So ..... I'm watching NHRA drag racing on teevee ........

[Stinky The Clown]

........ and I haven't watched NHRA drag racing on teevee in years.

I'm doing a late Sunday afternoon couch potato imitation. All of a sudden, in an interview with one of the drivers (you know how they talk fast and mention every sponsor with a decal plasterd on their car) he's talking about the Army.

The US Army.

It sponsors a car in the NHRA top fuel drag racing series.

The US Army.

With our tax dollars.

Sponsors an NHRA Top Fueler.

Gotta recruit those strapping young boys with too much testosterone for their own good.


(This is not the actual car I saw today)

[bbinacan]

1. I think they sponsor a car at NASCAR too. n/t

[BuyingThyme]

2. This has been going on in a big way for a long time.

[Blue_Tires]

30. i was just about to mention that

the armed forces sponsorship of race cars goes back at least to the 90s, iirc

[Hobarticus]

32. 1970s, actually....

It's real old school.

[Wapsie B]

3. Gosh, why don't they tailor a recruiting campaign towards the rich kids?

I would think that wealthy bankers and CEOs are beside themselves wanting to sent little Muffy and Biff to the military, paying back the country that has given them so much. Oh that's right, it's the poor and middle-class who go to war.

[DS1]

6. Marine Balls

The highest flying, most accurate, pussy magnet golf balls you'll ever get!

[DS1]

4. The Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force have been sponsoring races for years

It's nothing new. While I don't like our services sponsoring things which require thousands of gallons of fuel, I do believe in their ability to market themselves. We will always need a steady stream of young bodies to defend us - even if they are misused by certain assholes.

[DainBramaged]

5. You mean Sarge?

They pay him about $3.5 million per in sponsorship money. And those fuckers recruit right in the pits too.

[Kutjara]

7. The Army probably thinks...

...that people willing to watch someone die in an exploding vehicle for fun are precisely the sort of people they want in Iraq...watching people die in exploding vehicles. "Hey kids, if you think this insanely dangerous shit is cool, have we got a career for you!"

[DainBramaged]

9. Excuse me, ever been to a drag race?

Could you tell us how many people have died in "exploding" vehicles racing in the past decade Nationwide? And then tell us how many people died in exploding vehicles on the highway just last weekend nationwide.

Can you?

Actually I have the answer. I KNOW you don't.

And I'll give you a tip, there were no Drag Racing deaths between 1980 and 2006.

[Kutjara]

11. Gee, I never realized drag racing was so safe.

You make it sound like a relaxing game of croquet. I guess all that nitromethane is really just warm milk and nobody watches the races hoping to see a big crash. That would make drag racing about the only motorsport in the world that doesn't attract ghouls.

[DainBramaged]

12. I raced professionally (yes for money) for nearly a decade

And since you have never been to a race, nor know the psychology of the fans (typical crap on your part) why not just find something you have a clue about and spew in that thread.:eyes:

And I was right, you don't know about the question I asked.

Typical.

[Kutjara]

15. Actually, I do know the answer to your question,...

...but didn't bother answering it because it wasn't an honest question. The clue was in your setting a cutoff date of 2006. Why that year, I wonder? I think we both know the answer to that. Hell, there's even been a death this year, never mind the serious injuries over the entire 1980-2006 period you cite.

As for the psychology of motorsport fans, it's been pretty widely studied and documented. You might care to read up on it some time. I hardly need to point out that sitting in a drag racer for ten years isn't exactly on the syllabus for a psych degree, either.

So please, before you climb on your high horse next time, check to make sure it has legs.

On edit: I'm also curious as to why Blaine Johnson's and Darrell Russell's deaths don't count by your reckoning.

[DainBramaged]

18. I was waiting to see how adapt you were at Googling

You still didn't answer my question, but that's OK, I don't care what you think. You tried to make a stupid point and got called on it. And there have been so few injuries in ALL of motor sports in 28 years, it isn't worth discussing. Unless of course someone wanted to make a stupid point.

That is all.:eyes:

[Kutjara]

20. And you lied and got called on it.

Why wouldn't I google such an obvious falsehood? It only took two minutes to reveal your BS for what it is.

And now that your lie is revealed, you fall back to "but all the other car sports have injuries, too" and try to pretend your original point is still valid. Nice try...if you're 10.

Anyway, I wasn't talking about other motor sports. I was talking about why the military might feel that such a manifestly dangerous sport as drag racing is a good advertising opportunity. It's a thrill-seeker sport, with mortal danger just beneath the surface every second. It doesn't take a PhD in social psych to figure out why such a sport might be a rich source of young people in search of action, adventure, and, yes, mortal danger.

