Is the Fuel pricing going to dictate How many races you will attend?

Local and or NCS races?

For many there really isn't a Local track.

Thoughts and ideas as a body of racers. of what we can do.

Big can of worms here. Run with it.:(

As usual for me it's work or family life that dictates my racing. Racing is my release...well sometimes :). If it gets to the point I have to cut back, first I will drop my trailer and haul all of my equipmenmt in the back of my truck. If it gets tighter after that, I will do my best to partner up with another racer traveling back and forth to the track.

There's is really nothing we can do as a body of racers. I've known of a few asking the tracks to cut back on entry fees but that will hurt the tracks. Besides the racing fee is not that big of an expense.

It may come down to a choice for those struggling... play or survive. Surviving must always win over with the family man!!!!

Yes it is quite the pain anymore. It is just my wife and I and two dogs so the family thing really does not get in the way. Most of the expense for us is the gas, and the fact our truck has the 5.4 litre and 4:10 gears with 4x4. It cost us $400.00 in gas alone to travel to the first race in Easley. We can afford it, but for us it's just the fact of putting the money out, just cheep I guess. We had a couple of hotrods that we sold this winter because we want to do the racing instead of the car show/cruiseing and this is much more fun with better attitudes (great bunch of the most helpful people in this).
If it comes down to it I would do the same as Tim, drop the trailer, get a cap for the truck, and go.
Thanks for the great time at Ingles too.

i personally put the 1/4 scale away for this yr. i only live about 2 hrs. away from my local track but last yr. it was costing me 100 bucks a day to race. the gas price was under 3 bucks per gallon. i don't even want to no what it would cost this yr. on my retirement income i can't afford to drop that much to race one day a month and besides it would not do justice to the other racers to show up at the track and try to get it setup. i would end up just being a moving road block on the track. hopefully next yr. will be a different story.

i have already droped the trailer and it sucks haveing to pack the mini van to the roof gas for it is still bad enough i live 2+ hours away from my track as well gas prices have allready played a roll in my raceing this year and i am sure its gona get worse the more it goes up the less i will get to go raceing in the end my oppion its gona hurt ncs events and local races what can be done about it who knows probly nothing here is some ideas= move closer to your track,split qsac to qsac and qsac west when now there are probly only 3 or 4 people that go from west to east anyway split them and let the west have 6 races and qsac have 6 races if there is nothing done it will end up just locals at NCS events,make a choice of which is more important NCS events or your local events in the end we will all get crunched buy fuel cost its not gona get better only worse its hard to say in what direction we need to go the whole issue sucks but as of right now you go or dont go i may have to cut back but i am not gona hang it up

PLCUST, Nice to meet you at Indy.

Gas is getting bad but, a racer will do what he can to race, good or bad. Cut back on parts tires, quality of car? Local track 2-1/2 hours away $100 gas entry fee food makes a very expensive weekend.

The Gov. needs to release our 100 year stockpile and use it, we quit buying their oil they will lower their prices. It would only take 3 months of our reserve to put a hurt on them. But then the politicians would loose money!

Just my 2 cents

Way to get it going paul, I'm going to call you and talk motors with ya

Joey

Being retired and on a fixed income is a drawback but I love racing and will do whatever I have to do to go. My colsest track is 2 hours away and four and five to the next two tracks. I try to buddy up and Randy and I have been sharing cost for years. It most definatly helps to have someone to travel with. Even with sharing cost it is still costly to go racing. Bottom line is if ya wanta dance ya gots to pay the fiddler. Splitting QSAC serves no purpose in cutting cost. As the NCS series is setup you do not have to travel from east to west or west to east. bottom line is you have to pick the shows you want to make and get there the best you can.

I hope we see MORE Car Pooling and Buddy Systems...

Here in the WEST the stations have locked themselves down @ $3.99 a gallon for almost 2 weeks (Longest FREEZE we've seen in months) and YEAH it hurts.

25 mph for my little car - holds 12 gallons. (12 @ 3.99 = $48.00 a tank) which will get me 300 miles. Most of the races I attend out of town are 120 - 140 miles each way, so just shy of a FULL tank of gas.

BUT - when gas was $2.99 a gallon, it was still 36 bucks ...so it's not KILLING me completely...but it means I cut something else OUT. (Fast Food, instead of Restaurant for dinner on the way home, pack lunch to go...a couple LESS Red Bulls for the road trip...stretch a set of tires ONE more race, etc.)

