Send Letters to NHRA

SS Engine Guy · 04-12-2009, 12:03 AM

Drag racing pays my bills. In 2008 83% of my business was drag racing. I have various hobbies, none of which include cars. When price hikes/economy cause my customers not to spend dollars with me then it is seen in my books. I'm still waiting for my stimulus as I'm the LAST one that gets paid at my shop. As of lately I am not being paid as well as in the past.

A car # costs nothing to produce and very little to keep track of.
example: I keep bob weights and various clearances, differences, special specs on all work done in my shop. I never thought about it but I guess you can say that the cost of the administration of this is included with the price of the work.

A chassis inspection takes about 30 mins.or less on S/SS cars. 150 bucks an hour at the old rate.....300 per hour at the new rate. And other than the presence of the sticker means absolutely nothing.
example: During the winter I helped knock the side bars,kickers and rear braces out of a mild steel current chassis inspected car with an 8 lb. sledge hammer because the welds were so bad yet it passed and ran over 150 mph.

Competition lisence has cost associated with it and I have no idea of the amount due to reviewing medical conditions, etc. I bear the brunt of the cost however, as I have to pay my Dr. for an appointment/ specific exam. Had to go to an opthamologist this time since my Dr. quit using eye charts. I don't really mind the Dr's. visit since it has found problems in some friends that they didn't know existed.

I have several "memberships" that I pay on a regular basis. However, I have never been told that I couldn't come to a board meeting to state my feelings/disagreements on how the organization is being run. Any time a decision concerning membership was to be voted on I was notified by mail of when and where this would take place. Two of these are NFP organizations. Guess I don't really have a problem with membership fees increasing but I do know that 2 organizations that I belong to have lowered membership during this less than stellar economy that has been brought on us.

I have a REAL problem with raising entry fees when payouts are rediculous compared to the expence involved. That, however, is OUR own fault for not doing something about this a long time ago. Contingency is stressed during a bad economy. Have they had any effort made to keep them from dropping out?
example: Lowering the cost of being a contingency sponsor?

In closing, I have neither lowered or raised my prices. I feel that I owe that to my long time customers and new prospective customers. I have purchased over 50K of equipment that I felt I needed in order to give my customers the best service available. Ouch.........but I don't do cheap work and I don't produce junk. That is the way a business is run..........well, honestly that is the way a business is supposed to be run but I'm sure some would argue about that. I am able to update and put money into my business in a bad market because I have managed my resources to the best of my ability in the past. Most racers I know are pretty good at managing their operations also. If a business is in financial trouble even in a bad economy I think it can be traced to poor management, poor personel, a lack of respect for its customer base and a total neglect of its product as has been shown with some really big corporations lately.

By the way..............fuel prices are the biggest scam going these days and mainly to blame for a downturn in the over-all economy. Just my opinion.

04-12-2009, 12:03 AM	#9
SS Engine Guy Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: usa Posts: 256 Likes: 1 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Send Letters to NHRA Drag racing pays my bills. In 2008 83% of my business was drag racing. I have various hobbies, none of which include cars. When price hikes/economy cause my customers not to spend dollars with me then it is seen in my books. I'm still waiting for my stimulus as I'm the LAST one that gets paid at my shop. As of lately I am not being paid as well as in the past. A car # costs nothing to produce and very little to keep track of. example: I keep bob weights and various clearances, differences, special specs on all work done in my shop. I never thought about it but I guess you can say that the cost of the administration of this is included with the price of the work. A chassis inspection takes about 30 mins.or less on S/SS cars. 150 bucks an hour at the old rate.....300 per hour at the new rate. And other than the presence of the sticker means absolutely nothing. example: During the winter I helped knock the side bars,kickers and rear braces out of a mild steel current chassis inspected car with an 8 lb. sledge hammer because the welds were so bad yet it passed and ran over 150 mph. Competition lisence has cost associated with it and I have no idea of the amount due to reviewing medical conditions, etc. I bear the brunt of the cost however, as I have to pay my Dr. for an appointment/ specific exam. Had to go to an opthamologist this time since my Dr. quit using eye charts. I don't really mind the Dr's. visit since it has found problems in some friends that they didn't know existed. I have several "memberships" that I pay on a regular basis. However, I have never been told that I couldn't come to a board meeting to state my feelings/disagreements on how the organization is being run. Any time a decision concerning membership was to be voted on I was notified by mail of when and where this would take place. Two of these are NFP organizations. Guess I don't really have a problem with membership fees increasing but I do know that 2 organizations that I belong to have lowered membership during this less than stellar economy that has been brought on us. I have a REAL problem with raising entry fees when payouts are rediculous compared to the expence involved. That, however, is OUR own fault for not doing something about this a long time ago. Contingency is stressed during a bad economy. Have they had any effort made to keep them from dropping out? example: Lowering the cost of being a contingency sponsor? In closing, I have neither lowered or raised my prices. I feel that I owe that to my long time customers and new prospective customers. I have purchased over 50K of equipment that I felt I needed in order to give my customers the best service available. Ouch.........but I don't do cheap work and I don't produce junk. That is the way a business is run..........well, honestly that is the way a business is supposed to be run but I'm sure some would argue about that. I am able to update and put money into my business in a bad market because I have managed my resources to the best of my ability in the past. Most racers I know are pretty good at managing their operations also. If a business is in financial trouble even in a bad economy I think it can be traced to poor management, poor personel, a lack of respect for its customer base and a total neglect of its product as has been shown with some really big corporations lately. By the way..............fuel prices are the biggest scam going these days and mainly to blame for a downturn in the over-all economy. Just my opinion.