Originally Posted by
Smokin' Joe
V-bottom racing was headed for the grave by 1985. Mod-VP killed it, big prize money there, seldom any for the smaller classes. Then Mod-VP was died, I don't know the reason for that.
In my humble opinion the causes of MOD VP demise were:
1-IOGP was paying big prize money, so all of a sudden many racers felt they should be paid that also. Kinda like paying Daytona purses to the Saturday night short-track racer just because they both race stock cars.
2-The capsule rule injected a large cost to refitting an existing boat or the cost of getting a new capsule boat.
Because of #1, some racers refused to support smaller races. That is where we all started, and where public awareness was born. Most of these races were in public areas that could not charge admission so the prize money was based on local sponsorship and entry fees, therefore purses were limited. Doesn't anyone remember towing all night to a race and winning a paper certificate and MAYBE enough money to cover dinner for the crew?
I raced OPC local classes, and SE in the 70s, and MOD-VP in the 80s (US2, 1984), so I got to see the "glory days". We ran for fun, trailered with a beat-up station wagon (no haulers) and stayed at local racers' houses or in cheap motels. And had a BLAST!
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