[Mike Carr]

I don't know about the insurance aspect--someone more knowledgable than me will have to chime in here.

Talked to the Linke family at Hagerstown in April 2011. When Russ (Sr) was R/U at the Virginia Nat'l Event in the mid 2000's, he won $11K and change. When Bubba Won the 2011 Gators, it was worth $13K and change (racers used to win 18-19K less than ten years before that).

A class win, for some, paid $1,500 (or more; Russ Sr said he once won $1,700) in the late 90's/early 2000's. Now, other than Indy and the three SPORTS races, it pays a trophy.

2002 (my first year of racing quite a bit in Stock); NHRA LODRS Race. Entry: $125. 4th round loser: $175. WIn your entry, plus $50. Not a lot, but paid for a good bit of the gas for the trip, or one nights hotel. Now, 2012: Entry: $170. 4th round: $150. A net 70 (seventy) dollar loss (pay $45 more to win $25 less). IHRA that same year, $100 entry, 4th round $160. Now, $135 entry, 4th round $125 (net seventy-five dollar loss). A friend was R/U at Maple Grove DIvision 1 LODRS race in 2010. Said he won "$400 and 'some sticker money' ". For some of us, we could make the final, and not break even for the weekend. Seems a little (a lot) wrong with that, don't you think? Yes, we don't do this for the money, I know. But still, a small return on the investment (close to, or more than, a thousand dollars per weekend to run an NHRA/IHRA race for me, with gas, tolls, motel, entry, etc) should be expected for more than one person in that 105 car field, don't you think?

I used to love this sport (and still do in many ways). And, at age thirty-three, no, I am not some 'grumpy old man that wants to go back to the goold old days'. But with year after year of enhancements, fun going down, costs and BS going up, I finally realized in 2007 that I didn't enjoy it anymore, certainly not enough to justify laying a thouand dollars out everytime I wanted to go race. Doing what I do now (promoting/putting on the Tri-State S/SS Association races and announcing at my local track) allows me to stay involved in the sport, have just as much fun, and at a lot better cost-to-fun ratio.