Why Aren't You Racing? - Page 8

X-TECH MAN · 07-03-2010, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AC

I think john is right about the round money, anything and everything helps. When i raced i never raced to make money, i would have loved to win a race (best i went was three rounds) but racing and the people were what brought me out.

The other problem with track time is the curfew some tracks have or the starting time. I think if they could cut it down to two days more people would run the events.

In order to cut the race down to 2 days some of the current classes that are open to these races will have to be left out. Which ones get the axe? Who decides this? Its a numbers game.....the more entrys that show up the more money the track makes. The associations usually get their money even if only a hand full of cars show up due to the contract.

Aubrey N Bruneau · 07-03-2010, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

Love your car......It takes me back to a better time. I applaude you for running an "09".

thanks, TECH MAN... now if I can only "run" it a few times this year !

tim worner · 07-03-2010, 09:29 AM

Good example will be next weekend,Jul 10-11,@Beaver Springs. Stock Super Stock combo race as part of the York US 30 reunion show. Come Sat. test&tune all day for $30 camp or park your rig overnight and be part of the show Sun for & $125 100% payback and a fabulous show and great time. The only excuse can be it's to far to travel or you died.

Beth Denysenko · 07-03-2010, 09:39 AM

We intended on racing at Clay City this weekend, but the mechanical issues of one of the two tow vehicles thwarted that. If it had been a closer race, we would have forced our way there, but an 8 hour drive each way on little to no sleep after working hard all day to correct the issue - we pulled the plug with safety in mind. For both us and those who would share the road with us. We are "die-hard" racers, but not with a death wish.

We run three cars, two ride on an open trailer towed by a crew cab truck, the other rides in a small enclosed behind the motorhome. We looked for 18 months to find our motorhome, used free flights to fly to Florida and buy it with cash and drive it home. Saved over half what a similar model near us would sell for and got exactly what we wanted. We owe no money on anything with wheels in our household. Nothing.

A motorhome is a huge quality of life issue for us, and me in particular so that makes that part of the financial equation priceless! We have two large dogs that go with us everywhere - I wouldn't race if we had to board them every weekend we are gone, and there are 40+ other weekends in the year we are home so I don't allow what happens on twelve weekends to decide who is in our family the other 40. Try renting a hotel that allows one dog, let alone two dogs that aren't teacup sized. Nowdays you end up paying more to let your dogs stay with you than the original rent for the room. And I would argue our dogs are cleaner than some of the people who have stayed in these rooms!

AND the motorhome allows us to enjoy an equally important part of the racing experience - more time with our friends at the track. The best part of the day is cracking a drink and breaking bread with your friends after the racing is done. It's hard to do that when you have to leave asap to drive the half hour to the hotel so you can get enough sleep to see straight when you get up at 4:30 am, get everyone in the shower, grab breakfast and get to the track at 6:30 so your car is warmed up and cooled down by the 8 am call to the lanes. I love being able to roll out of bed, brush my hair and my teeth, warm up the car, then shower while it's cooling down. Quality of life . . . .

The main rule is when the checkbook is empty, we don't go. We will not go into debt to do this. But we will love every minute when we are there!!!

X-TECH MAN · 07-03-2010, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tim worner

Good example will be next weekend,Jul 10-11,@Beaver Springs. Stock Super Stock combo race as part of the York US 30 reunion show. Come Sat. test&tune all day for $30 camp or park your rig overnight and be part of the show Sun for & $125 100% payback and a fabulous show and great time. The only excuse can be it's to far to travel or you died.

Im coming up from Florida just to watch.....No car yet......Im not dead YET even though some would wish I would drop dead and not post on this forum anymore.....lol. . Will be at York on Sat. and Carlise on Friday. Hope the weather is good and no rain.

X-TECH MAN · 07-03-2010, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beth Kieffer

We intended on racing at Clay City this weekend, but the mechanical issues of one of the two tow vehicles thwarted that. If it had been a closer race, we would have forced our way there, but an 8 hour drive each way on little to no sleep after working hard all day to correct the issue - we pulled the plug with safety in mind. For both us and those who would share the road with us. We are "die-hard" racers, but not with a death wish.

We run three cars, two ride on an open trailer towed by a crew cab truck, the other rides in a small enclosed behind the motorhome. We looked for 18 months to find our motorhome, used free flights to fly to Florida and buy it with cash and drive it home. Saved over half what a similar model near us would sell for and got exactly what we wanted. We owe no money on anything with wheels in our household. Nothing.

