So be specific...I am not sure I am following your path here....
What I am saying is the associated marketing costs in drag racing are not out of line in comparrison with other forms of activities and are actually a "bargain" compared across the board with what companies generally spend trying to increase sales and visibility for their product lines.
I actually have two pink plastic chairs in my house, crafted by some "momentarily famous" designer to promote some sort of shaving device that originally cost about five hundred apiece ( there were actually two dozen chairs produced). The chairs were created for a single trade show and after their use they were stuffed into a warehouse where they sat for a year. I got them for free when they were being thrown out to make room for more useless stuff.
Corporations waste a significant amount of money on useless crap (the cost of doing business), and something like a few thousand dollars for a hospitality trailer is basically "nothing" in the total scheme of things even though it seems like a lot when I contrast the costs with my household budget and day job.
I remember attending a four hour "party" one year on the "Streets of New York" (in the Vegas NY NY Casino) where a group had rented the entire "Streets of NY" for four hours, for four hundred people, with open bar and open food... Imagine the costs of that event in comparison with what we are talking about here??????? Oh yea... It was a Saturday night too.....
However purse size and media are two areas that in my opinion, require immediate attention. As much as I may not like the countdown concept, I wager a great many people watching the race (part time fans), didn't care about the old format or the new one but simply enjoyed an exciting event (value judgement aside).
I think it is well past time for some serious consideration to major print, television, and internet media to have a compelling reason to cover professional (and to some degree local) drag racing.
The obvious public service message (take it to the track) is human interest but not newsworthy (until some street racer drives into a tree), but the comparative (compared with other automotive sports) "safe" nature of local drag racing, the wide demographic coverages, the faithfulness of sponsor support by the fans, and the generally communal (family) atmosphere of the events more than offsets the inherent downtime of the activity.
I think hands on marketing will be growing in leaps and bounds as we enter a point in our society where people commicate through non human means more than in person. Drag racing, far more than NASCAR, is poised to take advantage of a "road show" approach to this type of marketing format, due to the accessibility of the teams.
So... We need a few more non automotive sponsors, a few more nicknames
(remember Snake, Mongoose, Big daddy, Wild Willie), and a few Wheaties box covers... We need the promote the USA nature of the activity with roots in safety rather than a celebration of moonshine running, and a place for our teenagers to go where there is less chance of them drinking than at the local clubs.
I don't want to ramble anymore but we need fresh blood. Just watching john Force at the finals made me realize (once again) how fragile we all are and how much a single defining event can change all of our fortunes (for better or worse). We have bigger fish to fry than the countdown numerical inaccuracies. We need more people to enjoy what we do and corporate money follows the buyers (the people).
). I'd hardly call Rock a 1st class facility, a descriptor I reserve for the likes of Vegas, but Billy thinks it could definitely host an NHRA event. It's been a few years since I've been to Rockingham but I would place it just below Dallas in terms of facilities. It's a beautiful place for a race though, I wouldn't mind taking a trip back there!