...didn't notice this was in the QSAC thread... :)

Yes Fuel is a big thing for me. I pulled my trailer to Indy and it cost me $600.00 in fuel. Pulling all of those parts my truck gets around 9 miles to the gallon. Thats not good.
I will still pull my trailer to the track as long as I can.

Get more people into the hobby.

I know, that's easy to say and hard to do. But look at what happens: More racers = more support for local tracks. More support = more tracks close to home. More tracks close to home = less travel and more racing.

There ARE ways to make this happen, but they all involve time and effort. Do charity events and celebrity races. Get involved with schools. Do merit badges (electronics, science ...) for scouts. If everybody just wants to race and go home, things wont get better.

Getting classes going that can be done cheaply is good too. Vintage Transam seems to be catching on. How about racing stock truck with cheap NiCd pacs spec'd. Running TC with rubber tires, you can use school and church gyms.

Jeff, Get me a 40 cell for this cheap truck I'm gonna build. What kind of electric motor do you put in a 4 foot car? LOL

Joey

Racenut53. A really big one.LMBO

Hi Joey
It was nice to meet you as well. Hope to see you guys again at the races soon.
Take care
Phil

If you look at consumption alone, 1/4 scale is the cheapest in the hobby. Nitro fuel $30 gal.... battery pack $40 to $100's? (you need how many packs & they change how many times during the year?) .... gas $4 to $7 gallon depending on fuel octane you want & one gallon will last two or more races!

Is the Fuel pricing going to dictate How many races you will attend?

Local and or NCS races?

For many there really isn't a Local track.

Thoughts and ideas as a body of racers. of what we can do.

Big can of worms here. Run with it.:(

NCS races Yes! Local Racing No! My truck & trailer is large enought to haul 5 to 6 racers. All the Hueytown racers are welcome anytime I race, to pile in any time and make the trip with me to the Lagoon to race. Fuel is expensive but not enough for me to give up local racing! Not yet anyway!

If you look at consumption alone, 1/4 scale is the cheapest in the hobby. Nitro fuel $30 gal.... battery pack $40 to $100's? (you need how many packs & they change how many times during the year?) .... gas $4 to $7 gallon depending on fuel octane you want & one gallon will last two or more races!

Tim you got to get there to race! LOL

Sorry Tim just had to post something.

The Speed Limit one worked for me.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.shtml

Yeah, I meant to "quote" a previous post on getting more classes going which talked about battery classes, touring cars and rubber tires. :thumbsup:Tim you got to get there to race! LOL

Sorry Tim just had to post something.

The Speed Limit one worked for me.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.shtml

Yep me too Scott, 60 to 65 MPH is all I need. I can get from Hueytown to Montgomery in about 1:30 and save a bunch of fuel.

I could use somebody to ride with or ride with me so I could go racing again. Here in East Texas track is www.dfwrc.com

that .20 jump in diesel today really takes a bite. doesn't matter how much you slow down to get the mpg up

My wife and I were planning on going to the Final Showdown in Boulder City. I think we're going to have to cancel that. We had a vacation for two weeks, where we were going to visit some friends in Utah and see Boulder Dam and go to Vegas as well as race. That trip would have cost us about $1500 - $1800 about 3 months ago when we started planning it. It looks like it would be well over $2500 now and that just is way to much for my Scotish blood.

When it gets tot he point where 1/4 scale is thinking of going electric, I'll have to quit racing all together.:( It would be kind of hard to peddle a bike with all my stuff in tow, and get time off from the Ford bicycle factory that Dearborn Truck would become...:drunk:

Jim, even if you don't get to race take the trip with the wife anyway. You only get to live once. The time spent with her and to visit friends will offset the cost of the trip by a long shot:thumbsup:


My wife and I were planning on going to the Final Showdown in Boulder City. I think we're going to have to cancel that. We had a vacation for two weeks, where we were going to visit some friends in Utah and see Boulder Dam and go to Vegas as well as race. That trip would have cost us about $1500 - $1800 about 3 months ago when we started planning it. It looks like it would be well over $2500 now and that just is way to much for my Scotish blood.

