Wes
Nitro Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2006
- Messages
- 396
- Age
- 54
- Location
- Cypress, TX
Disclaimer: The ideas and concepts expressed forthwith are in no means meant to discredit nor impune the current IHRA ownership, management, or support network.
What if IHRA and the new ownership team of Feld Entertainment decides to take a new direction with the company beginning with the 2009 season. There are already tremors preceeding the impending earthquake that will be the loss (dropping) of the Funny Car class. If their existence is 100% contingent on sponsor-funding, then you might wonder how tenuous the funding for Top Fuel might also be...along with Pro Stock. Pro Mod, in my opinion, IS the cornerstone of the IHRA line-up. While IHRA Top Fuel has produced star drivers (Clay, Bruce, Foley, Herbert, et. al.) and star performances (the 4.99, the second 300, etc.) it has been, for the most part, devoid of long-term history and tradition. Funny Car, as we've seen, has been a come-and-go experiment for IHRA. Pro Stock has become nothing more than a heads-up "sportsman" class that has little or no factory backing...or major corporate sponsorship. You mention IHRA to the common race fan and they immediately think of Pro Mod.
Given that perception and recent developments in our economy, the atmosphere of uncertainty with class funding, and a growing chasm between the "Big-Two" sanctioning bodies, could the IHRA survive and thrive by taking a drastic step into the future by dropping not just Funny Car, but Top Fuel and Pro Stock, too?
Let's get one thing straight-Nitro Sells Tickets. But IHRA has not relied on the household nitro names to sell those ticket over the years. Without names like Force, Bernstein, Schumacher, Scelzi, Fuller, Kalitta (even though they've played in their sandbox a few times in the last decade), Capps, and the rest, IHRA has been able to draw ticket buyers in. While they have cultivated new names like Millican, Hagan, Litton, and Creasy they've not had to promote the names as hard as the fuel.
What if IHRA replaced Top Fuel and Funny Car (oh, AND Alky Funny Car) with A-Fuel Dragster and A-Fuel Funny Car? What if, at the same time, they replaced the 16-car Pro Mod field with a 32-car show after dropping Pro Stock? Reduce the number of professional classes from 5 to 3. Take the purse budgets from Pro Stock and A/FC and build/bolster the remaining Pro Classes. I believe IHRA could make all three classes virtual payout clones of each other since the cost-of-operation for the three types of cars are eerily similar. While restructuring their Pro Classes, IHRA could also do more to expand the participation levels at the sportsman level-both at the national and divisional level.
IHRA could blaze some trails with this type of event line-up by taking their show to a wider variety of facilities...both traditional 1320/1000 footers along with TRUE 1/8 mile tracks. Pro teams that choose to committ to the IHRA series could end up having more national events that under the current format. It would also bring large-scope events to smaller markets that traditionally jam-pack their local drag strips when Pro Mods or anything with nitro are in the house.
There are many in the industry that believe IHRA will shift their focus back to the "sportsman" racer in the near future. While that type of focus is admirable and very beneficial for the non-touring-pro, it bears little profit potential for a sanctioning body. IHRA would still need a big show to sell tickets...and a 3-class format using Pro Mod and two injected nitro categories could be the ticket.
Thoughts?
What if IHRA and the new ownership team of Feld Entertainment decides to take a new direction with the company beginning with the 2009 season. There are already tremors preceeding the impending earthquake that will be the loss (dropping) of the Funny Car class. If their existence is 100% contingent on sponsor-funding, then you might wonder how tenuous the funding for Top Fuel might also be...along with Pro Stock. Pro Mod, in my opinion, IS the cornerstone of the IHRA line-up. While IHRA Top Fuel has produced star drivers (Clay, Bruce, Foley, Herbert, et. al.) and star performances (the 4.99, the second 300, etc.) it has been, for the most part, devoid of long-term history and tradition. Funny Car, as we've seen, has been a come-and-go experiment for IHRA. Pro Stock has become nothing more than a heads-up "sportsman" class that has little or no factory backing...or major corporate sponsorship. You mention IHRA to the common race fan and they immediately think of Pro Mod.
Given that perception and recent developments in our economy, the atmosphere of uncertainty with class funding, and a growing chasm between the "Big-Two" sanctioning bodies, could the IHRA survive and thrive by taking a drastic step into the future by dropping not just Funny Car, but Top Fuel and Pro Stock, too?
Let's get one thing straight-Nitro Sells Tickets. But IHRA has not relied on the household nitro names to sell those ticket over the years. Without names like Force, Bernstein, Schumacher, Scelzi, Fuller, Kalitta (even though they've played in their sandbox a few times in the last decade), Capps, and the rest, IHRA has been able to draw ticket buyers in. While they have cultivated new names like Millican, Hagan, Litton, and Creasy they've not had to promote the names as hard as the fuel.
What if IHRA replaced Top Fuel and Funny Car (oh, AND Alky Funny Car) with A-Fuel Dragster and A-Fuel Funny Car? What if, at the same time, they replaced the 16-car Pro Mod field with a 32-car show after dropping Pro Stock? Reduce the number of professional classes from 5 to 3. Take the purse budgets from Pro Stock and A/FC and build/bolster the remaining Pro Classes. I believe IHRA could make all three classes virtual payout clones of each other since the cost-of-operation for the three types of cars are eerily similar. While restructuring their Pro Classes, IHRA could also do more to expand the participation levels at the sportsman level-both at the national and divisional level.
IHRA could blaze some trails with this type of event line-up by taking their show to a wider variety of facilities...both traditional 1320/1000 footers along with TRUE 1/8 mile tracks. Pro teams that choose to committ to the IHRA series could end up having more national events that under the current format. It would also bring large-scope events to smaller markets that traditionally jam-pack their local drag strips when Pro Mods or anything with nitro are in the house.
There are many in the industry that believe IHRA will shift their focus back to the "sportsman" racer in the near future. While that type of focus is admirable and very beneficial for the non-touring-pro, it bears little profit potential for a sanctioning body. IHRA would still need a big show to sell tickets...and a 3-class format using Pro Mod and two injected nitro categories could be the ticket.
Thoughts?
