vegasnitro
Nitro Member
I don't think improving the money at the bottom will help all that much (it won't hurt though!). When it costs nearly 10K to make a "clean" nitro pass, or over 50K to lease a motor for 1 race in Pro Stock, upping the 1st round money from 10K to 12.5 or 15K is just a drop in the proverbial bucket. We need 2 things to happen, we need an improved economy so that the part-timers that run their own businesses can afford to race and/or pick up sponsors. The second thing we need is for NHRA and their sponsors (Mello Yello/Coke) to step up and improve payouts across the board, this also will likely be dependent upon the economy as well. These things don't happen overnight, the move to Fox seems to be a good first step in that direction.
I have no sympathy for anyone that builds a car and then complains about the cost. To run a pro car is a well known cost, everyone should be going into this with eyes wide open. It has also NEVER been a money maker. Very few people historically or currently make their money drag racing. The rest are guys who are willing to spend their own money doing what they love (or get a sponsor to pay for it for them), and god bless them for it.
Lastly, I can see that EFI has put some folks on the sideline in Pro Stock, that is obvious. But once all of the teams get their EFI programs up and running to their satisfaction, there will be more leases available, and towards the end of the year going into next year there will be more used stuff for sale which will bring some part-timers back off the sidelines. As with anything new, there are going to be growing pains. Nature abhors a vacuum, there will not be short fields forever.
I have no sympathy for anyone that builds a car and then complains about the cost. To run a pro car is a well known cost, everyone should be going into this with eyes wide open. It has also NEVER been a money maker. Very few people historically or currently make their money drag racing. The rest are guys who are willing to spend their own money doing what they love (or get a sponsor to pay for it for them), and god bless them for it.
Lastly, I can see that EFI has put some folks on the sideline in Pro Stock, that is obvious. But once all of the teams get their EFI programs up and running to their satisfaction, there will be more leases available, and towards the end of the year going into next year there will be more used stuff for sale which will bring some part-timers back off the sidelines. As with anything new, there are going to be growing pains. Nature abhors a vacuum, there will not be short fields forever.
