Money pit, plain and simple.
Sad to say we're not making it out simply due to money. In the past we've always been very fortunate to have great sponsors as partners, but these days it's really, really hard to convince anyone to market with a race team. Sponsors come and go and in the end the weekly costs are usually out of pocket. We've had a couple of major emergencies with the home and family over the winter, so the budget is gone.
And it's not really the Truck class' fault, the operating costs are no worse than any other class.
But I maintain the entry fees for driver and team are just too high, you shouldn't have to spend a minimum of $150 every single week to race ($20 driver + two crew @ $30 + $60 fuel)... And that's not counting food, and fuel to tow to the track. That means $450-$500 a month at bare minimum to start three races. If the entry fees were more reasonable, we might be able to swing it more often. Even if that meant lowering purses... Or keep purses the same for the top 5 but lower the rest, I dunno.
Or maybe the fees are reasonable and I'm just being a bitch, I dunno. But at both other tracks I've raced at up North (admittedly, it was the late 90s) it was $20 for "car and driver," and $10 for each crew member.
As for the rules, I certainly haven't been around long enough to know how they affect us as far as changing from year to year, but I will say I thought in terms of COMPETITION the rules were great, and really evened everyone out, especially the 6000 RPM chip... But I can definitely understand the frustration in having to switch gearing around for it. All the constant rule changes scared us away from Super Stock, in the first place.
The only Truck rule that persistently gave me hassles was the roof height--no matter how much I jacked the truck up I was constantly a hair under. So I'm glad they lowered that back down a bit. Maybe that'll help with some trucks plowing their R/F too, if it brings down the body roll.
The other issue is that racing Friday nights is hugely stressful and difficult, with everyone getting off work at 4:30, 5:00 or 5:30, scrambling like madmen to hook up the trailer and get going. No matter how fast we tried to get it done we always felt rushed like crazy to even make Practice. I was one of the few who voted to race Saturdays, but apparently I'm the minority. Just a pet peeve of mine I guess, it's obviously not going to change any time soon.
Anyway, I love the class and we'd really love to be running even a partial season but simply cannot afford it. As it is myself and another Truck who's not racing this year will try our best to make the NCATS Saturday race, so hopefully the turnout is nice and high for that race at the least.
if someone was thinking of going racing and the trucks cost the same as super stocks to build/race/maintain, it would be rediculous to choose trucks. you are stuck at delaware, no real opportunity to travel to invitationals, etc. like the supers and the market for resale is tiny.
even when i see what looks like a good deal on a truck for sale, i wonder who would buy it other than someone who lives west of london and can't easily travel.
no octoberfest, no fall colours, no Mcoll series, wednesdays at sauble, or other invitationals.
if someone was thinking of going racing and the trucks cost the same as super stocks to build/race/maintain, it would be rediculous to choose trucks. you are stuck at delaware, no real opportunity to travel to invitationals, etc. like the supers and the market for resale is tiny.
even when i see what looks like a good deal on a truck for sale, i wonder who would buy it other than someone who lives west of london and can't easily travel.
no octoberfest, no fall colours, no Mcoll series, wednesdays at sauble, or other invitationals.
This poster elaborated better than I did. I love trucks, and still love watching them go. When trucks were more like Endurance rules, it was cheaper to run. Now, that doesn't mean the crate is a bad option (it's still one of the best). But the tire rule, externals to spin good lap times with those who spent that high dollar investments.. make the class hard to maintain (my opinion). I don't have the answers on how to bring everyone back, but it would be nice to see it as a full run again.
last i heard there were going about 9-10 trucks this year, i know its taken me just about 3 years now to get my truck ready, its just so damn expensive, and id rather be completitive out there then running around half a lap down watching everyone else race. its takes money, personal or sponsor money (if you can find any)
i paid 500 for my truck and have sunk over 7000 in it easy (with motor/trans/rear end/gear/cosmetic) over 3 years just to be competitive, and it could all be for nothing come may lol, but ive done everything i could think of and looked at other trucks and talked to other guys.
I think with the new super stocks guys see that its cheaper to buy a car (chassis/body) and swap stuff over then it is to spend months working on a truck from scratch.