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Two of our elected representatives to the SRAC resigned (I don't blame them, either). Anyone ever hear anything about NHRA even trying to find "replacements"?

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Alan,
Doubt that NHRA is very interested in finding replacements for them. That is probably one of those things way down on someone's to do list. NHRA has bigger problems. Like how to squeeze the dollar on everything to keep the payroll going. Sign of the times, along with the hole they dug themselves with the trip to the HD Partners world. They spent alot of money trying to look good and make that deal a success. When the chips fell there was no one but NHRA to pick up the cost. They might have spent a little more than they should have. You know, some bean counter looking ahead at future cash flow, that hasn't materialized yet. Then they got their pocketbook washed at the Water Nationals. I would play the odds on them concentrating on only the most profitable programs/issues. Why else would they up the entries, shut down the 2 guys doing the AHFS, I bet that saved them less than $1000 a month, & cut Divisional payrolls. I've been told that Now they have taken a few bucks away from the chassis certification guys on each certification. You know the money you spend on chassis certification. Part went to NHRA & part went to the NHRA guy doing the work... He gets less now. At Least it didn't cost us racers more. I Sure hope they can come out of this without putting too many enhancements on my pocketbook. I'd like to see the pro's pitch in instead of getting a ride on my pocketbook.
Just a few of my thoughts. Sorry, just A little venting & exercising one of my rights that our great country was founded on.

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Just how much money do you think they would spend replacing those guys?

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Well,, it was really a rhetorical question. Something to make some people think. I heard about the AHFS deal too, Adger. That isn't all I heard, either, but I had not heard about the chassis certification.

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So does this mean there is no one doing AHSF ? No twice a year adjustments ?

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10 cents in "Yang" money !

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I heard NHRA threw the job onto 2 guys that work in the Ivory tower in Calif. that know NOTHING about stock or S/S and asked the guys who used to oversee it to help the 2 new guys out. The word is the 2 guys who used to handle the AHFS told NHRA to get F##ked.

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X-TECHMAN, Who are the new guys? Who are the old guys, Tom

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I dont know the names of the new guys in Calif. and I wont mention the old guys names. Trust me.....It has happened. Its called "Cut Backs" like less pay for the tech crews and 3 less people to run the divisionals.

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Terry, I don't think it was all about money and cutting costs. I think it was at least as much about absolute control. Glendora did not have absolute and total control over all of it, especially not the data. They do, now.

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Maybe so but why have 2 dorks who nothing about stock and S/S be involved with something as important as the AHFS?????

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Because you can tell them what you want, instead of them telling you what needs to be done. The less they know, the easier they are to control.

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Guys,

We might as well say it straight out. The good ship nhra is foundering. They are making all the wrong moves at exactly the wrong time; obvious signs of an outfit in serious trouble. The rumor mill is full of stuff about nhra being washed up. With little or no reserves it appears that nhra is living off the cash from each race. Executives in Glendora must be fearful for their jobs, as they circle the wagons. Car counts are way, way down and I did not see the normally huge crowds at the Gators this year. Yeah, there were lots of fans there but nothing like the past. This bad economy has a lot to do with it as well. I heard they have resorted to giving tickets away at NASCAR races to fill the stands for the TV cameras. I hope the nhra bean counters are paying attention. Or they could be finished by the end of the year!

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If they are hurting that bad,I would expect them to have an announcement that Stock Eliminator will be allowed to race at Atlanta and St Louis.I can't believe they would eliminate the class at these two races if they truly wanted to increase revenue.I don't know about Atlanta,but I think St Louis would easily have about 80 cars if Stock Eliminator was being contested.

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442,
Do you think that the contingency agreements that were worked out last year may have something to do with the category structures? You may have noticed that there are no category lock outs for Las Vegas and nhra has substantially increased quotas for this years events. They are not immune to this mess.

