I feel so sorry for Kenny Bernstein!

[treessavoy]

If you think Kenny is the only suck-up in drag racing you are extremely brain damaged...all the pro's are that way and if YOU have a significant sponsor you're a suck up too!

I have the pleasure to know Kenny and if you think he was born with a Bud in his mouth you couldn't be more wrong! Kenny worked his way up by racing on his own dime. He started out by running his own wrecker company in Dallas with him doing all the work until the business went big. He then sold that business and started Chelsea Street Pubs in Malls throughout the Southwest. He sold the business and went Funny Car racing on his own dime. After a race one weekend he trucked his entire rig up to the Bud plant so that when everyone came to work on mon. morning the whole plant saw his car and rig as they came to work...and that got him his sponsorship...and he worked his *** off to keep it!

While you are gloating you missed the point completely......if this can happen to one of the most successful race teams what do you think other sponsors are thinking now? Would your sponsor be financially better off if he didn't have to give you money?

This is the crack in the dam and I believe we're going to see a lot more of this....from top to bottom.

Jim

[Billy Nees]

I know all about his past history and I am NOT missing the point! The point is that man almost singlehandedly ruined Drag Racing! He took it from a "Car Guys" game to a "Corporate" game. I still feel sorry for Garlits.

[Kenny Wigington]

Yep, the hell with em ! Not a KB, but one of the bigbiys(in his own mind) owed me $5300, refused to pay any more, got me in a bind, and went out and bought himself a $100,000 Mercedes. Thats one I wont piss on, if he catches fire. ....

Best part is, he aint racing this yr again !!!

[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?

[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.

[Tom Goldman]

[QUOTE] 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.[quote]

Hardcore Sportsman racers will be finding a way to go racing long after the last Pro stops racing due to lack of Corperate sponsorship. .....Sportsman racing Associations are already thriving and will probably get stronger as NHRA fades...I've given up a lot of things in life to pursue my racing habit on my own dime,it frys my *** when I hear some of the pros whine about not racing without a sponsor, If you are a serious racer ,you'll find a way. .....I'm the last person anyone would call a Dave Connoly fan, but you have to admire the guys desire to race. ...He is willing to race almost anything, and has ! ........Tom

[Rick Schilling]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

I know all about his past history and I am NOT missing the point! The point is that man almost singlehandedly ruined Drag Racing! He took it from a "Car Guys" game to a "Corporate" game. I still feel sorry for Garlits.

Billy, you are absolutely right and I couldn't agree more. But when you stop to think about it, hasn't the same exact thing happened in just about every form of motorsports? The story always seems to start with humble, "grass roots" beginnings and ends up with the need for "cubic dollars" in order to participate. Seems to be a never ending battle.

P.S. With all due respect to all of the great names in the sport, past and present, Garlits is still my hero. (Could have something to do with my age I suppose).