[jmcarter]

If you go to the registration page it's posting the rationale as being insurance driven. It's worded as such:

NHRA Announces Increase to Racer Entry Insurance Fee
Effective for the 2011 season, NHRA is increasing the racer entry insurance fee at NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events.

Insurance is one of NHRA’s major costs of conducting race events. Insurance costs have risen over the years and NHRA has been affected by claims and litigation. Therefore, the racer entry insurance fee at national events will be increased to $95 per event. Though the increase will defray some costs, NHRA will continue to bear significant insurance costs.

NHRA appreciates the continued support of the racing community.


The claims and litigation are no doubt driven by DSR's TF loss of a wheel/tire and the whole Phoenix debacle. Don't recall that they have ever made a tethering device mandatory but I don't follow TF and FC close enough to know for sure. I've said it many times before, NHRA essentially messed on everybody when they went with the Bernstein's approach vs. Big Daddy's recommendation to make those cars have to start at the end of the run before they were a winner and other cost and speed control methods. The rest of us are still paying for it and now we'll simply pay more. Everybody sees all the modern day cop show genre where they keep saying "follow the money".

As was said, life is all about choices...everybody needs to make them.