Goodwin/Oliver TAFC

[Randy]

Thanks to everyone!

Daniel did a great job. He was a little bumbed we didn't win, but we were glad to see O'Bannon get his first TA/FC Wally in a great 5.53 to 5.54 final. O'Bannon's crew said we kept them honest. That's the way we like 'em. No gimmie's!

POMONA 2 - Top Alcohol Funny Car Final, Round 4 Eliminations

I want to thank all the guys and their families on our team for a great three weeks in a row run at it. And anyone who races knows Mondays after a race are always tough when trying to get back to normal. Hopefully February gets here before we know it.

Now all we need is a sponsor. That Goodwin Appraisal Service outfit keeps bouncing checks!

RG

 

[john348]

I am sort of glad you don’t have a sponsor Randy
Keeps you out there on the west coast away from us in the Midwest

But seriously very nice job Guys
That has to be a dream for Daniel
That is one tough and consistently fast car

 

[Jim]

Thanks to everyone!


Now all we need is a sponsor. That Goodwin Appraisal Service outfit keeps bouncing checks!

RG

All seriousness aside - what kind of budget would you need to contend for:
a.) Division title?
b.) a respectible National run?
c.) a legit National Title run?

That is, given your existing team and a lot of sunk costs already done, could a Sponsor get a real bargain (versus a start-up deal)?

It could be a great "return-to-the-roots of drag racing" story.

In/Out Burger would be great for a regional marketing partner <no GG intended>


BTW: Ignore this post if it's none of anyone's business (with my apologies).

 

[Toejam]

Thanks to everyone!

Daniel did a great job. He was a little bumbed we didn't win, but we were glad to see O'Bannon get his first TA/FC Wally in a great 5.53 to 5.54 final. O'Bannon's crew said we kept them honest. That's the way we like 'em. No gimmie's!

POMONA 2 - Top Alcohol Funny Car Final, Round 4 Eliminations

I want to thank all the guys and their families on our team for a great three weeks in a row run at it. And anyone who races knows Mondays after a race are always tough when trying to get back to normal. Hopefully February gets here before we know it.

Now all we need is a sponsor. That Goodwin Appraisal Service outfit keeps bouncing checks!

RG

Well RG looks like you found those .50's you were lookin for! Good luck finding some sponsorship for '10!

 

[Randy]

Well RG looks like you found those .50's you were lookin for! Good luck finding some sponsorship for '10!

We ran a half dozen 5.50's way back in 2004 when Marc White was driving for me. NHRA added 50 pounds to our minimum weight and since then we ran a bunch of 60 flats but couldn't find the 50's again. BTW, Marc has the ability to squeeze every ounce of performance out of a race car. Daniel's driving shows me he also has that ability, plus we've been on a rampage to find more HP in our combo without throwing the crankshaft through the oil pan.

 

[none]

Was out of the country for your Vegas win...Congrats. Car was stout. Good job at Pomona too. And as far as Daniel goes...that boy is doing one hell of a job. Give a congrats to Big Mike too.
Marc

 

[Randy]

Was out of the country for your Vegas win...Congrats. Car was stout. Good job at Pomona too. And as far as Daniel goes...that boy is doing one hell of a job. Give a congrats to Big Mike too.
Marc

Thanks Marc. Big Mike keeps asking me how you are doing.

.

 

[Nunz]

Jim, I would say that like in any class, there are many variables that dictate a budget. Maybe Randy will give us feedback on this, but I would bet that for a team such as his, with an existing infrastructure, to make a run for a championship, meaning hitting all the points races and nat'l events, you would need a ballpark of 200K, (again, that's with all the equipment already owned). Obviously, that number could vary quite a bit, I would be curious to see how far off I may be.

 

[Tim5636sc]

Jim, I would say that like in any class, there are many variables that dictate a budget. Maybe Randy will give us feedback on this, but I would bet that for a team such as his, with an existing infrastructure, to make a run for a championship, meaning hitting all the points races and nat'l events, you would need a ballpark of 200K, (again, that's with all the equipment already owned). Obviously, that number could vary quite a bit, I would be curious to see how far off I may be.

Nunz. Having put together two sponsorship packages for TAFC cars next season who are running for the title in 2010, i'd say you are in a 'ballpark'. I won't discuss actual budgets but I'll let you know it's all about how hard you wanna run these suckers. Wanna stay at hotels or in the Trailer in sleeping bags? Is is catering???BBQ at the track or PBJ??? Websites or hand outs at the track or do you plan to send the message about your sponsors via internet message boards?

It still costs money to race with the big boys but compared to the Pro's...Still a VERY good value for sponsors to go with TAFC and TAD. Especially if you can give the sponsors a good solid R.O.I. with creative marketing programs and good PR for the sponsors and the team.

 

[Toejam]

Nunz. Having put together two sponsorship packages for TAFC cars next season who are running for the title in 2010, i'd say you are in a 'ballpark'. I won't discuss actual budgets but I'll let you know it's all about how hard you wanna run these suckers. Wanna stay at hotels or in the Trailer in sleeping bags? Is is catering???BBQ at the track or PBJ??? Websites or hand outs at the track or do you plan to send the message about your sponsors via internet message boards?

