Jeff Diehl pulling out of Vegas (1 Viewer)

[Toejam]

Leeza Diehl posted this on Facebook...
UPDATE for the Vegas race this coming weekend.
JDR has had to pull out & will not be running this race. Due to the new *mandated manifold purchase & other costs we just cant pull it for this one. Funding didnt come thru for this race as hoped for, so its not in the financial cards this weekend. We will see you all at Pomona in a couple weeks.

 

[none]

That is too bad.......

 

[yoda]

It sucks, but it's the right thing to do... Hopefully have a couple of weeks to have Pomona money in pocket for a good run at the end of the year, hopefully to attract some corporate money for '16

Privateers are always going to tug at our heart strings in this sport, because they are one step beyond where we all wish to be, but the sad truth is that this sport has moved into a new level of big leagues.

 

[mike mosby]

Wow Martin, You need to get your head out of the sand! Its crap like this rule is why the NHRA is DYING right in front of your eyes; Jeff and Leeza our great people I know them personally. John Keigley and myself have helped out Jeff and Leeza from time to time over the years; Talked to Steve Chrisman This weekend; its all the different rules why that have people putting there operations up for sale, A rule change is why Steve put is operation up for sale, look at the stands not even close to being full; the 1000 foot racing started it and it's all going down hill from there. Look at Pro Stock, Used to always have 18 to 20+ cars now they don't even have full fields and it's going to be worse for them next year from what I've been told .

 

[.]

Brilliant decision by NHRA. /sarc Make it mandatory beginning on 2016, not now.

 

[yoda]

Wow Martin, You need to get your head out of the sand! Its crap like this rule is why the NHRA is DYING right in front of your eyes; Jeff and Leeza our great people I know them personally. John Keigley and myself have helped out Jeff and Leeza from time to time over the years; Talked to Steve Chrisman This weekend; its all the different rules why that have people putting there operations up for sale, A rule change is why Steve put is operation up for sale, look at the stands not even close to being full; the 1000 foot racing started it and it's all going down hill from there. Look at Pro Stock, Used to always have 18 to 20+ cars now they don't even have full fields and it's going to be worse for them next year from what I've been told .

Mike- we have actually met; I've known Jeff and Leeza from quite a while too.

I'm very aware of the situation; that's the point of my last statement in the post. The pro side of the sport isn't gearing itself towards the independent operator in its quest to be a world class sport- just as no other professional sport embraces the "amateur" or semi-private side of its activity. You won't see a team from junior college run out to take the field on NFL Sunday; even the Little League W.S. is made up of teams that are head and shoulders above the kids that knock the cork at your local park on Saturday afternoon. Same sport, different levels.

I can't blame NHRA for needing their show to be the pinacle example of the sport; it represents the most professional series of drag racing in the world, and I applaud the Diehl's for looking at their situation from a professional standpoint and making the tough (but right) decision to sit this one out. We've seen the results of other pro teams that didn't give it as much consideration, and we as the fans have suffered the results : endless clean ups and a disappointing show.

If there is a lesson to be learned here, it's Be Careful What You Wish For. For every fan that wanted live television, corporate investors and respect from the stick and ball networks, there's a team that puts a For Sale sign on their rig because keeping pace became impossible when they had to keep climbing in the ring with a bigger beast.

I know Jeff loves to race, but you know him like I do: How happy does he look on Saturday afternoon lately? I don't like it when my friend looks like someone has just beat him with a pipe spiritually... And yet, he, better than most of us knows that the sport has always been like that. Check your history- the only thing that has really changed is the amount of zeros on the bottom line.

 

[yoda]

Brilliant decision by NHRA. /sarc Make it mandatory beginning on 2016, not now.

Rule book amendment says Jan 1, 2016...

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Well, if the rule isn't in effect until next year, what's the ACTUAL reason they're pulling out?

Sean D

 

[TR]

Well, if the rule isn't in effect until next year, what's the ACTUAL reason they're pulling out?

