It is very difficult to just walk away

[Chuck Beach]

After reading a lot of the complaints, problems and issues with NHRA sportsman racing on this site it has occured to me that it obviously goes much deeper with a lot of people than just racing.

1) First of all, I have been an NHRA member for over 36 years. An IHRA member for almost 25 years.
2) Over those years I have invested most of my vacation time going to the races.
3) Over those years I have met many good people who have become very good friends (this is probably why I went for so many years). Even today any race I attend I meet new people and form new friendships.
4) Over those years I have invested lots of time, effort and money to improve the performance of my race car to be and stay competitive. With every rule change there is always a price tag associated with it.
5) Over those years this hobby called drag racing consumed so much time, effort and money that it has been a very big part of my life and my main recreational sport (over golf, bowling, boating, car shows, other sporting events, etc).
6) Over the years with sportsman enhancements like reaction times (which made a lot of racers much better), the rising of the pro sportsman racers, the new cars, me getting older, and all of the other rule changes has made it so much more difficult to win.
7) With the way the economy is today I have been much more selective in which races I go to and I don't go to that many.

But with the time, effort and money invested in this sport it is tough to just walk away. Trying to sell all of the stuff I have accumulated and get a fair price is very difficult today. I, like most other racers don't want to just give it away. Our engines, transmissions, converters, trailers, tow vehicles, spare parts, and our cars in general are at a level where we just don't want to bracket race them. So when selling this stuff you have to find the right buyer in the class racing community, they are not worth anything more to the bracket racing community. If you quit then you miss all of the good times with all of your friends and the competition.

So the question is do you sell out regardless of the loss, hang on to what you have and race when you can, hope this down turn reverses itself, hope NHRA comes to its senses and creates a more affordable place to race, start racing more S/SS combo races or just quit and let everything you own sit.

I like the idea of S/SS combo races for many number of reasons, but there are pros and cons to these.

Your thoughts ..

[Chuck Norton]

[QUOTE=

Your thoughts ..[/QUOTE]

...are my thoughts as well.

c

[Greg Hill]

Chuck, I just got off the phone with Tommy Mattingly and we were talking about the same thing. If we sell our stuff we'll be lucky to get half what we have in it. In the last few years I have really enjoyed the combo races at Bowling Green. I think this year we are going to have two double races which are Sat. night and Sunday and 3 single which are on Sunday. I have just as much fun at those as div. races or national events. With 5 or 6 races at Ohio Valley this year and the close points races and open's, I'm probably going to stay close to home.

[Alan Roehrich]

The Bowling Green schedule should be up soon, and if you're interested, you need to email them, and be added to their email list. They were excited about this year's program at the banquet Saturday night.

[Chad Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Greg Hill

Chuck, I just got off the phone with Tommy Mattingly and we were talking about the same thing. If we sell our stuff we'll be lucky to get half what we have in it. In the last few years I have really enjoyed the combo races at Bowling Green. I think this year we are going to have two double races which are Sat. night and Sunday and 3 single which are on Sunday. I have just as much fun at those as div. races or national events. With 5 or 6 races at Ohio Valley this year and the close points races and open's, I'm probably going to stay close to home.

you and Cradduck sharing a brain? same thing he told me. I may come up there and leave the Camaro at his place for the summer just to run those combos

[Myron Piatek]

If there is ANY chance whatsoever that you will have an opportunity to race in the future, even occasionally, and you don't have to have the extra money, don't sell your stuff. You will likely not get what it's worth and if you decide to start again, it will be much more costly and just not the same with a different car and parts.

No telling how class racing will evolve, especially with the economy. But it should continue for a while on a national or regional level. IHRA is in a good position to capitalize on the current situation with NHRA IF the economy doesn't get worse and racers support their events! If they get the cars, they can provide more payouts and contingency. But it will take time and IHRA is doing what it can without sticking their neck out too far. Besides, it will be too easy to blow your money on something else that may not be as satisfying. How often do you see most of the friends you made while racing outside of racing? Racing is "healthy" also. Keeps you active physically and mentally.

Hang in there if you can.

[Dave1695]

Chuck I have been thinking along the same lines; after 42 years as a drag racer and the expectation that retirement from work will probably come in a few years, I wondered if it is all worth the time and money. There are only three events within a days drive from home that I can make this year so I am going to try more of the stock/super stock races just to keep cost under control. and like you I have all those spare parts and the car to deal with. Maybe we should convert the race cars to street cruisers and talk about how fast we once were! LOL Just my $.02 worth.

[Ed Wright]

I fully agree. I may full retire next year. I can't sell this stuff for much. Just bracket racing here locally. About as exciting as painting the house. Probably just sit on it and run a few close points races.

[Frank Castros]

I made the mistake of selling all of my stuff and have regretted it ever since and now to start again from scratch would be cost prohibitive.
If I still had my operation I would just race the local combos and an ocassional divisional race.

[Casey Miles]

KEEP Your car and parts!
I for one would never sell my car, while I can still enjoying it. When I stopped racing it in Stock back in the 1980's, I restored it to only find that it was so boring just ro drive around and not trying to compete with the car. So, I took it bracket racing and enjoyed every minute of it, slowly putting back to Stock Eliminator trim. Now, with NHRA raising costs to go racing, I find myself selecting just a few races to go to. I would like to see more Saturday night races, but our local tracks are not having them like they used to.
Casey Miles
248H Stock?