silly season continues (6 Viewers)

[CS]

So this is pure speculation on my part, but it’s as good as any other speculation.
How about Tasca to JFR? Here’s how I see it going down.
Tasca leases his entire funny car operation to the Prock family for 2026 only. One year.
The Prock’s run the business for a year using existing Tasca sponsors and whoever else they can attract.
BT3 goes to JFR for 2026 only and tries to get a championship title for himself and John.
The way the rumors are flying about an experienced driver, who has had long connections with JFR fits.
After 2026 ,BT3 takes back control of his team and stops driving or the Prock’s buy the operation and hire BT3 to drive a second car.

NO - I see Thomas tuning Austin and Jimmy tuning BT3 in hopes of a 1 - 2 finish in 2026. Don't forget TASCA Auto Group owns 38 dealerships in seven or eight states so BT3 can just about buy what they need at any price to make things happen.

 

[mick]

PRO TO PAUSE SUPERSTAR SHOOTOUT IN 2026, WILL SHIFT TO PRIVATE GAINESVILLE TEST | Competition Plus

The Professional Racers Organization will pause its Superstar Shootout in 2026 after a two-year run that turned the Bradenton-based event into one of drag

competitionplus.com

i missed that article. what i infer from the article is it was hard for PRO to organize, promote, and run the event. i understand that.
what i don't understand is all the money that flowed thru the gates for 2 years; how can you turn down darn near sold out days?
there isn't anyone that could take over the organizing? w. buck was heavily involved the 1st year. i don't believe he's part of PRO?
garret and victor certainly know their staff, and probably hiring temp staff for their larger events? (i.e. this weekend's race).
there were 7 of us combined that attended both shootouts. we probably spent somewhere in neighborhood of $1000 total being there
over two years ....... now they are saying private session? so they can test better? good grief, it's about entertainment, and making money.
last year they had the shootout, then another test at gainesville. i don't recall all the bellyaching when the PBIR test sessions ran?
those two bradenton shootouts were possibly more successful than some of the nhra nat. events.

 

[Ponyhntr]

i missed that article. what i infer from the article is it was hard for PRO to organize, promote, and run the event. i understand that.
what i don't understand is all the money that flowed thru the gates for 2 years; how can you turn down darn near sold out days?
there isn't anyone that could take over the organizing? w. buck was heavily involved the 1st year. i don't believe he's part of PRO?
garret and victor certainly know their staff, and probably hiring temp staff for their larger events? (i.e. this weekend's race).
there were 7 of us combined that attended both shootouts. we probably spent somewhere in neighborhood of $1000 total being there
over two years ....... now they are saying private session? so they can test better? good grief, it's about entertainment, and making money.
last year they had the shootout, then another test at gainesville. i don't recall all the bellyaching when the PBIR test sessions ran?
those two bradenton shootouts were possibly more successful than some of the nhra nat. events.

To the casual fan, those events may seem like a huge success. I can tell you from an event management perspective, it may not have been. Events like that take thousands of hours of planning and resources that PRO simply doesn't have. And that's before you even set foot on the property for the event. I'm also sure there are reasons as to why the DI crew was not involved in the 2025 version of the Shootout, and that was likely PRO's decision...

 

[mick]

To the casual fan, those events may seem like a huge success. I can tell you from an event management perspective, it may not have been. Events like that take thousands of hours of planning and resources that PRO simply doesn't have. And that's before you even set foot on the property for the event. I'm also sure there are reasons as to why the DI crew was not involved in the 2025 version of the Shootout, and that was likely PRO's decision...

i don't recall any negative comments at all about the 2 shootouts. from the fuel classes to the invite only STK and SS fields.
for sure they promoted it as a race, and the production of the 1st event was a little over the top, then the 2nd one pared back a bit.
just have a test session and let the public in. throw a little money at parking, ticket booths, beer garden, porta-pottys, a few food vendors, and small security.
nobody makes a ton of money. if anyone makes a couple bucks, it's the track holding the event. the teams get to test. teams pitch in to cover
necessary track personnel.
is nhra losing a slice of the pie and making sure there is no spectator pay to watch nitro prior to the gators?, especially as close as bradenton? ..... do not recall any bitching about phoenix tests, PBIR tests, or the orlando speedworld pro stock shootout.
i would be curious if garret and victor reached out to PRO or other/s inquiring about an event this year?

 

[Ponyhntr]

i don't recall any negative comments at all about the 2 shootouts. from the fuel classes to the invite only STK and SS fields.
for sure they promoted it as a race, and the production of the 1st event was a little over the top, then the 2nd one pared back a bit.
just have a test session and let the public in. throw a little money at parking, ticket booths, beer garden, porta-pottys, a few food vendors, and small security.
nobody makes a ton of money. if anyone makes a couple bucks, it's the track holding the event. the teams get to test. teams pitch in to cover
necessary track personnel.
is nhra losing a slice of the pie and making sure there is no spectator pay to watch nitro prior to the gators?, especially as close as bradenton? ..... do not recall any bitching about phoenix tests, PBIR tests, or the orlando speedworld pro stock shootout.
i would be curious if garret and victor reached out to PRO or other/s inquiring about an event this year?

