No sponsorship in place, Todd faces the sidelines next season …

[DixonFan]

Drag Racing Internet Magazine - Competition Plus.com - TODD FACES UNCERTAINTY

 

[Z28LT1]

AJ is going to have a large pool of drivers to choose from if he can't buy out Dixon's contract.

 

[The Counterfeiter]

Drag Racing Internet Magazine - Competition Plus.com - TODD FACES UNCERTAINTY

Unfortunately, not a surprise. Forrest had been quoted as saying that the Lucas dragsters would not run next season without sponsorship other than Lucas Oil.
On a related issue from the article, I've heard the Geico sponsorship on a fueler may still be alive.

 

[PJ]

wow at this point they may have to go to 8 car fields next year. I hope things turn around quickly

 

[DixonFan]

wow at this point they may have to go to 8 car fields next year. I hope things turn around quickly

Don't look for this to happen

 

[yoda]

Little early for the sky to be falling, isn't it Mr. Little??

We hear every December how short the fields are gonna be, and then February comes and the world is right again....

It won't be easy for anyone to find companies to part with their cash next year, so if you're gonna do it, you better have a pretty good track record and a bit of marketability... JR has got that. No worries mon...

 

[Dave]

I thought it was more or less announced a while back that JR had the Geico deal? What happened to that?

Dave

 

[camaro]

'and the hits just keep on comin'

by my count, only about 8 TF's and 8 FC's are scheduled for the full tour in 2009

can it possibly get any worse !!

 

[Nitrohelper]

I thought it was more or less announced a while back that JR had the Geico deal? What happened to that? Dave

Geico has been negotiating with Lucas for an associate deal , it would go on Morgan's car, but it isn't a signed deal as of last week.

 

[PJ]

Little early for the sky to be falling, isn't it Mr. Little??

We hear every December how short the fields are gonna be, and then February comes and the world is right again....

It won't be easy for anyone to find companies to part with their cash next year, so if you're gonna do it, you better have a pretty good track record and a bit of marketability... JR has got that. No worries mon...

No I don't wish it we already saw a couple of shorts fields this year and several more where only 16 made the show.
Looking at the number of teams looking for rides right now, I just wonder would it be better to have a full 8 car show or a short one for 16.

Looking at some of the list out there it appears only 8 tf have rides right now for next season. Of course some local ind teams will show up at races but usually only 1-3.

 

[rocketman]

You know the sport has seen tough times before and got through them ok. Currently the alcohol classes appear to be stable. The difference is the pro circuit has become an all or nothing venture with no regional racing to prop up the national circuit when it comes to town. So back in 73 and 74 the guys could still run regionally and then hit the nationals of their choice without a lot of sponsorship in a bad economy. Not any more we have created a financial monster.

 

[Z28LT1]

FC fields will be ok next year, its the TF fields that have me worried. I think 8 car fuels would be a pretty drastic move. I'd still rather see 12 cars run a short field come Sunday then 8 cars run a full one. IMO

 

[Nunz]

Rich, you nailed it. It IS all or nothing in the pro ranks. The budgets required to run these cars is out of hand. There have been down cycles before, but I'm afraid this will be different, and worse. Has anyone seen the stock prices of GM & Ford? We're in a whole different environment. I started a thread about re-inventing the fuel classes, I would rather see that done than have 8 car fields.

 

[Z28LT1]

FC fields will be ok next year, its the TF fields that have me worried. I think 8 car fuels would be a pretty drastic move. I'd still rather see 12 cars run a short field come Sunday then 8 cars run a full one. IMO

 

[Nunz]

Yeah I don't want 8 car fields, if they're short, run everyone. Hopefully things come back around, even if it takes awhile, and we'll have more than 16 in each class. However, I still think that for that to happen, changes need to be made to the pro classes to reduce the operating budgets.

