I differ a little,, money buys good crew chief & HP & wins just look at who is winning and they hav the money even in the alky ranks,,also nhra claims family sport I differ on that also its about money and also it is still fun to me and a lot of people but it takes money !!!!
TAD/TAFC Racing (1 Viewer)
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Justin@NRE
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In Pros, yeah, the better financed teams are winning. But in Alky?!? Have you ever seen the 2x TAD Champ? Joey gets some travel money help from Whiteley and engines from Noonan, but I would not consider them big spenders by any means. You could call Lindberg a big spender since he's got massive travel expenses to race over here, but he's also a fearless tuner and a great driver, much like Manzo. What I would consider the two biggest spenders in TAFC have a combined 3 wins between them, and only 1 National event win. In Top Alcohol, the driver still has so much to do with winning that it isn't all about the money. Money certainly helps for all the reasons I listed in my last post, but Top Alcohol racing is all about the tuner that can get the most out of the track and the driver who can save the run when the tuner screws up. Manzo could shake his brains out on a run and still out run you by a tenth because his car was set up to fly.
Justin@NRE
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Yeah, I actually do.. You're right, it ain't cheap no matter how you slice it, but some people manage to do it better and cheaper than others. Some people have a paid crew of 10 that stay in hotels, others have volunteer crew of 2-4 that stay in the rig at the track. Some people take the crew out to eat every night, some pack coolers before they leave and cook simple stuff at the track or live on cold cut sandwiches. Some have a high paid crew chief with a day rate and travel expenses, others have their brother, Dad or friend that also helps pay the bills on the car, or they tune and drive. Some have Million dollar toter home and stacker rigs, some have mid-road older toters and long goosenecks(like the TAD champ), others have a dually and gooseneck. One of the teams I used to run with had a perfect season on the Division Race level a while back. Went to 8 division races, won them all. Including diesel, race car parts, food and beer, volunteer crew of 6, didn't even spend $20K over that whole season thanks to a few part sponsorships, winning checks, ability to do many of their own repairs, and running on 10 year old heads and blocks. I know teams that spend $20K per race!
My argument has always been that lower buck guys tend to be successful because they're typically forced to be more resourceful. They find ways to get more out of the combination in front of them rather than throwing money at different parts to find what works best, which makes it really tough to be consistent if you're always trying new parts. It takes a lot longer to get there because you're not paying an experienced crew chief or running even half as many laps as others through a season.
vegasnitro
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The champ in TAD doesn't own the car or the rig ... Norm Grimes does.
The champ in TAD does own Woodburn Dragstrip in Oregon though.
Justin@NRE
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Norm hasn't had anything to do with that team since they won last year.
