Make no mistake about it, nitromethane is still stupid expensive, but it is now far less so after the announcement that VP Racing Fuels, the major supplier of nitro to the NHRA, has brought the price down to $970.00 per barrel. That’s a drop of nearly $500.
As you probably remember, the price of the fuel skyrocketed last season when VP claimed that there was a “shortage” of nitro in the racing world and that demand was outstripping the known supply. For a time there were talks that the NHRA may not have access to enough of the fuel to keep the fuel cars running through the entire season.
The truth of the matter was that VP was having its own personal shortage. The supply of nitro in the world was plenty flush enough to support the NHRA, IHRA, all the nostalgia drag racing competitors running pop, as well as the sand racers and drag boat runners that run the stuff.
VP is the “official” supplier of the NHRA and the sanctioning body took massive heat for not allowing their competitors in to sell fuel to the racers, instead, allowing racers only the single source to buy fuel, which was the most expensive one out there.
It’s great news for the racers buying the fuel, but we have to laugh. Every day brings more and more announcements about teams folding up. By the looks of things, the fuel could cost $9.50 a barrel and still be sitting on the shelf.
