It's official, Castrol out at JFR after 2014 (3 Viewers)

[Toejam]

Ofcourse the sport will go on, it just won't be on TV. I think you can correlate the loss of multiple stars with the decline of the sports attendance.
Who are you going to replace Force with?
Spencer Massey?

Think about it. Amato, Beadle, Pulde, Kenny, Glidden, Grose, Shirley, Big, Snake, Mongoose.. All gone and not replaced.

Nascar has survived the loss of it's original pioneers, and has remained somewhat stable with the new breed.
NHRA is a "buy a ride" league, and is not surviving the losses of it's stars very well.
The sass is gone, and is now replaced with either washed up retread drivers or someone's kid.

I don't see it surviving and flourishing without JFR at all. He is the foundation.
That'll leave you with DSR and the Ped Bros. as your stars.
Did I make my point?

Yup...it's all over!

 

[HEMI6point1]

sam, why don't you just post over in the politics section and let us know how you really feel

I see nothing political about what I posted.

 

[turbojoe]

I don't see it surviving and flourishing without JFR at all. He is the foundation.
That'll leave you with DSR and the Ped Bros. as your stars.
Did I make my point?

Holy crap. NHRA would be doomed.

Joe

 

[George.]

Be careful George, you are making sense here. "They" won't like that.

I know. I especially love the "yup, it's over" crew.
No foresight at all, just the bury your head in the sand logic, and hope that the consistent downward spiral is not real.

 

[yoda]

And there's a NAPA FC in the airport.

Wow! I'm sure that'll draw a lot of attention.

Hmmmm... Lot more commercials with Capps on the tube than there are with John. Or Court. Or Ashley...

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Ofcourse the sport will go on, it just won't be on TV. I think you can correlate the loss of multiple stars with the decline of the sports attendance.
Who are you going to replace Force with?
Spencer Massey?

Think about it. Amato, Beadle, Pulde, Kenny, Glidden, Grose, Shirley, Big, Snake, Mongoose.. All gone and not replaced.

Nascar has survived the loss of it's original pioneers, and has remained somewhat stable with the new breed.
NHRA is a "buy a ride" league, and is not surviving the losses of it's stars very well.
The sass is gone, and is now replaced with either washed up retread drivers or someone's kid.

I don't see it surviving and flourishing without JFR at all. He is the foundation.
That'll leave you with DSR and the Ped Bros. as your stars.
Did I make my point?

Point made, but why do you feel the nhra is a one man show. All the former stars you named are gone from the sport and the sport goes on. You say no TV without JFR...we have 5 x the TV for one race today then we had all year years ago.

Who will take John's place??? the fans will decide that.

 

[None]

Ofcourse the sport will go on, it just won't be on TV. I think you can correlate the loss of multiple stars with the decline of the sports attendance.
Who are you going to replace Force with?
Spencer Massey?

Think about it. Amato, Beadle, Pulde, Kenny, Glidden, Grose, Shirley, Big, Snake, Mongoose.. All gone and not replaced.

Nascar has survived the loss of it's original pioneers, and has remained somewhat stable with the new breed.
NHRA is a "buy a ride" league, and is not surviving the losses of it's stars very well.
The sass is gone, and is now replaced with either washed up retread drivers or someone's kid.

I don't see it surviving and flourishing without JFR at all. He is the foundation.
That'll leave you with DSR and the Ped Bros. as your stars.
Did I make my point?

You might be on to something. Spencer Massey in a Gene Snow backed car, with Miley Cyrus as the back up girl just might save the NHRA.

 

[Larry jr.]

You might be on to something. Spencer Massey in a Gene Snow backed car, with Miley Cyrus as the back up girl just might save the NHRA.

I was thinking Rue Paul for the back up girl Ol' Spence.
.