NHRA didn’t have anything to do with not having the shootout in 2026. Admittedly they were skeptical before the 2024 race, but they did have executives in attendance and they didn’t have anything bad to say about it. In fact, for the 2025 race NHRA was asked to have the tech staff and Safety Safari there. I was one of them.

This is simply a decision that PRO has made- it’s a lot of work for such a small staff with nearly no reward.

 

[mick]

NHRA didn’t have anything to do with not having the shootout in 2026. Admittedly they were skeptical before the 2024 race, but they did have executives in attendance and they didn’t have anything bad to say about it. In fact, for the 2025 race NHRA was asked to have the tech staff and Safety Safari there. I was one of them.

This is simply a decision that PRO has made- it’s a lot of work for such a small staff with nearly no reward.

thanks for info josh. what i'm ultimately suggesting then, is why can't a public test session be held when there has been so many in the past?
why does PRO even need to be involved? bradenton for example: ask victor and garret if they want control of the event?
this event had a very strong first two years. i hope that some semblance of it can re-emerge in the future.

 

[Ponyhntr]

PRO is involved because they are the owners of most of the cars. They want to be sure the facility is up to par, mainly prep and safety standards.
I'm not sure what is behind their decision to have a closed test.

 

[T.Smith]

I gotta imagine there's an escalation in insurance once you decide to invite spectators. Also, how do you plan for how many will show up? What does that cost?

I think once you add spectators, you add a lot more moving parts to the event. I would bet it was a learning experience for PRO.

 

[Axman]

That might be the craziest thing I have ever read. Bob team is his passion product. He can run so much of it out of Rhode Island why fly to Indy when he has a booming business empire in the northeast, and let's be real the dealerships keep the race team running

If I remember correctly, Tasca’s shop in Brownsburg is right next door to JFR

 

[Axman]

NO - I see Thomas tuning Austin and Jimmy tuning BT3 in hopes of a 1 - 2 finish in 2026. Don't forget TASCA Auto Group owns 38 dealerships in seven or eight states so BT3 can just about buy what they need at any price to make things happen.

He can’t buy a championship title….yet

 

[mick]

march 5-7, 2021 The Pro Winter Warmup was held at PBIR with general admission to fans for two days.

 

[Butch]

march 5-7, 2021 The Pro Winter Warmup was held at PBIR with general admission to fans for two days.

And wasn't it private some years, or the track was rented by a just a few?

 

[Rajunz]

Well cruz good luck,get a veteran cc!

Cruz spoke with a good friend of mine today and said everyone bashes him about the "revolving door", but the truth of the matter is that he cannot pay what other teams are able to pay!

 

[DixonFan]

Cruz spoke with a good friend of mine today and said everyone bashes him about the "revolving door", but the truth of the matter is that he cannot pay what other teams are able to pay!

Makes sense to me

 

[mick]

Cruz spoke with a good friend of mine today and said everyone bashes him about the "revolving door", but the truth of the matter is that he cannot pay what other teams are able to pay!

makes sense to me, and obviously makes sense to snap-on. the longevity of the cruz/snap-on relationship IMO is very similar to kenny/bud,
john force/castrol/peak, doug k./mac. one is synonymous with the other. it's nice to win, but you don't have to to have successful marketing,
notably on a B2B level.

 

[J]

Cruz spoke with a good friend of mine today and said everyone bashes him about the "revolving door", but the truth of the matter is that he cannot pay what other teams are able to pay!

Gotcha,so snap on isnt a big budget? Curious if cruz is running the latest and greatest parts?

 

[Funnycarfanatic]

If I remember correctly, Tasca’s shop in Brownsburg is right next door to JFR

As stated much of it the entire business operation is run out of Rhode island. Bob is always in one of those dealerships. He won't work for Force.

 

[Axman]

As stated much of it the entire business operation is run out of Rhode island. Bob is always in one of those dealerships. He won't work for Force.

It’s weekends only

 

[CS]

Cruz spoke with a good friend of mine today and said everyone bashes him about the "revolving door", but the truth of the matter is that he cannot pay what other teams are able to pay!

If memory serves me right Cruz and Snap-On have had a relationship since 1992. I have said this on Facebook several times it's common knowledge that the money from Snap-On is nowhere near the money other teams are getting. I think Cruz uses Snap-On as a magnet hoping to attract other sponsor(s). However Cruz needs to look at how he is currently marketing himself, his team and his image. Cruz doesn't have merch on the NHRA site. When you go to cruzpedregon.com very little of what's offered has Snap-On or their logo other than new and used crew shirts. Fans want to support the "Snap-On" car and driver. Look at other racers sites or the Nitro mall if you think I'm wrong. Finally if he's not getting the money he needs/deserves to run a competitive operation perhaps it's time to change or hire a PR person or group who knows sports marketing like everyone else has. Just my .02 on the subject.