Will 5.00 Fuel Prices Hurt Racing Even More? (1 Viewer)

[rocketman]

Well the latest bad news is that the price of gas is predicted to go up to 5.00 by summer! Will this likely reduce your trips to the race track IF this happens? We are planning to run a few California events this year but I don't know how we can afford to do that IF the price of gas skyrockets to $5.00.

Sadly, I think too many people will be having to decide if they can fill up their tank to drive to work or put food on the table. This will doom the economy and not just racing or other recreational activities. Our politicians can go out to Elkhart Indiana all they want and complain about no jobs but until they understands that we need affordable domestic energy, this economy will spiral down to little or no activity until they remove the roadblocks and allows us to get the energy we need.

 

[Paul]

One person said there's a chance of $5.00 gas by 2012 and people are starting to think the worse. I have seen numerous analysts state that demand will remain flat with current levels (short term) and product will remain long, so unless there's a dramatic change in production of crude, there's nothing supporting such an increase. Predicting the future price of energy is like predicting the weather, very rarely is the person predicting spot on.

 

[rocketman]

I hope you are right. I really do, but the price just went up 5 cents in the last few days. And this is all based on a prediction by the former president of Shell Oil. In 2011 I want the best for our country and we can only make a comeback if the price of oil is at a reasonable cost and I don't have a complaint with the price hovering between 2.75 to 3.00 a a gallon. But I remember when it was at 4.00 a gallon and it was getting brutal. Our town lot it's airline service as a result.

 

[Kansas Stan]

someone has to pay for BP's lost profits. I never have trusted anyone in the oil business and I never will. They create their own reasons for price increases and our government that usually wants their nose in EVERYTHING, turns a blind eye. How many bankers, lawyers and oil men does it take to fill lake Michigan? I don't know....let's find out.

 

[mick]

but no mention of Petrobas' discovery of 8.3 billion gallon field......whatever.

 

[Doug]

The dollar isn't getting any stronger folks....

 

[Jer]

And you would think with the 10% ethanol that is going to be raised to 15% the cost of fuel would go down,ethanol is just a filler and is crap.

 

[Speed1288]

Didn't this happen like 3 years ago? Everything seemed to work out alright and the sports still around

 

[Toejam]

Well the latest bad news is that the price of gas is predicted to go up to 5.00 by summer! Will this likely reduce your trips to the race track IF this happens? We are planning to run a few California events this year but I don't know how we can afford to do that IF the price of gas skyrockets to $5.00.

Sadly, I think too many people will be having to decide if they can fill up their tank to drive to work or put food on the table. This will doom the economy and not just racing or other recreational activities. Our politicians can go out to Elkhart Indiana all they want and complain about no jobs but until they understands that we need affordable domestic energy, this economy will spiral down to little or no activity until they remove the roadblocks and allows us to get the energy we need.

Rich, when gas was $4 a gallon in '08, how did it effect you then?

 

[Kansas Stan]

ya know, I have no problem with anyone and everyone making a profit. It's these cowardly weasels in the oil business wanting every nickle in your pants...your pants...your shoes...your socks, etc. that p***es me off. If you think you've seen wasteful thinking in government, come to the production side of oil. And then they complain about rising costs....BS!!!! Lazy, wasteful, and answer to no one attitude is what makes costs so high. Run your business like the rest of us have to and you might be amazed at the way the budget comes back in line.

 

[twostep]

Rich, when gas was $4 a gallon in '08, how did it effect you then?

It turned the car business on its' head, I'll say that.... Auction prices for full-size pickups and SUVs reflected a 50% loss in the first year of ownership, while the whole country flocked to little 30+MPG $hitpots. Really made a lot of sense, too. Lose $25K on your Tahoe when you trade it off for an economy car that saves you $1K annually in fuel.

Crude - and gasoline - prices will rise until they meet a point of resistance where it becomes less profitable to raise them further. 3 years ago that ceiling was $4 a gallon. If the power brokers can eventually raise it to $5 without consumers abandoning gasoline en masse as they did the last time, it will be $5. There's only one way to find out where that point of resistance lies. S-L-O-W-L-Y raise prices until they find out. And that's exactly what's happening the past two years.

$5 by this summer? I doubt it. $4? In some areas, almost certain.

 

[Paul]

someone has to pay for BP's lost profits.

Hardly, BP has already identified non-strategic assets to dispose of that will offset the provision put aside for the GoM incident.

 

[Randy]

Oil price per barrell is rising because of the weak dollar not oil company greed. The dollar is getting weaker (worthless) because the debt the 111 Congress just ran up and China's resistance to lending us any more money. Because countries don't want to loan the US Government any more money the Fed Reserve is now resorting to monetizing the national debt (printing money that is not backed up by anything) which is the reason the dollar is getting weaker which causes inflation. Look at food prices, too. Anything imported is going to cost more as the dollar takes a dump. And because the environmental wacko's have all but shut down domestic drilling almost all of our oil is imported.

If you want to stop the high fuel prices tell your congressmen and women to #1. stop spending money we don't have, #2. stop borrowing money from other countries who now fear we won't be able to pay it back and #3. tell them to open ANWAR and other land areas the Fedaral Government has illegally siezed in the name of environmental protectionism and start issuing responsible drilling permits so we can get off foreign oil.

Buy gold.

 

[vegasnitro]

Buy gold.

Sound advice in these times, but with Gold at $1,400 per ounce, it is an expensive proposition these days.

