Re: National event chaos?
 

We talked to ONE tech guy, about other issues.

NHRA was conspicuously absent, as far as upper management goes. No one from tech management was there. We saw 3-4 marketing people, and that's it. We stopped by the booth, or at least passed by and looked for people, about 6-8 times.

Re: National event chaos?
 

I saw Mike Crutchfield on Friday and Saturday, but he and I were both busy with other people and other deals. We had to leave early on Saturday, so I did not get back by to see him.

Jeff Tueton of course said he could not attend.

So I don't know about any SRAC meeting.

The Division 3 banquet is usually held at some point around the PRI Show, but I saw none of the usual Division 3 people, and I normally see Travis Miller, as well as various track owners and track personnel, but I did not see any of them.


As far as it goes, I am not really surprised to see this. What we have is pretty much management by short term bottom line, as viewed from the position of accountants and marketing people who have no idea about how the business actually works. It's very common these days. Sadly, unless something dramatic happens, I would expect to see a series of mid to upper level management and marketing people wander through, each making short sighted decisions intended to have an effect on the short term bottom line, collecting their "I saved the company $XXX" bonus, a generous severance package, and going their merry way. They neither know nor care about the racers or how NHRA could and should work.

Re: National event chaos?
 

Kind'a late to this party. It seems like the new nhra plan is to cut expenses. So, some of these rumors may be true. Cut a day out of stacking and that will save money on labor and insurance. Then, if they cut a day from stacking they would have a cluster trying to get all the racers parked and teched in one day. So they skip tech. That saves money as well. I've also heard they are going to use local "hires" for parking in 2017.
nhra did not exhibit at SEMA and had a local crew at PRI which does not look good. But the big guys still enjoy going into the fancy steakhouses and living large when they can. I have been busy with several other projects and haven't had time to keep up with racing but I would add that folks should keep an eye on nhra's tax returns. And look for excessive borrowing against nhra properties. nhra cannot sell these properties outright but they can suck them dry with loans, while living large and paying the big salaries right to the very end. And then leave a gutted organization in the trash heap when they run for the hills. The tracks would then have to be sold to satisfy the huge debts. And nothing guarantees that they will remain as drag strips. Bad Poop coming guys.

Re: National event chaos?
 

I would suggest with NHRA’s new reduced - tech inspections policy they consider accepting safety belts for the whole calendar year and not just on the given month, like they do with SNELL helmet certification. I.e. if manufactured in June then allow two years + 6 months > December that year. A few times in the past if my belts expired in the middle of season I have forget until receiving a friendly reminded during tech inspection that they are getting close. Would be a little inconvenient in staging lanes during a random tech inspection if found they have expired.
In the now famous words of Hillary “What difference does it make anyway?” a few months in a belts life that is!
Jim Parsons
F/S 5305

Re: National event chaos?
 

In the SCCA belts are good for five years...and if you've ever attended a road race you know the stress they are subject to.

Re: National event chaos?
 

Since I was mentioned in this tread I felt I should tell you what I know. It is still very unclear of the process NHRA will use for NHRA tech at the National events at this time. Our SRAC meeting has been postponed until after the first of the year due to schedule conflicts within NHRA. Unofficially!!! it appears that no pre-race traditional style tech will be performed but there will be tech by spot checking in staging lanes and at the scales. Again this is Unofficial since a press release has not yet been placed. If this is the path that is taken then there probably will be one less day for a National event. I have not had any conversation with anyone about how stacking will be effected. If I had to guess I would say the stacking will be effected also. As far as parking goes, All I know is that some people that has normally done the Sportsman parking will not be there next year. We have not been told how it will effect the parking process or who will do it.Until we have a SRAC meeting, its in writing or a press release is placed I would say all of this is still up in the air.
If you have any commits or concerns I would suggest you contact your division SRAC member so they might add it to there list for the meeting.
Hope this helps

Mike Crutchfield
D2 SRAC member

Re: National event chaos?
 

Is there a listing of who the SRAC reps are for each division? Thanks,
Dyno

Re: National event chaos?
 

Here you go....

http://www.nhraracer.com/content/gen...028&zoneid=175

Re: National event chaos?
 

My question will be in regards to stacking. And lets use LRP as the example. !

