A Perfect NHRA President (1 Viewer)

[vegasnitro]

Bernstein was also responsible for driving the price of poker way up. Computers, lockup clutches, aerodynamically dependent bodies that look nothing like production cars, hospitality areas at the track, high paid dedicated crew chiefs. He had to bring in the big sponsor. And when he could no longer find a sponsor, he had priced himself out of business ... just as he had many other teams in the 30 years prior.

Don't get me wrong, Bernstein also did a lot of good for Drag Racing ... But someone whose answer for everything was "more money from sponsors" is probably not the guy that should be at the top of the pyramid. I do think he could do some good in the NHRA org chart somewhere below the top couple of lines, though I don't believe he has any interest in it any more.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Not that I disagree with you, Chris, but where do you draw the line? The fact of the matter is, technology hasn't stopped evolving, nor will it ever. And there is the cost factor, which I totally get. But the bottom line is, people aren't going to pay the already too high gate prices to watch antiquated machines. There's always the nostalgia stuff, but when it comes to the highest level of our sport, I'm betting most folks want to see state-of-the-art stuff.

We've all had the answers at one point or another, but I'm not sure I'd want to be the guy/gal in charge of getting this delicate balancing act back into place.

Sean D

 

[None]

Not that I disagree with you, Chris, but where do you draw the line? The fact of the matter is, technology hasn't stopped evolving, nor will it ever. And there is the cost factor, which I totally get. But the bottom line is, people aren't going to pay the already too high gate prices to watch antiquated machines. There's always the nostalgia stuff, but when it comes to the highest level of our sport, I'm betting most folks want to see state-of-the-art stuff.

We've all had the answers at one point or another, but I'm not sure I'd want to be the guy/gal in charge of getting this delicate balancing act back into place.

Sean D

Top Fuel was at one time the biggest, baddest, and fastest. It still should be. Go as fast as you can with out blowing up and still get it stopped with in the track you have to work with. Cost should be a team problem, not NHRA.

 

[flapjack]

Top Fuel was at one time the biggest, baddest, and fastest. It still should be. Go as fast as you can with out blowing up and still get it stopped with in the track you have to work with. Cost should be a team problem, not NHRA.

In some sense it is an NHRA problem because if costs drive out teams, we have short fields and then fans don't get as much racing. Unhappy fans aren't good for the sport.

 

[Fast16Racer]

At the end of Sunday eliminations at the Mile-High nats. I have had Bandimere Sr. shake my hand and thank me for spending the day at the races.

Same here, races big and small, he always thanks you for being a customer (actually it's John Jr., Sr. passed in 1986 I believe). Sporty (John III) is always at the tech shack or helping to park rigs, always involved with customers and always recognizes you and says hi.

 

[mick]

hopefully with the new president we will continue to see change.....keep looking out the windshield and do not look backwards.
sports that are afraid of change will eventually collapse under their own weight.
baseball, once the american pastime; now 2nd or 3rd fiddle to the NFL and NBA......'shorten your games to 7 innings to better compete
for TV and live audience'......'no says the purists'....end result, the youth in this country could care less about baseball.
the nfl changes their rules annually to better their product and they're #1 by a landslide.....and i think you'll see
the nfl starting to build smaller stadiums and lower ticket prices as the majority of their revenue is from TV contracts.
why have empty seats when they could be sold at a slightly lower price?
the hassle of travel and expense to a sporting event is losing to comfortable home and bar widescreen/surround sound.

wish the nhra had this same problem but they do not as attendance is down, ticket prices are same or inching upwards, and
they pay to play on ESPN.....i am very interested to see what transpires for TV/streaming in the near future.....IMO this will be the
make or break for attracting new corporate sponsors to the sport.

on father's day according this article the nhra was #1 on sunday (sans nascar), solidly showing the sport is on par with or slightly
above all other non-nascar racing series, including F1's american audience.

http://www.racer.com/north-american-racing/item/118442-ratings-nhra-f1-enjoy-big-weekends

 

[vegasnitro]

Not that I disagree with you, Chris, but where do you draw the line? The fact of the matter is, technology hasn't stopped evolving, nor will it ever. And there is the cost factor, which I totally get. But the bottom line is, people aren't going to pay the already too high gate prices to watch antiquated machines. There's always the nostalgia stuff, but when it comes to the highest level of our sport, I'm betting most folks want to see state-of-the-art stuff.