When it gets tot he point where 1/4 scale is thinking of going electric, I'll have to quit racing all together.:( It would be kind of hard to peddle a bike with all my stuff in tow, and get time off from the Ford bicycle factory that Dearborn Truck would become...:drunk:

that .20 jump in diesel today really takes a bite. doesn't matter how much you slow down to get the mpg up

Nothing will prepair you $4.00 or above fuel! But it is here.
I'll get creative to keep racing. Slow down to 65Mph and add 3 to 4 MPG to you total. I could care less if cars get mad and honk at me beside they won't hang around long. Nope, they'll be back to 85MPH in a heartbeat.
When driving use your speed control, set it at 65MPH or lower. While driving down a long hill use you cost feature on the cruse control.
I'll do what it takes to keep racing and if my F350 sits idle all week I have enough fuel for a return trip to LPR at no extra fuel cost.
Oh yea before $4.00 a gallon fuel I was driving 75 & 80 MPH and barely making it down and back 3/4's of a tank. We all need to rethink our driving habits. While it won't drive down fuel prices in the now, it will help in the future, kinda like the national 55MPH law.

My last trip to Montgomery my fuel, 37 gallons of diesel at $4.00 per. I traveled 285 miles. Monday I filled her back up and put 17.5 gallons back in the tank. Miles traveled divided by gallons used = 16.5 MPG. For a large truck pulling a large trailer, I'll take it beside it does beat 10 mph at 75MPH.

Remember every little bit helps, don't give up!

I hate to be the one to bring the bad news, but our sales lady at RKA were we get our diesel from is telling me $200.00 to $235.00 a barrel within the next 6 to 8 months witch will double the price at the pumps. We have a 1000 gallon tank at the shop and it has gone from $1800.00 to fill it to $4270.00. It sucks but she has been pretty much right on the money for her predictions and calls me to let me know when its making a jump so we get it before hand. The way I see it I'm going to as many races as possible this year because if it goes that high I don't think I will be running too many next year.

I hate to be the one to bring the bad news, but our sales lady at RKA were we get our diesel from is telling me $200.00 to $235.00 a barrel within the next 6 to 8 months witch will double the price at the pumps. We have a 1000 gallon tank at the shop and it has gone from $1800.00 to fill it to $4270.00. It sucks but she has been pretty much right on the money for her predictions and calls me to let me know when its making a jump so we get it before hand. The way I see it I'm going to as many races as possible this year because if it goes that high I don't think I will be running too many next year.

Well maybe it's time to start swaping grain for oil?

Well maybe it's time to start swaping grain for oil?

More bad news. the demand for ethanol is driving up food prices and many other things as well. Using food crops for fuel is not the answer. Commodity chemicals in my business has doubled in the past year. Main reason is the raw materials to produce the chemicals we use in water treatment are the same ones used to produce phosphates for fertilizers, which is much more profitable now for the producers. They are cutting production of commodity chemicals, which reduces supply, and of course increases prices. I'm asking for a price increase at our board meeting tonight of $.05 per 1000 gallons for drinking water and they will scream. In our county that is a large farming county, almost all the fields I pass by are planted in corn. Guess what that's going to doing to cotton.

I apologize for the rant. I hope I made a little bit of sense.

I only have to travel 25 miles to race, so the cost of fuel has no bearing on my racing plans.

I have some good news. I just saved a ton on my auto insurance cause I'm selling a couple of my cars :)

My 2007 truck gets better mileage than my 1993 so, the increase hasn't hurt my wallet as bad... but I know it will soon enough.

Nothing will prepair you $4.00 or above fuel! But it is here.
I'll get creative to keep racing. Slow down to 65Mph and add 3 to 4 MPG to you total. I could care less if cars get mad and honk at me beside they won't hang around long. Nope, they'll be back to 85MPH in a heartbeat.
When driving use your speed control, set it at 65MPH or lower. While driving down a long hill use you cost feature on the cruse control.
I'll do what it takes to keep racing and if my F350 sits idle all week I have enough fuel for a return trip to LPR at no extra fuel cost.
Oh yea before $4.00 a gallon fuel I was driving 75 & 80 MPH and barely making it down and back 3/4's of a tank. We all need to rethink our driving habits. While it won't drive down fuel prices in the now, it will help in the future, kinda like the national 55MPH law.

My last trip to Montgomery my fuel, 37 gallons of diesel at $4.00 per. I traveled 285 miles. Monday I filled her back up and put 17.5 gallons back in the tank. Miles traveled divided by gallons used = 16.5 MPG. For a large truck pulling a large trailer, I'll take it beside it does beat 10 mph at 75MPH.

Remember every little bit helps, don't give up!proper tire psi,change air filter,and tune up but leave the cruse off that kills MPG use a soft foot dont stomp the gas which thats what a cruse does really bad when you have a load like a trailer on grades:thumbsup:

I'm switching to Geico.........

I'm switching to Geico.........if goes any higher its gona be repo........

