Castrol says goodbye to John Force Racing

After 29 years, Castrol oil ends it's sponsorship of John Force Racing in 2014. From Dragzine.com

And Ford already announced they were done with the NHRA, Force included.

I predict there will be no NHRA by 2020. The fans have left, the tracks are gone, and the sponsors are leaving. It's too expensive, not relevant anymore, and doesn't showcase manufacturer goods.

The NMRA on the other hand, is doing it right!

The NHRA has not only gotten expensive to race in, but the ticket prices have spiraled out of control. I live about 30 minutes from Maple Grove Raceway, where the NHRA runs every fall. Years ago, my wife and I used to always check out a practice day. It was fun and cheap entertainment. And seeing a top fuel or funny car in person is really cool. But we haven't gone in at least 5 or 6 years, as it's just too expensive. My boys would love to go, but even for a practice day, I'll spend too much money.

First the demise of speed and now this. Creepers next thing you know cats will be chasing dogs.

Castrol and John Force was like death, tax's and gravity. Constants of the universe.

goodbye John Force

Wow, that is sad. But all good things and such.

I also think that the NHRA is on it's way out, for all the reasons mentioned above, and the 1000' rule.

That said, my local track is an IHRA 1/8th, so as long as that stays open...

dean1484 wrote: Castrol and John Force was like death, tax's and gravity. Constants of the universe.

Somalia doesn't have taxes but they're a lot bigger on death

That's sad. Any comments Courtney?

Nope....

And I can agree with the tickets being out of control. Last time I went to the gator nats tickets were like 70$ each. We walked, I'm not paying that to get in the gate, sorry. For a bit more I can get in on a local lapping day.

Spinout007 wrote: Nope.... And I can agree with the tickets being out of control. Last time I went to the gator nats tickets were like 70$ each. We walked, I'm not paying that to get in the gate, sorry. For a bit more I can get in on a local lapping day.

Been to a college football game lately?

I guess Courtney was prepping for a new job.

spitfirebill wrote: I guess Courtney was prepping for a new job.

I hope John keeps his clothes on.

That's a really nice looking parachute.

spitfirebill wrote: Been to a college football game lately?

Nope. Guess why.

Negative on the football game, no desire. Someone besides me has to see the bullshyte that is football for what it is. Not going into a rant here to derail this thread.

But on that note, the gators are usually sold out. Partially due to the fans, the other part due to all the students in the lotto that just sell their tickets. Therefore there are no shortage of 100$+ tickets available.

mazdeuce wrote: That's a really nice looking parachute.

Where? I didn't see no parachute.

I see the NHRA dying out before that. College football on the other hand won't die out and it's certain schools that are the reason for outrageous ticket prices or the conference they play in. UCF ticket prices are fairly cheap. Last year I paid $100 for two season tickets. But they also raped me from my wifes tuition. $25 per 1 credit hour as a "sports fee."

I've also always decided on going to Sebring instead of the gator nats for that fact. $70 for cars going in a strait line for a few hours or $75-90 for a week of the good stuff.

Sad to see that though.

i went to the Nationals in Brainerd back in 2000- i only went because my cousin got some free VIP tickets... it was pretty cool, but there is more downtime between runs than there was runs.. yeah, it's cool walking thru the pits and seeing them rebuild the engines in under a half hour and it's cool seeing them go 300+ mph in a quarter mile from a standing start- but it just didn't hold my attention and the 2 days i spent there seemed like an eternity. the party in the Zoo (the campground- we were way out in the farthest reaches of the track, turn 3 on the road course...) was pretty crazy, tho..

regarding Castrol and Ford pulling back: it's not shocking at all. neither of them probably sells a lot of product from their involvement with the drag racers, some of the top teams are running part time schedules because they can't find sponsorship and they are lucky to get full fields on any given week. John Force is the guy that brought the big money to the NHRA- he had a 4 trailer compound in the pits back in 2000 when he was a 1 car team..

novaderrik wrote: John Force is the guy that brought the big money to the NHRA- he had a 4 trailer compound in the pits back in 2000 when he was a 1 car team..

Nope. Snake & Mongoose's deal with Mattel, Big Daddy and Kendell, and Revell popping into nearly every FC were the start. King Kenney with Bud and Snake with Army were the start of the "mega" teams.

Javelin wrote:

novaderrik wrote: John Force is the guy that brought the big money to the NHRA- he had a 4 trailer compound in the pits back in 2000 when he was a 1 car team..

Nope. Snake & Mongoose's deal with Mattel, Big Daddy and Kendell, and Revell popping into nearly every FC were the start. King Kenney with Bud and Snake with Army were the start of the "mega" teams.

they brought big money- John Force brought BIG money. this was 13 years ago when i was at BIR, but while every other team had a single trailer John Force Racing had a 4 trailer compound way down at the end of the pits. i'm talking 4 full size tractor trailers- and he was a 1 car team at the time.. of course one of those trailers might have been just for the extra bodies that he went thru on any given weekend due to the gigantic fireballs thru the traps that were his trademark at the time..

In reply to novaderrik:

Very, very true! (Especially the needing the spare bodies part...)

I've heard a funny car body costs about 14k new and that's before the spoiler or vynil wrap.

It has gotten ludicrously expensive. I remember hearing on SpeedFreaks awhile back that the purse for winning a top fuel championship was something like $250,000. Any NASCAR race pays more for 10th place.

BoostedBrandon wrote: I've heard a funny car body costs about 14k new and that's before the spoiler or vynil wrap. It has gotten ludicrously expensive. I remember hearing on SpeedFreaks awhile back that the purse for winning a top fuel championship was something like $250,000. Any NASCAR race pays more for 10th place.

the Daytona 500 pays something like a million dollars to anyone that takes the green flag.. so qualify, start, then head to the garage after a few laps and fund most of the rest of the season of starting and parking..

novaderrik wrote:

BoostedBrandon wrote: I've heard a funny car body costs about 14k new and that's before the spoiler or vynil wrap. It has gotten ludicrously expensive. I remember hearing on SpeedFreaks awhile back that the purse for winning a top fuel championship was something like $250,000. Any NASCAR race pays more for 10th place.

the Daytona 500 pays something like a million dollars to anyone that takes the green flag.. so qualify, start, then head to the garage after a few laps and fund most of the rest of the season of starting and parking..

Eh, not quite on both counts. In the last race at Michigan, Joey Logano earned $252,393 for the win, and Carl Edwards won $127,110 for 10th place. And at this year's Daytona 500, Joe Nemechek won $264,354 for last place.

That's still big money, of course, but let's not inflate the numbers.

From our experience in NASCAR, the purse might pay your travel expenses, but nothing else. It's a drop in the bucket. I'm sure Nhra is similar.