SundayNiagara
Nitro Member
Get rid of it and bring in Top Dragster!
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Jeff Wolf on "Force Hood's absence, lawsuit hurt NHRA"
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Get rid of it and bring in Top Dragster!
clwill
Nitro Member
NHRA does a lot of things right. I enjoy racing, and managing a bazillion racers is like herding cats. They do that pretty well. But they are terrible communicators. They don't tell newbies at the track enough about how things work. They don't tell fans enough about the status of the cleanup. They don't explain rule violations to the crowd very well. They don't communicate with racers about the rules very well. They don't talk about the visions and goals of the organization at all. They don't tell us about decisions made that effect the future of the sport. I could go on forever.
That, I believe is the crux of many problems. We can talk about that all you want, but I think that's a huge part of the problem. And this survey didn't help.
How would I change Super Comp? I'd move all three Super classes down, to 8.00, 9.00, and 10.00. That would help with the high horsepower issue AND it would help people to understand the classes better. Right now, you have to explain to someone that an 8.989 is really slow, but an 8.899 is too fast, how confusing is that? With even indexes, anything with a 7 on it is too fast. Easy to see and understand. And then maybe add an 11.00 class for people just getting into racing, but that's another topic.
But of course, I couldn't answer that, because those numbers weren't the choice. A good questionnaire might have asked several questions: what are the things you'd like to change, what cannot change, would you like to see the index change, what would you change it to, would you add a class, if this was changed like X what class (if any would you run), how about a change like (y), etc. Ask enough questions so you can do some meaningful analysis. And _then_ ask open ended questions: what other changes would you like to see? what haven't we asked that we should? Maybe you'd get some great ideas.
As it was, the info you got for Super Comp was "change the index, but we don't agree on what to change it to". And NHRA interpreted that as "don't change anything". Bummer.
That, I believe is the crux of many problems. We can talk about that all you want, but I think that's a huge part of the problem. And this survey didn't help.
How would I change Super Comp? I'd move all three Super classes down, to 8.00, 9.00, and 10.00. That would help with the high horsepower issue AND it would help people to understand the classes better. Right now, you have to explain to someone that an 8.989 is really slow, but an 8.899 is too fast, how confusing is that? With even indexes, anything with a 7 on it is too fast. Easy to see and understand. And then maybe add an 11.00 class for people just getting into racing, but that's another topic.
But of course, I couldn't answer that, because those numbers weren't the choice. A good questionnaire might have asked several questions: what are the things you'd like to change, what cannot change, would you like to see the index change, what would you change it to, would you add a class, if this was changed like X what class (if any would you run), how about a change like (y), etc. Ask enough questions so you can do some meaningful analysis. And _then_ ask open ended questions: what other changes would you like to see? what haven't we asked that we should? Maybe you'd get some great ideas.
As it was, the info you got for Super Comp was "change the index, but we don't agree on what to change it to". And NHRA interpreted that as "don't change anything". Bummer.
Alan I'm dues paying, membership card carrying member of the great NHRA
Page 5 of the 2007 tax returns shows a reconcilation of the audited financial statements to the tax return. The 2008 & 2009 returns, as shown by Drag Racing Online, only show the first 4 pages of the return so it's not clear if an audit is still being done. However, I think it would be safe to assume that an audit is an annual occurence for an organization of this size. Their tax returns (and I would assume audit) are prepared by Moss Adams, a very well respected CPA firm.
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Nitrohelper
Nitro Member
Wow , you teenagers sure are touchy about age ...
An I quite sure you notice that on 2009 return that Mr. Clifford did not affix his signature to the form. Just a casual observation. I've had to resubmit a tax return without a signature. Don't know how picky they are when dealing with businesses. The reason I bring this up is that if you look at 2004 return someone from NHRA sign the tax form.
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Depends on who you're trying to please. I'm sure the competitors would like a bit more payout and to be treated like first-class citizens when they show up for a race. Fans would like to put an end to throttle stops and see more doorslammers in the mix.
As for the 8.90 index, I don't hear complaints but to be fair, SuperComp cars in my locale primarily run SuperPro brackets where the index (and throttle stops) aren't factors.