That you can't see this obvious point indicates you may have inhaled a bit too much nitromethane during your stint in the sport.

[DainBramaged]

21. I'm not allergic to nitro like so many are (you'd cry like a baby)

gave me an advantage when we fired up the Ormsby top fuller in the 80's.

Here's the list genius.

http://www.menstuff.org/issues/byissue/death-racing.html

You need to look up the definition of tool. Your picture is next to it.

Goodbye, enjoy those crashes.



and you don't know SHIT about me or motorsports, you proved that. Nice try at saving your male ego.

[Kutjara]

23. Ah yes, the impeccable source that is "menstuff.org".

Try adding these names to your little list:

Deaths in NHRA

* John Hagen, August, 1983
* Lee Shepherd, 11 March 1985
* Blaine Johnson, 31 August 1996
* Darrell Russell, 27 June 2004 During 2nd round eliminations
* Shelly Howard, 2 April 2005
* Eric Medlen, March 23, 2007 Severe tire shake during testing causing brain injury, died 3 days later
* John Shoemaker, March 8, 2008

Drawn from a slightly more complete list of racing-related deaths:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_motorsports

Just keep the insults coming, pal. Only you seem unaware they say far more about the insulter than the insultee.

[DainBramaged]

25. One last question before I put you on ignore

how many people have died in motorsports in the past 28 years, and how many died in traffic accidents last weekend. You refused to answer that question originally, so I'll ask it again. Oh, and you're too easy, I don't need to insult you, you've done a fine job of insulting yourself. You've done a fine job at researching the subject (WIKI? HAHAHAHAH so easy even a child could do that).:rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl:
I rest my case, goodbye.

[Kutjara]

31. I don't know whether you're intentionally misunderstanding...

...my point, or whether you simply can't. What does the number of people dying in traffic accidents have to do with the issue? Is the Army or Navy advertising on everyone's cars now? It's irrelevant.

What is relevant to the OP is reasoning behind the Army's involvement in Top Fuel racing. My point was related to that, not to road traffic fatalities, other sports, or the price of tea in China.

I'm glad you agree that "even a child" could see through your pathetic attempt to mislead. I wouldn't have wanted to devote any more effort to it than was strictly necessary.

[HooptieWagon]

39. Damn, I missed Lee Shepherd dying...

Great Pro-Stock driver, as I recall. Hadn't heard his name in years. I guess now I know why...

[DainBramaged]

40. Fluke

Wiki is wrong (as are so many here who think they know about drag racing)

http://www.competitionplus.com/08_19_2004/lee_shepherd.html

The team had been doing sixty-foot shots all day and for some reason Shepherd decided to take it to the finish line under full power. A severe crosswind proved to be fatal.

Reher, who had seen more than his share of crashes, had no idea that the crash was fatal from his starting line vantage point. “No crash is a good crash and certainly people have survived a much worse looking crash,” admitted Reher. “Anything can happen and we see it happen time and time in today's racing world. Dale Earnhart's wreck didn't look too violent on television, but we know how it turned out.

[Fumesucker]

22. Kids drop dead every year playing football..

Football is a "manifestly dangerous" sport.

I'd be willing to wager serious money that there are more deaths due to football each year than there are due to drag racing.

Without even thinking hard I can come up with two personal acquaintances who have been physically disabled with knee injuries from high school football.

[DainBramaged]

24. Too many here think motorsports are instant death for the participants and spectators

and they think because they read it on the Internet they are experts, just like those who tell me how much better foreign cars are. Without disclosing how much more expensive they are to fix.

[Kutjara]

33. Wow, that conversation inside your own head has really reached...

...fever pitch now, hasn't it? Which of the many voices are telling you that "too many here think that motorsports are instant death?" The big green elephant or the tiny blue pixie?

Just so you know, reading something on the Internet doesn't make someone an expert, but it does provide a handy way of checking when someone is lying. It's also pretty rich to be wailing about "Internet experts" when it was the very same Internet that produced your inaccurate list of racing fatalities. Here's a tip for you: when using the Internet to support your argument, use more than one source. You look like less of a fool that way.

[Kutjara]

29. More people die from tripping over their bedsheets...

...in any given year. That's not my point. Drag racing is PERCEIVED as a dangerous sport. The fuel, the huge engines, the noise, the speed, all combine to produce a spectacle that spells "DANGER." That's a big part of the excitement. Football doesn't send quite the same message. My point was that the high degree of perceived danger in drag racing makes it attractive to advertisers like the Army. They want to appeal to people who are attracted by high risk activities.

