New Body in Budds Creek

Getting ready to head out to Budds Creek, MD for the Presidents' Cup Nationals. For those of you who can make it out to the track, you'll see us debut our new '04 Camaro body. It's all black carbon fiber and looks tough. We busted our tails all weekend to get the fitment right but now have it ready to go. So be prepared for a "new look" from Kelley Motorsports.

I also gotta say that I respect how difficult it must be for IHRA President Aaron Polburn right now. With the NHRA's testing ban (resulting from the nitro shortage), he's been faced with the prospect of an influx of NHRA nitro teams to IHRA events in order to get their testing runs in. On one hand, I'm sure he'd love to see some of the popular big money teams show up. I mean, the presence of a John Force, Ron Capps or Gary Scelzi would virtually ensure a sellout of the event and bring more attention to IHRA nitro racing. And as a business manager, I'm sure Mr. Polburn would love the increased gate receipts and publicity.

On the other hand, he should be applauded for his long term view of what's healthy for the IHRA. Teams like ours depend on the earnings we get by qualifying and going rounds to fund our operations and allow us to make it from race to race. Unlike the big teams like JFR, Schumacher, Snake Racing, etc, we don't have seven-figure sponsorship deals that allow us to tune our cars to the limit, run fresh tires, etc... It's all we can do to simply cover our expenses and make it to the next race. If a bunch of NHRA teams came to Budds Creek I'm sure it would make for an exciting event. But most of us IHRA regulars would get shut out of the purse which would constrain our ability to run subsequent events. Maybe the NHRA guys would come back one more time, maybe not. But in a year where nitromethane prices have doubled and diesel fuel prices have done the same, it costs us over $2,000 more per event to compete for the same purse. And in the current economic climate, sponsorship dollars are tougher to come by as well.

So while the rumors that IHRA has turned down some NHRA racers from participating in the Budds Creek race may or not be true, I have a renewed respect for a man who, unlike many in the business world today, has shunned short term profit for long term stability.