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I have to disagree Bruce, the parking lots were full, the camp grounds full, the stands were full. I purposely stayed away from pro pits because there were so many fans. I don't see the doom and gloom, I have not heard any rumors about NHRA having money problems. The racers, tech people and manufactures that I talked to are all upbeat. When I went out to eat, the norm was 20 to 30 min wait. I think NHRA will be here for a long time along with stock and super stock. If NHRA survived the 70's I think they will be able to get through these times.

People can put any spin on what the times are today, but for me the late 70's were the worst, its not even close. Today people worry about how many cars they can own, how big there house is, back in the 70's I was happy to have one car and a warm place to live.

I'm sorry guys, I am not a doom and gloom guy. You say NHRA is fondering, well I don't see it.

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I wouldn't necessarily say NHRA is actually foundering. But they have lost focus, and they are wandering off in a direction that leads to nowhere, especially where sportsman racing is concerned.

Ken, you are correct, we have not yet gotten to the low we reached under Carter in the late seventies. The problem is many people are not at all convinced we won't reach that low, or go even lower.

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I attended the Phoenix National race and the fan count was down and the midway was much smaller than years past. Comp eliminator car count was next to nothing. I think there was 11 cars I am not sure.
I also have a personal friend who works at NHRA in Glendora and there was a 10% pay cut for all the hourly employees and a layoff of some. Not sure how many were laid off. So I think NHRA must be feeling a pinch.
My 2 Cents

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Kenny,

It's good that we can disagree. But I did not see what you saw. Yes, there were a lot of people there but not like I have seen in the past. I walked right into the Out Back, Ballyhoo Seafood and a popular Mexican restaurant on three separate evenings and was immediately seated. We must have eaten at different times. And I guess, while we are politely disagreeing, the parking lots did not appear to be as full as before and the mid way was a lot easier to get around than any time before. And the car count was down over 100 cars on an already reduced quota. Just my .02 worth - we are not talking doom and gloom. Reality maybe - but no doom and gloom. There is no point in running from the obvious. That kind of stuff helped us get into the mess we are in. And we are in a mess. We all get up every day to go to work and do our part to help this country get out of this mess. I'm sure the folks at nhra are doing the same thing but it may be too little too late.

I have to add one remark about the seventies and agree with Alan. We have not seen the total picture yet. Most good economists are skipping over the 70's and going back to the 30's to paint a picture of the fix this country is in. We have not seen the whole picture yet. It is evolving and it would not be smart to ignore what is going on. It may not have hit some of us yet but many racers are hurting.

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63corvette!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anything said if the BIG DOGS took a 10% cut , or a temp layoff (heh,heh), Ya Right , Just curious!.............Later.........John

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Bruce,

With all do respect, you have a tough decision to make either continue to support NHRA and the sport you love or take this opportunity to sell your operation no while it has a place to race and may retain some specific value. Bad press only adds to a tough situation! There are very few business in north America that are not feeling the same crunch.

Colin

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Colin,
Should we all stand around and applaud while NHRA repeatedly makes bad decisions? We pay dues, we pay entry fees, we pay license fees, but we should remain silent if we do not agree with what they do for (to) us? That is not how it works. See, originally, the idea was, we, the members, do not belong to NHRA, but rather NHRA belongs to us, the members. That is how it was originally intended to work. Somewhere along the time line, some people took control, and they decided that we, the racers, should belong to NHRA, and we should take whatever they decided to do to (for) us.

The point is, the dues paying entry fee paying members of NHRA should have a lot more say in what is going on. And if the "board of directors" of NHRA cannot stand scrutiny and criticism, then they should not be living the good life on our money.

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cwigle,

I think your post is arrogant and out of line. I am entitled to my opinions. Don't read them if you don't like them. I'll eventually sell my stuff because I'm actively pursuing a land speed car but I won't sell it because someone I do not know offers me two alternatives. Grow up.

Ditto what Alan said!

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Alan,

You have some very good points, if I have concerns or feel like I was treated unfairly I would not hesitate to take it up with NHRA. I don’t agree with how things are in s/s with regards to a lot of thing such as AHFS and I do not have the answers.

Bruce,

You call me out as being childish and arrogant that is fine, I too as everyone is entitled to they’re own opinion. It’s really my problem your negativity brings out the worst in me.

