Is Ray Alley still the crew chief? (1 Viewer)

[mick]

i read about 2 pages of comments since the JW announcement - did
not read the rest so my apologies if i'm repeating someone else's thoughts.

- KB has maintained one car team for last few years in midst of many
multiple car teams and has been competitive. so now he wants to race again
and at same time build a two car effort - same as don prudhomme.
is there anything surprising here?

- In the past do you think Don Schumacher / Don Prudhomme / John Force /
Kalittas / etc. have hired team members/crew chiefs because they were all in the unemployment line?

- Jimmy Walsh has a history with Tim Richards - since going separate ways
when Tim was released by Amato so Jimmy Prock could call the shots,
J. Walsh has made the calls for many independent teams - not only giving
them good performance, but hopefully also helping these teams play the
game without going broke breaking parts.

- When JR says on TV last week; to paraphrase "we don't have the budget
a lot of these other teams have......we hope we can keep it going" - do you
think JR's team might have been worried about losing J. Walsh, especially
with his recent performance?

- yes, it certainly appears as if everyone's forgotten 'integrity' - i'm not
employed in the world of drag racing - right now, i'll wish J. Walsh
good luck with his new position; i think he has earned it.

 

[r2]

WHEN- Red bull does comes in, watch out... They do not Sponsor a team, they Own, Run, and control every facet of its own organization... They are DSR without any attachments to anyone... And you will see an instant Dynasty, that will probably change the sport forever...

 

[Just Paul]

i read about 2 pages of comments since the JW announcement - did
not read the rest so my apologies if i'm repeating someone else's thoughts.

- KB has maintained one car team for last few years in midst of many
multiple car teams and has been competitive. so now he wants to race again
and at same time build a two car effort - same as don prudhomme.
is there anything surprising here?

- In the past do you think Don Schumacher / Don Prudhomme / John Force /
Kalittas / etc. have hired team members/crew chiefs because they were all in the unemployment line?

- Jimmy Walsh has a history with Tim Richards - since going separate ways
when Tim was released by Amato so Jimmy Prock could call the shots,
J. Walsh has made the calls for many independent teams - not only giving
them good performance, but hopefully also helping these teams play the
game without going broke breaking parts.

- When JR says on TV last week; to paraphrase "we don't have the budget
a lot of these other teams have......we hope we can keep it going" - do you
think JR's team might have been worried about losing J. Walsh, especially
with his recent performance?

- yes, it certainly appears as if everyone's forgotten 'integrity' - i'm not
employed in the world of drag racing - right now, i'll wish J. Walsh
good luck with his new position; i think he has earned it.

Joe didn't let Tim go for Jimmy Prock. Tim and Amato parted ways in late 92, Jeff Rogers and Larry Meyer were crew chiefs in 93, and Jimmy Prock came on board in 94 after Cory Mac parked his own car to drive for Larry Minor.

 

[mick]

Joe didn't let Tim go for Jimmy Prock. Tim and Amato parted ways in late 92, Jeff Rogers and Larry Meyer were crew chiefs in 93, and Jimmy Prock came on board in 94 after Cory Mac parked his own car to drive for Larry Minor.

paul, thanks for the clarification

 

[DrRocket]

Joe didn't let Tim go for Jimmy Prock. Tim and Amato parted ways in late 92.......

Oh man! Has it really been that long already??????

Wow. Now I am feeling old.

 

[Rajunz]

Remember all the crapstorm when KB hired Ray Alley? Even Force was pissed because Ray had access to their innovations.................

Kenny Bernstien's return to FC has been a disaster since day one. He pissed off two prominent teams after they courted Monster Energy for their teams, KB went in and convinced Monster that they needed to go to his team because of their ties to Anheiser Busch. He pissed off all of the funny car teams by bringing Ray Alley into the equation, and now this, KB has shown his integrity throughout.

 

[Todd]

Kenny Bernstien's return to FC has been a disaster since day one. He pissed off two prominent teams after they courted Monster Energy for their teams, KB went in and convinced Monster that they needed to go to his team because of their ties to Anheiser Busch. He pissed off all of the funny car teams by bringing Ray Alley into the equation, and now this, KB has shown his integrity throughout.

What other 2 teams? I know Toliver is one of them.

 

[TooTall999]

Kenny Bernstien's return to FC has been a disaster since day one. He pissed off two prominent teams after they courted Monster Energy for their teams, KB went in and convinced Monster that they needed to go to his team because of their ties to Anheiser Busch. He pissed off all of the funny car teams by bringing Ray Alley into the equation, and now this, KB has shown his integrity throughout.

This has nothing to do with Kenny's integrity.Kenny probably got word out that he was looking for a crew chief,or perhaps seeing his pitiful start in F/C,some crew chiefs might have actually approached him looking for a job.Only the principle people in this know the truth.Either way it's nobody's fault.It's all big business.These are multi-million dollar BUSINESSES we're talking about here.If I were working for a company,and wasn't happy with my pay structure,or saw the chance to go to work for another company with a much bigger budget,I'd do the same thing.It's called free agency in sports.Drivers do it,football,baseball,and basketball players and coaches do it.All a crew chief is is a head coach, so how is this any different from any other sport?

