ON THE RUN with Dennis Taylor
driver of the Accelerated Motorsports Federal-Mogul Funny Car
I don't think it is too much of a stretch to say that as much as 99
percent of Federal-Mogul Dragster and Federal-Mogul Funny Car competitors are
running in these classes because they love the sport. I run a Funny Car because
I enjoy the competition, the closeness of the racing, and the camaraderie.
You won't find a nicer group of people in the pits, but I imagine a racer in
any category could say that. I'm certainly not drag racing to make money,
although my business, Taylor Motorsports Products, primarily involves
fabricating parts for use in the sport.
In recent months, I find I'm concerned less about my own race car and
I'm spending more time agonizing about the health of the Federal-Mogul Dragsters
and Federal-Mogul Funny Cars.
Through my business, I get to attend a lot of events, and unquestionably
those classes are healthier on the West Coast than the East Coast. I don't
know why that is. It could be because we have less events to go to than the
competitors east of the Mississippi. And by having fewer events, racers can
save up more money between races. I don't doubt that if we had as many events
to go to as those in the east, we'd struggle to fill fields.
It's hard to determine why the fields are dwindling. It probably isn't
one specific thing but rather a combination of factors. For one, the spend-to-
win ratio is too far apart. It costs a lot of money to be competitive in either
of the Federal-Mogul categories, and because of the nature of the classes,
there are a lot of haves and have-nots. Something new is developed for the cars
almost every week, and you just gotta have that new part.
New parts are simply a must-have element in the overall cost of the car
--- even if a new fresh-air helmet does cost $1400 and a blower belt costs
$226. But the cost of entering either class is almost cost-prohibitive. Just
sitting in the garage, a competitive Federal-Mogul Funny Car costs $100,000.
Then you have to keep it running.
Our travel costs --- airfare, hotels, food, --- are the same as they
are for any Top Fuel or Funny Car team. Combined with the general wear and
tear on the car, you can figure on spending $40,000 to $60,000
a year (a year being six national and six divisional events).
When Federal-Mogul picked up the series sponsorship of the divisional
events in 1997, that was a huge step in the right direction. To some extent
I think that gave a lot of racers encouragement that Sportsman drag racing
will one day be the equivalent of what the Busch Grand National Series
is to NASCAR racing.
That won't happen overnight --- I know that --- but I'd hoped to have
seen a push in that direction by now.
In stock car racing, there are sponsors who can't afford to back a car
in the NASCAR series but can participate in the Grand National series. It's
the same in drag racing, but we need to let those potential sponsors know
we're out there. One way to do that is to alter the schedule we run at
national events: through qualifying, we should run immediately before the Pro
cars, and on Sunday, all our eliminations should be immediately after the Pro
cars. That would help the fans identify with the cars and, of course, we'd
need the track commentators to explain what it is that fans are watching.
As I said, there is no easy answer, but it is a problem that needs
addressing --- and it needs addressing sooner rather than later.