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John, I asked the same question about the Big Dogs and no one at the hourly level seemed to know. That was not publicized so I would guess not. If the Top Dogs had to take a salary cut they would have made big headlines out of it just to make sure everyone down the line knew.
NHRA is a non profit so the Big Dogs probably don't make much money anyway. RIGHT!!!!
All the Racer Fees went up anyway to cover those 10% pay cuts, OR IS MY MATH OFF?
My 2 Cents

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>>>"All the Racer Fees went up anyway to cover those 10% pay cuts, OR IS MY MATH OFF?"

Sounds right to me!!! I LOVE IT!!!

You're too funny...

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cwigle,

Talking about racing brings out the worst in you? Hmm.. Time to rethink this racing business because the best and worst situations are usually reserved for real life situations. And this racing stuff is NOT real life. It's easy to say someone is being negative when they are not saying what you want to hear.

Facts is Facts as the old man says - so let's see how this whole mess turns out. The facts will be very clear in a matter of months.

I started a thread last spring that said all of us should be very careful with our money because things didn't look so good. A few racers looked me up to thank me for bringing the issue up and decided to be a little more careful about their spending. And this year looks much worse. I'm not one to stick his head in the sand. Let's deal with it and move on.

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I must agree with Colin on his few stated issues. The financial sector is down causing most business to be down. That has nothing to do with the viable business plan of most corporations. Like people think that GM isnt selling cars because they arent building more hybrids or electric cars.

Bull!

GM is down because they lost 40% of the customers cause the banks wont lend them money to buy a car. They were just fine until gas went $4.19 a gallon and banks stopped lending money. During globilization the number one rule is that you must protect your own assets or the competing countries will steal you blind. We are not protecting our assets, we tax businesses and other countries subsidize theirs. Watch everyone leave as we increase that!

All businesses live and die with their decisions, not to say that I agree with all of them in NHRA. However, this is not why they are down. We all are down except those that are getting free money from Washington.

No one can control a 50 trillion dollar economy, it flucuates and we can only mildly influence the normal cycles of up and down.

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Lynn,
I disagree. I know plenty of people who either already have money they could spend, or could very easily borrow money, and plenty either way. They will not now nor will they in the near future spend much, if any of that money. And they will not borrow any either, regardless of how easy it is.

I have lousy credit, we were forced into bankruptcy by an unscrupulous creditor when my wife had cancer a few years ago. I can borrow money, if I want to. The credit crunch isn't so bad as you might think. But consumer confidence is so low that nothing is selling.

A lot of people who have a fair amount of money because they are smart and work hard are spending it very conservatively. Racing is not cheap, broke stupid people either don't race, or they don't race long. That's why car counts are down, and will continue to be down.

There's plenty of talk about how "negativity" is part of the problem. Well, maybe so, but dishonest "positive talk" won't help things either.

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Bruce, I absolutely agree with you, when it comes to disagreeing. I think we all should be a little more polite about our opinions.

I guess what it comes down to is, some see the glass half empty, some see it half full, I see it as a something to drink.

Alan, we must live in very different worlds. I totally agree with Lynn. Banks do not want to lend money like they did a few years ago, but it starting to change now.

You see people not spending, I go to the track and 60-70% of the sportsman own rigs that are worth $200,000 plus. Things may be tough for some, but they are good for others. My friends are buying cars as am I, and everyday people are spending money. You may think I'm being dishonest with positive talk. But 92% of people are working and over 90% are paying the mortgage. I see restaurants full and a race track with people everywhere. How am I supposed to analyze what I see. Should I believe every media story about all the doom and gloom? I have been through tough times and good times. People will hurt when the economy is good also. Is the economy slower, sure, but compared to what, I'm sure the people from the 30's would have loved to have the economy that we have right now.

NHRA is not perfect, but I'm sticking with them. This country is not perfect, but I'm sticking with it.

I may be naive, but I'm happy. And when its all said and done, and I'm dead, what the hell did it all mean anyway if we were not happy.

