I posted this to demonstrate quite vividly how the sport we love is marginalized, a "niche" if you will. People here and elsewhere bemoan the treatment we get on ESPN or the other media outlets, but this is the reason why. NHRA is simply not on the map.
I also posted this to show how out of our league the "chasing NASCAR" mentality is. So often we look to NASCAR or other pro sports for inspiration (the Countdown, for example), but we're simply not in the same ballpark. We're not even in the same ballpark, from a perception angle, as Major League Lacrosse (which I was unaware existed). In short, the hill NHRA has to climb is not "second only to NASCAR", but far bigger.
Finally, I challenge the "go to any divisional race and see how pathetic it is" perception. If anything, divisional races show how much potential there is, with the right efforts. In D6, there are divisional races that meet that description: few if any in the stands, and those are only there because they know a racer.
But at a Woodburn, Spokane, or Boise divisional, that is definitely NOT the case. The stands are filled with people, the spectator campers line the track, the concessionaires are doing good business. Why? Because the owners of those tracks put a bunch of effort into promoting the races, into making them fun for the spectator, and those tracks have a decades-long history of doing so. They do radio ads, they promote deals with local stores, they add features just for the fans (jets, nostalgia, and so on), and work hard to bring in the crowds. And they have the race on the same weekend every year, people plan for it. Each one of those tracks is at least 4 hours from an NHRA National Event track (Boise is 10), so if you want to see good drag racing, this is it.
What this shows is that you have to work to make it happen. The era of "if you build it they will come" is long gone. This is the era of 500 channels and nothing is on, the era of internet streaming beating out the movie theater, the era of skateboarding being a pro sport. You have to work to get people's attention. And at least here in D6, some track operators have shown it can be done. I would offer up the Baders at Norwalk as other examples of people who have shown it can be done as well.
Drag racing has a LOT of things going for it, and it's long past time we played to those strengths. Live drag racing is an experience you can't vaguely replicate at home, the sights, the smells, the sound are beyond nearly everyone's experience. There are hundreds of different types of cars, everything from grocery-getters to top fuel dragsters, something to appeal to everyone. There are hundreds of participants, from your buddy down the street to John Force, somewhere there's someone everyone can relate to. It's the only sport I know of where amateurs and pros compete on the same field on the same day. It's family friendly, something everyone can relate to -- who hasn't tried to beat that guy in the other lane to the on ramp...
I'm so sick of the "woe is me, drag racing is going to die" mentality, and especially the "all the environmentalists are killing the sport". That's all just excuses for failure to properly position and promote the sport.
</soapbox>
