Comp racers seek to show eliminator is very much alive

[Mike Mans]

Ben has some very true points in recurring costs. I don't think the T/S and T/D guys HAVE to spend $20k on freshen up routines every 40-50 runs, but I do believe the guys with blowers or a lot of nitrous are certainly requiring plenty of maintenance attention.

Speaking just from an obvservation - Pro Mod and Top Sportsman have been displacing the Pro Stock and Comp participants. If you have the money to compete in the class of your choice - you're still likely going to look at a "bang for your buck" perspective. Financially able business people can run a Pro Mod today for a fraction (call it half) of a Pro Stock operation, and be a contender to win every week. 20 years ago engines like you see in T/S and T/D didn't exist or were not reliable to the point that they are today - so I think the evolution of cost per HP and reliability of these classes have taken mind-share and market-share from Comp and Pro Stock.

There are still many folks that want to compete in the Comp class, and hopefully they start to come back out and participate - but I would recommend forgetting the "good ole days" of Comp with qualifying money, big purses, etc... Those days are behind us for all of the classes, and I don't foresee them coming back. Our economy is booming, stock market is consistently reaching all time highs - and we don't see payout improvements happening? If it isn't happening now, it won't happen. It would really surprise me if the needle moves back in an upward direction for payouts in NHRA - that is not a big enough priority to the organization.

Mike Mans