Sean D

She said lack of funds for Vegas, too bad that's the only race we usually go to, like their team.

Rick

 

[None]

If you have to buy it now in order to have it for testing for next year, may be the reason for lack of funds for Las Vegas.

 

[SoCal Racer]

Mike- we have actually met; I've known Jeff and Leeza from quite a while too.

I'm very aware of the situation; that's the point of my last statement in the post. The pro side of the sport isn't gearing itself towards the independent operator in its quest to be a world class sport- just as no other professional sport embraces the "amateur" or semi-private side of its activity. You won't see a team from junior college run out to take the field on NFL Sunday; even the Little League W.S. is made up of teams that are head and shoulders above the kids that knock the cork at your local park on Saturday afternoon. Same sport, different levels.

I can't blame NHRA for needing their show to be the pinacle example of the sport; it represents the most professional series of drag racing in the world, and I applaud the Diehl's for looking at their situation from a professional standpoint and making the tough (but right) decision to sit this one out. We've seen the results of other pro teams that didn't give it as much consideration, and we as the fans have suffered the results : endless clean ups and a disappointing show.

If there is a lesson to be learned here, it's Be Careful What You Wish For. For every fan that wanted live television, corporate investors and respect from the stick and ball networks, there's a team that puts a For Sale sign on their rig because keeping pace became impossible when they had to keep climbing in the ring with a bigger beast.

I know Jeff loves to race, but you know him like I do: How happy does he look on Saturday afternoon lately? I don't like it when my friend looks like someone has just beat him with a pipe spiritually... And yet, he, better than most of us knows that the sport has always been like that. Check your history- the only thing that has really changed is the amount of zeros on the bottom line.

I completely understand what you're saying Martin, but have to ask that in the quest to be "major league" has the sport really gotten better? I'd argue that it hasn't, and the net result of all that is a shrinking sport with less competitors every year. And I know it's an unpopular topic, but if NHRA would have had the foresight to limit these machines somewhat years ago, there would be no need for containment/management of the "bigger bomb."

 

[yoda]

I agree, David. That horse has been out of the barn for decades now, and at first we all were like the young cowpokes standing at the fence watching the horse run away and all we could say was "Damn, that horse runs fast".

Now we're all the old ranch hands and we're standing at the fence going "Shit... I gotta go chase that damn horse...."

 

[JB3]

I completely understand what you're saying Martin, but have to ask that in the quest to be "major league" has the sport really gotten better? I'd argue that it hasn't, and the net result of all that is a shrinking sport with less competitors every year. And I know it's an unpopular topic, but if NHRA would have had the foresight to limit these machines somewhat years ago, there would be no need for containment/management of the "bigger bomb."

You know its funny ... was driving and listening to NASCAR radio last night and Kenny Wallace was going off on what is wrong with the current NASCAR product, why, and how.

Simply summarized ... He believes it all started when NASCAR allowed team owners to have an equal say and NASCAR started listening to the fans voice as equals. He finished by stating that it would have been ok for NASCAR to maintain a dictatorship and run the organization as they see fit.

NHRA is probably in a similar boat. Changes probably should have / could have been made years ago to reel in cost. I'd be willing to bet too many people were given a chance to voice their opinion and the result was a lot of opposition to the sanctioning being the sole voice of how things should be done. A virtual standoff if you will. And many times that means nothing happens.

 

[T.Smith]

You know its funny ... was driving and listening to NASCAR radio last night and Kenny Wallace was going off on what is wrong with the current NASCAR product, why, and how.

Simply summarized ... He believes it all started when NASCAR allowed team owners to have an equal say and NASCAR started listening to the fans voice as equals. He finished by stating that it would have been ok for NASCAR to maintain a dictatorship and run the organization as they see fit.

NHRA is probably in a similar boat. Changes probably should have / could have been made years ago to reel in cost. I'd be willing to bet too many people were given a chance to voice their opinion and the result was a lot of opposition to the sanctioning being the sole voice of how things should be done. A virtual standoff if you will. And many times that means nothing happens.