 

[none]

38 Total Number of Top Fuel drivers this past season. Looks like more than 8 cars to me.

01 Tony Schumacher
02 Larry Dixon Jr
03 Cory Mc Clenathan
04 Hillary Will
05 Antron Brown
06 Rod Fuller
07 Brandon Bernstein
08 Doug Herbert
09 Doug Kalitta
10 David Grubnic
11 J.R. Todd
12 Morgan Lucas
13 Bob Vandergriff Jr
14 Troy Buff
15 Steve Torrence
16 Clay Millican
17 Alan Bradshaw
18 Steven Chrisman
19 Urs Erbacher
20 Doug Foley
21 Luigi Novelli
22 T.J. Zizzo
23 Joe Hartley
24 Tim Boychuk
25 Bruce Litton
26 Todd Paton
27 Mike Strasburg
28 Robert Dakin
29 Terry Mc Millen
30 Michael Gunderson
31 Spencer Massey
32 Scott Palmer
33 Mitch King
34 Arley Langlo
35 Terry Haddock
36 Rob Passey
37 Craig Smith
38 Ron Smith

 

[PJ]

38 Total Number of Top Fuel drivers this past season. Looks like more than 8 cars to me.

01 Tony Schumacher
02 Larry Dixon Jr
03 Cory Mc Clenathan
04 Hillary Will
05 Antron Brown
06 Rod Fuller
07 Brandon Bernstein
08 Doug Herbert
09 Doug Kalitta
10 David Grubnic
11 J.R. Todd
12 Morgan Lucas
13 Bob Vandergriff Jr
14 Troy Buff
15 Steve Torrence
16 Clay Millican
17 Alan Bradshaw
18 Steven Chrisman
19 Urs Erbacher
20 Doug Foley
21 Luigi Novelli
22 T.J. Zizzo
23 Joe Hartley
24 Tim Boychuk
25 Bruce Litton
26 Todd Paton
27 Mike Strasburg
28 Robert Dakin
29 Terry Mc Millen
30 Michael Gunderson
31 Spencer Massey
32 Scott Palmer
33 Mitch King
34 Arley Langlo
35 Terry Haddock
36 Rob Passey
37 Craig Smith
38 Ron Smith

No go through and see how many don't have rides or sponsors for next year. Look at how many only make a few races. Even with these 38, which I was surprised there were that many, we had at least 2 short fields and several more with exactly 16.

 

[rocketman]

These are the cars that I think are in good shape going into 2009. X means full time and y means part time. And a ? for those that don't know at this time or haven't made their plans officially known. Some of those are likely sitting out the year but I don't want to speak for them.

01 Tony Schumacher x
02 Larry Dixon Jr x
03 Cory Mc Clenathan x
04 Hillary Will ? (probably will)
05 Antron Brown x
06 Rod Fuller x
07 Brandon Bernstein x
08 Doug Herbert x
09 Doug Kalitta x
10 David Grubnic x
11 J.R. Todd ?
12 Morgan Lucas x
13 Bob Vandergriff Jr ?
14 Troy Buff y
15 Steve Torrence ?
16 Clay Millican ?
17 Alan Bradshaw ?
18 Steven Chrisman y
19 Urs Erbacher y
20 Doug Foley ?
21 Luigi Novelli y
22 T.J. Zizzo y
23 Joe Hartley ?
24 Tim Boychuk y
25 Bruce Litton y
26 Todd Paton y
27 Mike Strasburg y
28 Robert Dakin y
29 Terry Mc Millen y
30 Michael Gunderson y
31 Spencer Massey ?
32 Scott Palmer ?
33 Mitch King ?
34 Arley Langlo ?
35 Terry Haddock ?
36 Rob Passey ?
37 Craig Smith ?
38 Ron Smith ?

 

[Nunz]

A lot of those names run only a few events, and some, like Ron & Craig Smith, only one I believe. As far as having enough cars to fill fields next year, especially in TF, we're in trouble. And I'm always the optimist when it comes to drag racing! Hey, I don't think the sky is falling, after all, we're talking about racing. As I've posted elsewhere, drag racing will always survive to some extent. However, regarding the "Pro Show", and how we talk about cycles coming and going, I really believe THIS down cycle is different. I don't believe it will just come back around on it's own. And some of our anchor team owners are getting older. NHRA needs to plan for the future, cuz even when the economy comes back, whether it's 1 or 2 years or whatever, it still won't be easy to find companies that can spend millions per year on a race car. We just came out of a huge multi-year bull run, and it still was never easy to land major deals.

 

[rocketman]

You are correct sir. It has always been difficult to find a sponsor and I know Doug Foley is sitting out 2009. I know Craig Smith wants to come back and is working on making that happen but so is everyone else. Ron is good for 1 or 2 races a year. And who knows what the swiss is going to do too? There were very few independents at Pomona than in the past. Even the Silver Fern was absent.