all the talk on how to save class racing....

[X-TECH MAN]

I believe that Bill has it said correctly here. Dave Boertman won over $10,000 for stock eliminator at Indy in 1971 using an engine that probably cost around $350 to duplicate in 1971 in a $300 dollar body. How much in todays (2010) money would that $10,000 be. The cost of building a car like his or say someone like Boby Warrens Chev 2 combo vs the potential profit margin? No "enhanced heads" lite wt. trans., killer valve springs, expensive lifters, etc. $70,000 to $100,000 "kit cars" not to mention Toter Homes and stacker trailers. Oh well.....yesterday is just a memory.

[bill dedman]

Terry,

According to the online cost-of-living calculator I use, (http://tinyurl.com/b2jacs)

$10,000.00 in 1971 is equal to $52,938.27 in 2009.

Thanks for bringing that up...

[Mark Yacavone]

Now figure out the NHRA upper management salaries , 1971 vs 2009.

I don't want this to sound like class warfare, though. I'm all for capitalism, but as long as we keep giving, they're going to keep taking.

[bill dedman]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

Now figure out the NHRA upper management salaries , 1971 vs 2009.

.

Mark,

$700,000.00 in 2009 equates to

$132,229.48 in 1971.

I don't have any idea what that means, because I have no clue as to what the top cat at NHRA made that year (1971.)

Anybody????

Would that have been Wally? That was pre-Dallas Gardner, right?

If it was uncle Wally, there's no telling...

[John DiBartolomeo]

Seems like this thread got a little off-base but...

Some of the reasons we don't see many drag racing magazines on the newsstands these days might have more to do with distribution rights and the fact that today there are so many niche magazines on the market. In the ye' old days, book stores, delicatessens, coffee shops, etc., had one rack with magazines on it. Today we have magazine racks that are as long as the motorhomes and trailers we tow with. It only stands to reason that sometimes a title can get lost in the crowd. Add in the Internet and it becomes a real job to combat. And then of course we have the titles that are no longer with us, such as Super Stock & Drag Illustrated. Titles which were owned by big corporations that sold more Sewing World (I'm kidding of course) than any other. Isn't money always the key? That's why we encourage people to subscribe and purchase the drag racing mags which are alive today.

And while on the subject of magazines alive today, I can tell you that everyone who works on our magazine, Drag Racing Action, has as much passion to produce the best magazine as any racer out there has for the sport. While we too are owned by a big corporation, as long as our ad and magazine sales stay strong (and they currently are); I'll stop at saying we're invincible; but we should be around for a while. Our goal when we started this magazine was to mimick the old Super Stock. While a lot of things have changed since then and we have to react to those changes, that goal is still in the back of our minds. Yes, we have pro car coverage. A photo of John Force (or any other pro) on the cover is there to sell newsstand copies. But our goal is to always gear the magazine toward the sportsman/bracket end of the sport. That's what our advertisers have told us, so that's what we do. More than anything else, our pro to sportsman coverage; and that includes tech; will always lean 2:1 in favor of sportsman.

I apologize, but this got a little longer than intended.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

Terry,

According to the online cost-of-living calculator I use, (http://tinyurl.com/b2jacs)

$10,000.00 in 1971 is equal to $52,938.27 in 2009.

Thanks for bringing that up...

Dosent that amount of money won in 1971 dollars make it seem like slamming your D##K in a car door would hurt less than the amount of money guys are racing for today vs the investment they put into these "Stockers" today...lol. The accual amount Dave Boertman won was closer to $11,000 dollars at Indy in 1971. I was rounding it off for a comparison.