Ford and Pro Stock

[comp 670]

All of you do realise that GM is not supporting Pro Stock either and has not for a few years right? Yet a GM won the championship this year... WHY do you think Ford not funding teams is going to kill Larry's program when he has not got one dollar from them anyway? As Ford racers we know it's up to us to fund our deals and we WILL make it work. The factorys have very little to do with Pro Stock......The factorys DO NOT do the R&D,the TEAMS do. The best thing the factorys do is help with aero stuff by letting the teams use the wind tunnel. And Ford has done that for Larry.

I'm going to do the best I can to run PS next season but it's TOTALLY up to me to find the funding to do so,not Ford...Would I like to see Ford step up and fund a few Pro Stock teams? YES,but I understand why it will not happen. It's more about inside Ford politics then anything else.

[BlueOval Ralph]

But they (Ford) does support the NASCAR teams to the tune of about 5 million per car per year!

Originally Posted by comp 670

All of you do realise that GM is not supporting Pro Stock either and has not for a few years right? Yet a GM won the championship this year... WHY do you think Ford not funding teams is going to kill Larry's program when he has not got one dollar from them anyway? As Ford racers we know it's up to us to fund our deals and we WILL make it work. The factorys have very little to do with Pro Stock......The factorys DO NOT do the R&D,the TEAMS do. The best thing the factorys do is help with aero stuff by letting the teams use the wind tunnel. And Ford has done that for Larry.

I'm going to do the best I can to run PS next season but it's TOTALLY up to me to find the funding to do so,not Ford...Would I like to see Ford step up and fund a few Pro Stock teams? YES,but I understand why it will not happen. It's more about inside Ford politics then anything else.

[Jim B]

Originally Posted by BlueOval Ralph

But they (Ford) does support the NASCAR teams to the tune of about 5 million per car per year!

Yes but any big corporation (or any well run business for that matter) aims to spend their advertising money to get the most exposure for the buck. It would be hard to justify expenditures in present day NHRA drag racing when you compare the difference between the 10's of thousands of spectators at a Nascar Sprint Cup race and the spectator attendance at an NHRA national event. Yes, NASCAR attendance is down but the sanctioning body is taking proactive measures to reverse the trend. Not that it is soley NHRA's responsibility but you can't even compare the two sanctioning bodies when it comes to the marketing, preservation and expansion of the sports they individually regulate. The lower "classes" in NASCAR (truck, short track and grassroots, etc.) have not even come close to the level of degradation that the NHRA Sportsman categories have experienced, not entirely but largely due to business and common sense proactive measures taken by the sanctioning body. Whenever a regulatory agency choses to ignore a sizeable faction of it's knowledgeable member population it is rare that a declining scenario improves. Sad but true.... JMHO

[Casey Miles]

Pro Stock is in need of a change anyway, they should be flat hoods with FI, 375 ci. No one can relate to 500 ci with 2 x4 carbs anymore. Funny cars with doors!
Casey Miles
248H Stock?

[Detroit Bob]

Originally Posted by Casey Miles

Pro Stock is in need of a change anyway, they should be flat hoods with FI, 375 ci. No one can relate to 500 ci with 2 x4 carbs anymore. Funny cars with doors!
Casey Miles
248H Stock?

Lets face it the best you can say about the bodies on funny cars and pro stocks are, they look cartoonish. The beauty of pro stock in the early days, and funny car to an extent, were the bodies were recognizable . You didn't have to slap the name on the front of the thing to tell me what make it was.
Nhra needs to start over again with a rules package that makes sense for the manufacturers as well as the spectating public. That means in pro stock, stock bodies and production style engines. Funny car needs to adopt rules closer to the nostalgia funny cars.

[Tom keedle]

Originally Posted by Detroit Bob

Lets face it the best you can say about the bodies on funny cars and pro stocks are, they look cartoonish. The beauty of pro stock in the early days, and funny car to an extent, were the bodies were recognizable . You didn't have to slap the name on the front of the thing to tell me what make it was.
Nhra needs to start over again with a rules package that makes sense for the manufacturers as well as the spectating public. That means in pro stock, stock bodies and production style engines. Funny car needs to adopt rules closer to the nostalgia funny cars.

ON THE OTHER HAND, take a look at nascars' COT
pretty much the same thing as funny cars,i haven't been able to tell 1 brand from another for years...

[Jeff Teuton]

Tom, a keen observation. At several meetings with Mopar Performance, and Dodge Motorsports (which controls the Nascar effort), I casually observed that in my 44 years as a dealer, I have never had a Car of Tomorrow on my showroom floor. Greatest measurements of Nascar not playing to their fans, I have noticed while going to the races this year absolutely no conversation on the CB radio about Nascar, and the truck stops have deep discounts on the Nascar clothes etc. Only the trained eye and ear coulb observe that.

[Ron E]

Originally Posted by Tom keedle

ON THE OTHER HAND, take a look at nascars' COT
pretty much the same thing as funny cars,i haven't been able to tell 1 brand from another for years...

Thats always the problem when rules remain the same for decades. Physics of the specific rules will cause the engines to become more and more the same. The teams will lobby for equal aerodynamics. Eventually we have current P/S and 'cup cars. The difference is the grill and headlight decals. It becomes boring when they get to this point.
I'm just glad there is stock and super stock. I've lost interest in the cookie-cutter classes.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Jim B

Yes but any big corporation (or any well run business for that matter) aims to spend their advertising money to get the most exposure for the buck. It would be hard to justify expenditures in present day NHRA drag racing when you compare the difference between the 10's of thousands of spectators at a Nascar Sprint Cup race and the spectator attendance at an NHRA national event. Yes, NASCAR attendance is down but the sanctioning body is taking proactive measures to reverse the trend. Not that it is soley NHRA's responsibility but you can't even compare the two sanctioning bodies when it comes to the marketing, preservation and expansion of the sports they individually regulate. The lower "classes" in NASCAR (truck, short track and grassroots, etc.) have not even come close to the level of degradation that the NHRA Sportsman categories have experienced, not entirely but largely due to business and common sense proactive measures taken by the sanctioning body. Whenever a regulatory agency choses to ignore a sizeable faction of it's knowledgeable member population it is rare that a declining scenario improves. Sad but true.... JMHO

Very good post on one of the problems with NHRA today.

[Dennis P Chapman]

Originally Posted by Jim B

Yes but any big corporation (or any well run business for that matter) aims to spend their advertising money to get the most exposure for the buck. It would be hard to justify expenditures in present day NHRA drag racing when you compare the difference between the 10's of thousands of spectators at a Nascar Sprint Cup race and the spectator attendance at an NHRA national event. Yes, NASCAR attendance is down but the sanctioning body is taking proactive measures to reverse the trend. Not that it is soley NHRA's responsibility but you can't even compare the two sanctioning bodies when it comes to the marketing, preservation and expansion of the sports they individually regulate. The lower "classes" in NASCAR (truck, short track and grassroots, etc.) have not even come close to the level of degradation that the NHRA Sportsman categories have experienced, not entirely but largely due to business and common sense proactive measures taken by the sanctioning body. Whenever a regulatory agency choses to ignore a sizeable faction of it's knowledgeable member population it is rare that a declining scenario improves. Sad but true.... JMHO

Good post Jimi.