Funny Cars running for nothing... Selling ourselves short!

irst let me start by saying I wish all programs luck. I would never talk down about any promotion. I am not bashing the way anyone does anything, I just want you to look at the bigger picture in reference to running open shows.... On that note....I have almost 20 teams of competitive Alcohol Funny Cars that run for Earth Shaking Entertainment. I myself have been involved in the class for more then 20 years. I was just a child when I began going to the track with my father. I have seen the class when there were 30 teams showing up for the "Night of Fire" at New England Dragway. When both NHRA and IHRA had HUGE showings at their respected National Events. These days I hear more and more how this class is a dying breed. I remember the Richard Polcaros, the Dickie and Charlie Bells. When Bob Sweet and the Boston Strangler was the only guy with a Big Rig. Even though I knew the names and the stars, I did not know the financial aspect of the sport, match racing in particular. In the late 80's guys were making $1,000 for two passes at a match race. Now here it is in 2008 and a lot of the promotions are still getting just $1,000 or less for two passes. Over the last 3 years I have tried to retrain a lot of these track owners from thinking that Funny Cars will run for nothing. We are an ever evolving class. Over time the cost to build your team and then keep it operational has sky rocketed. Yet we are still running for the same amount of money. The National money is o.k. if you go a few rounds. The Divisional payout is a friggin joke. But match racing was where you could make a little cash while testing your stuff and having some fun. These days our class is not running the "Night of Fires" any more. We are finding it harder and harder to book quality shows even at not-so quality tracks. Is it because of the economy? Maybe a little. Are we not seeing the 6-8 car match races because of gas prices? I doubt it... Mostly it comes from promotions that we get involved in that pay next to nothing. I have seen in the past two years especially, where a promotion gets booked into a track. That promotion might pay out $1,200 - $2,000 to the winner. The runner up makes $500 and you might get $100 to qualify. So this promotion has charged the track less then $4000 and 10 cars show up. This 10 car show as a match race, where we all get paid closer to what we deserve would be MUCH more expensive! I have gotten more money for teams then most pay. We put on a GREAT show and that helps. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for. The Pro Mod class has KILLED us the last few years. I love that class but they will get 6 buddies together and run for next to nothing. Not only run but run fast! So, when I come around and have a 4 car show, every team makes 2 passes and the quickest two come back for a 3rd and final round, our cost is closer to $6,200. So of course the track owner is going to have a heart attack when he gets our rates. He just had a race with pro mods, Funny Cars and dragsters for less then $4,000! Also, you have to qualify at these open events which means you may have to lean on it just a tad or you make NO money. And most of the time there is at least one dragster that is running low 3.80's and is hard pressed to be beat anyways. So you are now running harder then you would be at a match race and you are running maybe two laps just for qualifying purposes. Even if you do win the whole thing you may have made 5 passes to make $1,800! Is it just me or is this CRAZY? We have no one else to blame but ourselves. We keep joining into these open events. When the track thinks he can get 10 cars for $4,000 where a couple of us get paid and he still makes a ton at the gate, who is going to book a match race of even four cars for $5,800 where every team has the chance to win and make $1,500 - $1,800 for three passes and no one goes home with less then $1,000 - $1,200 for two passes? These numbers are only for example purposes but you get where I am coming from. So, in closing, I still believe that there is no other beast like an alcohol funny car on the planet. The bodies, short wheel bases, it is a class like no other. They have always been one of the toughest classes as a driver to control. and I think the Funny Car will always have its place in Drag racing History as a crowd favorite. I wish all promotions good luck. But do NOT sell yourself short. When you run for nothing not only are you selling yourself short but you are selling our class short. And if you haven't noticed... Our class has been getting its ass kicked by both sanctions for years, and we need all the help we can get!

Jagger

Earth Shaking Entertainment

 

I agree with you 100%,..
Who all, and how, shall the class ban together to make this seriuous point
get threw to the corparate NHRA/,..or IHRA.
Its their sand lot,..and most do this because they love it. point is they love it so much that they dont want to raise a flag or a arm to say, hello,. this is not enough money for us to be trying to be competitive,..so what it boils down to is not all, are going to lean on their motors to win a race, or go to the next round,..oh wait a minute thats all besides the point,..the point is they, (you guys), the owners/drivers of these alcohol cars dont want to pull together and say no more $7.95 a hour.,OR .$3500 to win a divisional race,.LMFAO..it costs more than that, just to get to the track,..or thats how much it cost us just to qaulify,..
.JAGGER,..I hear ya,..and most drivers hear ya too,...But who is going to be
the one who takes over 200 top alcohol signatures to glendora and tells them that if they want to see the top alcohol class run, they (nhra/ihra) are going to need to make the divisional prize money for winning $7500.00 and runner up $2000.00 and first round losers $800.00,..
Peanuts are for elaphants, ....these are your cars that provide the entertainment/show that the Nhra/Ihra and the tracks that you run on make money by charging $20-$40 bucks to watch per person,..unless someone steps up and forms some kind of union or something NOTHING WILL CHANGE,
except the cost of oil/fuel/spark plugs, and the price for a .25 cent,.woops I mean $5.00 hot dog.

