What about the sportsman racer IHRA?

[Ed Carpenter]

Drivers in both the Pro Modified and Pro Stock classes will have added incentive to compete at all 2009 IHRA Nitro Jam national events. Participants in both classes will receive complimentary car and driver entries as well as three free crew entries for the entire 2009 slate.

“Pro Stock and Pro Modified are among the most popular classes at all IHRA Nitro Jam national events and this was a way to reward these teams for building these classes into something special,” IHRA senior director of competition racing operations Mike Baker said. “They have elevated these classes through their hard work and dedication, so we are paying them back with complimentary car and driver entries as well as three crew passes. Also, in the current economic climate this is a time they probably need it most.”

2009 IHRA Nitro Jam season will kick off at State Capitol Raceway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana March 6-8.


What about the economic climate of the sportman racer? I know we will never get in free, but how about a break?

[Ed Wright]

Don't hold your breath, Ed. We are just filler, they could replace us with bracket cars that require almost no tech inspection. I just hope I can afford to go next year. Business has slowed way down here.

[Roger K Fain]

I wonder if they still have to pay the $40.00 "insurance fee" that all others pay for National events? It would b e nice if Feld Entertainment would step up and buy a policy to cover participants and give us Sportsman racers a break too. Merry Christmas.

[buzzinhalfdozen]

I'm with Mr. Fain on that I've never heard any numbers on who requires the most E.M.S. services, my guess is the pros, which is odd considering we sportsman racers out number them substatually. Again that is just a guess, but I think if their going to give them FREE entry they should not expect us to pay for their coverage. Sounds kinda like the Govt. Giving anyone who asks whatever they want, then expect us to pay for it. Basically $40.00 isn't going to break me but it's almost like they sit around a think of ways to get a few more dollars out of us. Joe

[Bud Lefevre]

You might be right as far as Stk/SS goes , but they may be useing EMS more on the TD and SR class's.

[herbjr]

Ok, I will chime in here as a track operator and a racer. There is almost no insurance that will pay for you to be air lifited out of a track. My mom had it done in a car wreck and her insurance wouldnt pay it and it was VERY EXPENSIVE. That 40.00 goes into an acct that pays for the air transport helicopter to be at the track and incase a racers needs to be air lifted out its there and its paid for the way it was explained to me as a track operator. When my mom rode in one for 12 minutes to Duke Hospitol it was $16000. Just think about that, I will pay the 40.00 if it means the air support is there.

Herb Jr

[bkj1976]

It all comes down to they don't care about the sportsman racers.If you show up you show up if not they will just run more 4 wheelers and jet trucks.Maybe they could bring back the dancing diggers. I'd like to see them try and make it work without the sportsman NOT POSSIBLE!

[Jason Oldfield]

Originally Posted by herbjr

Ok, I will chime in here as a track operator and a racer. There is almost no insurance that will pay for you to be air lifited out of a track. My mom had it done in a car wreck and her insurance wouldnt pay it and it was VERY EXPENSIVE. That 40.00 goes into an acct that pays for the air transport helicopter to be at the track and incase a racers needs to be air lifted out its there and its paid for the way it was explained to me as a track operator. When my mom rode in one for 12 minutes to Duke Hospitol it was $16000. Just think about that, I will pay the 40.00 if it means the air support is there.

Herb Jr

And how often is it that a sportsman racer is transported from the track to the hospital via helicopter? At any one NHRA national event, you will have AT LEAST 300 sportsman racers. 300 x $40 = $12,000. So, in ONE RACE, you just about pay for the cost of that helicopter ride. After 2 races, you're up $8,000. In an entire 24 race season, you take in $288,000 from JUST the sportsman racers.

There's NO WAY that the sportsman racers use up $288,000 worth of ambulance and helicopter rides from national events to the hospital in a year. I have no numbers to back this up, but I would bet there probably wasn't more than 10 total trips to the hospital this year by sportsman racers from national events.

An even better question is, why do drivers that enter two cars have to pay the insurance premium twice??? I doubt they can seriously injure themselves twice in one weekend (granted, their chance of seriously injuring themselves does probably double, though unlikely as that may be).

And I'm not trying to downplay the cost of medical care because I do realize it is expensive. I just don't think it is anywhere near as expensive as what we're being charged for.

[THE LEGEND]

Jason,
In IHRA if you enter 2 cars you only pay one insurance premium.

One more thing I'll pay the 40 bucks just to know the helicopter is there if I need it.

Chip

[Jason Oldfield]

Originally Posted by THE LEGEND

Jason,
In IHRA if you enter 2 cars you only pay one insurance premium.

Sorry, my bad. I should have read the title of the thread. I was speaking of the "other" sanctioning body. Thanks for the correction.

As for the insurance, I don't mind paying into the fund to have the services of the ambulance and helicopter available to me if I need them, but I don't feel that I need to pay $40 at every single race. That seems excessive. It would seem to me that the "insurance premium" could be a one time $40 fee for the season. Not $40 per race. And I don't know about IHRA, but what is my membership for, just the pin, patch, decal, and Drag Review?

http://www.nhra.com/insurance/

If the entry fee needs to be $40 more per race for whatever reason, then make the entry fee $40 more and justify the reasoning behind it. Don't mask it as an "insurance premium". Just my $0.02.