With no stacking, Its going to be like Indians circling the wagon train, the wagon train being LRP and of course us racers , the Indians !

A **** load of racers will be circling the track until 0 hour when they open the gates .....or parking in the streets and the law shows up !

Seems like a messy deal to be !!!

Re: National event chaos?
 

This deal sounds like a complete lack of respect for the racer (customer) by the Association. So many changes without thought of the consequences for the racers. I think I'd crap my pants if either of the HRA's changes being made actually benefited the racer! Jim

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Re: National event chaos?
 

Since NHRA is broke and their solution affects the Sportsman racer it may be time to look into getting our voting rights back. It is pretty apparent the NHRA Board of Directors, that we gave our voting rights to, are not taking care of business in a manner that keeps Sportsman racing healthy. SRAC needs to represent us on the NHRA Board of Directors with our vote instead of just being around to provide our lip service.

Re: National event chaos?
 

I'm sure in favor of having MY vote back!
At the very least, our SRAC members should each have a vote on the board!

Re: National event chaos?
 

Absolutely! Jim


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Re: National event chaos?
 

Has anything in NHRA,s business structure (other than the attitude) changed to where it would make it not possible for us to want and get our membership voting right returned? Many of today's members weren't even born when it was "signed" away. This must be looked into!

Re: National event chaos?
 

Billy,
My guess is that since the membership voted to cede control to the board of directors, the board of directors would have to vote to cede control back to the rank and file membership. Not likely to happen. NHRA is obviously being operated far outside the spirit of the original charter, if not the letter. I suspect that once control was ceded to the board, the charter was modified to make it nearly impossible, if not completely impossible to revert back to the way it was. It would probably require a long, difficult, and expensive legal battle, if it is even possible. Perhaps the best option is probably the IRS investigation into violations of the not for profit charter that Bruce told us about. Alas, that went silent a while back.

NHRA operates under a 501(c)6 non profit charter requiring it to act specifically and directly in the best interests of the rank and file membership. As such, it would probably be necessary for a group of members to retain counsel and prove that they have standing, and then that they have grounds to claim that NHRA has acted in conflict with the best interests of the rank and file membership, and then provide evidence to support that position. It will be neither cheap nor easy, nor is there any certainty in getting the desired result.

Re: National event chaos?
 

Alan, I wouldn't doubt what you have said for a minute but I think that this should, somehow be pursued a bit more.
Julie Jordan, are you still around? Can you comment?

Re: National event chaos?
 

Billy, I agree, it should be pursued. The question would be organization and finance.

Re: National event chaos?
 

I have been led to believe there will be no random paring first round. Still working on rig stacking.

Re: National event chaos?
 

I thought Peter Clifford was going to be all for the sportsman racer? So much for that.....just another puppet

Re: National event chaos?
 

I'm still around, but I'm a CPA, not an attorney. I'm not an expert on what it would take to get the members voting rights back.

I'm not convinced that would be a good thing, I think the membership base is quite vast and varied, it's not just sportsman racers. First of all, would it be legal that only active racer members vote? I suspect not because once you limit membership to a certain body of people you risk losing the 501(c)(6) status as it's not for the good of the general membership. If all members voted then anyone who had a membership card would be eligible, whether they be sportsman, pros, fans, industry reps, etc. With that many people eligible to vote how would there ever be a consensus? Look how divisive our presidential election was, you think racers and fans could agree on an issue? Just like now, someone will not be happy.

NHRA is far from broke. If you look at prior returns, they had a lot of debt when Compton took over from Wally Parks. Under Compton's regime, the finances of NHRA improved dramatically. They are sitting on a lot of cash, own real estate. From on outsider's perspective it appears that the TV packages have been more costly and problematic than anticipated. But, I don't think we are looking at the demise of NHRA. They have held on, through a tough economic cycle, many sporting and racing organizations haven't.

I think a fight to change the membership structure would be (1) costly and (2) most likely unsuccessful. NHRA has many facets of the organization besides just sportsman racing. There are the Pros, ET series, member tracks, youth programs. One year with a loss from operations doesn't prove to a judge or jury that the board isn't doing their job correctly. In my opinion, this would be a losing venture for anyone who tried to pursue this.

I get that we love our sport, but it's not all about us. An organization of this size is never going to please all of its members.