 

[Crash]

So, I'm assuming I will be ridiculed/vilified/attacked for this, but here goes. Pardon the rambling, but I have a million thoughts on this subject, I'll make every attempt to be coherent here....
I do not think it is necessarily a bad thing for drag racing if Castrol leaves. If Ford leaves. If FORCE leaves, for that matter. Drag racing at the professional level has grown into some sort of unrecognizable monster. Money runs the show, and many good drivers are sitting out because they can't bring the money to the table from their rich daddies, or they are "too old" to appeal to a sponsor's demographics. If they (mega teams) all vanished, what would happen? There would be a downturn, absolutely, but with the absence of Force, Schumacher, etc., maybe there would be room for a couple of new "little guys" to sneak back in. Maybe more people would think they had a shot at playing in this arena. Maybe after a while the sport would be filled with people who really, truly, love the sport, love the competition, and don't treat it 100% like a business. Maybe NHRA would be more like it used to be...
I think maybe it needs to get blown up and rebuilt from the ground up in order to survive. I love drag racing, always have, but this current iteration of NHRA drag racing has very little appeal to me. Too corporate, too phony, too predictable, and too boring. I think I would like a smaller, more personal, more REAL type of association. I'm on the short list here, I'm sure, but I think the worst possible thing that could happen to NHRA is for it to turn into something like NASCAR...
sorry for the rant...hopefully at least a few of you can see my point, even if I can't express it very clearly....

 

[None]

So, I'm assuming I will be ridiculed/vilified/attacked for this, but here goes. Pardon the rambling, but I have a million thoughts on this subject, I'll make every attempt to be coherent here....
I do not think it is necessarily a bad thing for drag racing if Castrol leaves. If Ford leaves. If FORCE leaves, for that matter. Drag racing at the professional level has grown into some sort of unrecognizable monster. Money runs the show, and many good drivers are sitting out because they can't bring the money to the table from their rich daddies, or they are "too old" to appeal to a sponsor's demographics. If they (mega teams) all vanished, what would happen? There would be a downturn, absolutely, but with the absence of Force, Schumacher, etc., maybe there would be room for a couple of new "little guys" to sneak back in. Maybe more people would think they had a shot at playing in this arena. Maybe after a while the sport would be filled with people who really, truly, love the sport, love the competition, and don't treat it 100% like a business. Maybe NHRA would be more like it used to be...
I think maybe it needs to get blown up and rebuilt from the ground up in order to survive. I love drag racing, always have, but this current iteration of NHRA drag racing has very little appeal to me. Too corporate, too phony, too predictable, and too boring. I think I would like a smaller, more personal, more REAL type of association. I'm on the short list here, I'm sure, but I think the worst possible thing that could happen to NHRA is for it to turn into something like NASCAR...
sorry for the rant...hopefully at least a few of you can see my point, even if I can't express it very clearly....

Rich Daddy's? Starting with Force only as a example. He busted his a$$ to get where he is at and can spend his money anywhere he damn well wants. Same goes for Schumacher and Kalitta.

 

[Toejam]

I know. I especially love the "yup, it's over" crew.
No foresight at all, just the bury your head in the sand logic, and hope that the consistent downward spiral is not real.

I'm hearing your predictions are more Realistic than you realize, I heard NHRA has sold just 6,000 Reserved seats for this Weekend! Down from 15,000 just 4 years ago! Rumor has it Traxxas will be gone after next year as well!

 

[Paul]

I'm hearing your predictions are more Realistic than you realize, I heard NHRA has sold just 6,000 Reserved seats for this Weekend! Down from 15,000 just 4 years ago! Rumor has it Traxxas will be gone after next year as well!

That's embarrassing if this is true. We will see when we see how many people show up this weekend. Where did you hear about Traxxas? They are getting a ton of exposure from Courtney.


The NHRA is releasing their schedule for 2014 any minute now, so they will go on into next year. I do agree something radical needs to happen to gain more interest into the sport. If Monster Trucks can sellout arenas throughout the country with no problem, the NHRA should be able to put a package together that will attract attention.

 

[Nick Name]

That's embarrassing if this is true. We will see when we see how many people show up this weekend. Where did you hear about Traxxas? They are getting a ton of exposure from Courtney.


The NHRA is releasing their schedule for 2014 any minute now, so they will go on into next year. I do agree something radical needs to happen to gain more interest into the sport. If Monster Trucks can sellout arenas throughout the country with no problem, the NHRA should be able to put a package together that will attract attention.

Monster trucks are entertainment.

 

[StockersRock]

Rumor has it Traxxas will be gone after next year as well!

It was mentioned on the PulpMX podcast, this week, that Traxxas has pulled their sponsorship of Mitch Payton's Pro Circuit motocross team as well.

 

[FC138fan]

Monster trucks are entertainment.

