"Setting the record STRAIGHT on my contingency editorials"

I am still getting a tremendous amount of input and response to the December Dead-On editorial titled "The Real Truth about Contingency Money". The most common opinion of that editorial and the follow-up in January has been to judge me as either a saint or a liar. I can tell you this, I am neither one. I just told the story on actual experiences of racers dealing with manufacturers about collecting contingency money after a Divisional or National event win in either NHRA or IHRA.

There are several conclusions to be made from the editorial I wrote and from the responses I have had from racers, manufacturers and the IHRA and NHRA.

1. The biggest problem with contingency payouts could very well be the racers and the tech inspectors. Not because they are cheaters or evil. The problem is a lot of racers just want as much money as they can get (it will never be enough) and the tech guys are part timers who must get in their cars and try to make it back to work on Monday. That means checking 20 plus winners and runner-ups and it takes so much time they have to cut some corners or maybe lose their real job. A tough situation that "pre- registering" might help.

2. 85% of the companies who post contingency dollars work hard to make sure every racer who has the proper decals and product on their car get paid in a timely manner, Some companies that were reported as "slow payers" had internal problems that are being fixed and some companies are just so big that paperwork takes a month or two to get through the necessary channels.

3. The IHRA and NHRA contingency directors contacted me to see where I got my sources because they didn't really think there was a problem. Of course they didn't. When they contact the company posting the contingency and ask how everything is going they were obviously told, "everything is fine." What company is going to tell the IHRA or NHRA things are messed up and racers aren't getting paid? To repeat what I found as fact, EVERY manufacturer I talked to wanted the racers to get paid if they deserved the posted money.

4. If I have accomplished only one thing in the two years I have been writing editorials for www.dragracingonline.com it would be that this Contingency Story has 'hit home" with a lot of racers and manufacturers. I think the channels for communication are now wide open as both racers and companies posting contingency awards are more aware of potential problems as well as ways to cure the problems.

NHRA wrote an article in the January 18 issue of National Dragster about Company Qualifications to receive contingency awards. I applaud them for the effort and attention to detail. If you have not read it YOU BETTER if you are planning on winning an NHRA event. It will save you a ton of problems when it comes to contingency payouts. IHRA has always explained the "special rules" some companies have when it comes to contingency payouts. I WAS GUILTY OF NOT PAYING ATTENTION. I thought that if I won I would figure it out then. I eventually did, but I would have been way ahead of the game if I had followed Karen Raffa's directions on the Contingency Payout sheet IHRA gave me.

As I mentioned earlier in this article, I am just another racer who makes errors in judgment and has his own ideas about how things should be. Of course I wish I were always right....but that isn't going to happen. I can be sure in telling you my intent is to ALWAYS BE HONEST about my feelings and concerns about drag racing.

This wraps up my contingency story but I have to admit that some of you were right when you told me I was "opening a bag of snakes." I didn't really mind opening that bag up because I think it needed to be done. I DO NOT regret anything that I said because I told it the way I saw it. Have I hurt advertising sales for DragRacingOnline? Maybe. But if Jeff told once, he told me 50 times "the day we have to "roll-over" in our editorials and change stories so advertisers don't get their feelings hurt is the day he will find something else to do." Thanks Jeff, your support has been the motivation to tackle some controversial topics and treat them as I see them.

Speaking of controversial subjects, here is one that still gets under my skin every time I hear about it -- the "Insurance Surcharge" for racers at NHRA National Events. COME ON!!! Just charge more entry fee if you want the money.

I talked to a track owner, who chose to remain anonymous, who talked to a highly ranked NHRA official about this very subject. I received an email from the track operator and he was told that the "insurance surcharge" was needed to pay for the participant's catastrophic medical coverage and "special coverages" involved in National Events. He told me he thought that reason stunk and I agree.

Supposedly, every NHRA member is already covered by catastrophic medical insurance (excess coverage, I do believe). That means if you have insurance coverage it will pay for everything it can and the catastrophic insurance will fill the voids once you exceed a certain expense cap.

What I don't understand and have not gotten a reply on is why the racers have to pay for this. If it is to help cover the additional insurance premium for Nitro cars or a higher limit on spectator liability fine, just tell us. If it is intended just to put another $20,000 to $30,000 into the track and NHRA race income fund, fine, just tell us. If the money is needed to pay for the purse or cover expenses, fine, just tell us. At least call it what it is...entry fees! We all have all the insurance coverage we can stand without the "surcharge".

If half as many people read this column as they did last month's column I will be hearing from NHRA. I truly hope I do. I would like to let them tell their side of the story about the surcharge. I welcome the NHRA's input on this subject. If I have it all wrong, I can stand the criticism but if I am correct, can you still put up with this kind of thing? That is your choice.

SUPERSERIES BRACKET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Now how about that IHRA / Summit SuperSeries Bracket World Championship? When I first read about it and heard about it at the PRI Show in Indianapolis in December I thought "who in the heck thought up this idea?" Then I thought there must be a way to scam out a cool points title and over $150,000. I even emailed Mike Beard, from IHRA, about my idea to win every race I entered. At first he paused, then said I was nuts.

I can't deny that I was thinking of leasing a small track for maybe $10,000 a year. Opening up Wednesday nights for a race between my two boys, my wife and me. Of course the unwritten rule would be they have to red light against me every time. I win three rounds out of a possible three rounds every time. No one knows when we open for "points night", etc, etc you get the picture (if you don't you should go circle track racing) I go undefeated with a perfect "win ratio.

I still think it shows a possible "chink" in the program, but all in all I think Summit and IHRA and the other sponsors have finally stepped up to the plate for bracket racing, to the tune of potentially more than $150,000!

I hope the Summit SuperSeries draws more cars to the local tracks, creates more IHRA members and sells more parts for Summit. For sure somebody gets the big bucks. The problems will come to light this summer when a track makes an error reporting or doesn't report a race. A car number gets inverted and nobody catches it. I am not being negative. The program is tremendous but administrating it will be a potential nightmare.

I ran a local track for fifteen years and by the end of the day everyone in the tower has been stressed out and wants to get home. If there are rounds of eliminations that need edited and/or car numbers corrected, it could be difficult to get that done. There are a lot of tracks out there that barely break even and a bunch of them lose money every week, so getting an extra effort out of them will be a tough job for IHRA to keep up with.

Michael Beard, IHRA official, seems to have taken this deal on his back and I hope he can keep everyone motivated. It is the first year and a learning curve will be needed. I just wish they could have spread that $150,000 around a little bit. Getting second place will "draw vacuum" big time. I have sent in for my number though. Damn it, somebody has to get lucky and take home that bundle of cash.

That about wraps up "Dead-On" for February. Looks like a lot of Big Bucks Bracket races are getting scheduled as well as some high dollar Stock/Super Stock races (Go Alex D. go!!!).

So, get those decals on (only the ones you should have), sign the releases and keep that proof of purchase. You never know, it could be ME that you "hammer" in the semis to get to the contingency dollars!

Good Luck in 2002!!

jok@racingnetsource.com

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