Vandergriff Shuts Down Team and Retires (1 Viewer)

[DAN]

Very surprising news to wake up to.
Top Fuel is definitely looking vulnerable now.
Sure, upping the prizemoney may fix some things, but lowering the costs / altering the rules package may help the category rebuild its numbers too.
BV has said before that the stress of chasing money wears thin after a while.
I tend to believe the press release, but the other recent factors would certainly play into it too.
Sad day. Hopefully NHRA and the existing teams put their heads together. Might just be time to look at cost-saving measures.
Otherwise, it'll be 12 car fields soon enough.

 

[vegasnitro]

It sounds like C+J pulled the money after the unfortunate death of Comstock and Vandergriff just doesn't have the desire to chase the money any longer. He has complained in the past of the constant beating of the bushes it takes to find the resources to fund one of these cars to compete at a high level. It sucks for all involved. Crazy to think that just 6 weeks ago this team won a National Event and went to the semis just a week ago.

This makes 13 cars for the 4 Wides next week.

 

[onfire]

Leah and Dave are not on the entry list. The list has 15 cars entered at this time.

 

[I was NITRO BREATH]

Sad for everyone involved. Top fuel field is gonna be pretty lean now. Contrary to many of the folks on here I don't think the brain trust at nhra is that dumb or blind to see what the future is shaping up to be for the pro classes. You have to believe, and I do think, nhra is working on ways to increase fields. It's not an easy situation. And there is no perfect answer. But it's got to be addressed

 

[Riley7]

I don't believe any of us know all of, or the depth of, the reasons BV has decided to get out of the sport. Most of the obvious reasons have already been discussed on this thread. I'm thinking that this mostly a business decision on both BV's and CJE's part, tinged with some emotion from Bob in regards to losing a good friend, and spending more time with his family. We see these things in business, and in sports, all of the time.

What really concerns me moving forward, is that the business model for NHRA Pro-Class Teams, seems to be broken in a major way. The costs of running a team for the full season are astronomical, and the winnings just don't come close to helping pay the bills. I don't know if it's too late to fix any of this, but costs have to be reined in, and on a massive scale. This may come through a limit on the technology involved (and I'm including Pro Stock in this discussion), or a limit on the number of National Events per year. Maybe both?

Personally, I'd rather see the cars running a tad slower, if we can get more people into the Pro ranks. I also wouldn't mind seeing the calendar skinnied up a bit, if it helps more teams stay competitive. Short fields suck!

Hopefully NHRA will take a hard look at the popularity of Pro Mod, and try to see if they can take what's working so well there, and transfer it to Funny Car, Top Fuel, and Pro Stock. I hope NHRA also figures out a way to massively increase purses at the Pro level.

If you think things are bad now, just wait and see what happens if Mr. Force, Mr. Kalitta, or Mr. Schumacher decide to call in quits. Then you WILL see 8 car fields being the norm.

 

[stitcherbob]

could this be the " future " of Top Fuel?

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I hope NHRA also figures out a way to massively increase purses at the Pro level.

I've seen posts like this here and on several boards I frequent and I just don't see it happening. The money that it will take to increase the purses will have to come from marketing partnerships, and the teams themselves are barely able to do that from year to year.

I know it's been beat to death on every racing board imaginable, but the issue runs much deeper than what generally gets discussed. The issue is without a doubt money; money from every angle. And yes, costs have been allowed to get out of control, which is definitely on the sanctioning body. You can slow the fuel cars down all you want, which will undoubtedly open the door for more participation, but that will do nothing in regards to the fan base, be it via television or event attendance. I realize viewership is up with the shift to a different network, but even those numbers are indicating an older fan base. So, the problem of the younger generation not being interested still exists.

We'll see some positive shifts for the sport here and there, but they will be minor. Until something is done to get asses in the seats, any potential marketing partner will have nothing to sell to and the influx of money will continue to sputter.

Sean D

 

[None]

Sad for everyone involved. Top fuel field is gonna be pretty lean now. Contrary to many of the folks on here I don't think the brain trust at nhra is that dumb or blind to see what the future is shaping up to be for the pro classes. You have to believe, and I do think, nhra is working on ways to increase fields. It's not an easy situation. And there is no perfect answer. But it's got to be addressed

NHRA will do nothing as long as the public is attending the events. The bottom line is they are making money and the big boys are splitting it up with their bonuses at the end of the year.

 

[Usual password less 1]

So lets split up a "normal" teams expenses. $800-1 Million payroll, 1.2 million parts and $500k travel expenses, truck maintenance, fuel etc. The total is somewhere around 2.5 million and that's assuming you own everything and have a shop already. Want hospitality? Throw in around another 500k for a nice base set up with a truck and trailer, not a Schumacher campground. Can't do too much about the payroll. With the advent of live TV teams now need to turn the cars around much quicker especially if there is weather in the area. That means you need around 8 people working on the cars to get it done in time. (lets assume they average 50k per year, which they don't and you have 400k already. Add in a crew chief and a co crew chief and a driver and you can see how it adds up). You also need the parts (spare engines, heads, blower/manifold etc) ready to go, cause you are not fixing anything between rounds, you are replacing with parts that have been serviced. Travel expenses generally don't go down so not much to save there. So let's say somebody out there has a plan to reduce parts attrition by 40% (and I would like to meet you), so you save 480k in parts over a season. It's still the better part of 2 million without hospitality and 2.5 with.

If anything it now gives the "independent" or low budget Top Fuel team a chance to qualify and race at a NHRA National Event and show something to their sponsors. Who knows, with the new TV package maybe it can turn into something bigger!

