D1 NHRA Boycott?

[sc1153]

Originally Posted by Bryan Gillespie

If the extra $75.00 for cert. and $10.00 for each class is that big of a impact to your budget you shouldn't be racing in the first place.

Brian
Quite obviously this is not the make or break spending that will stop us....it is one thing on the pile of problems. As I had said b4 there are some people who will not understand the "PRINCIPLE" (you do not). Either we stand up at some point or we just keep EATING ****!

If you do not want to stand up / be heard than dont. There are 5 more people that will stand in your place.

I like the pickett the staging lanes along with FLOOD the offices with letters and E-mails.. However the emails can be deleted and letters shredded.. we need to stop them from operating until they hear us. If EVERY national event the sportsman racers picketing the staging lanes until Graham Light came down to hear them we may get something done!

[Rich Biebel]

Chris.....In 1980 or 1981? when NHRA decided to drop Modified Eliminator......the racers staged a protest at Indy. I was not there but I believe they blocked the return road and tried to disrupt the event. Ultimately it had no effect on NHRA's decision. As I said before...NHRA has a long history of doing as they wish with no regard for their members. The best thing that could happen is for Sportsman to just go somewhere else to race but unfortunatley there is no alternative for many racers and NHRA knows it! NHRA says sportsman racing fees don't cover the costs to administer their programs. As a member of the Association I would like them to show us the numbers on that...... ALL Fees collected vs expenses we incur.

[Carl Juliano]

Originally Posted by sc1153

Brian
Quite obviously this is not the make or break spending that will stop us....it is one thing on the pile of problems. As I had said b4 there are some people who will not understand the "PRINCIPLE" (you do not). Either we stand up at some point or we just keep EATING ****!

If you do not want to stand up / be heard than dont. There are 5 more people that will stand in your place.

I like the pickett the staging lanes along with FLOOD the offices with letters and E-mails.. However the emails can be deleted and letters shredded.. we need to stop them from operating until they hear us. If EVERY national event the sportsman racers picketing the staging lanes until Graham Light came down to hear them we may get something done!

It would be interesting to see if ESPN would even acknowledge such an action? I agree with your dad Chris, something tells me NHRA dont care if there are any Sportsman at the National level.
I think they would be happy doing away with S/SS,Comp,90's classes, keep the alcohol classes and add a full Pro Mod program, that would be a "National Event " to them. We all would be racing at the Div. level only.
How about the fact that multi million dollar pro teams continue to get in for free? Thats a real kick in the pants!...lol.

[sc1153]

so the general idea is take it or leave it? .... THAT SUCKS..... I would like to believe we ultimately be able to sway their judgment.Just like unions.... they listen or we dont support

[Tom Goldman]

Not that I don't agree with you Chris, but how long do you think we'd picket he lanes before NHRA has the Security rent a cops and the NJ State Police either remove us from the premisis or have us arrested? ......Many years ago the Super Gas racers banded together at the Keystone Nats and refused to race in misty ,unsafe conditions , The Pro Stock racrs even agreed with us! .....We only succeded because we had some very persuasive [intimidating] racers leading the charge.........How did NHRA respond ?, they sent us back and we did not see the race track again untill about 4:30 Sunday afternoon, They did'nt care if we raced or not. ....Tom

[Carl Juliano]

Originally Posted by Tom Goldman

Not that I don't agree with you Chris, but how long do you think we'd picket he lanes before NHRA has the Security rent a cops and the NJ State Police either remove us from the premisis or have us arrested? ......Many years ago the Super Gas racers banded together at the Keystone Nats and refused to race in misty ,unsafe conditions , The Pro Stock racrs even agreed with us! .....We only succeded because we had some very persuasive [intimidating] racers leading the charge.........How did NHRA respond ?, they sent us back and we did not see the race track again untill about 4:30 Sunday afternoon, They did'nt care if we raced or not. ....Tom

Im all for trying to open their eyes to our feelings, but picket lines are serious Sh*#. Ive been apart of many being a Union member for 22 yrs with Verizon. There are many legal factors, you have to be a certain distance from the party you are picketing, and yes, they will have the cops disband things fairly quickly if it was done on track property. Plus you would have the "Pro Sportsman" crossing the line because of sponsorship committments and the fact that they do it for a living,things can get ugly.
I feel the only way to show them we are fed up is to show them an empty pit area at National events, sending letters and emails.

[Bryan Gillespie]

Originally Posted by sc1153

Brian
Quite obviously this is not the make or break spending that will stop us....it is one thing on the pile of problems. As I had said b4 there are some people who will not understand the "PRINCIPLE" (you do not). Either we stand up at some point or we just keep EATING ****!

If you do not want to stand up / be heard than dont. There are 5 more people that will stand in your place.

I like the pickett the staging lanes along with FLOOD the offices with letters and E-mails.. However the emails can be deleted and letters shredded.. we need to stop them from operating until they hear us. If EVERY national event the sportsman racers picketing the staging lanes until Graham Light came down to hear them we may get something done!

Chris didn't I see your name on the entry list @ Atlanta ?
And Tommy the bar is great ! all tracks should have one. P.S. now there's a pickett line I'd be in.

[SG1809]

Originally Posted by Tom Goldman

Not that I don't agree with you Chris, but how long do you think we'd picket he lanes before NHRA has the Security rent a cops and the NJ State Police either remove us from the premisis or have us arrested? ......Many years ago the Super Gas racers banded together at the Keystone Nats and refused to race in misty ,unsafe conditions , The Pro Stock racrs even agreed with us! .....We only succeded because we had some very persuasive [intimidating] racers leading the charge.........How did NHRA respond ?, they sent us back and we did not see the race track again untill about 4:30 Sunday afternoon, They did'nt care if we raced or not. ....Tom

I have to agree with Tom, Trying to set up a picket line would only create more problems for us. I think dealing with this on a professional level in a professional way may call attention to our concerns. They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Let NHRA know how we feel about the increases through coorespondence. This is something that we can all easily do. Even a petition may have an impact. For me it's not just about the money it's the principle and lack of consideration that bothers me. Fee's are increased 100% and we have no say, no input. Pay or don't race. NHRA should consider the racer, pro or non-pro, after all it's supposed to be an Associtation. Just one other thing I would like to add, doing a chassis certification normally takes 15-20 minutes at $150.00 that's pretty expensive. How is that justified?

Pat I
SG1809

[Mark Schmidt]

This is just my .02 but disrupting races and boycotts is not the answer. I believe getting an open meeting with the big dogs at a national event would be of value. If you can't afford to go to the races because the price doubled, it's a fair arguement. A lot of racers won't finish the season if they break a motor. Times have changed and we got the short end. NHRA owes us at least a chance to discuss.

[69ss/rs]

Don't forget, that alot of these fees hikes effect more than just those of you that go to Divisional and National events. Anybody that has a car that runs faster than 9.99 or a competition number or races at a NHRA sanctioned track is effected. So the number of protesters is much larger than you might think.