I feel so sorry for Kenny Bernstein!

[Tom Goldman]

Originally Posted by treessavoy

Either you guys are very young or you just have a dislike for Kenny.

Do you really think Kenny was the first guy to have a major sponsor? What about prudhomme, he started BEFORE Kenny, in fact you have to go back to the '70's to find pro's getting with major sponsors.

Garlits has always done it on his own and had major sponsors through the '70's .......ie. the Wynnscharger?

You're missing Billy's point.......Bernstein took Corperate to a whole new level,escallating costs to a point where even some very wealthy privateers said enough! .......Those early sponsorships were for a lot less than you could imagine, and usually were based on a per diem basis that required multiple apperances per week,at dealerships ,ect......Over the years I've met and got to know a few of the Fuel pioneers, their stories ar a lot like ours, living to go to the next race,trying to get enough money to get there........Bernstein, and others like him escalated the costs for all others, starting with among other things, Million dollar salaries for crew chiefs!........Tom

[treessavoy]

Originally Posted by Tom Goldman

You're missing Billy's point.......Bernstein took Corperate to a whole new level,escallating costs to a point where even some very wealthy privateers said enough! .......Those early sponsorships were for a lot less than you could imagine, and usually were based on a per diem basis that required multiple apperances per week,at dealerships ,ect......Over the years I've met and got to know a few of the Fuel pioneers, their stories ar a lot like ours, living to go to the next race,trying to get enough money to get there........Bernstein, and others like him escalated the costs for all others, starting with among other things, Million dollar salaries for crew chiefs!........Tom

No, I'm not missing his point!
His point is a personal attack on someone he doesn't even know and singles Kenny as the root of all evil, not even mentioning the prudhomme's, Mcculloch's, who started out with corporate sponsors....before Kenny came back into racing! Lay the blame on all of them or none but don't just single out one person because you have some delusion that he is at fault.

If you want to throw stones at someone, throw them at the NHRA that has a whole division that is responsible for finding sponsors for NHRA professional racers.

Lastly, by the end of the year you're going to hear that other pro's are losing their sponsors and if enough of that happens and the pro's are no longer racing.....neither will you be racing.....the NHRA will fall if enough sponsors pull out.

How I see it.

[Bob Mulry]

and is NHRA failing a bad thing?

A lot of people thought that Crane being taken over and run by a new team was a good thing.

Why would NHRA being taken over and run by a NEW TEAM bad?

Bob

[bill dedman]

I think there's one other pertinent fact that is being overlooked, here.

There's an AWFUL LOT of FAT to be trimmed from the budget of these Pro teams before they throw in the towel for a lack of sponsorship money.

I am well aware of the high-dollar 18-wheeler stacker/machine shop trailer rigs that have become the norm for the mega-monied teams that populate the Pro ranks, today. They have that stuff because it's nice to have, and show off their opulent lifestyle at the pleasure of Budweiser, Skoal, or whatever $$$$$$$ $ponsor they may be enjoying at the moment. It makes everybody involved look financially healthy and happy.

But, just how NECESSARY is all that high-dollar merchandise? Didn't Top Fuel operate much the same as it does today ON THE RACETRACK when the norm was a gooseneck Chapparal pulled by a 454 Dually? The Crews still worked on the cars between rounds, like they do today, and the only real difference between then and now is the convenience of having a place where the crew chief and driver can go to escape the curious eyes of the fans, and a place to do some machine work and check the computer readout from the last run. Clutch work can be accomplished outside... I've seen it done.

What I'm trying to say is, if the financial parameters of funding a Pro car have to be scaled down to the level of the 1970's..... then, SO BE IT! SELL the 18-wheeler, the whole take-it-with-you machine shop and go racing like racing was before the mega-budget influx of sponsorship money hit the scene with the advent of the Budweiser, Winston, Pepsi, and other non-existent corporate sponsors, today.

Tow vehicles and mega-buck pit-area perks don't make the race car a bit faster... but, they eat up a LOT of cash.... as do outrageous salaries for crew chiefs.

I can't imagine that a really good crew chief on a Fuel operation being paid more than a quarter of a million dollars, annually. I'm sure several make more than that, but really... until he pulls of another "Alan Johnson."

So, I think that the real answer to the financial crisis is to scale back expenses to the point that Pro racing is affordable to do, and to have NHRA re-align the national event schedule to minimize travel expenses, since fuel is a big part of the budget, now.

I think Pro racing can be made affordable on a much-reduced budget if the people who design the program will exercise some common sense and put together a racing budget that mirrors today's reality.

You don't NEED a $500,000.00 truck to haul a 2,300-pound car to the strip.

[Ed Fernandez]

The old man (Bernstein) will just muddle his way through life.But what about spikey blond junior?He might have to get a job selling Buds at the ballpark and settle for racing bracket 2 on weekends.
Wow I go on vacation for 4 days and things start warming up again thanks to that "Evil" Nees guy again.

