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western races
- Thread starter mick
- Start date
handsome
Nitro Member
Blake isn't on the 2 west coast races anymore.
Last year only had 14.... I get why Torrence is skipping and Schumacher will be back at Indy and Lohnes said Salinas will be back later this year. There's light at the end of the tunnel, but this race has never had large car counts, 2 years ago had 13 cars.
Salinas will be back? That’s good, I hadn’t heard that. Won’t they have to hire a whole new crew?
mick
Nitro Member
anybody have some proof the salinas car will be back?
torrence absent for next 3 races (or so it seems)
8 TF cars just ran in ohio, none of whom are at next 3 nhra races
peanut just dropped his name from BIR FC sheet. holding onto 16 entries there (he is ALWAYS at bir)
IMO you need a handful of non-touring regulars to complete these fields, at most of the races, otherwise what's the point
of running a bracket with a bunch of byes? it's just happening and nobody talks about it, writes online about it, nothing.
wait till major sponsor (like mission for example) decide these declining numbers do not warrant the same payouts as full fields?
what then? the big guys take another financial hit. i'm just sayin', it doesn't seem like it's headed in the right direction.
anyone here really think some fiber optics company from texas is gonna' keep schumacher in the seat for 5+ years? not. been there. seen it.
torrence absent for next 3 races (or so it seems)
8 TF cars just ran in ohio, none of whom are at next 3 nhra races
peanut just dropped his name from BIR FC sheet. holding onto 16 entries there (he is ALWAYS at bir)
IMO you need a handful of non-touring regulars to complete these fields, at most of the races, otherwise what's the point
of running a bracket with a bunch of byes? it's just happening and nobody talks about it, writes online about it, nothing.
wait till major sponsor (like mission for example) decide these declining numbers do not warrant the same payouts as full fields?
what then? the big guys take another financial hit. i'm just sayin', it doesn't seem like it's headed in the right direction.
anyone here really think some fiber optics company from texas is gonna' keep schumacher in the seat for 5+ years? not. been there. seen it.
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z28
Nitro Member
as far as Tony who knows. This may be a trial run or it could be good. Who thought SCAG would stick around.
handsome
Nitro Member
I've heard talk that Torrence is done after this year. not only does he have family life as a dad now but he is taking on more responsibilities in Capco as his dad is looking at retirement. Maybe TSR adds a second dragster for Leah next season but it's hard to say about teams like Doug Foley not that there is a new series to race. NHRA needs to possibly cut the series back a few races so the smaller teams have more time between races to recoup parts and resources.
mick
Nitro Member
know what you mean ken, nobody knows. actually this guy and rick ware could bond very well.
sorry to be so pessimistic; only witness to so many sponsors that come and go. when scag bought the three teams, that was a pretty good
sign they were into this. their paddock presence is great. i'm guessing they do a fair amount of sales @ the races, or at least initiate them,
otherwise, what's the point in being there. that's a few trailers full of stuff criss crossing the highways every year. wonder what other events
the scag display ends up at throughout the year? i could see them at antique thresher/tractor shows. lots of old guys with money.
maddie gordon with capps next year in TF. hopefully we'll see a net gain in full tour TF teams. nothing guaranteed.
Boy, this is looking kind of bleak for the rest of the season, and for the next few years, in the NHRA fuel classes.
If Steve Torrance steps out of the seat, does his Dad get back to racing full-time if he retires from Capco day-to-day operations? I would think that is a possibility.
And what happens when Connie Kalitta is gone? Does he leave a trust fund set up to keep the 3 teams out there for years to come? Does Doug take over operation of the teams? Who knows at this point.
Is Maddie Gordon really going to drive in TF next year? If Capps had a sponsor lined up, he would have made an announcement already. I suspect he is in discussions, but no commitment yet. So that whole deal, I would think, is still a big "maybe".
What has happened to Blake Alexander since his incident a few races ago? Will we see him back this year? Or ever?
I agree that it seems unlikely that Scrappers shows up again later this year, as though it has been underreported overall, it seems like all his crew have moved on to other teams. I guess he could put together some part-time guys for a few races.
My money is Capps making the announcement ( Maddie Gordon) at Indy
Not to be down on NHRA all the time because there is a lot of positives, but Friday @ Seattle starts at 11 am. For sportsmen. When is the last time a National event with running sportsmn classes didn't start the first sportsman runs that late?
Is the sport more dead in Div. 6 than other places?
Is the sport more dead in Div. 6 than other places?
I haven't seen this much doom and gloom in years. Deep breath everyone, it will be fine. As for Salinas proof, the only proof I have is Lohnes on his podcast saying she has funding to run races later this year. IHRA had 8 TF cars show up and it was the greatest thing ever, but NHRA has 11 cars show up at the most northwestern event they have and the world is coming to an end. I am willing to put $$ down the 11 car NHRA show will blow away what we saw in Columbus last weekend.
ZWeinstein
Nitro Member
It was fairly common when you would only have one session on Friday for a few years. Im pretty sure when Sonoma had the one pro session at 7:30pm Friday, sportsman made their first runs at noon on Friday. Same thing when we had one session in Phoenix at 5:00pm the first sportsman runs were at 10:30. Since I think the only pro session tonight is at 8pm, no sense starting sportsman cars at 8 am. Makes for a stupid long day for all the safety safari guys for no reason.
One name I was surprised to not see on the entry list for Top Fuel and I hope everything is ok with him was Ron Smith. Ive never been to Seattle and never met the man but I always enjoyed the fact even though it is the only race he runs all year and with what it takes to certify everything on the car and the amount of work he puts in to run his one race is admirable.
Gone Dead Train
Nitro Member
I will be there all 3 days and the 11 car show will blow away the IHRA race last weekend.
The weather looks great. Maybe just maybe, I will see 340 plus mph.
z28
Nitro Member
Cameron Ferre is driving Ron's car at Seattle. Rent a ride deal
"And what happens when Connie Kalitta is gone?"
I recall from an interview a few years ago that Connie has some kind of "succession plan" in place, but no specifics were mentioned.
I'd love to see Salinas back in it as well as Terry McMillen too. Dixon as well, but I still think he's on a "list" of NHRAs.
I remember in the '80s when there was a period where TF looked like it was dead, with some events seeing single digit fields. Then Big came back, won Indy, and the class grew again. Drag racing, like all things, has always had it's ebb & flows. Sponsors come and go, wealthy owners come and go, etc. I was looking at some memorabilia for sale, and had to laugh when I saw an old magazine from the 60s or 70s for sale, and one of the cover headlines was "Can drag racing survive?" Having said that, there really needs to be some thought put into trying to improve the financial model so that it makes it more feasible for teams to participate.
John Farce Racing
Nitro Member
c'mon, get real. 11 cars in top fuel for a NHRA national event is bad. You can try to spin it any way you want, it's a bad look.
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