Austin Prock Announced!

[Nitro Bass!]

Here is my guess:

Other teams wanted Thomas as a crew chief. JFR wasn’t willing to pay Thomas what his offers were from the outside teams. Procks wanted to stay together, so they left together.

Bingo, right there in the front row!

 

[65 Goatboy]

Here is my guess:

Other teams wanted Thomas as a crew chief. JFR wasn’t willing to pay Thomas what his offers were from the outside teams. Procks wanted to stay together, so they left together.

Watched the WFO interview, also think Jimmy had other offers too. Reading between the lines Austin made it pretty clear without saying it, if he stayed at JFR his Brother and Dad were not.

 

[vern]

The announcement at Ford was kinda uneventful. To show Bob and Austin just sitting in the crowd and not on the stage was a letdown. Wouldn't been better with the funny car sitting on stage with the #1 on it ?

 

[mick]

i hope thomas continues to be in the limelight this year, taking interviews on the starting line and in pits.
ford is quite lucky really. racing as a family IS really the big story here and probably the dominate story as the year starts,
followed very closely by the impending vandergriff/prock matchup

 

[ironpony]

The announcement at Ford was kinda uneventful. To show Bob and Austin just sitting in the crowd and not on the stage was a letdown. Wouldn't been better with the funny car sitting on stage with the #1 on it ?

Nothing like the F1 announcement

 

[Jack]

Nothing like the F1 announcement

The F1 program is probably100 x the cost of the funny car program

 

[ironpony]

The F1 program is probably100 x the cost of the funny car program

Yes at 135 million a year it could easily run all of TF & FC for a few years

 

[Dragracer]

Bingo, right there in the front row!

In early interviews with Force/Prock they said it was never about the money.....

 

[Leebone]

I don't wish bad will on anyone. The Procks made their choice. But, I will say GO JORDAN VANDERGRIF.

 

[sfw1960]

I don't wish bad will on anyone. The Procks made their choice. But, I will say GO JORDAN VANDERGRIF.

Well said!

 

[Butch]

When I was 20 A man I respected very much told me.
Be careful who you step on on the way up the ladder, because someday you're gonna be coming back down.
I've always tried to adhere to that.

 

[z28]

JFR has a lot of mouths to feed. If he gives the Prock's what they want to keep them he now has at least two other teams with their hands out to get their share. He now has two teams almost fully funded by the drivers and Cornwell still on board for Jordan. It's a pure business decision. Think back to the time the Don was complaining about JFR stealing his crew chiefs and running up the price. Times and positions change. As for Tasca he can look at it from a different angle. He has no internal competition to deal with so pay to play.

 

[Under_Pressure]

I think people sometimes overestimate how well funded JFR is these days. They are still a large organization and have many institutional advantages from decades of running multiple cars and having many of the best minds in the sport as part of their "brain trust" at one time or another- their library of parts, data, and research is vast. But in terms of actual cash outflow, I think JFR has to run a pretty tight ship.

This isn't the glory days of Castrol and Ford and AAA- while they are nice sponsors and their support is appreciated, I doubt companies like Peak and Cornwell are coming close to the (inflation adjusted) dollars JFR used to get. John is somewhat unique among modern teams in that he became wealthy by being a driver and team owner. The race team IS his business and source of his wealth, so unlike most other owners he doesn't treat it like a sideline. The numbers have to work, and expenses have to be controlled to align with revenue. Unlike 20 years ago, JFR probably doesn't have the fattest checkbook in the pits when it comes to personnel.

 

[ironpony]

I think people sometimes overestimate how well funded JFR is these days. They are still a large organization and have many institutional advantages from decades of running multiple cars and having many of the best minds in the sport as part of their "brain trust" at one time or another- their library of parts, data, and research is vast. But in terms of actual cash outflow, I think JFR has to run a pretty tight ship.

This isn't the glory days of Castrol and Ford and AAA- while they are nice sponsors and their support is appreciated, I doubt companies like Peak and Cornwell are coming close to the (inflation adjusted) dollars JFR used to get. John is somewhat unique among modern teams in that he became wealthy by being a driver and team owner. The race team IS his business and source of his wealth, so unlike most other owners he doesn't treat it like a sideline. The numbers have to work, and expenses have to be controlled to align with revenue. Unlike 20 years ago, JFR probably doesn't have the fattest checkbook in the pits when it comes to personnel.

Well said and I will add now that John is no longer driving it is going to get a lot tougher for them. Also as stated above 2 of the 3 teams are driver funded so how much is actually coming from JFR.

 

[Billy]

Well said and I will add now that John is no longer driving it is going to get a lot tougher for them. Also as stated above 2 of the 3 teams are driver funded so how much is actually coming from JFR.

Add to that when they did not compete in the balance of the 2020 season should tell you how close they are looking at the economics.

 

[Randy]

I think people sometimes overestimate how well funded JFR is these days. They are still a large organization and have many institutional advantages from decades of running multiple cars and having many of the best minds in the sport as part of their "brain trust" at one time or another- their library of parts, data, and research is vast. But in terms of actual cash outflow, I think JFR has to run a pretty tight ship.

This isn't the glory days of Castrol and Ford and AAA- while they are nice sponsors and their support is appreciated, I doubt companies like Peak and Cornwell are coming close to the (inflation adjusted) dollars JFR used to get. John is somewhat unique among modern teams in that he became wealthy by being a driver and team owner. The race team IS his business and source of his wealth, so unlike most other owners he doesn't treat it like a sideline. The numbers have to work, and expenses have to be controlled to align with revenue. Unlike 20 years ago, JFR probably doesn't have the fattest checkbook in the pits when it comes to personnel.

From what I understand, JFR's sales of collectables was gigantic, especially when Ashley was racing. It boosted their annual budget. But when Ashley got engaged, it fell off immensely.

 

[sfw1960]

From what I understand, JFR's sales of collectables was gigantic, especially when Ashley was racing. It boosted their annual budget. But when Ashley got engaged, it fell off immensely.

So, are you sayin' don't get engaged Randy??

 

[Dragracer]

From what I understand, JFR's sales of collectables was gigantic, especially when Ashley was racing. It boosted their annual budget. But when Ashley got engaged, it fell off immensely.

JFR in addition to the race teams also has American which fabricates and sells chassis, motor parts, wraps and other items. John has also invested in real estate in both the Loma Linda and Brownsburg areas so I don't see any money issue. The adage of how to make a million dollars in drag racing is start with a billion doesn't apply to him. He is smart enough to have great financial people. I don’t see him racing on his own dollar.

 

[Randy]

JFR in addition to the race teams also has American which fabricates and sells chassis, motor parts, wraps and other items. John has also invested in real estate in both the Loma Linda and Brownsburg areas so I don't see any money issue. The adage of how to make a million dollars in drag racing is start with a billion doesn't apply to him. He is smart enough to have great financial people. I don’t see him racing on his own dollar.

Plus he still has what was a former car dealership in Yorba Linda, besides the Force compound there.

 

[65 Goatboy]

If you haven't watched a tour of the Brownsburg In shop it's impressive. 84,000 sq. ft. John said he had to keep adding on and when he did he made sure he could pay for it in cash.