My 2 cents.

Re: National event chaos?
 

My 2 cents.

Julie, is that taxed? LOL

Re: National event chaos?
 

I don't think there ever was direct voting, and I don't think anyone is suggesting that now.

What people would probably like to see is having members elect the board of directors, maybe every 2-4 years.

Having the board of directors elect themselves, or each other, or how ever they're doing it, just is not good for the sport.

Re: National event chaos?
 

And subject to Obamacare penalty! 😉

Re: National event chaos?
 

Thank you Julie! I actually remembered that ^^^^^^^^^^! I am mainly concerned about their tax status as I believe if there is any kind of "discussion" to be had, it would revolve around that. Let us not forget that the original charter was based on "getting us off of the streets" and not spectators in the seats and TV packages. As it stands now, with the quotas, lots of us are basically "back in the streets" again being unable to enter our local National Events.
I agree that every member having a vote would get rather crazy (which is the way it used to be) but that could be thinned out by requiring a current permanent number as the "voter registration".
As I had said earlier, at the very least our SRAC members should have a vote.
And Julie, thank you again for responding.

Re: National event chaos?
 

Billy,
I think you are confusing a Competition Number with an NHRA Membership Number. While you are required to have a NHRA membership before you can apply for a Competition number to enter NHRA events, you can be a full "dues paying" NHRA member without having a competition number. NHRA members receive the Dragster and get other benefits etc., and they would all get a vote, not just drivers.

Re: National event chaos?
 

Bobby, I fully understand the difference. I should have said Competition Number instead of Permanent Number.

Re: National event chaos?
 

But it's not just about the sportsman racers who want to enter national events. There are NHRA member-sanctioned tracks where racers can race in a safe environment. They have youth safety/education programs, junior dragster series, etc. Just because we have been impacted doesn't mean that NHRA isn't operating under the conditions necessary to keep their tax-exempt status.

Re: National event chaos?
 

So why shouldn't a paying member who does not have a Competition number be able to vote?

Re: National event chaos?
 

Tell people they are raising the entry fee...no big deal.
Tell people they are raising membership fee...no big deal.
Tell people their classes are becoming obsolete b/c of corporate intervention...we can live with that.
Tell people that National event quotas are being reduced to nothing...that hurts but now we will just go to more divisionals.
Tell people they can't get to the track a week early to sit in a muddy grass lot just so they can be the first in the gate to sit in another muddy grass lot for two more days before the race actually starts...let's boycott the bastards!!

Re: National event chaos?
 

Winner!

Re: National event chaos?
 

Chicken dinner!

Re: National event chaos?
 

I don't dis-agree with you Dwight. I'm just throwing stuff out there. BUT, I think that if you'll look back to when we lost our vote you'll find that the votes that weren't cast (which counted toward surrendering our vote) were largely non-competing members.

Re: National event chaos?
 

It's ALL a big deal!

Re: National event chaos?
 

I believe these are very good points. After listening to many different view points on what we should do, it's very clear that so many of the ideas offered are only to benefit a specific group not the whole organization. Like our race cars, you can't change just one thing without affecting the rest of the cars overall performance.
Dan Foley+

Re: National event chaos?
 

I believe the driving force behind these changes, if they happen, is Josh Peterson. He most likely is trying to show he can costs so he can get a year end bonus.

Re: National event chaos?
 

Bernie, we live in California!!

Re: National event chaos?
 

Well the "improvements" have been announced. At this point we'll just have to see how it plays out and make the best of it. Ken had already posted this in the news section but many don't look at that section. See linky

http://www.nhraracer.com/content/gen...173&zoneid=175

Re: National event chaos?
 

Seems like a slam dunk to me. Great news.

I dont understand what folks are complaining about.
What the heck is there not to like about this?
Am I missing something?

Re: National event chaos?
 

I agree - nhra will be inspecting cars at various check-points through out the race - instead of a long, time-consuming, pre-race line. If you check your belts, helmets, safety equipment, chassis certs, etc. before you go.... you shouldn't have any problems. And how could streamlining the credential process not be a good thing?

Re: National event chaos?
 

Sounds great for late arrivers like myself! I can't get there on Wednesday and normally come in the night before an event, have to tech and go through the registration process and make the first hit. This is right up my chaotic alley.