Did Anybody Else Catch This?!

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

He didn't lose his edge so much as he lost all his backing. That tends to stop the wins and the development in a class that costs as much as Pro Stock does.

Unfortunately, he may be right. This country is not the "car loving" society/nation it once was, there are not even that many real "car people" in the OE automotive businesses. The economy is not great, and will not be for a while, if not a long while. NHRA has been trying to strangle all of the geese laying the golden eggs for a while.

I'm not saying it's time to pack it in. I am saying that we've seen far better days, and will not see them again without changes. And the changes are not likely so long as some of the people now in power remain there.

I'm not one of the regular "clic" here.....but to throw my .02 in anyway..........this is spot on for sure.
I went to the Southerns ( Atlanta ) this year and the vender participation was non existent , the number of fans way down and the appeal of the racing overall just doesn't have the same "feel" as it did 20 years ago.
The countdown is dumb and should go away , Pro Stock needs a complete overhaul as it is anyway ( to small blocks / fuel injection / turbos ) and the guys driving ( most of them , Coughlin comes to mind ).....those cars probably aren't car people anyway and certainly don't turn wrenches on anything. I have no respect for the pure "drivers" at all.
The NHRA is an archaic santioning body that has no clue as to what fans want , apparently.
Too bad its not up to me.....
Funny car would be dropped completely.
Pro Stock would change
Pro Mod would be included at every national event ( since they have a lot of fan appeal and are just generally pretty cool anyway).
Nostalgia Gas would become a new permanant class
Drop all Super classes ( comp , gas and street ) at national events.

[Dan Fahey]

One of the cool attributes of early Pro Stock were the launches.
Another was raising the launch rpm and screaming high rpm shifts.

None of the current pro cars can do wheelies and live.

[cicero819]

I might be repeating myself but here goes, NHRA is getting ready to say good by to Pro-Stock ,very soon. What makes me say this, is very simple, when I was at the U.S. National in Indy all their ads stated Top Fuel Dragster, Funny Cars and wait... Pro Mod, not one word about Pro-Stock, in one T.V ad they even showed Super-Stocks doing wheelies to attract new consumers. I've said it many times, return to a showroom look and let them lift their collective front-ends and watch the breed gain some much needed love from the spectators. As for W.J. he's a professional Ahole and proud of it, never cared about his competitor when he had the big budget and now that he has to count his pennies now, W.J. is pointing the finger at the others that do spend to keep up, he never cared for any spectators, so I won't lose too much sleep thinking about his plight. I remember Jason Line taking the time to talk to this little girl at the U.S. national and showing her the inside of the car and making her feel important, I know one thing he's got a fan for life with that little girl.Claude Ruel p.s. and yes Ed, we aren't an automotive society anymore.lol

[Alan Roehrich]

Yeah, I guess you missed the part where WJ had several of the Make A Wish kids in his pits.

Never had a problem with Warren, always has a minute for me when I approach him.

He is however, a curmudgeon, and rather hard to get to know. He's got an extremely dry and droll sense of humor, and most people do not understand it, they miss the sarcasm, too.

[Gary Smith]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

....He is however, a curmudgeon, and rather hard to get to know. He's got an extremely dry and droll sense of humor, and most people do not understand it, they miss the sarcasm, too.

......what I meant to say.

[D.Johns]

My wife likes WJ. Her favorite moment was when Erica Enders was pouting about losing a round and WJ was just looking over at her having a grin on his face that you could tell what he was thinking.

Our favorite current driver is Vincent Nobile. Just a good kid that can drive and the whole family is having fun. Did I mention that kid can DRIVE!
Of course I have to rout for Larry Morgan because he's in a Mustang and also is a down to earth and also doesn't fear saying what he feels.

[cicero819]

Mr Roehrich I also didn't see him wake up on Christmas morning and dropped off food at Little Tim Cratchit's house also. Claude Ruel

[69ss/rs]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

Yeah, I guess you missed the part where WJ had several of the Make A Wish kids in his pits.

Never had a problem with Warren, always has a minute for me when I approach him.

He is however, a curmudgeon, and rather hard to get to know. He's got an extremely dry and droll sense of humor, and most people do not understand it, they miss the sarcasm, too.

Same here Alan, Warren has always had time to talk when ever I approached him; it was Arlene you had to watch out for.

[cutta]

So minus all the complaints and rants, are there any realistic resolutions in here?

All the Pro Stock and Funny Car body changes results in scrapping $100k cars which is unrealistic and doesn't take into consideration how your current parity will be maintained and how to make an OEM body as stable at 214mph. Ranting is all nice and good but looking for resolutions is much more productive.

I do know this though, with the consumer market of auto enthusiasts being smaller, NHRA's job is harder than ever. I for sure wouldn't want that job and I got a feeling that none of us would be happy doing it either because of the politics and people pleasing that would have to be done behind closed doors in order to keep enough money coming in the door to stay above water.

[pontiacchuck]

all top nhra top brass take a big pay cut that would help and put that money into cheaper tickets more people coming to races family of 4 cost 300 a day for tickets food and drinks with the country in bad sharp people do not have that kind of money