Wally World Sticks it to the Racers.....Again!!! (3 Viewers)

[Mooseman]

Its plain economics , if you charge 10 dollars and get 1000 people to pay it then you make $10,000 then if you charge $30 dollars and only get 200 people paying it you make only $6000 , But if you monopolise an industry where you are the main supplier then people continue to pay it then you continue to profit . If like what happened with the economy prices rise and rise and rise then people don't pay that price then the product becomes worthless thats what happened when the economy went bad everyone got scared so didn't spend any money so nobody way buying into anything causes it to become worthless , but with the economy so many people borrowed money to spend money so at the end of the day nobody has any money to spend which is the only thing that will fix the economy . Moral of the story is only spend what money you have at any given time .

Anyway I am going way off topic here . Infact going off topic someone taught me a trick with gambling once , if you go in with 5 and come out with 10 then pocket half and play with the rest . That way you come out with what you came in with .

 

[Tom]

I will tell him, the next time I see him. Can anyone name anything that hasn't increased in over 10 years? There comes a time when you have to raise prices, and after 10 years the time has come. I'm sure if NHRA had been able to predict the downturn in the economy they would have done many things. If I had seen it coming I would have done a few things differently as well.

I really like that because Tom Carter hasn't heard about something he figures that it never happened.

Alan

How about payouts to the sportsman racers themselves? If you didn't have one of the worst cases of "Cranial Rectumitis" I have ever seen as the official cheerleader for NHRA, you'd see that too. It's pretty obvious.

 

[clwill]

Little or no notice stinks, very true. And the timing at the depths of an ugly recession sucks too. But, really, is the license fee the straw that broke the camel's back? Really?

I don't know about your racing operation, but with mine, the most troublesome, uncontrollable, and frightening cost is the diesel. I looked at all of last year's numbers, and the cost to get to the track was the biggest cost that I had no control over. I could choose not to put the latest gizmo on the car, but I had to get to the track. And for most of my hauls, the cost of getting to just one race far exceeds the two year cost of NHRA's fees. Remember last summer with $5 diesel? Holy cow, I had a round trip to a race that cost me almost $500 in diesel alone -- by far my largest cost for the weekend.

Yes, this announcement seems to have NHRA's typical lousy timing and their ever-so-indelicate delivery. And yes, the percentage amount is stunning, especially since the CPI has only increased 28% in the same time period. But come on, 10 years without an increase is a problem. And if a hundred bucks is the difference between racing or not, maybe you shouldn't be racing.

<flame on>

 

[Nitrohaulic]

Long term, inflation averages around 4% annually. Had NHRA been regularly making these increases in smaller increments, they could have collected more money by now and it wouldn't be a shocker when they DID keep going up. By waiting longer, they've lost more money in the meantime AND upset people by going up as much as they have in one shot during an already bad economy.

Looks like they should have had some corporate types in there running the place!

 

[Buddy]

Well I will be missing Atlanta... Guess I'm just going to have to go to less races...

CJ Curtsinger

 

[Muddy]

Let me get this straight:

A. building a car..higher costs
B. Travel costs ..much higher
C. Lic fees ....twice as high
D. Chassis certif...higher
E. Entry Fees...higher
F. Ticket prices for family and crew....higher
G. Purse...The same or lowers
H. Chances of breaking even...NO CHANCE

Yep that's what I though I was reading. Makes a bunch of sense to continue throwing money in this hole doesn't it?

 

[FABMAN]

NHRA is following the footsteps of our great new leader of the United States of America, Obama. It sounds all so familiar.

Just check entry list for Atlanta, on average all Sportsman down 40% on entries.

 

[bodyman]

Well This is how it should be done.
This is an E-mail that I just received from IHRA.

To: All IHRA Sportsman Racers



Dear Members:



Since the recent announcement of NHRA raising fees, my phone and e-mail have been going crazy. Evidentially the "internet experts" that populate the message boards have suggested that IHRA will be following suit with price increases to sportsman racers. This is based on the assumption that IHRA does everything NHRA does.



Any sportsman racer who has actually done a burnout at an IHRA event knows we have our own ideas and philosophies on how sportsman racing is to be conducted. This is not a knock on NHRA, it is simply a realization that we handle sportsman racing differently. As an IHRA member you know that, and I would assume you are a member because you enjoy the opportunities and programs IHRA offers sportsman racers. Unfortunately, this bad information is put out by sportsmen who don't actually race with us on a national or divisional level. Normally, we wouldn't even respond to such nonsense, but these are not normal times. Everyone is sensitive to the economic environment right now so I wanted you to hear this from the source.



We are not....have no plans to....and have not even discussed raising fees to sportsman racers. We are in the same position as the rest of the world when it comes to the need to increase the bottom line, but we have been able to reduce spending internally rather than going to the customer to create additional cash flow. In fact, we have been talking a lot about how to reduce costs for racers and spectators, create more value and develop our entertainment offering for both racers and fans. We just finished a national event in Baton Rouge where we added a dash for cash program for the competitors as well as cooked 4,000lbs of crawfish for the racer party. The Spring Nationals at Rockingham in a few weeks just had the dash for cash racing programs added, a sportsman wheelie contest and we booked a southern rock band for a Saturday night racer party. We are trying to give you more for your racing dollar and create ways for you to compete on the pro am and national level without spending your way into financial ruin.



The IHRA staff members have been working on a variety of different ways to reduce costs in their areas of responsibility and have done a great job so far. We have had to make tough decisions to not take as many staff to events. Everyone is pulling double duty somewhere, we're negotiating better deals with suppliers and travel arrangements are tighter than ever. The bottom line is that we certainly need your support at Summit Pro Am and Nitro Jam Nationals events, but we are not going to put extra financial burden on those that continue to compete on these levels.



