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Everyone is under funded! (1 Viewer)

Bobby Hill

Bobby Hill

Nitro Member
Hello maters! I need to rant a little bit here. I was watching the eliminations on TV today, because we didn't qualify again, it has been since Denver 05 if anyone other than us is counting. And one of the consistent things I see from drivers in top end interviews is complaint about funding. Please guys and gals get over it! Go work hard, let your pr people and others try to help find funding for you to live your dream and be glad you won. Everyone in drag racing can use more money, there can never be enough, and we all know this. I work for Ben Watson, which most of you know, and we have a fairly small budget. We work well within this budget, but yes if we had a sponsor we could do more. But getting on TV and complaining about it only makes the racers seem like whiners rather than winners… People are spending a lot of money to get their families into the gates to watch something they love, and we are complaining about not having enough money to race on when we all drive nice cars, have nice homes and get paid to do something that obviously a whole lot of people would like to do. In the years since I started working in Nascar and NHRA I have never met a fan that said, “Dude your job must suck!” People aren’t tuning their televisions into the race to hear you complain that Schumacher, Force, WJ, Ken Black and Vance/Hines have unlimited budgets. I don’t know this for fact, but I’m guessing they DO have budgets and they still have constraints on money. Is it more than the rest of us are getting to play with, sure it is. But they win so the bounties of success go to them. Out work them, win and you will be rewarded. Sponsors go where the fans are, and the fans are where the winners are, and the winners are where the people busting their hump are. Sure it takes a lot of luck, but luck is a matter of preparation and timing.

Well I do feel a little better and I know there will be repercussions of this but I really feel it needs to be said.

My two cents…
Michael
 
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Michael, I don't recall anyone whining about funding on the tube..but if you need to get it off your chest..good job.
 
David,

I guess I should have said during the television broadcast of eliminations not during the final rounds, to be honest I haven't made it to the final round yet on the dvr. But it is a weekly topic in the pits and sometimes onto television and print media. That's all I was referencing. I hope that everyone would be able to find money to race on and no one would have budget issues. With more cars competing each race, the better show that we can put on for the fans. With more fans attending the sponsors would be willing to put more advertisement dollars back into the sport.

Michael
 
As a paying customer at the gates I appreciate your comments. I hope you make the field next time.
 
I absolutely LOVED this post. Perspective is such a tricky thing in today's world. There will always be the "haves" and the "have nots". That will never change. I enjoyed the 2 page article I read about 3 years ago in a Forbes magazine written by someone that won 11 million dollars in the lottery. I'll summarize it here: They said they started angry at the world because they had no money. Then they were angry because they had to pay taxes on the money they won. Then they were angry because everybody wanted a peice of their finances. Then they were angry because of the lack of security around the family with the new found financial fame. Then they were angry at the cost of the security measures they had to take. Then they were angry when the houses and cars were repossesed when they spent all the money and had to declare bankruptcy. The last line was..."I'd still be a millionaire if I had ever learned to be content with what I was given in the first place."

We just finished building our race team's first dragster with 100% of the work being done in house because our budget demands it. For years I've watched my brothers race for the love of racing, and the great friendships and experiences that they have enjoyed in the process. I hope that I can learn from them, and be content to be given the opportunity to race, just because I love to.
 
Michael,

You'll get no flak or flames from me. I think your post is one of the better ones I've read here in quite a while.

I'm amazed, too, at the "we need money" statements during interviews. Unless I've seriously missed something, to my knowledge no bucks-up sponsor has even seen/heard an interview like those and sat straight up in their chair shouting, "I never thought of that! I'd better give that team a call!"

I've been in your situation with a lot of different teams and know how frustrating it is. With very rare exceptions, landing a sponsor is harder than the job of racing and deals don't just fall into your lap.

Thanks for pointing out the second most used cliche in racing.

OK, the first is "My crew is really working hard".
 
Mike,

Good post. I pull for you guys to turn the corner on that beast so I can watch you on Sunday. I hope you and your dad are doing well.

Rapid
 
I know "funding" is a major subject for some ,but I see about 500 sportsman racers racing at every national event . The expenses that the majority of racers deal with are the same if you are a Pro or a Sportsman:

Transportation , Fuel, Motel, parts, Insurance, Food, etc
 
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The last time I went to the GMC dealership, I didn't give an interview or complain trying to find "funding" for a Sierra 3500 Dually with a Duramax/Allison drivetrain...I bought a gas 2500 instead. It's what I could afford.

I often wonder why so many racers can't (or won't) find contentment racing a non-pro class. God knows an "under-funded" Pro Stock budget would knock the hell out of nearly everyone in Pro Mod. And you'd run faster.
 
yeha my favorite is a certin Tf team complains about funding... and two seconds later the driver and the crew chief climb into to their own Mercades Benz's.....to go to the motel...lol..

BIlly
 
I've never understood the mentality of pouring tons of money into starting up a pro racing team and THEN going after sponsorship? Seems like it makes more sense to line up the sponsorhip deals and THEN go racing?
 
J.C., I understand what you're saying. On may be wrong, but you are probably more likely to attrract sponsorship for an existing operation than for one that is merely on an artist's rendering. Of course, every situation is different. Remember how Bernstein had been running his Chelsea King FC on his own dime before pitching Bud? His operation was already 1st class and very professional. I would think unless you are already well-known, from racing or otherwise, you probably are better off to be an operational race team in terms of attracting money. Again, sponsorship deals are very situational, so the rules don't always apply.
 
Registered member said:
David,

I guess I should have said during the television broadcast of eliminations not during the final rounds, to be honest I haven't made it to the final round yet on the dvr. But it is a weekly topic in the pits and sometimes onto television and print media. That's all I was referencing. I hope that everyone would be able to find money to race on and no one would have budget issues. With more cars competing each race, the better show that we can put on for the fans. With more fans attending the sponsors would be willing to put more advertisement dollars back into the sport.

Michael
Click to expand...
Sure didn't mean to come across like you were whining, Michael..I certainly understand the frustration and wish your team the best coming up.
 
Didn't really mean to come out with the "guns-a-blazin", but it does seem ironic, most of the folks I've met at the track are doing it on their own dime, or with a few associate sponsors, its kinda like owning your own business, you gotta love what you do.

Expecting another to pay for a hobby of mine is stretching things just a little.


"D"
 
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Darrell
it happens to be a 56 foot "Sea Ray" Boat not a 65 foot "Sea Ray" boat , however some day I may step up. Now if you noticed, I race a Pro Stock car sponsored by "Sea Ray" and "Wiley-X". And yes, I do believe that the fact that I have a cool 56 foot "Sea Ray" boat and that I talk about it on my blog might help my sponsor "Sea Ray" sell some boats. I also hope you notice my Wiley-X sunglasses and maybe go out and buy some so I can keep racing. There are fans every weekend who come up to me and want to talk boating, and I do enjoy the heck out of talking about something that is so much fun. I also like to race Pro Stock, and I spend a lot of my own $$$$$ to do that. However I have never taken one dollar from a sponsor and spent it on anything other than racing, never have I spent it on a boat or a even a cool pair of sunglasses. Now if you think that I should sell all my earthly posessions (even my 56 foot "SEA RAY" boat) and then spend the money to sponsor my pro stock car so I can race it and entertain the fans, I think I will pass. Now on to you Michael, since I have not seen the coverage yet (beacuse I was driving the rig home from Atlanta) please tell us.... Who was whinning about being underfunded on the coverage!
 
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