DENSHAM SPEAKS ON "HAVES AND HAVE NOTS"
Sun, 2008-07-27 17:28
Gary Densham is quick to point out the line defining the “haves” and
the “have nots” is becoming clearer with each race and
each increase in
operating costs.
“Obviously guys like John Force will put big wads of money in their wallets because they can’t burn it in testing,” said Densham, speaking on how the latest increase in nitro pricing will affect the teams. “They’re going to forego 150 testing runs a year, that’s more than going to offset the cost of diesel. It’s not just myself complaining. There are plenty of teams out here last year who thought that they had a pretty good budget for 2008. They calculated the cost of what it would be to make their runs in 23 races and now you add one more race and the diesel increase and you’re looking at a quarter million dollar increase for these people to do more than they had to do last year.
“The NHRA didn’t give anyone a heads up on adding a race; it just would’ve been nice to know about it for those people who were setting budgets up last year. Could anybody visualize the increase in diesel fuel? Probably not. But when they can still buy 53 gallons of 100% nitromethane at an IHRA race for 1,000 dollars, I’m trying to figure out how we’re paying 2,000 dollars for 42 gallons of 90%.” [Editor’s note: A drum of 53-gallons of nitromethane lists for $1,300].
Densham doesn’t believe there’s a thing the racers can do to stop the continual increases in the cost of nitro other than just to park their cars. He’s afraid of the future if the sport continues to progress in the current direction..
“It scares me that this entire sport may end up being owned by three or four people,” Densham said. “It’s been going that way for the last couple of years with the multi-car teams. It scares me because the quality of the sport and the loyalty of the spectator. It also scares me for the integrity of the sport. What would happen if Force, Lucas, Don Schumacher and Kallita’s jets all collided in mid air? What would happen with the NHRA series?
"It scares me that this entire sport may end up being owned by three or four people."
“Obviously guys like John Force will put big wads of money in their wallets because they can’t burn it in testing,” said Densham, speaking on how the latest increase in nitro pricing will affect the teams. “They’re going to forego 150 testing runs a year, that’s more than going to offset the cost of diesel. It’s not just myself complaining. There are plenty of teams out here last year who thought that they had a pretty good budget for 2008. They calculated the cost of what it would be to make their runs in 23 races and now you add one more race and the diesel increase and you’re looking at a quarter million dollar increase for these people to do more than they had to do last year.
“The NHRA didn’t give anyone a heads up on adding a race; it just would’ve been nice to know about it for those people who were setting budgets up last year. Could anybody visualize the increase in diesel fuel? Probably not. But when they can still buy 53 gallons of 100% nitromethane at an IHRA race for 1,000 dollars, I’m trying to figure out how we’re paying 2,000 dollars for 42 gallons of 90%.” [Editor’s note: A drum of 53-gallons of nitromethane lists for $1,300].
Densham doesn’t believe there’s a thing the racers can do to stop the continual increases in the cost of nitro other than just to park their cars. He’s afraid of the future if the sport continues to progress in the current direction..
“It scares me that this entire sport may end up being owned by three or four people,” Densham said. “It’s been going that way for the last couple of years with the multi-car teams. It scares me because the quality of the sport and the loyalty of the spectator. It also scares me for the integrity of the sport. What would happen if Force, Lucas, Don Schumacher and Kallita’s jets all collided in mid air? What would happen with the NHRA series?
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