Health of the NHRA.... (2 Viewers)

[D]

"Countdown to the Championship" Update.

2007 is the inaugural year of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series "Countdown to the Championship." The Countdown to the Championship breaks the 23-event POWERade Series season up into three distinct sections: the 17-race Countdown to 8, the four-race Countdown to 4 and the two-race Countdown to 1. The champions in each of the four professional classes, Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, will be crowned at the final event of the year in Pomona, California, which runs from November 1 through November 4, 2007. The format change continues to attract significant media attention in the coverage of motorsports, and the NHRA believes the Countdown is contributing to the overall increases in attendance and television ratings for the 2007 racing season. The individuals competing in this season's Countdown to the Championship also highlight the significant diversity of NHRA racers as compared to any other professional motorsport.

I sincerely don't want to beat this dead horse anymore, but if this is true then I guess the Countdown is here to stay...

I think this is only true in their minds, I haven't seen an increase in coverage in my home town papers (Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post) the Stars and Stripes doesn't carry drag racing coverage, and outside of a major accident or death no coverage on CNN or BBC.

S/F
D

 

[PJ]

FWIW, I don't care where you stand on the Countdown. I just don't like seeing the phrase "fake champions" over and over again. Everybody knew the deal when the season started. Whoever has the most points at the end of the year under this system is the champion. Calling them "fake" doesn't hurt the NHRA but it does trivialize the crowning achievement for any professional racer. Be clear - I'm a big KB Racing fan. If Dave wins the title and Greg would've won under the old system (for example), I won't be happy. However, I will not disparage Dave's victory. If he's holding the trophy, then I think he earned it. Even if someone else feels that he didn't, it's no reason to rip into him. He has as much control over the sanctioning body as we do.

Bottom line for me - say whatever you want about the NHRA and their new format. Lay off the racers. My two cents...

...oh, and Go Greg!!!

I understand what you are saying. I have tried to avoid calling drivers out but if I look back I'm sure I have at some point. I agree they all knew the rules, doesn't mean they like it or agree with it though. If my boss walks in today and says hey new rules here, everybody must wear pink everyday, refer to him as el conquistador and dance the jig once every hour...well if I want to keep providing for my family I gotta do it. Racing is these people's jobs so they have to follow the rules, even if they stink.

Not sure I can get out of the habit of calling it a fake championships, to me unless the person who truly had the most points throughout the season (not welfare points) is the champ. As much as drivers I like have been helped by this points system I can not buy into a championship won under this system. I realize none of the drivers could give a rip if I think that they're title may not be real, but that is what I think about it.

I bet if you ask whomever wins these titles at the end of year if they would have preferred to win it under this system or the previous way, they will say the the prior version. I know its the competitor in me that can't stand this system of fa....ummm manipulated points system I bet other competitors feel the same way.

 

[PJ]

I think this is only true in their minds, I haven't seen an increase in coverage in my home town papers (Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post) the Stars and Stripes doesn't carry drag racing coverage, and outside of a major accident or death no coverage on CNN or BBC.

S/F
D

you're right. Haven't seen it much anywhere. Even racing publications are not really covering it with anything extra. In the petition quest I contacted several media sources in the national event markets, response was minimal. Now just from a controversy standpoint I thought some would pick it up as most the media nowadays believes that controversy is what sells but nothing.
Seeing that tv coverage was bumped to late night over a spelling bee, it appears the ratings success isn't there either.

 

[Sully]

I think some confusion by media writers over the new format has led to more questions than normal about the championship process, in turn misinterpreted as increased interest in the championships themselves. I have seen more coverage of the championship process and less coverage of the races themselves, but no increase in the overall coverage of the sport.

