..

And that's more scary, even.

Not wanting to idle down/lose a round is another funny topic. One friend of mine used to do the one shot qualifying deal, then sit around until someone who didn't get in would buy his spot on Saturday night. If nobody did, it was go up, smoke the tires in first round, get your money and go home. He said the worst thing that would happen to you is the big name lower qualifier in the other lane smokes his tires or otherwise limps. All of a sudden your driver gets stars in his eyes and motors down for the win, all the while you're yelling "NOOO!!!!!" cuz he's costing you money!