Interesting Nitro Rumor

[yoda]

So, I'm curious: Did NHRA make it so that a team has to spend $2-3M to be competitive?

Or was it a few teams that spent $4-5M to dominate?

I'm not exactly sure the blame for racers spending their money lay on the doorstep of the offices in Glendora... JMHO

 

[you]

.....The argument that crew chiefs are paid to break rules?.......

My Astros are hiring if any of them are looking for work. Applicants must supply their own trashcan for the interview.

 

[Butch]

Martin; I believe you are correct. I've seen it in every form of Motorsports, it seems you'll always get a couple teams
willing to spend whatever it takes to win. It starts early. I'm sure the JR Dragsters has it, I've seen it in my kids Quartermidget and now my grandsons Go-kart racing.

 

[camaro]

so, the way i see it, there are 2 solutions 1. sit down and have a heart to heart talk with the well funded teams and ask them to tone it down so the less fortunate guys can compete or 2. the sanctioning body can implement rules or specs that would curtail any outrageous spending. which one has a better chance of succeeding ?

 

[Jeff]

so, the way i see it, there are 2 solutions 1. sit down and have a heart to heart talk with the well funded teams and ask them to tone it down so the less fortunate guys can compete or 2. the sanctioning body can implement rules or specs that would curtail any outrageous spending. which one has a better chance of succeeding ?

I will try and put this gently... ain't gonna happen, especially # 1...
It is called racing...

 

[glofria]

I like the one engine block per weekend rule.

 

[Huge]

Martin; I believe you are correct. I've seen it in every form of Motorsports, it seems you'll always get a couple teams
willing to spend whatever it takes to win. It starts early. I'm sure the JR Dragsters has it, I've seen it in my kids Quartermidget and now my grandsons Go-kart racing.

I agree, It's been that way for as long as I have been racing. It is even that way in slot car racing. When I use to race for a manufacture I would build 10 motors before a big race just so I could pick the best 5 for that race and then I would use the other 5 for testing tires, chassis, and gear combos. Even when I decided to go independent and had to buy the parts out of my own pocket I still had to spend the money and put in the long hours to prepare if I wanted a chance to qualify in the top spot.

 

[SoCal Racer]

so, the way i see it, there are 2 solutions 1. sit down and have a heart to heart talk with the well funded teams and ask them to tone it down so the less fortunate guys can compete or 2. the sanctioning body can implement rules or specs that would curtail any outrageous spending. which one has a better chance of succeeding ?

I don't see the heart-to-heart working out; the rules-based has a better chance of success, and the plus side that if it really did drive costs down it may attract more new teams.

 

[Leebone]

This should make Cruz happy!

 

[camaro]

obviously, convincing the well off teams to back down is not gonna work. As long as they are within the rules, they should spend whatever they want. the point being, i cant understand why some wanna blame the racers, when the nhra are the ones, who set the rules and is the only group, who has the authority to equalize the playing field and reduce cost!

 

[yoda]

Martin; I believe you are correct. I've seen it in every form of Motorsports, it seems you'll always get a couple teams
willing to spend whatever it takes to win. It starts early. I'm sure the JR Dragsters has it, I've seen it in my kids Quartermidget and now my grandsons Go-kart racing.

A lot of you know I ran juniors with my kid a few years ago when they were young. We built a car from scratch, we did a few of the divisional races on the west coast, regret a bit not going to the big conference race, but we did win a couple locally.

I just tossed out PILES of receipts from the years, as well as the excel spreadsheets tabulating the annual cost. Nobody told me how much to spend or NOT to spend, but I'll tell you this- the only thing that justifies the RIDICULOUS amount of money it cost to race was the amazing experiences I got to spend with my kids as they were growing up. Worth every red cent.

I can only hope that a team on the tour can get that same feeling of value while running around the U.S.

 

[DAN]

I believe it was Lee Beard who floated some very realistic ideas for reeling in the cost of nitro racing just a few years ago. If they (NHRA) wanted to get serious about curtailing costs, there's a number of crew chiefs who already have floated some common sense ideas. The problem for most teams is that their inventory is already stacked and would make a number of parts and pieces obsolete over night.

