Len Imbrogno.....Seriously now

[Dick Butler]

lee,
Good thoughts. If NHRA would only "allow" some of the people with the racing experience they have to control some of the decisions and clean up the rules and structures things could be better. The Committee structures must be being overridden by non racers. Example: A place for everyone to race was how it started. It has been deformed to a place where anything in any form can pay entry without an eye on the appeal of the final product. It gets cash at National events as entries but has watered down the appeal to spectators at other levels.

Dick Butler 3529

[Mike Mayhew]

Lee,
Although it's true racers will come no matter what the purse, I can assure you that you are in the extreme minority as to not caring what the purses are. 100% of the racers I know think it is long past due for a purse increase. What we're running for is antiquated money.
Nobody said anything about us getting 100% back, but my god, they just got 100 million dollars. And we will still pay our own way after the split, just as before. NHRA has had 40+ years to refine their expendatures and profit/loss margin. It seems it has worked well for them, and every racer I know says it's time to give back, in the form of better payouts. All expenses go up for us, the racers. Payout needs and should go up to.

Your thoughts about the money going for rules equality, and throttle stop elimination etc. I don't understand. I am for both of those things ( although in the real world throttle stops are here to stay, you must be realistic ) but how would doing those things cost money for management? They just say...no throttle stops. Or no more long buttons, or whatever. Doesn't take a cent to do that. Are you also against my hope of sportsman representation ? Shouldn't future rule changes, enhancements, be done in combination with sportsman representation ?

I have found that racers care about mostly three things. And the order of importance varies from racer to racer. But the three things are:
Traction........Money........Respect.
Everything else will fall in to place.

Mike ( madness & ) Mayhem

[Mike Mayhew]

P.S. to Lee,
I forgot to ask you if you thought the 250$ oil down penalty imposed this year is resonable and should remain in effect.

Mike ( madness & ) Mayhem

[Randall Klein]

My two cents which is about .03 too high is for NHRA to LOWER entry fees.
1. help mitigate travel costs
2. benefits everyone, encourages participation
3. doubling purses impacts what, 6-10 racers and comes nowhere near costs of this hobby
4. pay contigincies at track and get reimbursed by sponsors thru contract, one check at trophy presentation
5. sliding scale on oildown if needed at all; if I oil track the entire length and cause an hour downtime, I should pay $250! You pull over to side, or an oil rag wipe up at 300' it should be little or nothing
6. TRACK PREP, spend some money on starting line hook
7. creative spending to enhance descretionary experience of attending/participating

Randall Klein

[JGarey]

Just a thought here, my dad grew up in the early days of racing and was there when Wally Parks started it all. He has always told us that Wally is the only reason there are still sprortsman racers in NHRA.
I personally believe that NHRA has become even more of a mega empire than what even Mr. Parks could ever envision, the sport has evolved into something that mainly supports the pros and was losing sight of the back bone of the sport.
It looks to me like Mr. Parks is putting forth an effort to focus on bringing back sportsmen racers into the spotlight, so why not put aside the worries & quit bickering about him making $100 million on something he has invested his whole life into & lets see how it all plays out, afterall he has been there for 50 plus years.
But i do agree, most sportsmen racers are on a shoestring budget (my shoestring broke) and cannot afford to be hit with excessive fees, penalties, etc. and maybe the new NHRA will realize that.

thanks, Jim Garey

[Michael Beard]

Randall writes:
>> My two cents which is about .03 too high is for NHRA to LOWER entry fees.

My thoughts exactly. The first to go could be the insurance surcharge, which is an effect of the Pro cars.

>> 4. pay contigincies at track and get reimbursed by sponsors thru contract, one check at trophy presentation

Due to how NHRA's contingency program works, I agree. That is how IHRA's local weekly Summit Super Series contingency works.

>> 6. TRACK PREP, spend some money on starting line hook

It's been a number of years since I ran NHRA... is it that bad?? I can count on one finger the number of times I've spun at an IHRA event that wasn't my fault.

>> 7. creative spending to enhance descretionary experience of attending/participating

That one went over my head. Explain?


Michael Beard
Staging Light Graphic Design & Printing
Duck Tape/Loctite Racing
H - I - J/CM '80 Volare 360 Magnum

[Lynn A McCarty]

I would go for some positive creative thought, focus, consideration, promotion or even mention.. With the proven popularity, the money will all come by itself.

Heads up racing would be cool, but right now it is designed as a train wreck. We already know what combo will win with a great accuracy before anyone shows up.

Plot a statistical curve of all cars with aftermarket heads verses those who dont in every class. Then do one with blocks.

I love heads up, but the current rules necessitate a break out.

Lynn

[Bruce Noland]

Classracer,

Wally Parks did one hell of a job. But he is no longer in charge.

We are not getting the quality information on this sale that we are entitled to. From what I have read, it looks as though the Sportsman racers will experience the old Stockman "trickle down". Which does not sound very encouraging to me.

[david ring]

Who cares about spectators if you are a racer?

As a racer, I care about spectators for the following reasons.
1. I like people to see my car go down the track.
2. The more people in the stands, the greater the entertainment value and the more available to pay out in winnings (why do you think the purses are so much bigger in cirlce track racing than in drag racing and why do you think F1 budgets make NASCAR budgets look like high school football budgets, even Texas high school football budgets?).
3. The more spectators, the easier it is to get sponsorships-sponsors aren't it out of the goodness of their hearts, Evan Knoll possibly being the exception.
4. If ALL you care about is the racing, please sign and forward all you winning checks to me.

[Mike Mayhew]

.....quit bickering about him making $100 million on something he has invested his whole life into.....

Lets remember that this empire was created on the backs of RACERS, not management. Wally's vision.....racers activities.
Maybe I'm different than some on here, but if my lifes work just awarded me 100 Mil, I would reward and remember the people who actually made that empire for me. In this case the racers.
And Randall, when I mentioned purses, I meant all the way down. My semi final got me 150 $ at the divisional in Valdosta. In my opinion, a slap in the face.

I'm not asking for hard numbers, or fine tuning of what all the future benefits might be for us. I'm asking for a few immediate promises of a better life for the sportsman racer.
This is a now or never time guys. With a new deal being struck, and 100 Mill in their pockets, the time to negotiate is now. We can aim high, but if we don't get concesions now, it will be never. Mark my word and let me know in about 3 years if I'm right or not.

So, to my original question for Mr. Imbrogno. Can we get a few promises of some beneficial changes for the sportsman ? Details which can be worked out later.
So far, the silence has been defening.


Mike ( madness & ) Mayhem