IHRA will continue to work on adding programs that create value for you. The double Summit Pro Am weekends, the Champion Systems Sportsman Nationals events and the Tournament Of Champions Sportsman World Championship program are just a few ways we've been able to accomplish these goals.



I hope that puts your mind at ease. We look forward to seeing you at an IHRA event this year....and let's have some fun!



Best Regards,





Skooter Peaco

Vice President

IHRA

 

[yoda]

Can you even IMAGINE the NHRA response to Skooter's letter??

 

[none]

How about payouts to the sportsman racers themselves? If you didn't have one of the worst cases of "Cranial Rectumitis" I have ever seen as the official cheerleader for NHRA, you'd see that too. It's pretty obvious.

I'm not claiming to always be right. I am simply offerring a different point of veiw. I think that there are (at least) two sides to every story. But why is it that you can't seem to discus or debate the issue without making personal attacks on me? Everyone knows where I work, and that I take the side of NHRA. I have also made clear time and time again that I am NOT their spokesman, I am just looking at it from another angle. If you want to debate the issue, I will be happy to do so. If you just want to slam me, then I'm done with you.

Alan

 

[jackass]

For what ever short comings the IHRA has in the Pro Class area.. they have always had the reputation of being "PRO" Sportsman classes....

Good for them....

Spring Nationals are after the Atlanta event.. should be good to see which draws a bigger group of sportsman racers... since they are in the same region basicly...



Billy

PS.. Alan.. 3 sides to a story... Side A... Side B... and the truth...lol... didn't you know that...lol...

 

[Jenn]

PS.. Alan.. 3 sides to a story... Side A... Side B... and the truth...lol... didn't you know that...lol...

I think that's 4 sides. A, B, the truth, and the guy who thinks he knows what's going on even though he was 2000 miles away from the event, doesn't know anybody involved but knows what's going on anyway.

 

[Terry]

I think that's 4 sides. A, B, the truth, and the guy who thinks he knows what's going on even though he was 2000 miles away from the event, doesn't know anybody involved but knows what's going on anyway.

You're not talking about me, are you Jenn? (since I live 2000 miles away from ANYTHING!)

 

[JB3]

For what ever short comings the IHRA has in the Pro Class area.. they have always had the reputation of being "PRO" Sportsman classes....

Good for them....

Spring Nationals are after the Atlanta event.. should be good to see which draws a bigger group of sportsman racers... since they are in the same region basicly...



Billy

PS.. Alan.. 3 sides to a story... Side A... Side B... and the truth...lol... didn't you know that...lol...

Well, that's kind of interesting. They were back to back last year (reversed). Rockingham had 67 Stockers and Atlanta had 63. However, there were only 6 drivers who raced at both; Lee Zane, Robbie Shaw, Dan Fletcher, Bill Feist, Kevin Helms, Gene Jordan, James Harrington. Super Stock was a bit more lopsided with 56 at the Rock and 74 in Atlanta but this was likely due to Class eliminations at Atlanta. Only 11 drivers raced at both; Bob Cupp, Tim Worner, Steven Johnson, Bryan Worner, Jimmy Spell, Kevin Helms, Gregory Gay, Anthony Bertozzi, Dan Fletcher, James Harrington, Jim Holland. Therefore, it would still appear as racers stay where thier allegience is and do not do much crossover.

 

[willy]

That's a nice message from Scooter..but according to DRO..the drag racing in Rockingham is taking a backseat to GraveDigger racing a jet car..in the press releases anyway.

Hope that isn't the future now that Feld owns them.

Made some great points though.

 

[jackass]

Well, that's kind of interesting. They were back to back last year (reversed). Rockingham had 67 Stockers and Atlanta had 63. However, there were only 6 drivers who raced at both; Lee Zane, Robbie Shaw, Dan Fletcher, Bill Feist, Kevin Helms, Gene Jordan, James Harrington. Super Stock was a bit more lopsided with 56 at the Rock and 74 in Atlanta but this was likely due to Class eliminations at Atlanta. Only 11 drivers raced at both; Bob Cupp, Tim Worner, Steven Johnson, Bryan Worner, Jimmy Spell, Kevin Helms, Gregory Gay, Anthony Bertozzi, Dan Fletcher, James Harrington, Jim Holland. Therefore, it would still appear as racers stay where thier allegience is and do not do much crossover.

Thats what i was saying....going to be interesting as to how this new move affects people...and their choices......


David.. yeah thats going to be interesting in its self..... i got a couple more phone calls today asking me if i knew of Tom Mintz was going to be there running also in Max D.......lol..... hated to burst their bubble ...lol...


Billy

 

[Jenn]

You're not talking about me, are you Jenn? (since I live 2000 miles away from ANYTHING!)

You my friend, are a special case.

 

[You!]

There will be no boycott of NHRA National or Divisional events by sportsman racers. None, nathan, nada. Hands down...never going to happen.

Maybe a couple will change their plans, but not enough to even be noticable.

This is already a non-issue for those that run these types of NHRA events. They've winced, maybe verbally complained either here or to their dog about the increases, but ultimately they know they have to take it. And that's what the folks in Glendora know as a fact...racers will continue to take it because the "needle" is in too deep.

 

[Demon]

Maybe not a 100% boycott,but don't be surprised if some races have VERY low car counts.

 

[Tim5636sc]

What I love about NHRA, never short of ideas for future columns.