I Knew It Was Coming (2 Viewers)

[jpee]

I'm sorry, but I'm still having a problem fully understanding exactly how the new system will work.. but I do have ONE QUESTION.... EE Used to drive for Victor Cagnazzi... and was in 3 or 4th place.. then she changed to DSR and is dropping like a stone....

Question.. WILL This New System Be Beneficial for EE or SC if he were to resume racing in PS?

 

[Murph]

IHRA events are catered to the racers more than the fans. IHRA events don't even hold a candle to an NHRA event from a fan's point of view. NHRA races are so much more professional in presentation, and they run like clockwork. At IHRA events fans spend half their day waiting on track clean ups. It's like going to a Major League event vs. a Local Sports event. True the price of admission may be cheaper, but I think I would rather pay the difference and see the real deal. Catering to the racers might make the racers happy, but it won't grow the business of Drag Racing.

This isn't true at all. IHRA isn't mickey mouse like is being made out here.

The two associations working together have the best chance to grow the sport.

 

[Rollout96]

I'm sorry, but I'm still having a problem fully understanding exactly how the new system will work.. but I do have ONE QUESTION.... EE Used to drive for Victor Cagnazzi... and was in 3 or 4th place.. then she changed to DSR and is dropping like a stone....

Question.. WILL This New System Be Beneficial for EE or SC if he were to resume racing in PS?

Well, unless they are qualifying and going rounds they won't be in the hunt under either system!!!

 

[Bullard Anderson]

Driver/Owner Explanation

Like Cup Racing, this is the Driver's Championship! All points earned by a driver are carried over to the drivers "new ride" during a mid-season change should they decide to swap rides. However, an owner can still win the Owner's championship should he put another driver in the car. The last time this happened on any level that I know of was 2003 in the NASCAR Busch Series when Richard Childress won the Owner's Championship using a multitude of drivers, meanwhile Brian Vickers won the drivers championship with a car owned by Rick Hendrick.

 

[JDub]

Jim Jannard.......I would be very interested in your opinion as an owner of a very high profile team, what you think of the new system. Thank you for your input!

 

[Kris]

Ok, I think read the release on NHRA.com last night. My immediate (and seemingly common) response was absolute frustration and disgust.

Now. My next thought, as I was reading through this thread, was, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it."

And then I started thinking, well, wait, perhaps the folks who make the decisions at NHRA think something is broken (though I'm sure there are many here who think they are mistaken - at this juncture, I don't know).

I am not a follower of NASCAR. So, I have no clue what kind of comparisons can be made here. But, I don't find NASCAR interesting. That points chase doesn't interest me and I'm not so sure that this would, either, on the NHRA side.

So, now I'm on the fence. Personally, I wonder if the idea will survive the nearly six months between now and the start of the 2007 series. This is not wishful thinking on my part. I'm just wondering how realistic it is to implement this plan. *shrug*

And great, now I'm going to have to explain this points system to my husband. He finally just figured out how this current system works. LOL

For me, at least, I know I will keep watching. I will keep going. I will keep writing about the sport during those rare opportunities I get to do so. But, at this point I haven't tried to get into IHRA. I think I may do that, which probably isn't bad for the sport at all.

But, I definitely wonder what the drivers and team owners think of this. And sponsors. It sounds as though they don't have much say in how the NHRA is run, but in my book, their opinions still count.

Man, I could continue with this, but I'll stop here. A rambling stream of consciousness post isn't beneficial to anyone.

 

[tadwrench]

I have read alot of "This will bring interest to the N.H.R.A." This will not bring anything to Dragracing if they don't reach deep into thier pockets and incress advertising budgets. Who is going to know about this if they don't advertise. In the round-e-round race the guy going for 11th is now racing for a Million dollar bonus. I have not heard of any big incress in the payout for any of the drivers!!!!

 

[JL]

I can't speak for Jim or Shoe, but I don't think we will hear from them before the outcome is clear. There is way too much on the table here, and they probably wouldn't want to piss off NHRA before the "meeting", which should have taken place long before any announcement.

 

[afx421]

i think the new system is bad for drag racing in general mostly the little guy, im a jfr fan, but it will be in funny car , the 4 team $humacher cars against the 4 team force cars for the champoinship. if that happens, do you think the sponsors for the pedregons, worshams, t.j, densham ect ect will stick around? i dont think so. or what if 2 of the team force cars or 1 or 2 of shoes cars dont make the top 8, will there sponsors like that? lets face it any car can smoke the tires in the 1st round, imagine tony shumacher having a 2 race drought in the final 6 races and loosing the championship for 2 bad rounds? and in pro stock, hell anyone can win it now, no incentive for the fastest cars like team kb larry morgan and the johnsons, a few mess ups and thell be out after a long hard season. the new system stinks, we gotta hear from some of these team owners and drivers. please give us some input, cant wait to hear .

 

[Rajunz]

i think the new system is bad for drag racing in general mostly the little guy, im a jfr fan, but it will be in funny car , the 4 team $humacher cars against the 4 team force cars for the champoinship. if that happens, do you think the sponsors for the pedregons, worshams, t.j, densham ect ect will stick around?...........................

I dunno, why are their sponsors sticking around now? They have zero chance of winning it this year. At this time next year, all of those sponsors may have a chance to get in on it.

Why do these teams that currently have zero chance of winning the championship still show up at the last half of the season's races? Probably because they still have a chance to win an event. There are alot of teams out there that begin the season with the realization that they will not win the Championship, yet they still have sponsors. How many times have you heard someone say that they had a goal of making the Top 10 for the season? Sponsors seam to currently be happy with a goal of Top 10. Now teams will have goals of making the playoffs.

 

[Rollout96]

I dunno, why are their sponsors sticking around now? They have zero chance of winning it this year. At this time next year, all of those sponsors may have a chance to get in on it.