But yea I agree with ya Jagger,..
The match race seen is a whole lot different than the former Pro sportsman deal,..at least with a match race you can barder/ or talk it out to make a deal with 1o cars or so,....Nhra,..nobody wants to step up.

let the bashing begin,...like oh the tracks have to pay insurance , or pay their employees, or this is how much it costs to rent the track,.
.BIG F IN BIG DEAL,.. your in the business of having a track,..
thats your problem and not the show that puts money in your Pockets


Vic

 

the last couple of match races I went to had only acouple of div hitter cars. in fact they both had 6 cars there total. one of the tracks used to get 20+ cars. the hitter cars at least have sponsorship money. I dont want to sound rude , but at least it gives alittle room for us slower cars to go play. as for payouts, match races are not controled by nhra. and long ago we racers acceptted we are whores, we just need to quit being cheapies

 

payouts

Guys,
I am not talking about boycotting NHRA / IHRA National events. The payout at NHRA Nationals are not horrible, the divisional payout sucks! Is there something we can do about those issues? Probably not. But we can have a huge impact on what we make at match races. My only point is if some of us keep giving a good show, yet run for nothing.... We are all going to be expected to run for nothing.

 

jagger, your getting yourself all worked up. unfortunatly funny car matchracing is dead on the east coast. sorry. the shows got stale. it was always the same 4 or 6 cars and the same outcome except for a little excitement once in a while. i do agree with you about some of the imatation pro mod shows, but nowadays track owners look at the bottom line after the race and what packs the stands is what makes the bottom line look the best. its evolution you have to adapt or become a statistic.

 

Food For Thought.........

It all makes good sence. They treat the Alcohol Funny cars like we are the bottom of the barrel. I remember going to the track with my brother and brother in law in the 70's and early 80's and watching these assume machines, shake, rattle and roll and I thought this was great. I know the people pay for a show, and the promoters want to make the bucks. That is why we do what we do also, but its not always about the bottom dollar, its about the fun of it all. We need to make some money so we can make it to the next show. Who knows maybe next year there will be less Alcohol Funny car's showing up and maybe someone with money or a great plan will put a new league together for us like the boy's over at the ADRL. These guys get about 40-50,000 people comming out to watch there FANTASTIC event's. There needs to be a message sent out to these guys that we need HELP or else there will be
a smaller field at every show. A friend of mine suggested that we try to talk
as a group and see what we can up with to help our breed of car's.
Just a thought, no harm in trying to come up with idea's.

 

Adrl

I just got a call from a buddy of mine at another clutch company, who was just in Dallas this last weekend for the ADRL event, as I was reading this thread.

75,000 people(!), 50 pro mod cars, approx. 35 Nitrous, 15 Blown. They were turning haulers around at the gate Saturday. They were also running very late into the night, he said @ 12:30A.M. they were still running and the stands were still 2/3 full. Like it or not, those damn door cars are drawing one hell of a crowd!

 

It's In My Blood....( Vic )
Last week Natan Sitko said in his tread, that Bucky was going to have
"Pro Comp" at Spokane.
I've also heard that a number of cars are interested in establising a program,
and that a list has been started. Contact Rich at capracing.com as he has asked for names.
This could be a start!!
Craig

 

Thanks

Will, thank you for the correction. My source isn't the most reliable at times, thanks for the facts!!

 

That is awesome, and this gives a new outreach and future to those guys
that have cars , to decide which way to go with their combos,..
oh wait a minute,..how much does it pay ???...Lol just kidding.
next to the Nostalgia AA/FC,.. Pro Comp will be a huge class, Trust me.

Thanks for the info Craig.,.


Vic

 

There already is a group of nostalgia alky funny cars in the NW that will be organized for '09. Right now the count is 8 active cars and we are looking for more. 6.90 index,'79 and older bodies and no screw blowers. If you're interested PM me with your email and I'll get back with you.

 

Vic,
Rich from Cap racing, told me that Bucky put his name on the list.
We'll stand by for news.....huh???
Me

 

ADRL Racing

I noticed in the threads that were talking about the ADRL races at the Texas Motorplex no one said that the ADRL gives away 10,000"s of thousands of tickets to fill the house. They make their money by charging the racers and charging $10.00 per car to park. I do not know who runs the concession but someone makes a lot of money there selling beer and eats. I also understand their was a extra cost to get to the pit area even though they get in the main spectator side free.

 

I took my junk to race pro extreme, but after seeing 46 top notch 3 sec pro mods and a entry fee of almost $350.00, I decided best to set out. Cost me $80.00 to get a arm band to go on the start line to help my buddy back up and stage who was short on help. But it was a great show .

 

What would it take to interest a group of tafc to run an unlimited race. Isnt that what the adrl has given the pro mod cars? A place to run without the restrictions that are put on them else where. I realize it was said that most guys wouldnt want to change there set up for one race, but as a promoter it would be much more marketable if the cars were not running there normal set ups and it was advertised using those catch phrases of "outlaw". Is it realistic to think that the tafc guys would have any interest to run "unrestricted".
The restrictions that are on all classes today are what hurts drag racing period, people want to see the opportunity for a new"record" when they watch cars run.That goes for everything up to Top Fuel, are they not just glorified bracket cars today with rev limiters and all the restrictions.
If the tafc guys would consider running unlimited then the only concern I see is if they go too fast,correct? All we have to do is limit the race distance to make it safe. Just a few questions and a little of my opinion,dont beat me up too bad.

 

Craig & Vic,

Just to clarify, I didn't say he was going to have Pro Comp, it was merely a VERY short list of things he's done. "From Pro Comp to TAFC to Nostalgia FC to....track owner? "