Drag Racing Story of the Day -- How to Run a Successful Funny Car Circuit

How to Run a Successful Funny Car Circuit

By Jay Mageau

Edmonton's Darrell Webb is the tough guy of the circuit with his '81 Corvette.
Photo by Sandy J

I race in the International Blown Alcohol Association. We are a 7.50-second eliminator group based in Western Canada. We are experiencing a great deal of success and here are the rules we use to do it:

	The vehicle must be a funny car
	It must be Supercharged, and on alcohol
	It must be pre 1983 body (we will not implement this until 2002. Pretty much the whole group is going this way. It works BIG TIME as far as bookings go up here)
	Each member must pay a $150 (US) membership fee
	Each member must produce three current 7-second time slips before being included in the show

We are getting to the point where we have four or five "Open Races," where anyone from the group can show up, but must qualify to get into the show (and to get paid).

We have a good deal of two, four, and six car booked match races at smaller tracks. This year we are letting the tracks choose the cars they want because that is the way they like it. We provide them a book of all of our cars. The guys with cool cars and/or good reputations get picked first. We also try to keep it regional. We try to discourage a track from picking a car that may have to travel seven or eight hundred miles, but if they want them, we will bring them.

Sherrie Bodnerchuck races this outrageous '69 Plymouth Superbird. Photo by Sandy J
Sherrie and Dave Bodnerchuck race this outrageous '69 Plymouth Superbird.
Photo by Sandy J

One of the problems we had in the early years was that we had four or five guys who ran well and traveled a lot, but the rest were dog and pony shows that came late and were unprepared to put on a show.

In our group, you must be prepared and ready if you want to race, or we won't call you. We also market a burn out contest at each race, usually during the qualifying rounds. All members must participate. It's hokey, but the fans love it.

Last but not least is the performance clause. This helps us a lot in our bookings. If a car runs 7.99 or faster, he gets full pay. If he runs 8.00 - 8.50, he gets half pay for that run. If he runs slower, he gets paid for his burnout only, which amounts to chump change. This, of course, is based on track conditions. If the promoter supplies a junk track and no members can get down it, it's his problem. If two or more members get a 7-second run in any round though, the performance clause kicks in.

Nostalgia funny cars will be the only way to go in 2002. Here Jay's '57
takes on an immaculate '55 T-Bird. Photo by Sandy J

This has really upped the performance of the group. Recently in Calgary, Alberta, on a cold track, after two rounds of qualifying we had eight cars from 7.51 to 7.80. HUGE burnouts, great side by side action, and if someone gets crossed up, they always go for it, knowing the 8.0 clause is in effect. Makes for some wild races.

Let's get all the alky circuit funnies together next year for a 64-car show! Let's do it in 2002!

Jay Mageau
The Prospector '57 Chevy Funny Car
International Blown Alcohol Assn (IBAA)
www.awesomeburnouts.com

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