 

[Baron]

Take a deep breath, PJ.
I don't like the way the Countdown is designed either. We'll need to revisit it after this season. I'm certain that some of the PRO racers will have a word with the HD folks about how to do this in future.
I rmember when winning the Championship meant winning the World Finals - in Amarillo, Texas. Just one race decided the deal.
Auto racing has a huge advantage over other sports in respect of championships because, with a few exceptions, all of the top teams compete at each and all of the events. No Super Bowl winner can claim to have beaten every other team in the NFL - their season would go on forever . . . (as hockey's does - hockey in August?).
We have a truly national champion as we don't have regional playoffs leading to the big finale.
As I write, folks here in Colorado are all agog that the Rockies are going to be in the World Series. They are in this state becaues they are told that this is important. The Colorado newspapers and the electronic media are staffed with former athletes, failed athletes, or athlete wannabes who are unable to see baseball for what it is: a monopoly business, conducted in stadiums paid for by taxpayers in which 9 pot-bellied millionaires stand around in a field expectorating tobacco juice for an indeterminate and, often, interminable period.
They keep statistics in this game because, next to the game itself, the statistics are interesting.
Just the same, people are agog.
So, keep your blood pressure in the normal range, sharpen your sword for the next fight, and remember: people are dumber than anybody!
Cheers,
Ed
"There are lies, damned lies, and statisitics." B. Disraeli

 

[__]

I understand what you are saying. I have tried to avoid calling drivers out but if I look back I'm sure I have at some point. I agree they all knew the rules, doesn't mean they like it or agree with it though. If my boss walks in today and says hey new rules here, everybody must wear pink everyday, refer to him as el conquistador and dance the jig once every hour...well if I want to keep providing for my family I gotta do it. Racing is these people's jobs so they have to follow the rules, even if they stink.

Not sure I can get out of the habit of calling it a fake championships, to me unless the person who truly had the most points throughout the season (not welfare points) is the champ. As much as drivers I like have been helped by this points system I can not buy into a championship won under this system. I realize none of the drivers could give a rip if I think that they're title may not be real, but that is what I think about it.

I bet if you ask whomever wins these titles at the end of year if they would have preferred to win it under this system or the previous way, they will say the the prior version. I know its the competitor in me that can't stand this system of fa....ummm manipulated points system I bet other competitors feel the same way.

PJ, I saw your response (quoted above) and purposely waited til the end of the season to reply. How many of us feel about the countdown largely seems to directly related to how our favorite teams faired. I also see a lot of pro-countdown messages essentially saying the countdown did it's job. I ask, did it? I thought the whole deal was to get higher TV ratings and more ticket sales. Did it? If so, let's see the numbers. Lots of longtime fans have been alienated. Are there new fans to replace them?

I also thought the ultimate goal was to get more sponsors in the sport. I see SkyTel is gone - yes, a 1 year deal. If they saw returns on their investment, they would've opted for a second year? The most active sponsor today, Brut, reduced their funding. Hopefully NAPA will be as involved? Jaegermister's gone. Whit, Dean and Erica all sidelined without a sponsor or a ride. Angelle's future is in doubt. Geno's sponsor is done. CSK is down to one car. How many others?

PJ, I'm still going to wait to see what happens in the off-season but right now, I have to say I don't think the countdown has done much to grow the sport.

 

[PJ]

PJ, I saw your response (quoted above) and purposely waited til the end of the season to reply. How many of us feel about the countdown largely seems to directly related to how our favorite teams faired. I also see a lot of pro-countdown messages essentially saying the countdown did it's job. I ask, did it? I thought the whole deal was to get higher TV ratings and more ticket sales. Did it? If so, let's see the numbers. Lots of longtime fans have been alienated. Are there new fans to replace them?

I also thought the ultimate goal was to get more sponsors in the sport. I see SkyTel is gone - yes, a 1 year deal. If they saw returns on their investment, they would've opted for a second year? The most active sponsor today, Brut, reduced their funding. Hopefully NAPA will be as involved? Jaegermister's gone. Whit, Dean and Erica all sidelined without a sponsor or a ride. Angelle's future is in doubt. Geno's sponsor is done. CSK is down to one car. How many others?

PJ, I'm still going to wait to see what happens in the off-season but right now, I have to say I don't think the countdown has done much to grow the sport.

It was a sad day yesterday. I couldn't even watch the finals. After less than an hour I shut it off. I could care less who won the nhra lottery. Matt Smith is this years only true champion, then there are 3 lotto winners.
The only way to accept the countdown is to accept that the championship is no longer about being the best. Competition has been replaced with entertainment. I hope they at least gained one new fan, it appears they need it to replace me. I've watched less and less races as this season went on.


Sponsors come and go every season but the number of name drivers is alarming. I would think with this many top notch drivers out there that sponsors would be jumping at the chance to get in.