A motorhome is a huge quality of life issue for us, and me in particular so that makes that part of the financial equation priceless! We have two large dogs that go with us everywhere - I wouldn't race if we had to board them every weekend we are gone, and there are 40+ other weekends in the year we are home so I don't allow what happens on twelve weekends to decide who is in our family the other 40. Try renting a hotel that allows one dog, let alone two dogs that aren't teacup sized. Nowdays you end up paying more to let your dogs stay with you than the original rent for the room. And I would argue our dogs are cleaner than some of the people who have stayed in these rooms!

AND the motorhome allows us to enjoy an equally important part of the racing experience - more time with our friends at the track. The best part of the day is cracking a drink and breaking bread with your friends after the racing is done. It's hard to do that when you have to leave asap to drive the half hour to the hotel so you can get enough sleep to see straight when you get up at 4:30 am, get everyone in the shower, grab breakfast and get to the track at 6:30 so your car is warmed up and cooled down by the 8 am call to the lanes. I love being able to roll out of bed, brush my hair and my teeth, warm up the car, then shower while it's cooling down. Quality of life . . . .

The main rule is when the checkbook is empty, we don't go. We will not go into debt to do this. But we will love every minute when we are there!!!

I agree with the motor home deal. As we get older quality of life far out weighs other things. One dosent HAVE to buy a 1/4 or 1/2 million dollar motor home and stacker trailers to be more comfortable. I see lots of motor homes in like new low mileage condition for less than a new pick up or crew cab truck. By the way Alex......I thought your vast winnings was supposed to pay for the racing......lol. Take care and hope to see you again someday and would like to meet Beth. The U.S. Class Nationals will forever be one of the high points of my being a tech guy even though the weather was about 150 degrees .

treessavoy · 07-03-2010, 01:28 PM

Jim,

For me it's the money to finish the car.

I'm a disabled vet with a fixed pay day, I haven't had a pay raise in 3 years and I won't get another for who knows when. that means that I have lost 3% of my pay each year due to inflation.

Converting the car to legal Stock has cost more than I estimated.

Other costs: new roof on house, new well pump, someone vandalized and totaled my '99 Dodge truck so I had to buy a new truck, Max the Wonder dog almost died from an infection and that cost $800.00, lawn tractor died, and a hundred other expensive little things just ate away at my budget.

Once done I will still only race with the SSSSA even though the car will be IHRA legal due to the expense of long distance travel.

Note: for those that think spending $800.00 on my dog is dumb I would point out that I'd throw away the race car before I'd let Max down.......Jim knows about that.

JimR

Paul Plummer · 07-03-2010, 05:05 PM

Jim,

Fantastic Post! Everyone is dead on with the economic times,cost, rules migration and the aging population of Stock and Superstock racers who are slowing down as retirement age approaches.

Although the factors covered so well in this string are contributing to the immediate reduction in car counts, there is another issue that needs to be brought to light as well as some potential solutions.

Like many of you on this forum, I eat, sleep, drink and dream about drag racing. As I get older I am really concerned that the nostalgia stock and super stockers (1975 and earlier), the essence of this sport, will go by the way of the dinosaur. Shy of a few father/son teams, the youth of today were not raised in the 60's and 70's and have little appreciation or interest in these cars not to mention the science of class racing.

The new muscle cars are cool but so expensive that young people cannot afford to own one let alone set one up for class racing. In my opinion, the only way to get new blood into this sport which would help the industry in times of economic downturn, is to figure out how to attract the youngsters of today to the muscle cars of yesterday.

I am not sure how each of you became interested in the sport of drag racing? For me it was two of my "cool" uncles who took me for a ride across town in their SS B/Mod production Mustang at the ripe old age of 6. I was hooked the minute they started that car and remember be scared, nervous and excited all at the same time. The result of that day ( I remember every detail as if it were yesterday) has been the life long pursuit of getting an education and financially situated enough to enjoy drag racing. I am 100% a budget racer from trailer park roots. It took me until 1992 to actually get financially ahead enough to buy a car and race locally and until 2005 to field a stock eliminator car. The point is that it took from age 6 to age 24 to be able to start my racing career. Had I not been exposed at that young age, I would probably ended up being another video gamer.

The hook was being able to sit inside and experience one of these fire breathing dragons, something you cannot do from the stands or your sofa via the television set or video game console. From the stands all of these cars look slow compared to rail dragsters, alcohol cars, etc.

If our sport is to survive and along with it these classic stock and superstock muscle cars, we need to put together a grass roots movement to attract the youth of today to the old muscle.

Here is an idea:

The 2 schools in my area have about 2000 kids each. Only about 200 kids in each (10%) can make the sports teams. Another 200 each can participate in some of the other extra curricular activities. So lets say this leaves 1600 other kids in each school not involved in extra-curricular activities.

