Pay attention to the posts of Thomas Sweeney and Jerry Newman. I believe Mr. Sweeney is spot-on. This is about money, not availability. Mssrs. Schumacher and LeSeur have proven that nitro is readily available -- IF you have the ability to pay for it.
I'm going to assume that the Jerry Newman here on 'Mater is the same guy I knew from Wisconsin years ago. This guy has vast experience in fuel racing, and lived for years in the Far East and knows the culture and business climate in that region of the world far better than I, and he, too, talks about how readily available nitromethane is.
Here's a hypothetical to think about in relation to the so-called nitro "shortage:" Imagine if Goodyear was suddenly faced with the world-wide labor action that resulted in all of the their plants being shut down for, let's say, three months. Now imagine that the supply of car and truck tires was still sufficient to meet most needs, but there were NO tires for Top Fuel and Funny Car. Now let's also imagine that there had been a couple of on-track "incidents" involving tires because teams were trying to make too many runs on them to make 'em last longer.
Now imagine that someone like Hoosier Tire contacts NHRA and says, "Hey! We have tires for T/F and F/C!"
Isn't it likely that NHRA would sit down with Goodyear and say, "We acknowledge our exclusivity contract with your for T/F and F/C tires, but you're unable to deliver the product. Further, our drivers are at risk trying to run the tires they have for too long. We have to continue racing. We can't afford to stop, nor can we afford to let anyone get injured. So, until you can deliver an unlimited supply of tires we're going to accept the offer from Hoosier. When and if you're able to continue supplying tires we will re-negotiate our contract with you, because we're not going to simply say 'Thanks and good-bye' to Hoosier, because they're helping us out in a time of need."
Something like that COULD happen, despite how unlikely it might seem right now.
Well, isn't that what's been going on, to some extent, with nitro? It's out there and readily available. We found several sources capable of almost immediate delivery IF we could pay for it (and the prices were VERY fair), and it only took us an hour or two to find them on the Internet.
In my OPINION -- and it's a personal opinion only and not necessarily a reflection of the views of anyone else at CompetitionPlus.com -- the price increases that have come down from the official supplier are unconscionable at best, and at the very least are extremely questionable, yet nothing is being done.
NHRA continues to stand by VP as their official supplier.
The competitors -- the very people who put on the shows we support and want to see -- are paying the price for this and again, in my opinion, it could be circumvented if NHRA would act like the "stewards of the sport" they regularly declare themselves to be.
And with this message I will continue to be branded as anti-NHRA, but like it or not, the truth hurts.
Jon Asher
Senior Editor
CompetitionPlus.com
