Atlanta fan appeal.

[JRyan]

Alan, Thanks for the pitch on the Nova. It really is a nice car and the new owner will pick it up Tuesday turn-key with a 396/350.

Jerry

[Alan Roehrich]

Jerry, we had actually talked about doing just what I posted. It just wasn't in the cards for us right now.

[Ken Miele]

Mark,

I do agree the timing of raising fees was not good.

I do not know if I'm right or wrong, I just like to have a positive attitude about racing and life in general. If things don't work out, well at least I had a good time while I was doing it.

Not being taken advantage of is commendable along with standing up for what you believe in, but always being negative makes for a miserable life.

Jerry, I understand some people may not make as much money as they need to race. I'm just pointing out how the increased fees effected me. I have won two nationals events over many years. The first one in 1991 I won $9800.00, the second one in 1997 I won $12000.00. If i won today, I would be getting $13000.00. Its not much of an increase, but it has gone up for me.

Good luck Jerry, I do wish you well.

[JRyan]

I guess it's nice to run the Ford. That contingency is a good deal for the Ford guys, and helps increase the pot in a hurry. Rick always wants to run the Boss 351 Mustang for that reason -- more contingencies. But it's an all original piece including the block, and the heater is still in it. We're building another for him to beat on.

The problem with the contingencies is that running the product in your car doesn't mean you'll get paid for it. Dating of parts and "original purchaser" agreements have taken a major toll on what we can get paid for. So a guy can't always just figure the contingency $$$'s on the parts in the car. Buying new "just in case" is like playing the lottery.

Thanks for the kind wishes. Rick can use them. I'm more of a test-&-tune guy.

Jerry

[Dinsdale]

Fan appeal stops when someone has no idea what kind of car they are looking at, new or old. I never cared much for Dragsters but liked Funny Cars when I could recognize the body. Not so any more. Same goes for Pro Stock.

My favourite cars are still S/S and some Stock or the old M/P's (please bring them back) but take any car, plaster it with too many decals, some weird space age wheelie bars and some obscene hood scoop and the car no longer resembles what it once was. Sure some of these are necessary, but the average person doesn't "get it". I have a lot of people young and old comment on my 67 Mustang (bracket car) because it still looks like a 67 Mustang.

Young kids may recognize the new Mustangs or Cuda's (for now) but none of them know what a S/S car that's a FWD conversion used to be. I like them all, but have been around to see the changes and some I like more than others. I really don't think it's an old vs new thing, more a case of how you show what you've got.

[treessavoy]

I think we kinda got away from the "fan" base question and I think the answer about young people was brought up at least twice.

They all show up for test and tune....but do they show up for the weekend bracket race..no.

These kids don't want to race in a class structure...they just want to grudge race and show off on the streets.

Most of the young racers in the HRA's are second and third generation racers.

Hemi's, maxie's, mustangs,camaro's and the other cars that are in Stock today will be there 20 years from now, unless the associations puts some emphasis on FWD cars.

Jim R

BTW I buzz around in a Turbo PT Cruiser

[Tim Kish]

I think several here have hit the issue. There are MANY late model, sport compact cars that show up at every track around the country every week. It's amazing how may 11-12 second street driven Subaru WRX, Mitsibishi Evo and Neon SRT-4's there are. NONE of these cars fit any of the current NHRA class structures beyond the Neon being factored for AF/S. Since even most bolt on modifications are illegal for stock, there is no appeal for this crowd to compete (plus the expense vs reward). Most of these cars are also daily drivers, not at all unlike the street racers of years past with their Cragar's, wide ovals and glasspacks. But when that era of cars was at its peak, the NHRA class structure was revamped (early 70's) to embrace that crowd. When the Sport Compact series was created they created the top level (Pro) categories and the series ran a handful of events that criss-crossed the country - no grassroots structure to grow the sport like the traditional sportsman series with divisionals and as Art stated, with GM in particular pumping over a $1 million/year into their team, I know I realized there was no competing with that as a privateer.

I think the fan appeal is two-fold, 1) youger fans can relate better to the newer cars, but also 2) they like to see them compete against the classic muscle. I know I've been told by many how cool it is to see my FWD Neon running against the Hemi cars and Big Block Camaros. Having a mix of old and new is what is required to cover the spectrum of audience appeal.