CLASS RACER FORUM - View Single Post - If an advocate could be found

CMcAllister · 02-16-2019, 04:06 PM

For what it's worth,

Everything is more expensive - building and maintaining a competitive car and the costs of running it, travel and tow rigs, entries and the costs of membership, license,etc. - everything. NHRA has grown substantially in every way possible in the last 20 years. When has there ever been a meaningful increase in the purse for any of the Sportsman classes at any of the races run under the NHRA banner, national or divisional? Sure, there are guys who can race and not care about it, but for others, it makes a difference, and it should reflect the supposed and inferred importance of the events. Personally, I may never win a damn thing, but it's a collective insult to all the Sportsman classes to spend the money, absorb the increases and never see an increase for their efforts.

Contingencies. Money available to winning racers from companies as a reward for purchasing and using specific items and also advertising. A substantial benefit and incentive to participate with NHRA. Is it really necessary to treat this program, paid for by the participating companies, as a cash cow to the point where they all tell NHRA to pack sand? Is anyone really putting any effort into this anymore? The decline of available contingencies is money out of racers pockets. Sure, the economy was bad, companies change priorities, etc., but how much effort is really being put into getting sponsors involved and keeping them? The Manufacturers Midway used to be a great place to interact with these companies. Now it's a shell of what it was.

Integrity. Times change, parts get superseded, things get approved and accepted, that's a given. But not teching or looking at these cars, unwritten "winks and nods" and treating enforcement as an afterthought, is a lack of respect for the integrity of the rules that make class racing different from a bracket race at the local track. Those differences are real to people competing and they expect them to be central part of NHRA's conduct of the events. That means providing tech guys and not sticker hander outers.

Sure, it would be nice, but I don't expect "The Company" to do anything other than continue to focus on the TV product, monetize everything as much as possible and make everything else as cheap, trouble free, and as easy to run as possible. I'd really like to be proven wrong.

02-16-2019, 04:06 PM	#57
CMcAllister Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Fulton County, PA Posts: 614 Likes: 16 Liked 920 Times in 259 Posts	Re: If an advocate could be found - what would you say? For what it's worth, Everything is more expensive - building and maintaining a competitive car and the costs of running it, travel and tow rigs, entries and the costs of membership, license,etc. - everything. NHRA has grown substantially in every way possible in the last 20 years. When has there ever been a meaningful increase in the purse for any of the Sportsman classes at any of the races run under the NHRA banner, national or divisional? Sure, there are guys who can race and not care about it, but for others, it makes a difference, and it should reflect the supposed and inferred importance of the events. Personally, I may never win a damn thing, but it's a collective insult to all the Sportsman classes to spend the money, absorb the increases and never see an increase for their efforts. Contingencies. Money available to winning racers from companies as a reward for purchasing and using specific items and also advertising. A substantial benefit and incentive to participate with NHRA. Is it really necessary to treat this program, paid for by the participating companies, as a cash cow to the point where they all tell NHRA to pack sand? Is anyone really putting any effort into this anymore? The decline of available contingencies is money out of racers pockets. Sure, the economy was bad, companies change priorities, etc., but how much effort is really being put into getting sponsors involved and keeping them? The Manufacturers Midway used to be a great place to interact with these companies. Now it's a shell of what it was. Integrity. Times change, parts get superseded, things get approved and accepted, that's a given. But not teching or looking at these cars, unwritten "winks and nods" and treating enforcement as an afterthought, is a lack of respect for the integrity of the rules that make class racing different from a bracket race at the local track. Those differences are real to people competing and they expect them to be central part of NHRA's conduct of the events. That means providing tech guys and not sticker hander outers. Sure, it would be nice, but I don't expect "The Company" to do anything other than continue to focus on the TV product, monetize everything as much as possible and make everything else as cheap, trouble free, and as easy to run as possible. I'd really like to be proven wrong.