I listened to that as well, great stuff by Kenny Wallace.

 

[Jimbo]

I agree with the following statement,

I completely understand what you're saying Martin, but have to ask that in the quest to be "major league" has the sport really gotten better? I'd argue that it hasn't, and the net result of all that is a shrinking sport with less competitors every year. And I know it's an unpopular topic, but if NHRA would have had the foresight to limit these machines somewhat years ago, there would be no need for containment/management of the "bigger bomb."

Yes it's all true but how do they fix the NHRA before it's to late?

We all see the declining number for fans, sponsors and racers along with TV coverage but now we need some creative ideas on ways to reverse these trends.

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[Toejam]

I completely understand what you're saying Martin, but have to ask that in the quest to be "major league" has the sport really gotten better? I'd argue that it hasn't, and the net result of all that is a shrinking sport with less competitors every year. And I know it's an unpopular topic, but if NHRA would have had the foresight to limit these machines somewhat years ago, there would be no need for containment/management of the "bigger bomb."

David Parsons, in 1984 TF Dragster was dying with short fields at a handful of races! The Doom and Gloom prediction has been going on forever, the "NHRA is dying" montra never seems to die!

 

[Toejam]

I agree with the following statement,

I completely understand what you're saying Martin, but have to ask that in the quest to be "major league" has the sport really gotten better? I'd argue that it hasn't, and the net result of all that is a shrinking sport with less competitors every year. And I know it's an unpopular topic, but if NHRA would have had the foresight to limit these machines somewhat years ago, there would be no need for containment/management of the "bigger bomb."

Yes it's all true but how do they fix the NHRA before it's to late?

We all see the declining number for fans, sponsors and racers along with TV coverage but now we need some creative ideas on ways to reverse these trends.

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

Jim's right....Its all over!

 

[.]

Leeza Diehl we were working on funding for this race but it didnt come thru and we also had to order 2 of the new mandated manifolds.. was smarter financially for us to hold off on running this race

 

[SoCal Racer]

Jim's right....Its all over!

Joe, I'm not saying that at all. As long as there are any kind of vehicles there's going to be someone who wants to race them, and someone who will watch! Grassroots racing will survive forever, but we are facing a time of change with costs in pro classes out of reach for all but the extremely wealthy. Maybe NHRA will rein it in to entice more to come out and play, but at the current attrition rate can 8-car fields be far off? Then 4? 2? I don't want to see it come to that and would rather sacrifice some performance now to keep competition healthy.

A few limitations could make it less expensive, and while there would be a performance hit it would bring new challenges. In the many years I've been involved with this sport there has been steady improvement each season - a few hundredths ET, a couple mph. Set them back a bit now and I guarantee they'll reach the current performance level again over time. Then hit "Reset" again like NASCAR does with various means of limiting performance. You know racers... innovation and answering "what if?" is what we do!

 

[Toejam]

Joe, I'm not saying that at all. As long as there are any kind of vehicles there's going to be someone who wants to race them, and someone who will watch! Grassroots racing will survive forever, but we are facing a time of change with costs in pro classes out of reach for all but the extremely wealthy. Maybe NHRA will rein it in to entice more to come out and play, but at the current attrition rate can 8-car fields be far off? Then 4? 2? I don't want to see it come to that and would rather sacrifice some performance now to keep competition healthy.

A few limitations could make it less expensive, and while there would be a performance hit it would bring new challenges. In the many years I've been involved with this sport there has been steady improvement each season - a few hundredths ET, a couple mph. Set them back a bit now and I guarantee they'll reach the current performance level again over time. Then hit "Reset" again like NASCAR does with various means of limiting performance. You know racers... innovation and answering "what if?" is what we do!

Well if NHRA ever goes to 8 car fields it will kill the sport, nobody is going to fork out $60 to see an 8 car bracket!