My "two cents worth" -- Texas Pro Stock Association Message Board

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Date Posted: 05/12/11 11:32am
Author: "Porky Pig " (Grinnin')
Subject:

My "two cents worth"
In reply to: Greg Good 's message, "Thank you David" on 05/11/11 3:35pm

Glad to see you are following TPSA enough to have an opinion. From my perspective, the competition between the fast cars in "Extreme" has pushed the envelope to the point it's not attractive to a start-up team to build something that will compete at our level. I think what DH is attempting to do is create a headsup racing venue that is FUN for the racers to compete in, AFFORDABLE for the racers to build and maintain, and entertaining enough to create a fan base. That's a tall order in todays economic enviroment but I think he's headed in the right direction. I suspect the engine rules will evolve into an affordable "out of the box" combination that any competent engine builder could put together for a reasonable price (say $20K from scratch). Cars and drivetrain components will probably more or less follow suit and hopefully 2 or 3 years down the road TPSA Pro Stock will be able to field 12 to 16 cars consistently that are fun to watch and run pretty close together. Controling cost and keeping the competition close will be DH's biggest challenge but I'm confident he's up to the task. Only time will tell but TPSA has already been around a lot longer than many other racing venues in this area. I hope they make it at least 4 more years. I'll be 70 then and I'm pretty sure I'll be ready to "hang'em up" by then.

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Replies:

[> [> [> [> [> Been following it a lot longer than you know ;-) -- Greg Good, 05/12/11 9:12pm

The terms "Racing" and "Affordable" grow farther apart every year. You can't even build a fast street car anymore inexpensively. I don't know if those terms ever were very close together. I grew up around racing, working at Harold's Garage. I lived right around the corner from him. (I was the floor mopper and car washer mostly. Did brake jobs in between moppings. LOL. People could eat off his floor)

The only reason I mention this is because I know you knew him. It didn't matter what the rules were, he worked and worked and worked until his car ended up being one of the best in whatever class he was racing. Man hours equal money. Whether you take time from paying jobs and do it yuorself or pay someone else to do it, it costs.

The first car I remember him having was the Anglia.... called Bittersweet. There was always some smack talking going on between him and other guys he raced against (controversy is timeless), some of them even had engines built by Tommy's Father, Luther Costales. It was a helluva time and place to grow up. He took the same approach to his show cars too. It didn't matter how much worh it took, late nights, Sundays, going out of town to swap meets scrounging for parts, he did it, like swiss-cheesing the frame on the Anglia. How can you beat a guy like that? You and Roy are just like him as far as I can tell. And that is a compliment.

Those were fun times. Some things were cheaper I guess. One thing Harold din't spend money on was track rental. He tested right there on Friendly Road. The police would stop by and shake their fingers at him.

Anyway,I think David does and exceptional job, and puts a lot of time into it, time he could spend on other things. But getting money out of racing is an exercise in hair pulling.

Maybe I've inhaled too much aluminum, but I think relaxing the rules some would help car count, and car count gets bookings. In the 80's the TPS association had one main rule, no nitrous. Engines varied from 500" all the way up the biggest IHRA engines Reher was building at the time for the Dallas crew. All the cars were ex-Pro Stockers, and weighed about the same. Oddly enough, even with the engine size and no cylinder rule disparity, a 500" Ford won the championship one year.

That was of funny.

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