 

[Nitro_force_fan]

All i know is this needs to be stopped! And stopped now! I read that article on the net about gas being 5.00 by 2012 and i told the wife....you watch tomorow the price will go up! AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW? It went up 10 cents over night! Every time one of these so called experts writes an article about gas shooting to 5 bucks a gallon these oil companies see that and think" well hell...they know its coming so lets start right now!" And sure enough i went and put gas in my vehicle and the wife was *****ing about how much it cost to fill it up. So i say in front of the clerk "Well whats the difference....its gonna be 5 bucks a gallon soon anyway" to which the clerk says " no thats not till 2012!" So whats that tell you? They read the same article i did and raised the price over night! Gas has gone up 50 cents a galloon here since thanksgiving. All i know is unless something changes my car wont even leave the garage this year. I havent raced the car for 6 years and decided this year i was gonna no matter what. Well at this point that is not gonna happen. I guess ill just yank the motor and trans and spend the summer doing a freshen up on it. On top of that i had decided i was gonna by a newer truck. Well i drive 62 miles round trip to work 6 days a week. Well ive pretty much accepted the fact that a newer truck is not gonna happen.
I dont know guys but if hits 5 bucks a gallon again were gonna go through what we did before......the economy is gonna tank AGAIN! Not that it ever recovered. I dont know how any of you guys run the 100 plus octane gas....i cant afford 93.

 

[twostep]

Oil price per barrell is rising because of the weak dollar not oil company greed.

Not necessarily so, although I agree the dollar has suffered and greed does exist within oil companies, believe me. But crude oil prices are controlled by bigtime power brokers, who profit no matter which way market prices turn. I can't tell you how many hundreds of billions of dollars these brokers made by selling 'short' when oil went from 140 to 35 a barrel back in 07-08. And those who paid 35 who now see crude in the low 90's and climbing are reaping the same benefits going the other way. At whose expense? Why, yours and mine, of course...

We'll continue to see prices escalate until the brokers know they've pushed it as far as the economy can stand...and then it'll head south, to repeat the same cycle over again.

There's a reason we're not drilling in ANWR, and it's not all out of concern for a few caribou.

 

[cephus]

it's time for another revolution,it worked once b/4 and will again
our gov is a joke and it's not a democracy it's a gov of the almighty dollar
they r all liars and cant take a stand

 

[clwill]

1) Folks, please, this isn't the Politics Room, so please, let's keep the political discussion to a minimum. Yes, I agree, politics and government can effect fuel prices, but this thread was started on a racing note (how will expensive gas effect racing), let's keep it there.

2) I paid over $5/gal down in CA two years ago while racing, and it was very painful. As diesel is our number one expense cost in racing, it does give me pause every time it goes up. Won't stop racing, but sure hurts.

3) I'd like to pick up a new truck, if high diesel prices cause those price to fall, I'd be OK with that. Small comfort given number 2 above, but ... there is a tiny silver lining

 

[Randy]

Not necessarily so, although I agree the dollar has suffered and greed does exist within oil companies, believe me. But crude oil prices are controlled by bigtime power brokers, who profit no matter which way market prices turn. I can't tell you how many hundreds of billions of dollars these brokers made by selling 'short' when oil went from 140 to 35 a barrel back in 07-08. And those who paid 35 who now see crude in the low 90's and climbing are reaping the same benefits going the other way. At whose expense? Why, yours and mine, of course...

We'll continue to see prices escalate until the brokers know they've pushed it as far as the economy can stand...and then it'll head south, to repeat the same cycle over again.

There's a reason we're not drilling in ANWR, and it's not all out of concern for a few caribou.

Todays economic environoment isn't going to be able to stand too much.

Every time the predictors predict doom and gloom as prices rise the demand drops, the storage tanks get full, the prices drop, etc. Supply and demand will ulitimately rule and somewhere in the middle we all get screwed.

I made the trip to race in Chicago back when diesel was very high a few years ago. My first car was cheaper than the round trip fuel bill.

RG

 

[twostep]

I'd like to pick up a new truck, if high diesel prices cause those price to fall, I'd be OK with that.

Diesel peaked here in 2008 about 4.75; it's 3.15 now. Blending requirements for different locales determine the price difference between regular unleaded and low-sulphur diesel. Back then it was about 80 cents..today, about 30. New diesel trucks won't fall that much; the manufacturers give the dealers only about 10 percent margin these days plus random rebates, 'holdback' and such. The most I ever saw one discounted from MSRP was $12,000. The car companies won't cut prices - they'll cut production until the market rebounds. If real bargains are to be had, they'll be in the used truck market.

2 1/2 years ago, we could buy 10,000-mile Ford King Ranch crew cab 4X4 diesel pickups for less than $30,000, at major dealer auctions, about 1/2 of MSRP....and they weren't even 6 months old. You could buy year-old Dodge Ram SLT crew cab pickups, loaded, 15,000 miles, for 11K - as many as you could afford to buy. I wish I'd borrowed the money and bought a hundred of 'em.

If your idea of a rig to pull your race car is a tractor-trailer, it gets better - or worse, depending on what side of the fence you're sitting on. Used semis absolutely could not be given away in the summer of '08. But....you still gotta fuel it....at 5 per, that gets prohibitive real fast.

All that said, I don't believe the cost of fuel per se will keep that many racers home. It's the 'trickle-down' effect that's a killer. There's no telling how many businesses, and jobs, would be lost as a result of 5-buck gas, and racers that don't have a job don't race.