the difference between a hobby and a business

NHRA Announces Increase to Racer Entry Insurance Fee
Effective for the 2011 season, NHRA is increasing the racer entry insurance fee at NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events.

Insurance is one of NHRA’s major costs of conducting race events. Insurance costs have risen over the years and NHRA has been affected by claims and litigation. Therefore, the racer entry insurance fee at national events will be increased to $95 per event. Though the increase will defray some costs, NHRA will continue to bear significant insurance costs.

NHRA appreciates the continued support of the racing community.

the difference between a hobby and a business is...a business can pass along increases in fixed operations costs......enough said.

 

Also a buissiness has the intent to make a profit

 

NHRA gets a new spot for 2011!

Starting January 1st, I will have marked a brand new spot on my ASS that NHRA can kiss for the entire year! How cool is that??

The other R4 guys generally feel the same way! If the NHRA wasn't hitting the spectators up for $200 a weekend to come to an event, then maybe, MAYBE we could understand the necessity to charge the entrants for nearly a hundred bucks of insurance coverage.

The fact is that the asswipes running the NHRA make a fortune at EVERY national event and it's now become a game to see just how much they can take EVERYBODY for at EVERY event.

They have long ago lost touch with the racers that they were originally intended to serve. THAT is why they were supported in the first place.

I say boycott the sons of bitches and move to smaller, regional, independent sanctioning organizations that focus back on the racers and track operators. Let the racers, spectators and track operators agree to no fault waivers for liability and accidents. Racing is a dangerous sport, for the racer and the spectators. Those that don't want to run that risk, stay home.

 

Well put and well said aa/fa 434...Dave

 

NHRA, NASCAR, NFL, just to name a few, have all become a joke. All about the profits. Then they wonder why attendance is down. Here's my money, now treat me like crap.

 

Bring some new life to your racing effort

That is exactly right. The NHRA has become focused on solely the money they can make (this is a privately-held corporation and the money goes into somebody's pocket - all of it!), and damned be the racers, track operators and the spectators. We have all become victims in this mad dash for fame and fortune- NHRA's mad dash! If the NHRA wanted to put the brakes on something, it should be this form of extortion that they commit against all of us, and NOT adding carbon brakes to cars that are occasionally running a 260 mph pass. Talk about unfunded mandates! Let's go hit the nostalgia guys with a $7000-$10,000 bill when they are already running nostalgia events because they have to keep their costs down. How thoughtful of the wizards of Glendale!

The NHRA used to be an organization that put things together for racers and HELPED racers achieve greatness. How long has it been since anyone had that mental connection with regard to the NHRA and the racers?

Now it's all about what the NHRA achieves and the measurement is along two lines - power and money. Well, shit, now that you think of it, they are about the same as some (many) government outfits - taking millions of dollars of our money to tell us things we don't want to hear, and to make us do things we don't want to do. And we have been fucking stupid enough to PAY THEM to do it - UP TO NOW!

You want to continue race with the NHRA after all the shit they have pulled on everyone for about the last 20-25 years? Then you get what they will continue to dish out - crap at a very expensive price. Many sports related organizations have folded for a lot less than what these asswipes have committed. When the Friday ticket went to the $50 range many years ago, I could see the writing on the wall, and I bailed then and have never been back. That was about 1993.

Start looking for alternative groups and organizations to help you get your racing needs and desires fulfilled, because that program has been cancelled at the NHRA due to lack of profit margin!

 

nhra sanction

Well while the NHRA might not treat the racers as well as we'd like. I bet the tracks you race at (if you race) are NHRA sanctioned and insured. You think that you're boycotting them but you really aren't . Problem is that with our litigation obsessed society the insurance part of the deal is a really important part. IF racers and fans would abide by the Waiver they sign and NOT SUE the NHRA when something goes wrong that would solve the problem. But everyone says " I understand the risk" and then sues anyway if something happens. For all the bitching some people do about NHRA, it is still the safest and best sandbox around. Maybe you should get a BASS BOAT?

 

Well said, Clint. Happy New Year!

 

I bet NHRA has been sued more than any of us will ever know! Whether its a fan who claims to have been hit by Debris in the stands, or some fan who gets bumped in the knee by someone in the Pits in a Golfcart! I have NO idea how much it costs NHRA to insure these races, but I bet it's more than any of us think it is!

 

Well said Clint!
Some days I just can't take all the negativity towards the sport we love. I remember years ago attending Disney University which was a 5 day business course. I was shocked at how many lawsuits they had going at anyone time.

We aren't quite as litigious north of the border but headed that way. You can sign the waiver but if your loved ones don't......

Happy New Year to you and Danette. Hope to see in March. I plan on scheduling some time to go racing this year.
Dale

 

Just keep bending over boys!

You guys just keep bending over. It will only hurt for as long as you keep doing it the way you have always done it.

For you and Randy to skew this to imply that I have some sort of hatred for the sport is so far off the mark as to be ridiculous! Every word I have written is IN support of the racers and their interests.

You have been so accustomed to taking whatever the NHRA dishes out as gospel, that you have lost the perspective of what the relationship started out to be, WITH the support of the racers, and evolved into IN SPITE of the needs of the racers.

If you think it's an issue involving the legal aspects of waivers not being the paper they're printed on, then maybe you should be supporting efforts toward legislation that would put a stop to that flaw.

We need to have a place to race. The NHRA has a small majority of these facilities under their control, but not all, by any means. They have become a “McDonalds” of the drag race world in the US. They serve a limited menu, and they set the price. What they have failed to understand is that we have other choices that we can opt for. Choices like the sanctioning bodies and facilities that allow us to race without carbon brakes, without foam formed seats, without a 21 gallon pump limit, without the need to test and tag hoses and so on and fucking on!