Side story - I work up the road from Everett Jasmer - owner of one of the original moster trucks USA-1. I stopped by one day a couple years ago to check things out. We talked about the sport a bit. Recall monster trucks started up as an exibition to the pulling series. At some point in the late 80's the monster trucks were branching off into racing eachother. The trucks were getting less and less stock as they became more and more competitive (sound familiar?) At some point, the santioning body decided to turn the monster truck race into more of a show, as the trucks morphed even more (remember the truck Samson had the big arms molded into the body... the truck 'snake bite' and the driver Colt Cobra... Then the series turned into Monster Jam must have been early 90's... and look where they are today HUGE.. big bucks... and as you mentioned, its entertainment as the trucks are not trucks at all anymore but cartoon figures on wheels. And guess what my young kids are totally into?

Anyway... back to Everett... he didn't like the direction the sport was heading... he wanted it to remain about racing and less like "wrestlemania on wheels". So instead of going with the flow he pulled out. I give him credit.. he stuck to his guns and to this day has no connection with Monster Jam. But there his shop is over there.. although I'm not sure of his finantial status... I know he's not nearly as rich as say.... Dennis Anderson... who chose to evolve with the sport and continues to make millions, entertaining many many families and kids.

 

[You!]

They are getting a ton of exposure from Courtney.

True, but if their sales have not increased at a higher rate than the investment they've made, then, well, ya know what happens next...

And for all I know, which is nothing, maybe it has provided a huge spike in sales and they will continue their support. Don't know, just saying that merely getting the name out there isn't what it's all about.

 

[yoda]

It was mentioned on the PulpMX podcast, this week, that Traxxas has pulled their sponsorship of Mitch Payton's Pro Circuit motocross team as well.

I wonder if they (or actually, their parent company) are suffering the effects of the sequester?

 

[SundayNiagara]

Point made, but why do you feel the nhra is a one man show. All the former stars you named are gone from the sport and the sport goes on. You say no TV without JFR...we have 5 x the TV for one race today then we had all year years ago.

Who will take John's place??? the fans will decide that.

What game are you watching, Ref?

 

[George.]

I'm hearing your predictions are more Realistic than you realize, I heard NHRA has sold just 6,000 Reserved seats for this Weekend! Down from 15,000 just 4 years ago! Rumor has it Traxxas will be gone after next year as well!

I don't think much can be done at this point.
The NHRA has simply jumped the shark.

Drag racing in the past was driven by a few unique differences that are no longer present today.
First, it's the owner/driver.
We all know the stories behind the drivers of the golden years.
Everybody knows how special some of the great races in the 70's and 80's were. Every race seemed to build up to the next, with things literally EXPLODING around Indy..
Stuff like Shirley vs. anybody.
Snake going 250.
Big schooling Gwynn.
Dick LaHaie winning with nothing but pure will.
Joe Amato and Tim Richards as reliable as a Timex watch to at least make the semis every race. My heart is racing thinking about what used to go down.

With all due respect, and total bluntness, the drivers of today, especially the Force girls project an image that drag racing drivers are not special, and they are not. Reaction time doesn't mean crap to the general public, and 1,000' racing is a joke compared to the old days..
Anybody with the will and the money can buy a fuel seat from DSR and qualify tomorrow. Hurts, but it is true.

Not so with competing Nascar, and the public knows it.
Nascar drivers are very talented and very special. If you can't drive, you'll never make it past ARCA. And please, don't make this a NHRA vs. Nascar thing. I'm not beating Nascar's drum here. It's about competing for the sponsors, fans, & TV revenue that's all drying up.

Second, car brand wars are dead. Nobody cares about Ford vs. GM vs. Mopar. Nascar is surviving this, the NHRA isn't. The automakers used to be a BIG part of the midway. They are all but history.

I honestly think the sport has nowhere to go.

 

[George.]

Point made, but why do you feel the nhra is a one man show. All the former stars you named are gone from the sport and the sport goes on. You say no TV without JFR...we have 5 x the TV for one race today then we had all year years ago.

Who will take John's place??? the fans will decide that.

It is a one man show. JF/Connie are the last of their kind.
Remove JFR totally, and just what is left, Tony Schumacher?
I am a fan of Force because of what he is. I don't care if he wins or loses. He is what I call a real drag racer from where this sport was built.