We've all had the answers at one point or another, but I'm not sure I'd want to be the guy/gal in charge of getting this delicate balancing act back into place.

Sean D

I agree that technology, particularly computers, was coming no matter what. I also agree that racers and teams will continue to evolve at a rate faster than the sanctioning bodies can anticipate. I also agree I wouldn't want to be the person that has to walk the line and/or draw the line. I can tell you this, no good has ever come from a racer running any racing organization. It always ends in tears.

 

[vegasnitro]

on father's day according this article the nhra was #1 on sunday (sans nascar), solidly showing the sport is on par with or slightly above all other non-nascar racing series, including F1's american audience.

http://www.racer.com/north-american-racing/item/118442-ratings-nhra-f1-enjoy-big-weekends

F1 has always been a tough sell in the US. No American drivers or manufacturers (until next season) and it comes on TV very early Sunday morning for the most part. The NHRA audience is pretty steady, and proves the value of being on ESPN/2. They had double the audience of the NASCAR XFinity Series at Iowa on FS1, though there were many Cup drivers competing in that race. A lot of people just can't find you buried on deep cable, or don't pay for the upgraded tiers of service to get you, even if you are NASCAR.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I agree that technology, particularly computers, was coming no matter what. I also agree that racers and teams will continue to evolve at a rate faster than the sanctioning bodies can anticipate. I also agree I wouldn't want to be the person that has to walk the line and/or draw the line. I can tell you this, no good has ever come from a racer running any racing organization. It always ends in tears.

Amen to your last 2 sentences, Chris. I hear that sh!t all the time and I've NEVER been a proponent of that theory. There needs to be a super diverse presence spanning across several committees that include high-level racing minds, but they DON'T need to be the final decision makers, that's for sure.

Sean D

 

[FABMAN]

Amen to your last 2 sentences, Chris. I hear that sh!t all the time and I've NEVER been a proponent of that theory. There needs to be a super diverse presence spanning across several committees that include high-level racing minds, but they DON'T need to be the final decision makers, that's for sure.

Sean D

I agree with both you and Chris but I think there's a place for owners racers to be appointed to the board to have say in deciding actions made by the organization. There should be a process in deciding who should be appointed to the board, like maybe members who actually participate at events to vote who is on the board. I know they have Pro but it doesn't seem to have any power, never see anything come from that group.

 

[mick]

wasn't sure which thread to post in about new prez p. clifford. for sure he deserves a chance, hopefully able to implement a few
changes in the coming months and next year.
a nat. event really is a hell of a show; and a different 'type' of show depending on the day attended.
IMO what nhra does well live at nat. events......
- pro program runs approx. 4-5 hours each day; satisfactory time for casual fan on hot summer day
- nite qualifying at tracks w/lighting (possibly the single best thing nhra does at a nat. event)
- pit access for fans (see below)
- sunday pro program usually over 4-5 hours from start....improvement from yesteryear with 6-7pm finishes
IMO what nhra could do better at nat. events.....
- sell the pit experience on friday & sat. a lot more; more time between qual. rounds; let the folks get out of their seat and move
around for a couple hours.....sunday show can be fast.....fri/sat sell, sell, sell....give the fans more time to spend their money.
- try night time elims under lights on a sat. night at least somewhere once (live broadcast)
- try a 2-day race somewhere once; fields are barely full and costs are so high you never get 16 cars attempting 4 qual. full pulls.
- longer burnouts.....burnouts are cool and fans love them and miss them....they suck now.
- higher nitro percentage.....cackle is cool and fans love it and miss it.....it's ok now but was a lot better.

no matter what you do it's the entertainment factor on the track that either works or fails.
if we're going to be 'the original extreme sport' then why not enhance what's already there
with a little showmanship that was solidly in place for many years and IMO let it slip away.
pretty sure i'm not the only one that noticed.

.....and while you're at it, get the throttle wacks back too.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

With having inexperienced, uninsured drivers likely driving over their heads, I fail to see how this is a bad idea.

