Low Funny Car Count for Seattle

[camaro]

. . . . . . heard Larry Morgan, won the lottery, but apparently it wasn't enough to fund a 3 car team! or he chose not to blow it on racing !!

 

[Butch]

. . . . . . heard Larry Morgan, won the lottery, but apparently it wasn't enough to fund a 3 car team! or he chose not to blow it on racing !!

If I remember correctly, He was leaving for a race and hit the state lottery not a ton of $$ but enough to buy his wife a new Olds Toronado.
That alone says how long ago that was. LOL

 

[mick]

getting back to 'low car count' ........ rite now topeka is short 2 FC's and brainerd short 1 TF and 2 FC's.......seattle had a bye.
so far indy is healthy with 5 extra TF's and 1 extra FC.
if indy paid huge to be a NQ, then i would get why racers would show up there; yet i don't think that's the case, and many small teams still opt to tow to indy
for the race's prestige, and the track's middle of country location. i don't think it's for the money.
IMO it's a shame 1st round loser money is not enough to attract teams to tow a few extra miles, and then be guaranteed a chance to race on sunday.
i think most folks would agree they'd rather see 24 events with full fields, than races on a national network with bye runs.

 

[Ssfuel]

What I find interesting is that currently there's only 13 full-time FC teams racing right now. I'll change that when I win the Mega-Millions tomorrow night.

But people will tell you drag racing business is booming.

Add up the pro funny’s, and all alcohol funny’s racing on any given weekend across the country (competing not night shows) I bet you it’s under 30. Now add up all the nascars, open wheel, Busch series, local roundy rounds etc, im sure it’s 100’s if not 1000’s.

Still wonder why one sport can’t get new sponsors?

 

[Chili]

But people will tell you drag racing business is booming.

Add up the pro funny’s, and all alcohol funny’s racing on any given weekend across the country (competing not night shows) I bet you it’s under 30. Now add up all the nascars, open wheel, Busch series, local roundy rounds etc, im sure it’s 100’s if not 1000’s.

Still wonder why one sport can’t get new sponsors?

How many legal NASCAR operations are not running every week? Same with Indycar? Very few. Yes there are many local tracks that have rounds round races on a weekly basis but drag racing has thousands of competitors each weekend running at tracks across the county too.
Is NHRA funny car racing a little short right now? Sure but the sky is not falling. There are some cars that are out there that are NHRA legal or a few parts away from being legal. Mark Howard has a big show car. Nancy Matter is putting together a car. Dave Gallegos has an ex Hagan car. Rick Ducasin, Dusty Hunt and Allan Middendorf have cars that could compete in the big show with few if any modifications. Unfortunately the cost of NHRA funny car racing is expensive. Sponsorship dollars are hard to come by for all motorsports.

 

[Nunz]

But people will tell you drag racing business is booming.

Add up the pro funny’s, and all alcohol funny’s racing on any given weekend across the country (competing not night shows) I bet you it’s under 30. Now add up all the nascars, open wheel, Busch series, local roundy rounds etc, im sure it’s 100’s if not 1000’s.

Still wonder why one sport can’t get new sponsors?

Well if you're going to make that comparison, then on the drag racing side you need to include the various series that are out there, like the PDRA, the different small tire and outlaw races, etc. The Northeast Outlaw Pro Mods will be at my local track, Empire Dragway, this weekend and they had about 30 when they came a couple months ago. That's 30 PM cars that don't usually run NHRA. And the crowd was strong! The NHRA big show is the top of the sport, and so also the most expensive, so given the economic climate of the past couple years it's not shocking that we're short at some events. I think we all agree though, that improved round and non qualifier money would certainly bring more cars out.

 

[mick]

not surprised with byes in seattle and brainerd, but a little surprised
it's (2) short on FC's in topeka........last year BIR only drew 11 TF's, so not complaining with 15.
hopeful paul lee will consider brainerd so FC and TF can at least run 15 ea.

 

[mick]

topeka will host a 3-day race and contest 15 classes. car count now at 398.
brainerd will host a 4-day race and contest 13 classes. car count now at 318.
both facilities with large pit areas. seems like nhra is leaving a few dollars on the table in brainerd.
(edit: there are 4 pro Q sessions + stk/ss class elims)

 

[mick]

terry haddock has recovered from denver. name on indy FC entry list

 

[mick]

and steven densham is driving the family FC to brainerd. making BIR 15 / 15 for nitro fields. i hope they can score a 1st round upset.

 

[qualified17th]

and steven densham is driving the family FC to brainerd

Driving the funny car * to * Brainerd? I know the Denshams are old school, but that seems like a bit much...