What does a business do when it sees the customer base it once had moving to other suppliers of the service or product it sells? THAT is what never seems to happen with the folks at Glendora. They have ALWAYS felt that their word was law throughout the industry and with so many wanting to still run their deal, they didn’t have to change. You ever stop to run the numbers of how much money this privately held company takes in versus what they put out to run a national event? They are nearly in the "To big to fail" category!

I pulled my first NHRA membership card in 1965, because of who they were then and refused to renew in 1993 because of who they had become. As a racer with over 6 decades of racing years under MY belt, I take exception to you insinuating that I need to get a bass boat. You likely don’t have enough time in grade in the racing world to suggest anything of the kind to me.

You’ll be hearing from my lawyer, (cause you look like you intend to keep on bending over anyway). Did I sign any waivers when I logged on here?

 

Awesome NFC car

Clint - aside from our differences regarding the barons of Glendora, your Nostalgia Funny car is awsome! You have done a great job on that piece!

And I do race - A Blown Fuel Altered that will be doing double duty in 2011 as a NFC '71 Mach 1 Mustang, running a 526" TFX 2000, AJPE fuel heads, single 6.6 amp point mag, 14-71 std helix blower and a 30 gpm pump. 85-90%

Needless to say with that combination, I will not be running any NHRA classic funny car events, but I will nevertheless have a full season at ligitimate and safe facilities.

You guys be safe and have a great year!

 

reminds me of the movie Animal House..... Thank you sir may I have another.........

 

It is always easy to constantly take it in the ass if you have money, otherwise if you
are a nobody that only makes ,..say 40k a year and has spent the last 10-15 years building up your racing career, buying a used/new car as it was possible, a better motor combo regaurdless if it would set you back a little, and actually be competitive in TA/FC with it,well sorta anyhow, and with out a sponsor,..That is the majority of all Drag Racers,..then comes along, and mostly in recent years,..rule change after rule change. ka ching ka ching,..Now we have to struggle to get to the track let alone park the hot rods because you cant afford the updates, and sfi bullshit that has been implimented as a second guess result to a tragic accident, that wasnt even the cause,..FIX THE PROBLEM,..insted of creating a ficticious rule or a part that is not the result to the original ass bender. Are you saying its all about pleasing the insurance companies..???
Is the nhra just the whipping post to goverment standards, California EPA, local noise ordinance laws,..Is the Nhra really just a struggling non profit my ass organization that because of their location(Glendora) has been bent over backwards for so long that each and everyone of the Dictators carry their own KY Jell,..???? Either way,..
Nhra is what it Is. You can either afford to play, and never pucker,..or you can be frusted and carry the KY jell where ever you go..OR you can say Fuk that,..and Hope for another sandlot to be either re formed,.or formed.

ITS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY,....NOT THE RACER @ nhra

And I still have not recieved my Membership card that I paid for back in Feb, 2010.

THIS IS FOR YOU NOSTALGIA RACERS,..Nostalgia racing was away to continue your passion for drag racing, old school,.and without thenhra breathing down your knecks, you quit racing back in the 80`s because the big show became a sponsors deal with advertising and the cars no longer looked like cars,..no 30 years later a fun thing has been happening and its called nostalgia racing and your loving it,..But..Its taking away from Nhra Glendora, and they see how much money was changing hands, and they want it all, so now you have the heritage series, and tracks that are out there that might have had nostalgia races but dont now because they are told not to especially if nhra sanctioned and the vent is not THE nhra`s race....Nothing but greed, and Monopoly, with the guys with money calling the shots instead of the mojority... Drag racing was about putting cars with motors together and to see how fast they could go, or if you could beat another opponent at the game of Drag racing, now you cant even use ingenuity, creativity, or the cars we have built,...Clint,Tell us why you are no longer going to race the N/FC class....????? I mean unless you put a chrysler hemi in it of course,..But why are you selling.???
You know there could be other places to race your mustang other than the Heritage right..??

So now I just read this on another board,..and,.. IT ALL MAKES SENCE NOW.

FU BAR

 

Dissociative identity disorder?

First you threaten to sue him, then you compliment his car.

Just sayin'

 

I can't believe what I'm reading here.

 

The way I'm told by people in the know is that when the N/FC's started running into the 5.90's,an NHRA Heritage official let it be known to whom ever would listen, that they were going to be slapped with the same safety rules as the alcohol classes,and that makes perfect sense (not that I agree with all the rules).There is no conspiricy theory here.Yes,there are a few that did'nt (and still don't) care and now look,5.60's over 250 mph,but you can't blame them,they are racers and thats what racers do.There is always the independent races,(and match races) aside from the NHRA Heritage Series,so run what you can and be happy you have a car and somewheres to race.

 

If a increase in Insurance is enough to force a racer out of this sport, my guess is they were leaning that way anyway!!!

 

Kiss my ass

Very good post !! I'm in total aggrement

 

Thanks, Butch.

A few others on the forum and another one think I'm too radical for the common good. They have been bent over for so long that they think that's the way these things are supposed to be. Those of us that remember when this thing was getting its' wind, back in the early 60's, this wasn't how it was done. While the NHRA still made money then, it wasn't this all-consuming monster that it has become in the last 20-25 years. About the time that TNN and Diamond P Sports went their separate ways from the NHRA is when I first started to take note of the new philosophy, - "Screw them all out of as much as you can and blame it on __________(add a name here)."

It's long past time for a change!