 

[mick]

maybe bob will surface on 'street outlaws'......his handle will be 'bobby v' and he will suddenly become more known in a few months
than he's ever been in 20+ years in the nhra.

you know, that drag racing show where one guy owns one car and races another guy who owns one car.....and they have
nicknames......you know, like 'big daddy' and 'cha cha' and 'snake' .....woops, that's when we were young

 

[Nick Name]

As much of a nitro junkie as I am, I have a feeling nitro racing is in it's swan song. When you see the door slammer events selling out tracks and causing 5 mile long traffic jams on the interstate from people trying to get it, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see the future of the sport.

 

[I was NITRO BREATH]

i guess the problem to me is that we are not seeing full fields in the pro categories --- heres a question to everyone....if every race had 16 -18 entries in each of the pro categories would that be enough for you?? or if there were 16 entries at the majority of races. is that enough?? or do we need more competition from more top fuel and pro stock teams to make the season more interesting??

 

[Muddy]

The oil field service business in currently in the tank. All the yards around Oklahoma are full of idle equipment and empty of employees. It's a shame because all the experience and equipment will be gone forever if it doesn't change soon. We saw this happen in the early 80s and it took a really long time to come back. I guess it's just the nature of the oil business.

 

[Jimbo]

One poster said the following,

I hope NHRA also figures out a way to massively increase purses at the Pro level.

You got to be kidding me with the trend in drag racing heading south with fans, racers, sponsors and smaller fields you really think now is the time to increase the purses?
Where would the money come from to do this?

To me the name of the game now is how to survive over the next five years or longer.

I do not believe drag racing will ever die but I do believe the future just may hold smaller car counts and less fans until they can figure out how to put on a better show without increasing the entry price for fans.

If it's any consolation drag racing is certainly not alone because many other forms of racing and sports in general are also facing changing times.

Just my opinion.
Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[Nunz]

Well Jeff would know the numbers as well as anyone posting here. It's a tough deal. As it's been said so many times, pretty hard to get the genie back in the bottle. And while it may be easier for part time teams to get TV time now, that's not enough of a positive. There needs to be an overhaul of the business model of pro racing. Drag racing will always reinvent itself, always come up with new classes that get people involved. But for the small niche that is NHRA professional category racing, NHRA really needs to take some drastic measures. Think about the present, 5 years out, 10 years out, etc. Maybe if we are to have thriving fuel classes, it's really time to overhaul the current fuel cars and create new versions, a cross between today's big show and nostalgia cars. Something that doesn't require quite the arsenal of parts and people that is currently needed. Maybe the 4.90/300 Dale Armstrong recipe. These points have all been discussed a zillion times. This may be THE best time to do something radical, though. In conjunction with a new, bigger, and live TV package designed to attract a new audience, it may be a great opportunity. And while we're "overhaulin' ", let's get a tire that isn't so good, so burnouts are fun to watch again.

 

[Toejam]

As much of a nitro junkie as I am, I have a feeling nitro racing is in it's swan song. When you see the door slammer events selling out tracks and causing 5 mile long traffic jams on the interstate from people trying to get it, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see the future of the sport.

Jay's right....Its all over! This time next year...8 car fields!

 

[Jimbo]

Jay made the following statement,

When you see the door slammer events selling out tracks and causing 5 mile long traffic jams on the interstate from people trying to get it, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see the future of the sport.

I also agree with what Jay said and just finding it amazing that the people in charge of the N.H.R.A. don't seem to see the same thing that others see see.

Forget about trying to reinvent the wheel and figure out why the Pro Classes are not doing better and simply go with what works and apparently is what the racers and fans want to see.

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[.]

I don't necessarily think SGMP sold out strictly because the general public likes that type of racing better than any other form of racing.... I suspect one of the contributing factors for such high attendance was people wanting to see "Stars" from a "TV show". Look at the Deadliest catch Captains and crew..... crab fishing was never a big spectator sport either, but because these guys are "on TV" suddenly they are stars and people flock to see the "catch crew" whenever they are attending public events. I bet if you made a reality TV show about fuel racing and put it on a MAJOR cable network in a PRIME TIME slot, it would be a hit just like Street Outlaws. The show would have to be about more than just your standard boring old qualifying and eliminations.... we already see that boring show on FOX Sports. The reality show would need to be scripted (just like Street Outlaws) so the story was interesting and held your attention, but that's no different than any other "reality" show on TV anyway. My point is.... if NHRA drivers were on weekly television, on a major channel, in a prime time slot, "The Sarge" would be just as big of name as "Big Chief". The guys on Street Outlaws are not famous because of their cars, they are famous because of the TV show on Discovery Channel.

And yes, I know about Driving Force, but that show was 10 years ago, it was on A&E, and it wasn't very well made.... not to mention the horrendously fake engine sounds. lol. The producer of that show was even a member here on this site and people told him how bad those fake engine sounds were, but he didn't care. lolol. I know the show stopped filming after Eric's death, then John's accident, but I doubt that show had much left in it regardless.

 

[Rajunz]

As much of a nitro junkie as I am, I have a feeling nitro racing is in it's swan song. When you see the door slammer events selling out tracks and causing 5 mile long traffic jams on the interstate from people trying to get it, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see the future of the sport.

Those door slammer events are selling out tracks that might hold 5000 people max....... SGMP seats 3000 people.

 

[Rajunz]

Not sure how many remember, but in the late 70s, early 80s, several events each year only had 8 car fields. Cajunnationals, Fallnationals, etc. still filled the stands though.