TAD cost per event- Blown vs a fuel?

[Mike]

These days, what is the average cost per event for a blown car vs average cost for an a-fuel car?
We know it's gotten more expensive across the board, but I was curious what a typical per-event cost is for the two different combinations?

 

[Al]

I heard several years ago that A/Fuel was cheaper overall and that is one of the reasons people were switching over. I don't know if that is still the case, and they now have a distinct performance advantage, so I don't see anyone going back to alcohol. BUT, like you, I would certainly be interested to see the cost differential between the two.

 

[Sherman, Sherm, & Sherm Gun]

You can buy a lot of nitro if you don't have a few $20k-$30k blowers to buy.

 

[kegs]

How much between round maintenance do both types of cars do? Do the heads always come off?

 

[Litefoot]

How much between round maintenance do both types of cars do? Do the heads always come off?

Add in rod longevity, bearings and valve spring replacement due to the much higher rpm that the blown cars have to twist them up to run with the injected cars, ouch !!

 

[Nunz]

Will Hanna has done a breakdown on this, not sure where to find it now. But the difference might not be as big as you would think, from what i remember of Will's comparison. Like most things, it's also very situational. The biggest factor of course is carnage. In either combo, if you don't have the right tuneup and you're chasing a learning curve, it'll get expensive. Not sure if Will posts here but if he sees this maybe he'll review it again.

 

[Cliff]

I remember reading about the cost of running a blown alky T/AD, back around the year 2000. They talked about $750,000 to chase the championship. Double that and you probably have the cost of chasing the championship today on T/AD and TA/FC.

 

[Pete]

also a driving cost per year is location. if you're in D6/7 or whatever region they call it now, you have a significant amount more travel expense than is you're in the Eastern Region, where essentially you have a cluster of races between NH and Virginia (500 miles), then down to FLA if you want to run the Hatchlings. Much less expensive...probably a reason Sheilds keeps his stuff out here and runs this region, its cheaper to just fly his people out for the races...

 

[Cliff]

Yep, Div 7 will be mostly Nevada & Calif tracks, unless they run a Div race in Tucson. I wonder where the Utah racers go? Div 5?

 

[TD5023]

Yep, Div 7 will be mostly Nevada & Calif tracks, unless they run a Div race in Tucson. I wonder where the Utah racers go? Div 5?

Utah is D7 (western region for the TA classes). D5 only goes as far west as Denver. Western Colorado Dragway in Grand Junction used to be D5, but switched over to D7 several years ago.

 

[qualified17th]

Yep, Div 7 will be mostly Nevada & Calif tracks, unless they run a Div race in Tucson. I wonder where the Utah racers go? Div 5?

I know Kris Hool is based next door in Wyoming, they run the Central Region (mostly Division 5, with a couple races in Div 4)

 

[Sherman, Sherm, & Sherm Gun]

Here in Iowa, we only have Williams, Foster, and Van Hauen left in TAFC for D5. Foster added a second car for his wife. I don't think Williams runs NHRA events anymore. They run most of the FCC events.

 

[Sherman, Sherm, & Sherm Gun]

Point being, it may be easier to score points in D5 with lower car counts.

 

[TD5023]

Here in Iowa, we only have Williams, Foster, and Van Hauen left in TAFC for D5. Foster added a second car for his wife. I don't think Williams runs NHRA events anymore. They run most of the FCC events.

Robbie Massey has a FC last I heard, but I have no clue what his plans are. I saw him licensing at Topeka a few years ago, but haven't heard or seen much since.

Not sure if the dynamic is going to change with Christine now going FC as well, but Chris has always run D3/North Central region. The downside of being in the Quad Cities is that you're not comfortably in a single division/region, so you can go either way but you better be ready to go OD unless you want to devote a day of travel each way just to hit the further in-division races.

Point being, it may be easier to score points in D5 with lower car counts.

Central region includes all of D4 and D5, so even if the northern part is a little light, there are some good southern runners as well.