Most entities only sign the tax return that is submitted to the governments. So providing a copy of the 990 to a person requesting it, and finding it unsigned, is not unusual.
Good information to know.
mw6789
Nitro Member
You know out of all of this mess, the one thing that is a shame to me is that the NHRA could not have been evolved into a real live for profit publicly traded corporation (like NASCAR's race tracks) long before Wally Parks left the planet. Then all of this discussion could have gone the way of $1500 RS Camaros, $2 pit passes, and 5 cent Coca Colas. I would imagine had Mr Parks had a crystal ball and looked into the future, that NHRA would not have remained a non profit. And members could be happy with what they signed up for: a pin, a patch, a rule book, a decal, and 48 glorious weeks of National Dragster.
Paul
Nitro Member
Mike, I agree that at this point it would probably make more sense for the NHRA to be a for-profit company, along the lines of NASCAR.
But given it was started as a non-profit and then developed substantial value in its assets along the way (the NHRA brand and trademark is probably the largest asset), as I've described in previous posts its not a simple step to them to switch over to a for-profit company.
I think the current situation is the worst possible scenerio. The company is basically being operated as though it was a for-profit company. However, the the checks and balances that normally would be in place at such a company to replace underperforming board members have been eliminated by those very same board members, not a healthy situation.
I hope they end up going one of two possible directions, return to a true member oriented non-profit operation with member voting rights on board members or figure out how to transition to a for-profit company in a manner that treats the members fairly.
If the company is forced to transition to a for-profit status I don't see how any ownership of the company could possibly end up in the current board members hands, I think the only possible scenerio is that the ownership would transfer to the current members as stock shares.
Huge
Nitro Member
I think putting control of the NHRA in the hands of the members would be a disaster. A lot of them would be greedy, and only care about what benefited themselves, and not what is good for NHRA as a whole.
Paul
Nitro Member
Eugene, keep in mind that "control" means an annual vote on the NHRA board members (as was originally mandated), no more than that.
With the majority ruling in this vote, I think it could only result in something "good for the NHRA as a whole".
It still strikes me as strange how this group of individuals often appears to have such little faith in each other that they seem to prefer a flawed oligarchy over the potential of democratic control of the organization.
C'mon fellas, have some faith in each other.
none
Nitro Member
I do not speak for everyone, of that I am sure, but........
What is missing is a form of checks and balances. Not a complete overhaul of the leadership. Not a change to a "self run" organization. Just checks and balances. With the current set-up, the NHRA leadership acts as both checks and balances, and ends up with neither........
What is missing is a form of checks and balances. Not a complete overhaul of the leadership. Not a change to a "self run" organization. Just checks and balances. With the current set-up, the NHRA leadership acts as both checks and balances, and ends up with neither........
MoparBilly
Nitro Member
Umm, C-mon Paul,
I frequent the "Racer boards"...do not expect me to have faith in the "fans" who are NHRA members, and want to throw out my prefered class of competition. Nor would I have faith in my fellow competitors...I've seen all too well how they treat each other on a regular basis.
Communication? It's a 2-way street people...I could care less about the suits, here is what I know: I have personally met and had conversations with 4 of the 7 Division Directors currently serving. All 4 are sharp, competent men who care about the racers, the events, the competition, and the employees who work for them. Nearly every member of the staffs in D-7,5 & 4, are tenured, caring, pleasant, hard working folks who do thier best to handle whatever a 3 or 4 day event throws at them. These are the people that represent NHRA to me, and they do an excellent job...so add me to the list of quiet, happy camper.
Huge
Nitro Member
That is one of the best posts I have seen on here in a while. You give credit where credit is due.
Agreed, but there just isn't enough cars! Houston last year had like 24 cars, class just isn't big enough!
Joker
Nitro Member
Wrong. There was about 40. And Div 4 races here have had up to 80 Top Dragsters Joe. There are plenty around.
SundayNiagara
Nitro Member
Last weekend, the Immokalee ProAm race had a full field. Great drag racing!
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