[Fumesucker]

34. Drag racing is *perceived* as dangerous

By those who know nothing about it.

Fans on the other hand tend to know it's not all that bad.

Football is a very militaristic sport, much unlike drag racing which is far more of an individualistic endeavor.

[DainBramaged]

36. Well said, thank you for clarifying that point for the less intelligent.

and ignored!:rofl:
:rofl:
:rofl::rofl:
:rofl:
:rofl:

[Kutjara]

38. True enough, football is definitely more regimented.

And I accept that drag racing is less dangerous than it's perceived to be, but I still disagree about the "message" it sends, particularly in respect of advertisers.

When I was a kid, I was hooked on drag racing. I made my father take me every week, and got a real kick out of the whole thing. I made a bunch of friends among the other "drag racing kids" who also attended regularly. Sometimes, we even got to visit the pits and peek into the cars.

To my current shame, however, just about every one of us wanted to see "a really big crash," because that would be hugely exciting. At home, we'd play with our "Mongoose & Snake" Hot Wheels funnycars, making them "explode" in our minds in lurid wrecks.

When we grow up, of course, the desire to see a horrible wreck is tempered by compassion for the driver. Well, it is for most of us. But there is an identified subculture that never grow out of "crashophilic" childhood. My original point was that I fear the Army is trying to appeal to this subculture.

[Kutjara]

10. deleted. wrong place. nt

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

8. Army/Navy Football

rivalry has been followed by the general public for decades. This is no different. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if successful gladiators in Rome turned out to have had sponsors in the Legion.

[Hobarticus]

13. Don Prudhomme was running an Army funny car when I was a kid in the 70s...

Had a model of it, too. And this was roundabout the time the Vietnam War was winding down. Go figure.

[DainBramaged]

14. Garlits was sponsored by the Army for a time too.

[Hobarticus]

16. That's right....he was running the Army dragster, right?

Ah, I love the classics...

[DainBramaged]

17. You bet

Here's some pictures from his museum

http://rides.webshots.com/album/559267675eacVMy

[Xenotime]

19. What the fuck?!? This is complete treason.

This is what they are doign with our tax dollars.

[Thothmes]

41. Why Not.

The congress appropriates money to the armed forces for advertising as part of the DOD budget. This is one of the ways they spend it.

[bdamomma]

26. and I am really reverting back watch Hard Days Night

really reverting back.

[flyingfysh]

27. the Air Force sponsors a monster truck

Watch the "monster jams" on cable, you may be able to see it.

[DainBramaged]

28. Everything you need to know about NASCAR and the army

http://www.military.com/NASCAR

[Lone_Star_Dem]

35. Did they mention anything about the Nitromethane shortage?

How the nitromethane being produced in China is a major cause of air pollution and how China's going to halt production in advance of the Olympics to help improve air quality?

Many fans here in the states are up in arms over the halt in production. Funny how they're not worried about the pollution being a major health risk for the people of China, or the damage it's doing to our environment. However, they are highly upset over a slight possibility that they may have a race canceled.

[DainBramaged]

37. Not all of it is produced in China, only the cheapest.

http://www.buyersguidechem.de/AliefAus.php?pname=Nitromethane&pnu=670004702061&cass=

[Lone_Star_Dem]

42. China is still the #1 producer of race grade nitromethane

China is drag racings only source for racing grade nitromethane since Dow-Angus stopped producing racing grade nitro.

The NHRA knows this and is already taking precautions.

NHRA officials are putting the brakes on wide-open use of nitromethane until stockpiles are at a more comfortable level. In an effort to reduce smog across China before the Olympic Games, the Chinese government has mandated a complete stoppage of nitromethane production until September. Nitromethane is almost exclusively produced in China

In light of this information, NHRA gurus told teams that professional test sessions following national events will be discontinued until further notice. (Yes, that includes Indy.) They're also asking for team's to limit their warm-up procedures or use alcohol instead of nitro during their warm-ups.

"There are six containers on their way here and they are trying to get six more containers out of the country before this Olympic embargo is in place," team owner David Powers said. "If we get that second batch, we should be fine until the end of the year and by then things will be back to normal."

http://www.go2geiger.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123%3Anitro-fuel-shortage-is-due-to-chinese-smog&catid=33%3Ageiger-counter&Itemid=32

I suppose it's better to buy on the cheap from a country where the people have less voice as to the pollutants they breath than from a more regulated source.