Andy I think you misunderstood. The youth were to drive the "family truckster" that they drove to the track, not a race car. And only to the 1/8mi.
And with mom, or dad in the car with them. The idea was to invite folks out of the stands to get a chance to see what it's like to race down the track.
But who just happens to have two helmets in the car?? Once again a great idea, but they over regulated it, to death.

 

[HEMI6point1]

I agree that technology, particularly computers, was coming no matter what. I also agree that racers and teams will continue to evolve at a rate faster than the sanctioning bodies can anticipate. I also agree I wouldn't want to be the person that has to walk the line and/or draw the line. I can tell you this, no good has ever come from a racer running any racing organization. It always ends in tears.

Wasn't there a sanctioning body where the top leaders were all racers including Big Daddy and it ended up going down like a lead balloon?

I bet after that, no sanctioning body wants to chance it.

 

[StockersRock]

Andy I think you misunderstood. The youth were to drive the "family truckster" that they drove to the track, not a race car. And only to the 1/8mi.
And with mom, or dad in the car with them. The idea was to invite folks out of the stands to get a chance to see what it's like to race down the track.
But who just happens to have two helmets in the car?? Once again a great idea, but they over regulated it, to death.

Not misunderstood at all. In fact, if it's just to get people out of the stands to do it, I stand by my opinion even more. To put, again, a potentially inexperienced, probably uninsured driver behind the wheel of the family street car, having a guardian there to "grab the wheel" etc, seems like it could get out of hand quickly. And who's to say the truckster is even safe to do such a thing (tires, etc)? I'm sure there'd be waivers up the wazoo, of course, and if you're a licensed, insured driver, then nix the helmet requirement. I totally agree with you on "who would happen to have helmets with them", for it to be a random activity of the day/weekend. But, if this is something you were to plan into your trip to the races, then so be it. Perhaps the easiest solution would be for the sanctioning body to rent helmets or provide them with a partenship through Bell, Simpson, Impact, etc... (guessing that they'd rent - $$$ - haha).

 

[none]

I have been to many tracks that have loaner helmets, did you ask?
AR

 

[FABMAN]

I have been to many tracks that have loaner helmets, did you ask?
AR

Thanks Alan, didn't know that. Good information

 

[Speed1288]

Wasn't there a sanctioning body where the top leaders were all racers including Big Daddy and it ended up going down like a lead balloon?

I bet after that, no sanctioning body wants to chance it.

Billy Meyer running IHRA seemed to go over like a wet fart

 

[JB3]

The idea was to invite folks out of the stands to get a chance to see what it's like to race down the track. But who just happens to have two helmets in the car?? Once again a great idea, but they over regulated it, to death.

This is not even close to being a true statement Paul. That is not how the program works at all. There is a licensing process and other requirements long before you can just take the "family truckster" down the track.

Nobody is just showing up and driving Mom or Dad down the dragstrip. Read about the program here ...

http://www.nhra.com/nhra101/jrstreet.aspx

 

[Mike]

Jim, that is for kids 13 to 16. You can show and race the family car at just about any track.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

This is not even close to being a true statement Paul. That is not how the program works at all. There is a licensing process and other requirements long before you can just take the "family truckster" down the track.

Nobody is just showing up and driving Mom or Dad down the dragstrip. Read about the program here ...

http://www.nhra.com/nhra101/jrstreet.aspx

Jim either I'm wrong, (very possible) or they changed the program. The article I read long ago said nothing about licensing. They made it sound like a spur of the moment thing, to give youths their first taste, without a big $$ investment to hopefully hook them. I took it to be that for example: during qualifying the announcer
invites folks to take a turn racing down the track. If dad has a teen he's been teaching to drive, and feels he/she can do it safe, he may take the kid and the family
sedan to the lane. When the "Q's" are done & before elims, the track would let the young make a pass with dad, or mom inside the car.

No worry about non experience, dad is not gonna put his kid or car in jeopardy. Besides how fast is the family-mobile gonna go in the 1/8mi. 45, 50 maybe??
we got 8 yr olds doin 80mph alone in JR dragster. I wish I could find the original piece, can't remember if it was Comp plus, DRO, or NHRA.

Anyway like I say I didn't read it as a season thing, more like a "HEY HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY" type of thing. But in my opinion nhra killed it by the helmet
thing. I have NEVER heard of any track loaning them.