One of The Biggest Announcements in NHRA History (1 Viewer)

[Leebone]

I'm thinking Leah is already a mom to be. She's too much of a competitor to step down.

 

[65 Goatboy]

I'm going with a big TV announcement. Maybe the races will be on Fox only, no more FS1. Or, a major TV network bought the rights to NHRA TV and will stream the races like a movie or TV series.

Nascar just did a multi billion dollar tv deal starting in 2025. Gotta keep up with Jones's!

 

[Gunner]

I wonder how many t-shirts Force has sold in the last 40 years?

IDK, but could sell thousands more if the couple tending the Force trailer at the races would just smile for 2 seconds. Anyone know of they own the rights to the sales or just doing community service?

Back on topic…
Only way for NHRA to grow is for some of the popular YouTube racers to get involved. Unfortunately, they’d be taking a pay cut to participate.

 

[none]

Here's an interesting take on the announcement from a guy who gets it. It's about getting the word out to those who aren't already fans.
Alan

Op-Ed: Why the ‘Biggest Announcement in NHRA History’ Should Be Seen as a Positive for the Sport | Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More

If you’re a drag racing fan – and if you’re reading this, I’m assuming you are – I’m sure you heard about one of the “biggest announcements in NHRA history” last week at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis. Like many others, I was excited to see what the hype was about. I

dragillustrated.com

 

[mick]

its about 54 days till bradenton. who will be the driver of the TSR top fueler?

 

[Gunner]

Here's an interesting take on the announcement from a guy who gets it. It's about getting the word out to those who aren't already fans.
Alan

Op-Ed: Why the ‘Biggest Announcement in NHRA History’ Should Be Seen as a Positive for the Sport | Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More

If you’re a drag racing fan – and if you’re reading this, I’m assuming you are – I’m sure you heard about one of the “biggest announcements in NHRA history” last week at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis. Like many others, I was excited to see what the hype was about. I

dragillustrated.com

ESPN, TMZ, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, The Athletic & CBS…??? This journalist must be as old as you & l Alan.
In today’s society, until NHRA appears on DraftKings, new viewership will be stagnant. There’s a lot of sports l no longer care to watch, UNLESS l have a vested interest.

 

[none]

Marty,

It's about new eyeballs. If you are a drag racing insider, or even a casual fan this probably won't make any difference. But if you are not, this might get your attention to at least give us a look.

You don't have to believe it, but it is fact. Taylor Swift has got a lot of new eyeballs looking at the NFL, just because she is there. Many will look and move on, but some will become fans. And new fans are a beautiful thing.

If you know anything about sales, it's a numbers game. Get 10 people in the showroom and you might make a new sale. get 1000 people in and you will make many sales. You won't make 1000 sales, but if you make 100, it's a big win.

Worldwide Technology Raceway (Madison, IL.) sent an email blast saying "Come see Tony Stewart race in Top Fuel in 2024" and saw an uptick in ticket sales. That's a fact.

Alan

 

[z28]

Marty,

It's about new eyeballs. If you are a drag racing insider, or even a casual fan this probably won't make any difference. But if you are not, this might get your attention to at least give us a look.

You don't have to believe it, but it is fact. Taylor Swift has got a lot of new eyeballs looking at the NFL, just because she is there. Many will look and move on, but some will become fans. And new fans are a beautiful thing.

If you know anything about sales, it's a numbers game. Get 10 people in the showroom and you might make a new sale. get 1000 people in and you will make many sales. You won't make 1000 sales, but if you make 100, it's a big win.

Worldwide Technology Raceway (Madison, IL.) sent an email blast saying "Come see Tony Stewart race in Top Fuel in 2024" and saw an uptick in ticket sales. That's a fact.

Alan

Tony will get them there but NHRA needs to bring them back.

 

[4onthefl4]

its about 54 days till bradenton. who will be the driver of the TSR top fueler?

I believe Leah said she'll be driving at Bradenton. Her last ride before turning it over to Tony.