[Larry Munk]

Some of us guys who may not be all that old had friends or neighbors who raced Top fuel out of 2 car garages on regional levels. I remember Chealsie Street Pubs they were really good and well run. Best Nacho's you ever had at a Mall Joint. The point being when kenny sold his soul to the corporate devil he boxed the oldtime real racers out with cubic bucks. Maybe he should have stuck with wreckers and resturants and not have screwed dragracing into the ground. Some of us youngsters remember funny car dryhops, John Collins, Tim Groose and a score of other real racers who got priced out of competition. POOOOOOOOOR kenny

[bobby]

Originally Posted by Larry Munk

Some of us guys who may not be all that old had friends or neighbors who raced Top fuel out of 2 car garages on regional levels. I remember Chealsie Street Pubs they were really good and well run. Best Nacho's you ever had at a Mall Joint. The point being when kenny sold his soul to the corporate devil he boxed the oldtime real racers out with cubic bucks. Maybe he should have stuck with wreckers and resturants and not have screwed dragracing into the ground. Some of us youngsters remember funny car dryhops, John Collins, Tim Groose and a score of other real racers who got priced out of competition. POOOOOOOOOR kenny

Not a KB fan and not defending him in any way, but anybody could have screwed dragracing into the ground.

[Larry Munk]

Originally Posted by bobby

Not a KB fan and not defending him in any way, but anybody could have screwed dragracing into the ground.

Bobby no offence but go back and read Billy's opening post.

[treessavoy]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

I think there's one other pertinent fact that is being overlooked, here.

There's an AWFUL LOT of FAT to be trimmed from the budget of these Pro teams before they throw in the towel for a lack of sponsorship money.

I am well aware of the high-dollar 18-wheeler stacker/machine shop trailer rigs that have become the norm for the mega-monied teams that populate the Pro ranks, today. They have that stuff because it's nice to have, and show off their opulent lifestyle at the pleasure of Budweiser, Skoal, or whatever $$$$$$$ $ponsor they may be enjoying at the moment. It makes everybody involved look financially healthy and happy.

But, just how NECESSARY is all that high-dollar merchandise? Didn't Top Fuel operate much the same as it does today ON THE RACETRACK when the norm was a gooseneck Chapparal pulled by a 454 Dually? The Crews still worked on the cars between rounds, like they do today, and the only real difference between then and now is the convenience of having a place where the crew chief and driver can go to escape the curious eyes of the fans, and a place to do some machine work and check the computer readout from the last run. Clutch work can be accomplished outside... I've seen it done.

What I'm trying to say is, if the financial parameters of funding a Pro car have to be scaled down to the level of the 1970's..... then, SO BE IT! SELL the 18-wheeler, the whole take-it-with-you machine shop and go racing like racing was before the mega-budget influx of sponsorship money hit the scene with the advent of the Budweiser, Winston, Pepsi, and other non-existent corporate sponsors, today.

Tow vehicles and mega-buck pit-area perks don't make the race car a bit faster... but, they eat up a LOT of cash.... as do outrageous salaries for crew chiefs.

I can't imagine that a really good crew chief on a Fuel operation being paid more than a quarter of a million dollars, annually. I'm sure several make more than that, but really... until he pulls of another "Alan Johnson."

So, I think that the real answer to the financial crisis is to scale back expenses to the point that Pro racing is affordable to do, and to have NHRA re-align the national event schedule to minimize travel expenses, since fuel is a big part of the budget, now.

I think Pro racing can be made affordable on a much-reduced budget if the people who design the program will exercise some common sense and put together a racing budget that mirrors today's reality.

You don't NEED a $500,000.00 truck to haul a 2,300-pound car to the strip.

Bill,

I used to drive to the strip, take the slicks out of the trunk and bolt them on and after the race put them back in the trunk, then I graduated to flat towing, to a flat bed trailer, and finally to an enclosed trailer.

Now stock racers are showing up with $800,000.00 motor homes and stacker trailers.

It just seems to be a natural progression to escalate to a better rig as the money gets better. Is this not what the pro's have done.....the more money the better the rig. I was a gofer and tire wiper for Garlits for a very short while in the '60's when he towed an homemade inclosed trailer with a chrysler stationwagon.

The massive influx of money by sponsors calls for the best performances and a lot of wins, which in turn means more spare parts and engines to maintain that winning record so they can get more money for next year.......it's like a giant dragon...the more he eats, the more he needs food....but someday there will be no more and I think that's where the NHRA is going...one day it will have eaten itself!

Tree

[bill dedman]

That day may be arriving more quickly than anyone anticipates.

WHEN IT HAPPENS, will we see a return to common sense spending for all this stuff; gooseneck trailers and duallys in place of the 60-foot long, 18-wheel stackers with onboard machine shops, or do you think the Professional community will simply pack it in and Professional category drag racing as we have come to know it, will cease to exist, (rather than return to the grass-roots modus operandi of the '70s????)

It's gonna be fun to watch, whatever happens, 'cause it's definitely coming. Dunno exactly when, but they have killed the goose that laid the Golden Egg. At least, it would appear that way.