Looking for options

[Murff]

Greetings all -

This is kind of a general, rambling question, not looking for anything too definitive at this point.

I found you folks a few years back while I was looking for how-to's for our '39 Studebaker coupe Gasser project (now deceased). I was impressed with your organization then and continue to be impressed. I have posted only a few times, received great replies to my posts, but have read almost every post on this board.

My wife and I are part of a group of racers up in the Seattle area. Pacific Raceways is considered our home track, Bremerton Raceways secondary. We have been having discussions along the lines of starting our own club or organization to help the track get more happy fannies into the stands. I have brought up the ANRA in more than a few of those conversations and the question that has been posed to me and I now pose to you, is the ANRA California only or would you be interested in a Division 6 affiliate?

What we currently bring to the table is a core of a 1/2 dozen old school racers, primarily interested in the Gas classes, but with another 30 or so racers that could / would run Gas, Hot Rod and NE classes. The other racers are also looking for something to align themselves with and are interested in what we are trying to do.

ANRA, based upon your statements on your home page, have values that mirror our own. Family involvement, safety, fun. I can expand on any of those topics but I really am trying to keep this post brief.

So what are your thoughts. Is this something that ANRA has considered or would be interested in discussing? If it is not I will understand. We would still most likely base whatever we do on the guidelines you have created but I would like to think that it may be in all our best interests to at least have a dialog.

Thanks for the time.

Murff

[Murff]

Well, now I'm a little puzzled.

I figured this might need to be kicked around a bit, or maybe someone to address this was out of town, but I didn't think there would be no response at all.

Should I assume that the silence is an answer and that I should just go away?

Murff

[racerb]

Hey Murff Don't go away the guys are just a little behind with the news of the GG's getting out of dragracing on the west coast.
Hang in there.
Butch

[Murff]

Thanks, Butch. I was beginning to lose faith.

No heartache here with GG. Maybe it is time for ANRA to take over the left coast.

Murff

[jrvanosten]

Murff,

Although we can not make any announcements as of yet, there are some tracks North of here that we are looking at. I know there is a group (Pro Nostalgia?) that runs somewhere near you, is that correct?

We'll talk more before the end of the year....

JR

[Murff]

JR -

I checked out Pro Nostalgia, looks like their home track is Woodburn. Had one event at Bremerton, cancelled event at Pacific.

They want 7.99 cars or better, not all of us are that fast (or rich!).

Guess I'll keep lookin'.

Murff

[dmoseley]

Hi Merff?? The biggest problem right now is that the Drag racing world in this area is kind of up side down. With the dropping out of racing, GGs. Tracks that don't want any more races right now, Tracks that are not finished ETC. People and Associations are kind of walking on a thread, Trying to figure out what they are going to due next year.On the personal side, I don't know where we are going to take the race car to,And when.
So don't get discouraged, Look at what exactly you want to do and when.I'm sure ANRA would be intrested in talking with your group. I'm not the head Honcho of the group, But I bet they would like to hear you Ideas.
Did you say the Stude was deceased?? Whaaaa hoppined. I remember trying to help you with the front end Geometry......Dick...

[Murff]

Dick -

Yeah, the Stude' was just taking too long to get done. We had the front end and rear end all set up (the 4-bar front came out real nice), a full rolling chassis, late last year. But we were looking at at least another 2 years (based on how long it took us to get to the point we were at) so Mrs Murff and I decided to switch cars. We picked up a '68 Falcon Futura without a running gear back in February, swapped over everything we could from the coupe, sold off everything else and gave the body to a friend of a friend.

Our goal was to be racing this summer. Alas, we came up a bit short there too. Car is running and I have run it a round the block a few times for 'testing' purposes but just ran out of dough to finish it in time to get any hits. There's a video clip that the missus took of me on the first spin at www.murphysromance.com. That web is also under reconstruction so there's nothing else there. Umm, if you watch it please overlook the lack of safety equipment. I promise to do better at the track.

The Enderle is working well, and the predictions of all that have seen the clip and / or heard the car live is mid 10's which is what I'm shooting for. My desire is still to run D/Gas.

I've been following the trials and tribulations of the ANRA, Goodguys, Famoso and some of the other West Coast organizations while trying to determine where we can fit in. Frankly, we are more interested in the A thru D gas classes than anything else. The track manager at Pacific has (verbally) agreed to promote such a group if we can field enough cars. We want to have something tangible in the way of a format to offer the other racers before we get too excited. The ANRA format seems pretty closely aligned with the VRA and that portion would probably suit us. AA, Jr Fuel, etc. might be a bit tougher to get a full field. After all, this is the rainy northwest and motorsports in general are viewed as an un-necessary evil by the general populace. Plus, we have a much shorter season available than the southern tracks.

I do understand that you folks are still trying to find a home track to call your own and that everyone can agree on, but at the same time you have more options than we do. We have Pacific, which is currently undergoing a $30 million renovation that includes an entirely new stand alone drag strip (not part of the existing road course as it is now), Bremerton, which is an emergency landing strip for Sea-Tac airport and cannot have any permanent structures over three feet tall (timing tower is on wheels), Spokane's Renegade is 4 hours from the west side of the state, and Bonanza in the SE corner which is 1/8th mile only.

Who knows, maybe we'll set up a Pacific Northwest Gasser Association and start a friendly rivalry with ANRA and meet in the middle in Oregon for a few races.

The search for options continues.

Murff

[dmoseley]

Sorry about the Stude, That one would have been fun to see..
That sounds like a cool idea, Alot of the ANRA people are not what you could call "BUCKS UP" either. So if a central meeting (Strip) area could be found, That might be a kick in the behind. So find out from your group what they think, And ditto on this end. Might be able to get something going..