So you go to your local school and talk to the administrators and talk to them about this new "Geezer Program" you are trying to promote at your local track. The program consists of letting the "too young to drive crowd" take a ride in your car through the pits and down the track (not under full power) to experience the sights and sounds and a little of the feel of the big power. Ask the school administrators to poll the students/parents for interest. Next talk to your local track operator to see if they would be interested hosting a "Geezer Program" and let the know there is interest on the part of the school. THEN MAKE IT HAPPEN!

For the children of driving age who may be interested, pick out one or two kids, train them on how to drive your car, set the rev limiter in your MSD to 4000 rpm and let them take it for a spin with you in the seat next to them.

I am working on a proposal to present to my local track in Spokane, WA to put something together like this as a way to give back to the sport. At the very least it will be cool to see the kids eyes light up when I hit the throttle and would make for a fun track day. I remember one event in Denver, CO where I had 4 handicapped kids in the car for a ride down the track. Two of the youngsters had tears in their eyes (happy) when it was over and all four asked me for my autograph. The rest of that week-end I had a 4 person cheering section at my trailer after every round. It was cool.

If anyone in the Spokane, Coeur D Alene, ID area reads this post and would be interested in working on a "Geezer Project" please email me at m900rider@gmail.com.

fredjohnston · 07-03-2010, 07:09 PM

[QUOTE=Michael Beard;195743]It's not worth picking apart point by point, but I could do the same trip for nearly half. I may not be keeping up with the Jones's off the track or in the pits, but I make up for it on the race track

Mr.Beard....how many times a day do you hug yourself??????

GRAPE · 07-04-2010, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tim worner

Good example will be next weekend,Jul 10-11,@Beaver Springs. Stock Super Stock combo race as part of the York US 30 reunion show. Come Sat. test&tune all day for $30 camp or park your rig overnight and be part of the show Sun for & $125 100% payback and a fabulous show and great time. The only excuse can be it's to far to travel or you died.

Does this event have a year restriction on the Stock /Super Stock Combo?
Pre 1975 ?

07-03-2010, 09:29 AM	#73
tim worner Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: duncannon Posts: 837 Likes: 14 Liked 126 Times in 20 Posts	Re: Why Aren't You Racing? Good example will be next weekend,Jul 10-11,@Beaver Springs. Stock Super Stock combo race as part of the York US 30 reunion show. Come Sat. test&tune all day for $30 camp or park your rig overnight and be part of the show Sun for & $125 100% payback and a fabulous show and great time. The only excuse can be it's to far to travel or you died. __________________ Tim Worner SS 1747

07-03-2010, 09:39 AM	#74
Beth Denysenko Live Reporter Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: NW Indiana Posts: 426 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Why Aren't You Racing? We intended on racing at Clay City this weekend, but the mechanical issues of one of the two tow vehicles thwarted that. If it had been a closer race, we would have forced our way there, but an 8 hour drive each way on little to no sleep after working hard all day to correct the issue - we pulled the plug with safety in mind. For both us and those who would share the road with us. We are "die-hard" racers, but not with a death wish. We run three cars, two ride on an open trailer towed by a crew cab truck, the other rides in a small enclosed behind the motorhome. We looked for 18 months to find our motorhome, used free flights to fly to Florida and buy it with cash and drive it home. Saved over half what a similar model near us would sell for and got exactly what we wanted. We owe no money on anything with wheels in our household. Nothing. A motorhome is a huge quality of life issue for us, and me in particular so that makes that part of the financial equation priceless! We have two large dogs that go with us everywhere - I wouldn't race if we had to board them every weekend we are gone, and there are 40+ other weekends in the year we are home so I don't allow what happens on twelve weekends to decide who is in our family the other 40. Try renting a hotel that allows one dog, let alone two dogs that aren't teacup sized. Nowdays you end up paying more to let your dogs stay with you than the original rent for the room. And I would argue our dogs are cleaner than some of the people who have stayed in these rooms! AND the motorhome allows us to enjoy an equally important part of the racing experience - more time with our friends at the track. The best part of the day is cracking a drink and breaking bread with your friends after the racing is done. It's hard to do that when you have to leave asap to drive the half hour to the hotel so you can get enough sleep to see straight when you get up at 4:30 am, get everyone in the shower, grab breakfast and get to the track at 6:30 so your car is warmed up and cooled down by the 8 am call to the lanes. I love being able to roll out of bed, brush my hair and my teeth, warm up the car, then shower while it's cooling down. Quality of life . . . . The main rule is when the checkbook is empty, we don't go. We will not go into debt to do this. But we will love every minute when we are there!!! __________________ Beth Denysenko P/SA 330 www.moneymakerracing.net

