Hard to watch

Curt wrote:

maverick wrote:

Curt,  "CORRECT STICKER" is the operative phrase here.

Trust me, the pros don't have that problem, nor do they advertise for anyone that isn't paying.

Sure enough. You just reminded of a little guy's sticker deal.

maverick wrote:

Curt wrote:You can't win enough to field a top fuel car. You have to follow the money, or buy your own way.

If you won every race and ran every correct sticker, you wouldn't win what it cost to race for one year. NHRA is the reason. They will not let anyone have a financial interest that can promote the sport.

    Even the stickers can be a tricky deal.  Some years ago, a friend and I qualified his 23T roadster at an IHRA event.  We were informed that we had won a Holley Top Qualifier award and that we should take the car to the Holley trailer to claim the cash prize.  Once there, we were informed that the decal on the car wasn't the right one.  It had "Holley Carburetors" on it, but didn't have the "HP" on it.
   When my friend informed them that the decal was the one Holley supplied in the box with the brand new carb, they still refused to pay...but offered an appeal form to be filled out and sent to Holley for final judgement.  They turned it down.

Curt,  "CORRECT STICKER" is the operative phrase here.

This brings up part of the "sanctioning bodies problem" the sponsors back the sanctioning body, in turn they back the sponsors, all the while motivated by no more than simply greed, as nobody backs the grass roots racer, as they still have pictures of your car in the winners circle with the wrong decal that they provided to you...I bought a Lakew**@ bellhousing that was obviously mis-drilled. When I contacted them the basically told me to pound sand their quality control was first rate, then I told them those nice big decals they provided me with will look great on my car with a big red circle with a line through it as a conversation starter, and the guy on the phone flipped out. A friend with a speed shop called BS and sent it back when I received the new one that fit perfectly a few weeks later it had a SFI cert with 1-week left to expiry on a two year cert. There is a difference between enthusiast, impartial sanctioning body for the betterment of the sport, and living high off the hog selling out the sport to those who accept our way or the highway. This is why the sponsors here who answer posts, phone calls etc. , and are genuine in their wanting to help, all while running a business which does need support, and needs to profit, have not taken the easy route. One that consists of paying off someone to post the rules and pictures and get the careless advertising that enables companies to grow in profit at the expense of the grass roots people who drive the sport and keep the tracks open after that one sanctioned event takes place at 10X the ticket price.Don't blame the racers, they worked to get there, as for the sponsors, they worked to get there too, but when the sponsors or the sanctioning body forget how they got there, or where the nucleus (not heartbeat) of the sport is then they need to reflect on how the sport arrived where it is today, and when the focus should be adjusted for the good of the sport. Rant over JMO