 

[DanTheFan]

I’ll be there to see her last run. Bringing some relative newcomers too but can’t seem to find info on whether there will be pit access etc. I’ve been to Bradenton and it’s a little old school (which I like) but trying to envision the setup.

 

[Von Halen]

Marty,

You don't have to believe it, but it is fact. Taylor Swift has got a lot of new eyeballs looking at the NFL, just because she is there. Many will look and move on, but some will become fans. And new fans are a beautiful thing.

Alan

If they truly wanted it to be the biggest announcement in the history of the NHRA, they should have given Leah's seat to Taylor Swift!

 

[Nick Rienstra]

While I think we can all agree that we want this sport to survive, grow and thrive, we better be careful what we wish for.

While expansion into more and more corporate and media markets can be good we can also see the major influence that is put on the sanctioning bodies to comply with “societal” and “political” norms, weather we like them or not. Big money means big influence. Just ask the NFL, NBA, NASCAR and many others that align themselves with major legacy media and corporate outlets. I think we can all agree that has not been good for them from a traditional American standpoint.

We better be sure we have the proper leadership in place that will not sacrifice the ideologies and traditions drag racing has always had to some corporate or political influence. Let’s remember that drag racers encompass everything that modern day mainstream society hates! Hard work, family values, tenacity, competition and most importantly, FUN!

This is a double edge sword and we must make sure the proper people are in place to tell anyone who wants to take this sport in away from its founding to go pound sand!

Just my opinion.

 

[mick]

I’ll be there to see her last run. Bringing some relative newcomers too but can’t seem to find info on whether there will be pit access etc. I’ve been to Bradenton and it’s a little old school (which I like) but trying to envision the setup.

yes, any info on this event would be helpful. is it all GA? or other? what side will TF and FC be parked on? or both?

 

[GumbyWVU]

Marty,

It's about new eyeballs. If you are a drag racing insider, or even a casual fan this probably won't make any difference. But if you are not, this might get your attention to at least give us a look.

You don't have to believe it, but it is fact. Taylor Swift has got a lot of new eyeballs looking at the NFL, just because she is there. Many will look and move on, but some will become fans. And new fans are a beautiful thing.

If you know anything about sales, it's a numbers game. Get 10 people in the showroom and you might make a new sale. get 1000 people in and you will make many sales. You won't make 1000 sales, but if you make 100, it's a big win.

Worldwide Technology Raceway (Madison, IL.) sent an email blast saying "Come see Tony Stewart race in Top Fuel in 2024" and saw an uptick in ticket sales. That's a fact.

Alan

Worldwide Technology Raceway (Madison, IL.) sent an email blast saying "Come see Tony Stewart race in Top Fuel in 2024" and saw an uptick in ticket sales. That's a fact.


No it isn't a "fact". Coincidence yes, but fact? No. Do you have evidence showing that the increase in sales was directly correlated to this? There could be any number of factors that lead to an increase in ticket sales. Your statement is anecdotal at best.

Not that NHRA ever confirms what the ticket sales and attendance is anyhow.

Just like that old yarn about Tony S got Army enlistments increased because Army sponsored him for so long. Unless recruiters were asking the question specifically and there's evidence from that, not much to claim "fact" there.

 

[Z28LT1]

I believe it was the Army stating that they were signing up recruits at the track, not NHRA or DSR. Then we all got old and there was no one left to recruit.

Just like that old yarn about Tony S got Army enlistments increased because Army sponsored him for so long. Unless recruiters were asking the question specifically and there's evidence from that, not much to claim "fact" there.

 

[none]

Worldwide Technology Raceway (Madison, IL.) sent an email blast saying "Come see Tony Stewart race in Top Fuel in 2024" and saw an uptick in ticket sales. That's a fact.


No it isn't a "fact". Coincidence yes, but fact? No. Do you have evidence showing that the increase in sales was directly correlated to this? There could be any number of factors that lead to an increase in ticket sales. Your statement is anecdotal at best.

Not that NHRA ever confirms what the ticket sales and attendance is anyhow.