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[QUOTE=Ken Miele And when its all said and done, and I'm dead, what the hell did it all mean anyway, if we were not happy.

That say's it all !

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Not everyone has a credit score on the bad side or the good side. Many people are between. I was told that it takes a credit score of 720 to 750 to buy a car right now. Before you could buy a car with a 600 credit score. I gotta tell you there are millions in this category. I think enough to justify 30% of the auto industry sales.

If you are going to critique NHRA and GM go ahead we are listening. Use a false pretense that they are down destroys creditibility, and we just quit listening. GM is not down on sales because they are not building fuel efficient cars and hybrids until the markets change and make it that way.

It is a political objective trying to make hay with a false reality. It arguably can prove more they are right than they are wrong. Not seeing the difference is not conducive to reasonable thought. These arguments to push these political objectives must be called on the carpet and I for one will do it. If you are going negative, you better not have any holes in your argument or you will most certainly lose. A false pretense is a very big hole.

Ditto Ken!

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Poking holes in false arguments? GM got into a lot of trouble as it lost market share. How are you going to poke holes in that story?

Look at all the nhra pros who are out of work. Look at nhra reduced salaries. Look at the reduced nhra tech staff. Look at the reduced car counts.

The whole performance industry is in trouble. How are you going to poke holes in that little bit of news?

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If you are going back to find numbers of the last multimillion dollar lottery, it would be very easy right? Just look in the paper or the internet. If you arent correct you gotta be the dumbest person on the planet for not looking it up first. Win it with no fail next time ahead of time! Almost impossible odds. Looking back on decisions in the past makes us all geniuses....or at least to those who are that gullible to believe so.

All business makes poor decisions some more than others. Many of them are because lawyers and congress forces us to promote political agendas. You know like saying GM doesnt build cars we want, and ignoring that 30-40% of their customers can no longer get a loan! GM was making money before gas at 4.19 per gallon and the credit crises, those are facts.

If there was an overreaching reason for hybrid and electric cars the market conditions would have forced it through consumer demand years ago. We dont need a false political agenda.

I went to an NMCA race in Bowling Green Kentucky last summer and it reminded me of a points race in the 1970's. Who says NHRA isnt doing a good job? My G-6 gets 36mpg going 65 and 40mpg going 55 (21-23mpg when Annette drives it) Congrats GM and congrats NHRA.

Do I think NHRA is missing an opportunity to market S and SSers? Absolutely, let us start from there with reality not a false premise while also buying a G-6 or Malibu......if you have cash or a 720 or 750 minimum credit score!

I still havent figured out what science allows me to pull my stacker with an electric wind generator propeller on the front!:(

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Is that meant to be a negative for NMCA? I had a lot of fun at points races in the 70's. If NHRA was doing a good job there would be more posts about having fun.

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Lynn, if GM was making money before gas hit $4 a gallon, why were they continually posting quarterly losses in the millions, and even billions, of dollars, for the last several years?

It's real easy to try to lay the blame for this massive mess we're in on a short term period of $4 a gallon gas and a "credit crunch". But it ignores all of the real factors. Gas prices and financial institutions collapsing were not the cause, gas prices were an excuse, and the collapses were a symptom of the base problem.

I can lay out the failures at GM, it'll take a while, but they are obvious. The question is, will you listen, or are you convinced it is "credit" driven? By the way, easy credit is what got us here, the lack of it, if it is really lacking, is not why we are here.

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The first three posts were about the SRAC -- and the next twenty-seven got way off base -- what happened ? ? ?

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If all this means that in a few years we will all have to drive a damned Ford, I'm headed to the post office to commit a felony! I'd rather be in prison!

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LOL.

GM makes a great vehicle, but Ford is doing a better job at business these days, a lot better.

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Detroit went out of business in 1971 when the last REAL Hemi was installed in the 'Cudas and Challengers. Dont get me wrong here. Im a Chebbie guy but that was the last of any real muscle cars. The crap detroit is making from that point on is just Govt. mandated transportation for the masses. When the Govt. stepped in it killed everything any true gear head was in to. My 3 cents worth.