 

[vegasnitro]

The problem for most teams is that their inventory is already stacked and would make a number of parts and pieces obsolete over night.

There is an easy solution to this, don't make the rule changes take effect immediately. F1 teams have known since August 2019 what the rules for 2021 are going to be. If NHRA were to change the rules, a 12-18 month lead time shouldn't give anyone too much heartburn.

 

[Reese]

I don't see why the top nitro teams would not want to come up with a solution to reduce costs. Every year they are struggling to find sponsors or support. I can't see to many companies in the future that will want to support this sport at the cost it is now. I know it can't happen but it would be nice if teams could run because the love the sport without worrying about going broke in the process. That love is one of the thing that attracted me to drag racing. Seeing people I know grabbing a group of guys and gals and putting together a car and going racing.
As been said before there will come a time when there will only be a couple of teams that can afford to run the full tour.

 

[TD5023]

I believe it was Lee Beard who floated some very realistic ideas for reeling in the cost of nitro racing just a few years ago. If they (NHRA) wanted to get serious about curtailing costs, there's a number of crew chiefs who already have floated some common sense ideas. The problem for most teams is that their inventory is already stacked and would make a number of parts and pieces obsolete over night.

There will always be something that can be optimized to increase performance, and optimization, especially for something already decently refined, takes serious money. All it takes then is one team willing to go the extra mile to win to force everyone else's hand, like the John Force or Greg Anderson eras of dominance in their classes. Other than some sort of enforceable spending cap, I don't know how effective those* would really be as long as there is someone out there with money whose competitive spirit outweighs their desire for financial return.

*I don't recall what specifically Beard said and I couldn't find it on a cursory search, but if it's the stuff I remember (single mag, smaller fuel pump, etc.), I can see it slowing the cars, but that doesn't guarantee cheaper operating cost.

 

[FABMAN]

so, the way i see it, there are 2 solutions 1. sit down and have a heart to heart talk with the well funded teams and ask them to tone it down so the less fortunate guys can compete or 2. the sanctioning body can implement rules or specs that would curtail any outrageous spending. which one has a better chance of succeeding ?

Neither!!!

 

[Cliff]

If I could see 2 cars side by side all the way down, wouldn't care how slow they were. The nitro sound is most important to me. I can think of lots of ways to "slow 'em down", but you all know as well as I do that there would be some teams that will dominate. Been that way since Day 1 (thinking of Don Garlits).

 

[MM]

I don't see why the top nitro teams would not want to come up with a solution to reduce costs. Every year they are struggling to find sponsors or support. I can't see to many companies in the future that will want to support this sport at the cost it is now. I know it can't happen but it would be nice if teams could run because the love the sport without worrying about going broke in the process. That love is one of the thing that attracted me to drag racing. Seeing people I know grabbing a group of guys and gals and putting together a car and going racing.
As been said before there will come a time when there will only be a couple of teams that can afford to run the full tour.

They aren't against reducing costs, they are against giving up the edge that they have gained from years of data acquisition and parts development. There is a lot of overhead involved in both of those. Also, reducing the costs of running the car doesn't address the larger burden of expense and that is travel costs. That's why for so many teams, the easiest way to reduce costs is to simply not go to a few races.

 

[Butch]

Martin; I agree completely about the spending the time together. As for the cost I would look at my grandson and tell him
how much fun I was having spending his Inheritance. At least I knew it wasn't being wasted on stupid things. LOL

 

[Huge]

They aren't against reducing costs, they are against giving up the edge that they have from years of data acquisition and parts development. There is a lot of overhead involved in both of those. Also, reducing the costs of running the car doesn't address the larger burden of expense and that is travel costs. That's why for so many teams, the easiest way to reduce costs is to simply not go to a few races.

Yep, For 12 years when I was on a part time team I would put a fraction of the miles on the hauler that I have for the past 5 years doing the full tour. I average around 55 to 65 thousand miles a year for the full pull and that includes staying on the east coast and in the mid west for a couple of months at a time without coming back to the shop in southern CA.