Just like that old yarn about Tony S got Army enlistments increased because Army sponsored him for so long. Unless recruiters were asking the question specifically and there's evidence from that, not much to claim "fact" there.

When you send an email blast you have an idea what the percentage of the response will be. I don't have the exact numbers, but if you usually get 2%, then you offer a discount ticket and get 5% you can be pretty confident that the discount was what led to the bump. When your blast touts the fact that Tony will be racing in TF, when he didn't race the Nationals at your track last year at all (no TAD at that event) you can deduce that the reason for the uptick was the related to the announcement.

As for the ARMY, what Nate Said was true. Thousands of young people each year came through the NHRA YES program, and those contacts led to new recruits. The ARMY wasn't there because they loved racing, they were there to recruit.

Alan

 

[I was NITRO BREATH]

Marty,

It's about new eyeballs. If you are a drag racing insider, or even a casual fan this probably won't make any difference. But if you are not, this might get your attention to at least give us a look.

You don't have to believe it, but it is fact. Taylor Swift has got a lot of new eyeballs looking at the NFL, just because she is there. Many will look and move on, but some will become fans. And new fans are a beautiful thing.

If you know anything about sales, it's a numbers game. Get 10 people in the showroom and you might make a new sale. get 1000 people in and you will make many sales. You won't make 1000 sales, but if you make 100, it's a big win.

Worldwide Technology Raceway (Madison, IL.) sent an email blast saying "Come see Tony Stewart race in Top Fuel in 2024" and saw an uptick in ticket sales. That's a fact.

Alan

Quoteing from the article Alan linked—
“I can’t help but hope that this massive increase in exposure will lead to an influx of new people watching NHRA on television, or better yet, buying tickets to an event. Better ratings can lead to better TV coverage. More ticket sales can lead to increased payouts. A growing fanbase could perhaps even trickle down to the lower ranks, sparking attendance and participation at local tracks, hopefully leading to fewer closures. Isn’t that what we all want?”
My answer to that question is-NO I DONT WANT THAT!!!- I don’t want to try to buy tickets to a drag race and find out they sold out the first day they went on sale. No I don’t want to pay
$500.00 for a ticket to a drag race. No- I don’t want the NHRA to be sold to a sports hedge fund and run purely for profit. No- I don’t want a Netflix series on drag racing No I don’t want hundreds of people who watched the Netflix series and who come to a race because the series was well produced but leave half way through the race because the cars are too loud and think breathing nitro is going to kill them.
Sometimes bigger is not better.

 

[Joe]

Quoteing from the article Alan linked—
“I can’t help but hope that this massive increase in exposure will lead to an influx of new people watching NHRA on television, or better yet, buying tickets to an event. Better ratings can lead to better TV coverage. More ticket sales can lead to increased payouts. A growing fanbase could perhaps even trickle down to the lower ranks, sparking attendance and participation at local tracks, hopefully leading to fewer closures. Isn’t that what we all want?”
My answer to that question is-NO I DONT WANT THAT!!!- I don’t want to try to buy tickets to a drag race and find out they sold out the first day they went on sale. No I don’t want to pay
$500.00 for a ticket to a drag race. No- I don’t want the NHRA to be sold to a sports hedge fund and run purely for profit. No- I don’t want a Netflix series on drag racing No I don’t want hundreds of people who watched the Netflix series and who come to a race because the series was well produced but leave half way through the race because the cars are too loud and think breathing nitro is going to kill them.
Sometimes bigger is not better.

You said it. Some of those new eyeballs we might not want. Just listen to some of the music that idiot plays during breaks. Why not have a roving camera in the pits showing what is going on, for sure show sportsman action.

 

[nwspeedshots]

Tony will get them there but NHRA needs to bring them back.

I'm certainly biased and already a fan, but I can't imagine anyone experiencing fuel racing and not being hooked.

 

[Professional Fan]

yes, any info on this event would be helpful. is it all GA? or other? what side will TF and FC be parked on? or both?

It's general admission. Can't answer your other questions. Got my ticket a while ago.