I'm switching to Geico.........

So simple a caveman can do it.

Naaa... I can afford to pay for it, just can't afford to drive too:thumbsup:if goes any higher its gona be repo........

GURRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! It is just ridiculous

the local news tonight just said that they were looking at a .06 increase in gas and .13 on diesel

Some gas stations here in Lancaster Pa. topped $4.15 a gallon today, at this rate I'm going to have to cut back on my racing bigtime, or stop eating.

the funny thing is i suggested this would be a problem a while back as far as effects on turn outs on NCS events and local racing now the crunch is under way i hate it but its gona change things like it or not i think this is gona be devastating to our pockets and our racing

Gonna take getting more to ride together to help split the cost.

You are right, can't solve our problem with grain or food to oil. We do not have a shortage of oil. What we have is a shortage of refineries in america. There has not been a new one in over 31 years. Also we need to tap our own resources and stop this rediculus blend formulation that cause the refineries to close every season to create. They make over 40 different blends of gassoline.

OK, i could go on, but I know I'm going to blow my top, so see you at the races (I hope)

you know somebody brought up a good point to me today maybe we need to start uping the prices of our export goods to prices of the incoming goods such as oil just maybe they would think twice about raising the price of a barrel. also maybe we should start taking a look at all the help we keep giving to these foriegn countries and start taking care of whats going on at home we would be in better shape. i really like the fact that we sent help to one of these countries in the last couple of weeks and they refused to allow the planes to land and then they decided one plane could land and they would take care of the distrubution. like the people that needed the supplies would ever get anything, they would probably try to sell it back to us. enough of this garbage i hope everyone has a good time at the tri-state race this weekend.

It will take the rich to dig there heads out of there behinds to fiqure out what is wrong. but they have the money. so it is not a issue. But it will be very soon, when people cannot get to work at all. and loose everything including goverment doesn't receive income tax from unemployed people. I am a Stupid american and I can see the righting on the walls.

We are our own worst enemy when it comes to importing and exporting. We want everything fast and cheap yet we like to work at our own pace plus we expect the highest wages. We are no longer hungry. We refuse to work for weekly salaries that could feed & house a whole Mexican family for a month. We are spoiled with luxuries that the people working for pennies can only dream of. I don't feel sorry for us but I do feel sorry for our children and their children to come.:(

you know somebody brought up a good point to me today maybe we need to start uping the prices of our export goods to prices of the incoming goods such as oil just maybe they would think twice about raising the price of a barrel. also maybe we should start taking a look at all the help we keep giving to these foriegn countries and start taking care of whats going on at home we would be in better shape. i really like the fact that we sent help to one of these countries in the last couple of weeks and they refused to allow the planes to land and then they decided one plane could land and they would take care of the distrubution. like the people that needed the supplies would ever get anything, they would probably try to sell it back to us. enough of this garbage i hope everyone has a good time at the tri-state race this weekend.

Amen!!!!!!!!!

And just think about this!

We have over 100 years of oil in our reserves (storage) and our government will not use it to help us.

NA we keep buying it from the foriegn countries. Cut them out for three weeks and watch the prices drop.

Just my opinion

Joey

The Rich get Richer. Oop's the greedy get greedier.

If the Washington but heads would and I hate to say it (Lower the speed limit to 55MPH Nationaly it would not take three weeks. When the Oil starts to back up at the terminals overseas it all of the sudden becomes a fire sale.

Mike Clark. Could be a good idea. I gave up driving fast long time ago. Make it 55MPH and they will still drive 70. But that would be better than 85. And that is the truth. It doesn't matter where i go. if im going 65, Most will scream by me 80mph Plus. and they just gotta run up to the next car and stop,and do it all over again.It's a no brainer on how to acheive the best fuel economy. SLOW DOWN.

But what grips me is years ago alot of manufactures made some cars that would get 50 mpg. With none of this electronic fuel injection who loves ya stuff.But straight up carburator. Now oh boy if ya got one that does 30 boy there really proud.

IT all goes back to freakin GREED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Went to Lansing this weekend to race Tri state race. Had to deliver a car to a buyer at the track on friday by 4:30. i had to push the throttle to get there in time but made it. Mileage was not as good as it was on the home trip. I filled up with E85 in toledo and drove home at 60 to 65 mph and the mileage went up by 2mpg. Normally I do not get as good of mileage on E85. Next trip I will try 55mph both ways on gas there and e85 on return .

we dont have E-nothing in the south yet