07-03-2010, 01:28 PM	#77
treessavoy VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Dunnellon,FL Posts: 1,103 Likes: 0 Liked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Why Aren't You Racing? Jim, For me it's the money to finish the car. I'm a disabled vet with a fixed pay day, I haven't had a pay raise in 3 years and I won't get another for who knows when. that means that I have lost 3% of my pay each year due to inflation. Converting the car to legal Stock has cost more than I estimated. Other costs: new roof on house, new well pump, someone vandalized and totaled my '99 Dodge truck so I had to buy a new truck, Max the Wonder dog almost died from an infection and that cost $800.00, lawn tractor died, and a hundred other expensive little things just ate away at my budget. Once done I will still only race with the SSSSA even though the car will be IHRA legal due to the expense of long distance travel. Note: for those that think spending $800.00 on my dog is dumb I would point out that I'd throw away the race car before I'd let Max down.......Jim knows about that. JimR __________________ Jim Rountree

07-03-2010, 05:05 PM	#78
Paul Plummer Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Coeur D Alene, Idaho Posts: 67 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Why Aren't You Racing? Jim, Fantastic Post! Everyone is dead on with the economic times,cost, rules migration and the aging population of Stock and Superstock racers who are slowing down as retirement age approaches. Although the factors covered so well in this string are contributing to the immediate reduction in car counts, there is another issue that needs to be brought to light as well as some potential solutions. Like many of you on this forum, I eat, sleep, drink and dream about drag racing. As I get older I am really concerned that the nostalgia stock and super stockers (1975 and earlier), the essence of this sport, will go by the way of the dinosaur. Shy of a few father/son teams, the youth of today were not raised in the 60's and 70's and have little appreciation or interest in these cars not to mention the science of class racing. The new muscle cars are cool but so expensive that young people cannot afford to own one let alone set one up for class racing. In my opinion, the only way to get new blood into this sport which would help the industry in times of economic downturn, is to figure out how to attract the youngsters of today to the muscle cars of yesterday. I am not sure how each of you became interested in the sport of drag racing? For me it was two of my "cool" uncles who took me for a ride across town in their SS B/Mod production Mustang at the ripe old age of 6. I was hooked the minute they started that car and remember be scared, nervous and excited all at the same time. The result of that day ( I remember every detail as if it were yesterday) has been the life long pursuit of getting an education and financially situated enough to enjoy drag racing. I am 100% a budget racer from trailer park roots. It took me until 1992 to actually get financially ahead enough to buy a car and race locally and until 2005 to field a stock eliminator car. The point is that it took from age 6 to age 24 to be able to start my racing career. Had I not been exposed at that young age, I would probably ended up being another video gamer. The hook was being able to sit inside and experience one of these fire breathing dragons, something you cannot do from the stands or your sofa via the television set or video game console. From the stands all of these cars look slow compared to rail dragsters, alcohol cars, etc. If our sport is to survive and along with it these classic stock and superstock muscle cars, we need to put together a grass roots movement to attract the youth of today to the old muscle. Here is an idea: The 2 schools in my area have about 2000 kids each. Only about 200 kids in each (10%) can make the sports teams. Another 200 each can participate in some of the other extra curricular activities. So lets say this leaves 1600 other kids in each school not involved in extra-curricular activities. So you go to your local school and talk to the administrators and talk to them about this new "Geezer Program" you are trying to promote at your local track. The program consists of letting the "too young to drive crowd" take a ride in your car through the pits and down the track (not under full power) to experience the sights and sounds and a little of the feel of the big power. Ask the school administrators to poll the students/parents for interest. Next talk to your local track operator to see if they would be interested hosting a "Geezer Program" and let the know there is interest on the part of the school. THEN MAKE IT HAPPEN! For the children of driving age who may be interested, pick out one or two kids, train them on how to drive your car, set the rev limiter in your MSD to 4000 rpm and let them take it for a spin with you in the seat next to them. I am working on a proposal to present to my local track in Spokane, WA to put something together like this as a way to give back to the sport. At the very least it will be cool to see the kids eyes light up when I hit the throttle and would make for a fun track day. I remember one event in Denver, CO where I had 4 handicapped kids in the car for a ride down the track. Two of the youngsters had tears in their eyes (happy) when it was over and all four asked me for my autograph. The rest of that week-end I had a 4 person cheering section at my trailer after every round. It was cool. If anyone in the Spokane, Coeur D Alene, ID area reads this post and would be interested in working on a "Geezer Project" please email me at m900rider@gmail.com.

07-03-2010, 07:09 PM	#79
fredjohnston Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 341 Likes: 0 Liked 55 Times in 14 Posts	Re: Why Aren't You Racing? [QUOTE=Michael Beard;195743]It's not worth picking apart point by point, but I could do the same trip for nearly half. I may not be keeping up with the Jones's off the track or in the pits, but I make up for it on the race track Mr.Beard....how many times a day do you hug yourself??????