It still costs money to race with the big boys but compared to the Pro's...Still a VERY good value for sponsors to go with TAFC and TAD. Especially if you can give the sponsors a good solid R.O.I. with creative marketing programs and good PR for the sponsors and the team.

Just the extra curricular spending on these teams could swing $50,000 per year I bet! Flying in a couple of crew people every race, and like Charlet said Sleeping in a Holiday Inn vs Motel 6's? Two people per room vs four? Bobby Lagana Jr's team sleeps 6 to a room at a race! No Kidding!

 

[Randy]

Nunz. Having put together two sponsorship packages for TAFC cars next season who are running for the title in 2010, i'd say you are in a 'ballpark'. I won't discuss actual budgets but I'll let you know it's all about how hard you wanna run these suckers. Wanna stay at hotels or in the Trailer in sleeping bags? Is is catering???BBQ at the track or PBJ??? Websites or hand outs at the track or do you plan to send the message about your sponsors via internet message boards?

It still costs money to race with the big boys but compared to the Pro's...Still a VERY good value for sponsors to go with TAFC and TAD. Especially if you can give the sponsors a good solid R.O.I. with creative marketing programs and good PR for the sponsors and the team.

Tim:

We are set up to stay at the track (and we enjoy it). As you know, in many areas when the NHRA circus rolls into town the hotel rates go through the roof. We'd rather spend the money we have at BAE or B&J than the Mirage or the MGM Grand.

Some guys like Jay spend more because they can. Right now we are doing fewer races and giving the car anything it needs rather than a lot of races and squeezing the nickles. We'd love to do more national events but that requires travel, time off from work, and significantly more $$.

I think the key is as Steve Harker says, to do well it takes "Laps...lotsa laps" which translates in to $$...lotsa $$.

RG

 

[Tim5636sc]

Tim:

We are set up to stay at the track (and we enjoy it). As you know, in many areas when the NHRA circus rolls into town the hotel rates go through the roof. We'd rather spend the money we have at BAE or B&J than the Mirage or the MGM Grand.

Some guys like Jay spend more because they can. Right now we are doing fewer races and giving the car anything it needs rather than a lot of races and squeezing the nickles. We'd love to do more national events but that requires travel, time off from work, and significantly more $$.

I think the key is as Steve Harker says, to do well it takes "Laps...lotsa laps" which translates in to $$...lotsa $$.

RG

The man has spoken... That's the beauty of this class. When RG and the boys started out with Daniel, they crept up on the combo, but the car has been 'there' for a long time.

And he made a very good point... "Some guys like Jay spend more because they can," is the bonified truth. As is, "To do well it takes laps....lotsa laps which translates into $$ lotsa $$".

I think bottom line, if a team like RG's, Ronnie August, The Gordons, Gasps had an additional $100K in their pockets....they'd be doing just fine. But the question is how much is that worth on the track?? And where would they spend it?

A smart team would cut costs like:

- Great hotels, awesome flash heavy websites and paying for more help than you really need. But they'd add a few more race dates, perhaps a few more spare parts ect.... Cubic $$$'s does not always translate into Cubic Wallys in the Alcohol Categories..... but it sure helps!

 

[Nunz]

Great responses by everyone, and it's fun to read because i really love the alky cars. Like I said, lotsa variables and different ways to spend money. Another big factor is, are you tuning yourself, like Randy, or hiring a Steve Boggs-type crewchief to oversee things? That can be a huge swing. One of the biggest costs to a serious race team is personell. Can you guys believe how many crew members are on a TF/FC team these days? Crew Chief, Car Chief, clutch guy, heads guy, etc., and they all earn a living. That's where it gets super expensive.

 

[Old Guy Rookie]

I received my copy of the Daniel Oliver edition ND yesterday. Great job.

 

[Randy]

Another big factor is, are you tuning yourself, like Randy, or hiring a Steve Boggs-type crewchief to oversee things?

When I quit driving in 1997 (except for one stint back behind the wheel at the 2001 Winternational's) Big Mike challenged me to figure this thing out. I've gone from loving to drive to loving to tinker.

I'm no Frank Manzo, but I'm sure he'll tell you one of the things that bites you harder than anything is not paying attention to the little things. Never assume anything when it comes to stuff on the car.

Steve Plueger really pushed me several years ago. He gave me one of his 5 hour lectures titled "If you run the same stuff everyone else runs, you'll run the same as everyone else runs." In 2002 we headed to Chicago to Fred Mandolini's and went through a drum or two of alky on the dyno. I learned more from Fred and his dyno in those few days than I did the previous 12 years of doing this.

I guess I'm a lot like Bill Miller or Mark Niver in that I'd rather not have hired help do it for us. Even if it means we may suck.

.

 

[Nunz]

Well Randy, you guys obviously don't suck! Couple questions: I didn't think many guys put blown alky engines on dynos. Can you share what kind of power shows up, I'm guessing 3,000? And, is it fairly common to dyno alky motors? When I live in Scottsdale, I got to know a bunch of cool people out west. Mark Niver is a really neat guy, and while he does almost everything himself, my buddies at the Frameworks in Phoenix helped him with his most recent chassis. I think he was probably the last guy to run a Donovan in competition competitively, up until a few years ago.