 

[none]

What other 2 teams? I know Toliver is one of them.

Snake perhaps????????????

 

[none]

This officially happened on February 27th.

What I want to know is..................who won the pool?

 

[Jake]

Is 2 races really enough time to try and get a brand new team into a field that is obviously better than you are? If Kenny wants to qualify at every event he needs to go back to Top Fuel. Funny Car is a damn tough class and there are a LOT of other cars out there that are much better than him.
With the competition these days, I don't see how you can expect to come into Funny Car with a brand new team and make every show, it's not gonna happen. I would be shocked if Kenny wins a race this year.

 

[megadeth]

It's Business?
It's Business?
Hello
Business is life!
Turn the tables and ask how you would feel if someone just hired your winning crew chief away from your little independent team? Now see it from the human perspective and ask how you would feel the same if someone offered a large sum of money for your wife and kids. Business is life! There should be no differences.

When did treating folks different in business become acceptable?

During the Clinton era!

 

[Nunz]

I agree Jared. I know KB is very competitive, and comes to the track with high expectations, but it seems like he's not being realistic. A few months ago his FC team was all on paper, now it's real but being competitive in this class obviously doesn't come overnight. I wonder, like everyone else, what happens if it takes Walsh more than 2 races to get it on track.

 

[megadeth]

This has nothing to do with Kenny's integrity.Kenny probably got word out that he was looking for a crew chief,or perhaps seeing his pitiful start in F/C,some crew chiefs might have actually approached him looking for a job.Only the principle people in this know the truth.Either way it's nobody's fault.It's all big business.These are multi-million dollar BUSINESSES we're talking about here.If I were working for a company,and wasn't happy with my pay structure,or saw the chance to go to work for another company with a much bigger budget,I'd do the same thing.It's called free agency in sports.Drivers do it,football,baseball,and basketball players and coaches do it.All a crew chief is is a head coach, so how is this any different from any other sport?

In the stick and ball sports it is known as tampering and is not acceptable.
You must wait till the end of the season to talk to an active coach or get permission and compensate the team if they let you hire him!

Do you think NHRA will put that in their rule book?

 

[mike]

Mel,

Over on comp plus a member mentions the Kalitta camp. This is true, Kalitta and Toliver were to be a team, and there was talk of another car in the deal, wether it was under Monster or not is another story. There were going to be a few other things about this deal... Well I guess KB put an end to all of it.

Mike

 

[Suzie Q]

I would much rather have Jerry Toliver driving than Kenny!!!

Jerry.........please find some money and go racing!!!!

 

[JP1Special]

I'm a little suprised so many are upset over this deal in this day & age.... To me, Phil Burkhart (who was the shining light for CSK last year) getting bought out of his seat by Jeff Arend sucked way more than this deal...

But they were both business (i.e. $$$$$) decisions... Loyalty left a long time ago...

AMEN to that!!

 

[none]

Mel,

Over on comp plus a member mentions the Kalitta camp. This is true, Kalitta and Toliver were to be a team, and there was talk of another car in the deal, wether it was under Monster or not is another story. There were going to be a few other things about this deal... Well I guess KB put an end to all of it.

Mike

That is right. I remember the discussion of a Kallitta/Monster combo

 

[Professor Dave]

Hmmm...I don't relate Jimmy's success with the rail to parlay into success with the flopper..not in the beginning anyway.

Lee B. didn't have any consistency..but look at him calling the shots for a T/F.

Alan J. didn't have any consistency with Scelzi and the flopper..and we all know what he's done since.

In the middle of the discussion about loyalty and business, David Williams actually raised a legitimate racing point. How refreshing and perhaps right on the mark. Jimmy Walsh's background is with a dragster, not a funny car.

As for whom to tune JR's car, the name of Rick Henkleman makes sense to me (consistency seems to be an issue with him, but my memory could be wrong on that point). Also, Steve Boggs has Morgan Lucas' A/FD flying and he has had lots of success with those cars. He also tuned Tony Bartone's TAFC when it was running really well. Maybe Morgan will recommend him.

 

[67 Cuda]

I agree Jared. I know KB is very competitive, and comes to the track with high expectations, but it seems like he's not being realistic. A few months ago his FC team was all on paper, now it's real but being competitive in this class obviously doesn't come overnight. I wonder, like everyone else, what happens if it takes Walsh more than 2 races to get it on track.

It seems to me if you are sponsoring a first class Funny Car operation, you better at least be qualifying and you really should be in the top half. This all comes down to racing and money. I am sure there are some people here that will work for fun but most of us need money and the more the better. I doubt that JRs deal could come up with the $$$$ that KB could. Also Jimmy and Timmy go back a long way. For all any of us know, JR might have given Jimmy the go ahead and they might have a plan themselves. It is not like they won't still be racing and I am sure everyone in the Todd camp know how they were making the car go fast. I don't like that $$$$$ run our sport but it is business.

I will bet if Jimmy does not get the car in the show, there will be more changes. KB has to do everything he can to keep Monster happy or they will make changes themselves.