We Made the Decision, We Will Stay With Mopar
Last month you could probably tell I was a little bit more than slightly disgusted at what happened to both of my big block Mopars in a six-week span. Well, we finally got all the pieces cleaned up and checked out and, while it was a bad couple months, it wasn’t completely terminal for the Mopar dragster.
The other thing that happened was it made us clear off the shelves to see what we had lying around that we weren’t using. That led me to put together an ad listing the “stuff” I wanted to get rid of. Needless to say, there was a lot of Mopar stuff I had accumulated. When all was said and done it worked out pretty good.
We got the Indy 440-1 heads fixed and they are in like-new condition. The 4.500” Ohio Crankshaft was sent in and it was in great shape. That left me needing only a good block, rods and pistons. The 572” for the “Project 4-Link” will be revived and I hope you will tune in to see us get it together over the next few months.
Now that dilemma is getting handled, let’s take a look at where other aspects of the sport are headed.
What is your opinion of the health of sportsman drag racing?
I will give you my take on it and I have to admit is looks like it is getting better. I know some of you are from areas of the country where everything is growing, jobs pay well and you have great car counts at local tracks. Nothing could be further from that around here in the upper Midwest. Car counts are dropping, jobs are plentiful but with what they pay, you have to have two or three jobs to have a hobby like drag racing. I will say that when I go to special events like the Monster Mopar race or a National Open I see a lot more enthusiasm and growing racer participation.
I am not sure why but I would think it is a testament to the local tracks just not keeping the local racers interested. I know at our local tracks the payout seems good at $1,000 to win in S/Pro, but the entry fees have been going up and buy-backs are almost as high as the entry. The problem is simple: they have been getting about 20 cars in a class that pays $1000 to win. You don’t have to have a math degree to figure out they are going backwards on money. Raising the entry fees and buy-backs is one way fix it, but the downside of that is the same guys who are your customers are now being charged more and they start to not show up as often. That means even fewer cars and the vicious circle begins.
When I go to another part of the country I see more cars and hear about strong local events. I am glad to hear it and I hope you get to race in that environment. Racing the same 10 to 12 guys every week is boring.
Is the cost to bracket race getting out of hand?
Do you think the cost of bracket racing is out of hand or are the decisions the racers are making about what it takes to be competitive fueling the higher costs?
I know I have a dragster I race in S/Pro. I got it because I can also race in S/Comp and some Quick 32 races. It is lighter to haul and easier to work on. Have I really won more races than I did with my old ’67 Dart that I back-halved? Probably not. Was it worth spending about $40,000 to upgrade to what I felt was a “better tool” for bracket racing? Probably not. Do I regret doing it? Absolutely not! Love the 175 mph, the 1.06 60-footers and the whole experience.
The problem as I see it is that more and more racers are buying tube chassis door cars and 4-link dragsters, and it is common to see 7-second dragsters and low 8-second door cars. These are $40,000 cars running for the same purse we ran for 10 years ago! The cost of bracket racing may not be out of hand, but we racers may have all lost our minds!
How a about a paragraph on the State of Affairs for NHRA Pro Racers?
Do you think John Force will come back to drive the full series again? This time he DID see Elvis at 1,000 feet!
Will Force let his daughter drive a Funny Car again until he is satisfied they are safer and that the tires won’t just tear apart?
If he doesn’t, will NHRA have anyone else to market their event around (outside of Ashley Force)? If so, who would that be?
Will HD Partners, who now own the Pro categories, decide to run their events in two days much like NASCAR does? If so, where does that leave sportsman racers in relation to national events?
If HD Partners does not decide to use two days, why not do it Saturday night qualifying and finish it Sunday? Live TV has to be on their mind. It is the ONLY way to really get NHRA drag racing on TV and attract major sponsors, right?
Well, that’s how I see things this month. Agree or disagree? We offer you a unique opportunity here at Mopar Max that other magazines can’t. If you have an opinion we can have it out there for the world to read in a matter of hours, NOT MONTHS!
So, what do you think? Got an opinion?
(Disclaimer: We don’t actually print letters every few hours.)
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