IHRA deadline

After lurking around this board for a while now I feel it is time to post.

My thoughts on the IHRA not having a sponsor / class for 07.

The lack of respect that the IHRA is showing toward the men and women who have supported this class over the years is ….not nice , to say the least. If you are going to pull the plug then do so, but stop the dog and pony show please. To go into the start of a new year and not give confirmation that you will have a place to race is very unprofessional in my opinion, and don’t get me wrong , I am an avid supporter of the IHRA and I very much enjoy racing and watching the events in person or on TV.
How can you even think of approaching a sponsor with a proposal under these circumstances . I think it is a slippery slope they (IHRA) are on here, imagine this scenario for a moment . You ordered and received 150K worth of race team pieces , signed a contract to race the full IHRA series with a major sponsor and leased your transporters, biasing your program on the norm over the past 15 years or so, that racing starts in March, and then 2 weeks before the first race the bottom falls out and they decide for whatever reason NO AFC in 2007.
Wow….
Sure, unrealistic but, what if!,
Here is what I think, if something is not announced after the banquet you can stick a fork in it, it’s done.

Our team is ready to commit to a full 07 IHRA schedule, but if nothing is done by Jan. 1 /07 we will be buying a screw and running in the NHRA , not that it means anything to anybody but we need a decision!

 

Below is a copy of the email sent to Scooter in August The letter speaks for itself. The reply is on top, the original is below.We returned from Epping, ordered a screw, sold our roots. If you wait you may not get a blower.
From: "Peaco, Skooter" <SkooterPeaco@LiveNation.com>
To: "John and Lisa Anderika" <jlanderika@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: 2007 ihra plans
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 09:45:43 -0500
Our plans are not to run the class. The hold-up is that several racers are securing the necessary funding to run it.
I just spoke with them at Norwalk and they feel confident that they will get contracts. They have a meeting scheduled for New England with the potential sponsor.
That is the only reason we have not made an announcement.
Skooter Peaco | Vice President / Motorsports - IHRA Motorsports Division
: (419) 660-4217 / 419-668-6601 fx
8:: speaco@livenation.com
*:: 9 1/2 East main Street | Norwalk, Ohio | 44857
www.LiveNation.com www.ihra.com www.streetwarriorz.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: John and Lisa Anderika [mailto:jlanderika@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 8:20 PM
To: Peaco, Skooter
Subject: 2007 ihra plans
Dear Mr, Peaco,
What are the plans for IHRA and Alcohol Funny Cars? The word is no afc for next year. Me being a racer in the class, a sponser for IHRA, and also a small buisness man, i feel by not being straight and up front is more damaging than just making the decision. All of the racers should be informed as soon as possible. Decisions need to be made, sponser proposals, new parts, new rigs, etc. Please let the racer know, and lets start getting ready for next year.
Thank you,
John Anderika
117 afc
East Coast Auto Electric
www.ecae.com
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Ihra

Hi John, sorry to hear we won't be seeing you at any IHRA races this year, that's if they have a class for us to run. I enjoyed meeting you in Norwalk last year, the best of luck to you this season.

Jim Thurston

 

They don't have anymore info to help make your decision, I do know that letter is not the most current position, they don't owe anyone any explanation and it wouldn't make sense to any of us if they did try. If they do make an anouncement it will be alot later than you want to hear it anyway ! If they don't get the 8 cars at San Antonio they may pull the pin then and cite lack of interest to close up AFC ?? Who knows ..... Good Luck in your decision and in '07

P.S - Glad to See Jeff will be driving for Worshams !

 

I agree 100% with you, it's their ballpark and they let us play in it, but if the IHRA drops A/FC I think the after-effect on A/FC overall would be tremendous. The IHRA is a place where a regular guy can step up and race, Paul N. is a fantastic example of that, I feel if the IHRA does not offer a place to race you may see allot of Funny Cars being turned into top dragsters, and that really sucks!

I like the idea of nitro in the tank simply because there is no feeder series for Nitro Funny Car. A speck nitro class small pump single mag type of deal would be a easer sell to IHRA maybe with nostalgia bodies of even altereds, it would make a great training ground for the big show. A/FC doesn’t cut it for a feeder class the only similarity to N/FC is they are both Funny Cars.....

I really hope alcohol funnies stay in the IHRA it simply would not be right any other way.

 

There are far more Independent Alky FC teams in NHRA than you think. Not everyone in NHRA is a Frank Manzo or Bob Newberry! Watching most of you IHRA guys run in the 5.70-80's with Roots blowers means your a 5.60's car with a screw. Ask any Alky FC racer who's raced with a Screw Blower if they'd go back to a Roots? I bet it's very few.

 

bump to the top

 

Bump It To The Top

 

I guess they just want to keep everyone to waiting to see what happens. We are all hoping to hear a major announcement within the next few weeks. I hear Mark Thomas has something in the works, there is one man who deserves to be the A F/C Embassador. What a GREAT man.

 

MArk was supposedly working with Ethanol to become the title sponsor. Let's hope they can make it happen. I ran IHRA for awhile with Jimmy Rector and I would hate to see the class go away.

Merry Christmas Les.......

 

Still nothing....I know the IHRA doesn’t owe us anything but at the very least tell your racers if you will proceed with with one more season sponsor or not, one way or another is fine but this is getting stupid!!

At this rate of sucess for finding a class sponsor it seems if Torco pulled out of racing the IHRA would have to fold up...

 

Little birdie says we might have an answer by the first of the year

 

New Year

Gives me more than one reason to hope for a great New Year. John if they keep the class I hope you will still show up at IHRA races. From where your at it can't be more than 350 mile radious to make 5 of the 11 races
Anyway Merry Christmas and a happy New Year, hope to see the big red machine at the track next year

Jim Thurston

 

It'd be nice to know BUT...

I agree that whoever this "mystery sponsor" is (Ethanol?) they ought to step up quickly before teams decide to go play somewhere else and commit elsewhere. And if it is Ethanol coming on board, I've heard that they would want all cars running E - which would necessitate some fuel system adjustments. It'd be nice if the teams had a bit of time before San Antonio to work out what they'd have to do differently.

Fingers crossed for a vibrant and healthy IHRA A/FC class...