I know what you are saying but one thing that has been brought up is how in NASCAR the top ten guys got WAY more media coverage in the final races. Even when other cars won the guys in the championship race got all of the coverage.

We'll just have to see how ESPN handles this to see if the sponsors might be unhappy...

 

[PJ]

So in this sense of thinking, last year the Indy Colts should have been the Superbowl Champions, no way in hell the Pittsburg Steelers deserved to be, even though they brought their game when it counted!


NHRA is one of the last Mojor Sports to NOT have a play off system.

its not a playoff system. The steelers and bengals didn't play last years playoff game with the Lions and Packers on the same field did they??

If you want a true playoff then after the 17th race it becomes and 8 car field with only those 8 who qualified being in it.

 

[PJ]

I dunno, why are their sponsors sticking around now? They have zero chance of winning it this year. At this time next year, all of those sponsors may have a chance to get in on it.

Why do these teams that currently have zero chance of winning the championship still show up at the last half of the season's races? Probably because they still have a chance to win an event. There are alot of teams out there that begin the season with the realization that they will not win the Championship, yet they still have sponsors. How many times have you heard someone say that they had a goal of making the Top 10 for the season? Sponsors seam to currently be happy with a goal of Top 10. Now teams will have goals of making the playoffs.

they come because they can still move up in the points. Under this system after race 17 you're stuck in 9th place, no chancce to move up, no chance to earn more money for finsihing 9th or 8th. Also as someone stated before in nascar the also rans don't get much coverage even if they win why would that change here

 

[stanman]

I will make odds that this deal will kill any kind of exposure for competitors that don't make the "Chase 8"!! Anybody want to place a bet? That's exactly what has happened in Nascar!

As it is currently in Nascar, in drag racing, all the coverage during qualify will focus on the "8". During eliminations if a non-Chase racer takes out one of the "8" the cameras will not be trained on the winner, they will be trained on the "8" driver that just lost and Mike & Marty/Paul will be yammering about how that impacted "The Chase".

Sponsors of teams that don't figure to make "The Chase" will probably consider moving their money to something else realizing that the team will get even less media exposure!

 

[lmhb oyf]

How about this two-step gem during the press conference....

Q. Was PRO consulted on this before a final decision was made?

TOM COMPTON: We consulted with a number of trusted confidants in the community. We consulted a number of people out there, people who we respect their opinion, people who we trust their comments obviously.



Q. Why can't you say if PRO had a voice?

TOM COMPTON: If the question is, ‘Is there someone from Pro who we talked to about this,’ the answer is yes.


Gee, I wonder who that "someone" is?

 

[Rajunz]

I will make odds that this deal will kill any kind of exposure for competitors that don't make the "Chase 8"!! Anybody want to place a bet? That's exactly what has happened in Nascar! As it is currently in Nascar, in drag racing, all the coverage during qualify will focus on the "8". During eliminations if a non-Chase racer takes out one of the "8" the cameras will not be trained on the winner, they will be trained on the "8" driver that just lost and Mike & Marty/Paul will be yammering about how that impacted "The Chase"................

I'll agree with that Greg, however here's something to think about. Last year after Indy, Nitro Funny Class got all of the exposure, because at that point no one had any more interest in Top Fuel and Pro Stock, they were all but sewed up. And the exposure given to Nitro Funny Car class surrounded only 3 sponsors for the rest of the year, Castrol, Oakley and Brut.

 

[Big Ass Dave Lamm]

Take a deep breath, it will be okay

Take a look at what you are saying. Many of the arguments on here are made with "the little guy" in mind. Without cheating and going to Google or your back issues of Nat’l Dragster, name the driver who finished 9th in Funny Car points in 2001. Here's an easier one. Name the tenth finisher in Top Fuel last year. Can’t do it can you? Know why? Because you don’t care. So if you don’t care and can’t remember, why should the NHRA cater to these guys?

The poor downtrodden race team scratching and clawing to get into the top ten is not what puts butts in the seats and fans in front of their ESPN2 TV screens. Tight races, drama and a meaningful championship hunt do those things. Whine all you want about the little guys but when the ticket sales and TV ratings go up next year this will all be a bunch of noise the NHRA has to tune out as they pull up the Brinks truck to the bank to make another hefty deposit.

 

[PJ]

Take a look at what you are saying. Many of the arguments on here are made with "the little guy" in mind. Without cheating and going to Google or your back issues of Nat’l Dragster, name the driver who finished 9th in Funny Car points in 2001. Here's an easier one. Name the tenth finisher in Top Fuel last year. Can’t do it can you? Know why? Because you don’t care. So if you don’t care and can’t remember, why should the NHRA cater to these guys?

The poor downtrodden race team scratching and clawing to get into the top ten is not what puts butts in the seats and fans in front of their ESPN2 TV screens. Tight races, drama and a meaningful championship hunt do those things. Whine all you want about the little guys but when the ticket sales and TV ratings go up next year this will all be a bunch of noise the NHRA has to tune out as they pull up the Brinks truck to the bank to make another hefty deposit.

Yes with no looking I believe Fuller finished 10th in top fuel it was a big deal beacuase he didn't race the full schedule. now such an accomplishment can't happen.

 

[none]

Without looking in 2001, I'd say Dean Skuza was #9 in Funny Car and #10 in Top Fuel I'll go with Rhonda Hartman Smith.

 

[Triple Nickel II]

The Nascar braintrust wants the general public to know that they are the innovators in motorsports marketing.

To point out this fact, look at the story that leads the "NASCAR news on the wire" section of the Nascar.com website.

NHRA adds playoff for 2007 | IndyStar.com
Indianapolis Star Sports, Thu Aug. 31

http://www.nascar.com/news/headlines/newswire/