Major bummer. Pro Stock V. Gaines retires

I can't say I'm surprised as he has really been down on the qualifying sheets under the new rules. Big money will prevail and Pro Stock as we knew it is long gone.


V. Gaines, Western Motorsports
27 mins ·
To all our friends, fans, and supporters:
Well over 20 years ago we started this racing adventure. We have made some amazing friends along the way, met some of the most loyal fans a race team could ever want to have, we have formed a partnership with Kendall Motor Oil that will never be forgotten….We have always taken our racing serious but more important we have always raced to enjoy weekends and have some fun.
Today we announce our retirement from NHRA Pro Stock racing. This decision is purely based on the fact the fun has left this chapter in life.
We are thankful for all the support from our friends, fans, and family, and most of all from Kendall Motor Oil.
V. Gaines, Western Motorsports's photo.

Sorry to see him go. He did always look like he was having the time of his life.

Nice guy! Familiar theme. Run out by the big $. When you don't stand a chance, some of the fun goes away.

V has the bucks. I met him only once for about 5 minutes. He treated me like somebody he knew. Very nice guy and very professional. We'll never hear that Yabba Tabba Doo again.

But he's smart enough to not blow his own money to race.

This isn't surprising. The Johnson family will probably go next. Not many people are excited by the class any more.

V has PLENTY of money so doubt very highly this is about money. V has used plenty of his own money to race with. He is a great guy and we have bought stuff off him over the years. I think it really is just what it says. The fun is gone and I'm sure the changes and their struggle with getting the car to run are a large part of that.

There comes a time in life when you just want to quit banging your head against the wall.
Never met him, but based on what I've seen on TV for years, he sure seems like a nice & fun guy to be around.

Met him at once and spoke with him at length, VERY NICE guy. Pro Stock will lose a very good guy and will be less for it.Dave

Will miss seeing him in the pits with the big CEEEE-gar!

time to put a pair of turbos on the dart

They can't even get a full field for pro stock... and now it's 1 regular less.

I always liked V Gaines as he seems like such a nice cool guy. Its easy to understand why he is leaving and I wish him all the best of luck. Ron

...and my friends who keep bugging me to go back to an NHRA race wonder why I keep turning them down.

V has always been one of my favorites, love his car, love his trucks.

For the sake of the class I wish he had at least finished out the year. However he says he does this for fun and it was not fun anymore. I can't fault his decision.

I hope he still participates in the sport at at least some level.

Bill

[quote=6PAK70CUDA]...and my friends who keep bugging me to go back to an NHRA race wonder why I keep turning them down. [/quote


I almost went to Norwalk on Friday to watch qualifying as I have friends in top alcohol dragster and top sportsman but desided against it. It a 400 mile round trip and a very long day

V. was one I always talked to at Gainesville. Super nice guy and is a ambassador to our sport. Hate to see him go. But I agree on the "fun" factor part of it, as I am starting to feel the same way.

When you go to the track with expectations to WIN, it ceases to be fun pretty quickly as the commitment it takes to win is HUGE. Then if you are putting forth that effort, but still NOT winning, it becomes even worse.

Many here put down career test and tuners here all the time and claim they aren't "real" racers. Well, unless it pays your bills, most racing is a hobby any way. If your hobby isn't FUN, whats the point. So at least the career TnT guy is likely having fun and doing what he likes and that is the intent of the sport.

This is why my stint as a bracket racer was short lived. Even though I was pretty good at it, the racing itself was zero fun. Sure, winning money was great, but bracket racing was not fulfilling, at least not to me. So I became the TnT guy with a quest to just make what I had, as fast as it could be. THAT was fun and still is

It`s a business and losing isn't much fun and bracket racing for me is no fun either hence et chasing and bettering my last best. Gaines is doing what he NEEDS to do and I respect that..........

Bracket racing is boring enough.. PRO STOCK is a complete yawn fest.
Dumbass rules/ EFI, come-on now... NHRA doing it's best to rule out the fun factor.

Plus, V is 69, his years continuing to be in Pro Stock were numbered especially if he has no intentions of being a car owner. Allen Johnson is a few years away from this as well. I'll miss them because they were the guys that dared to be different amidst the challenges that came with it. I admire guys like that and it inspires me to accomplish some of my own racing goals.

Car counts have declined throughout the sport. We just notice the pros parking their stuff because they are the big show. From sportsman and class cars, brackets at the local track, it's not the 1990s or even 2005 anymore. It was not uncommon to have 120 cars in our class years ago. Now they can't get 50. Just to run a competitive car is a lot more money now, economy is in the tank, people are trying to stay solvent. A lot of these guys are small business owners who are struggling for any number of reasons. Signs of the times.

So true but yet Daddy Dave is racing at (at least) 3 different tracks on Thursday, Friday, and at Keystone Raceway Park on Saturday. So whats that tell you??? The interest is still there and the stands will be FULL, and in those stands will be a mixture of Sons, Daughters, Moms and Dads, racers and non racers. Sometimes track support helps comes from a direction least expected.


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Myself I dont get to the track much as I wish I could go a little more but I have to live within my budget and health. I do enjoy T & T races when some friends go and we can race each other. But I do love the competition and the last two times I went to the track I bracket raced in the NSS class and had alot of fun. I figure even if I loose in the 1st round I still get 3 passes in. Honestly I dont go enough to have the best odds of winning the race but I got past the first rounds the last two times out and I do enjoy the thrill of trying to get the win light with the car in the other lane right next to you. Ron

Translation: "I never win".