NCATS CAYUGA TEST DAY PICTURES, MAY 11TH, 2007

[RDRacing]

I received an entry form and payout schedule for the Cayuga Race-we haven't registered with Nascar.  The purse schedule that I see seems to be identical to the ones that we saw last year when we raced in the two National races out here-if anything actually lower because I don't see the extra money for a Dodge winning the race, like last year.  Now, I am working on memory, as I don't have the purse sheets from last year anymore, but I'm pretty sure based on what we were paid that they have not gone up at all.  I can only speak from a two race experience with the National series, and don't really know what the contingincy money was as we didn't win any of the other monies, but from what I can see, there is definitly not a 30-60% increase in the purse.  My thoughts are that they will say whatever to get your money, then when your committed financially, things change.  In todays world, nobody seems to be held accountable for disinformation (a nice politically correct phrase for lying).  Nascar says one thing to the media and another to the tracks and racers.  A good point on this is the newspaper article of Richard Coughlins quote of:  Nascar is pleased that there are two feeder series (Your eastern series of the old CASCAR's and ours out west here) for the NCATS.  The reality of this statement is that our track got a call from Nascar who said they were NOT pleased with what was happening.  NASCAR  seems to want to attract sponsors and racers with deep pockets who don't seem to care about last minute rules, rule changes and spiralling costs-as long as you have the money, they are interested in you (to get the money anyway).  NASCAR has created an illusion that if you pay lots more money (both fans and racers)
to watch the SAME racers race on the SAME tracks that you have watched for years. it is somehow better for you.  I have seen the arguements that the TV exposure creates greater opportunities for sponsorships, money, etc, but lets not forget the dropping TV ratings because more and more people are sick of watching 4 hours of commercials with a little racing thrown in, and are sick of paying stupid money for tickets, souveniers and food at the races. The major companies are seeing this, and thats why their involvement with NASCAR is shrinking as well. To the majority of us, the realities are the costs are not outweighed by the benefits.  As a team this year, participating in our own deal out here, we stand to come closer to the break even numbers a race team strives for (for, if we face the reality of most of us, we know that we do not have a great chance to actually make money at this game).  Our costs are down, the car counts are up and the fun is returning.  Understand that NASCAR is like any other large corporation-they operate on the premise that there will always be someone who is willing to part with big money to be part of the illusion.  PT Barnum said it best-"there is a sucker born every minute".  Now, this in no way is meant to be disrespectful of ANY teams who participate in the NCATS.  Your all racers at heart or you wouldn't be doing this.  Just keep in mind that if you wish to play in NASCAR's sandbox, it will cost you huge, and other than personal satisfaction there is really no real reward at the end, except maybe for a chosen few; and those few are NASCAR.  Race for yourselves, not for others, enjoy what you do, but do not expect NASCAR to be on your side.  NASCAR operates on the premise that you need them, but they don't need you, and as long as people believe this, they will keep on doing this.  Remember as well the American way is give and take-you give, they take.  NASCAR believes in the American way.  When I see the purses going up, a little slack being cut for the lesser funded teams, better information coming from the sanctioning body, and most of all respect given to the very people that they are using to enrichen themselves (racers, teams and fans) then and only then will I believe that NASCAR will be good for Canadian racing.  Until that happens, PT Barnum will be proven right once again.

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[MarkDilley]

Mopar/Dodge do have a program this year it is a little different then it has been in the past it pays the top finishing cars $2000.00, $1250.00, $1000.00, $500.00, $250.00  at each event, they also have a season end award to the top 5 finishing Mopar team's in the Mopar points $5000.00, $4000.00, $3000.00, $2000.00, $1000.00.
Your entry sheet has no cont. program on it at all except for the Good Year program there is still allot to come I think allot of the cont. program has to do with Sirius becoming the presenting sponsor this was just release on Fri, the payout I have pays allot more from 5th down then anything that we had last year it is very hard to compare to the west races last year the have always paid more to try and cover some of the travel to do a far comparison you would have to compare it to last years Cayuga.
My guess would be it will pay somewhere around $10,000.00  to win in a Dodge and $8000.00 in everything else.
Points will pay $40,000.00 in a Dodge and $35,000.00 in everything else to win.
These are just guesses but we will find out this week.
Mark

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[MID]

Marks case in point is basically what I said- we will see this week- what the purse really is.
As for the Dodge money, its still there and yes it does help teams to switch to Dodge- more money,no brainer. In fact, there was a time when Chevrolet was the #1 choice of racecar for this series, and in fact has won the majority of the races, but if you had gone to the test days at Cayuga you could have sworn it was a Dodge test day as Dodge's were everywhere.
I wish the powers to be at Chevrolet and Ford would follow the lead from Dodge by helping out with some type of program. I think they forget- what wins on Sunday sells on Monday !!
Case in point- We have run Chevrolet's for 5 years in the CASCAR/NASCAR series, but what's in my driveway- one Chrysler 300C, one Dodge Ram, and one Ford Mustang.
What inspired me to buy a 300C ??
The very first time I saw Dilley driving one on a Sunday.
When did I buy the 300C ??
The very next day , MONDAY.
Wake up Chevrolet before its to late and every racing series known to man is the Dodge Racing Series.   


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