JFrechJr
Nitro Member
Wow theres a lot I agree about and a lot i disagree on... I am 23 and here is my view on people my age
First off I do not think that you NEED young drivers to pull in young people. What you need are repeat champions (that did not have the richy life that "put" them into the seat - IMO). I guess it is not going to be the same for all people, as with everything, but most people find themselves fans of individuals that they can relate too. In the light of repeat champions, it seems the majority of Americans are/will become fans of the people on top. I mean maybe it is me but I swear after a team wins the Superbowl that next year they have more fans than they did the few years before. I guess what I am getting at is as long as drivers win, their age is not going to be the basis of their fans. Its seems like the referral to the young drivers is to the "he/she is my age, look where he/she is, 'that can be me!'" While psychologically correct, economically incorrect. As others have said most people in my generation do not have the money to get into racing as a sport and with the way the economy is; i doubt most of us ever will. But the money to put forward to being a fan, i disagree. Concert tickets are in comparison now-a-days with NHRA tickets and people my age have no problem paying for those.
TV is the way to bring new fans. However, "Driving Force" is not the way to go about it. I TRIED to watch the show all the time but hell to be honest I never knew when it was on. The advertising for the show, as with NHRA is/was horrible. Also, if a kid my age is going to watch reality TV, "Driving Force" would not catch their attention if they havent already been introduced to drag racing. There is way too much other ($h!t) reality shows on all day long on MTV and VH-1. The show was a good idea, bad timing.
PINKS. I personally do not like the show at all but I have a story that relates to this subject quite well. About 3 weeks ago I went to the local CVS/Walgreens/Rite-Aid, cant remember which one it is because they are all the same. Anyways I went to the store wearing my Norwalk Buick Raceday shirt and the young girl behind the counter asked if I had gone to Norwalk for the PINKS race because her and her boyfriend had. I told her that I didnt because I dont like PINKS but i did goto Norwalk for the NHRA National event. And ill tell you, I got the blank stare with the "Huh?" The girl had been to a race track but did not know of NHRA. Such a shame in my mind.
Advertising. There needs to be advertsing. Much more so than the "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday" on the oldie Rock stations (not knocking the music because thats what I tune into). Majority of people my age do not tune into the oldie rock stations and therefore are missing the advertising. If they want advertising to reach younger crowds, they need new marketing people. Make some TV commercials. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself and there are some but I have NEVER seen a TV commercial for a National Event. Which as a realization maybe a discovery in its mind. If there are commercials, they obviously are not ever shown on channels that people my age watch all the time.
Someone I recall talked about sponsorships changing bringing in more fans (sorry this has been a long time typing and I dont remember who). In part I believe this will help and the sametime maybe not. Full Throttle in its own will help. It will also help if NHRA markets themselves on Full Throttle cans. Do like amusement parks around here do in season. Have $5 discounts printed on cans to be released in areas the races are going to be. Collect all the cans at the gate and get some of the money back in recycling. Wow thats an idea i shouldnt have given away for free haha oh well. But sponsorships in general, I think can help with younger people. They tried that before with the WWF cars. Another personal insight. My little cousin used to be big into wrestling so when I would go to the races I would collect the flyers for the WWF cars for him. At the time he was interested in racing, sponsors left. Flyers stopped. Interest stopped. If the sponsors could have stuck around there might be one more fan out there still interested. On the other side of the ladder, the sponsors that would be required to get kids interested would not be willing to sponsor big race cars. Hell when I was younger I tried to get Nickolodeon to sponsor my Jr. Dragster and I got letter back saying it wasnt an industry they were interested in. A Disney car could attrack the youngins, an MTV car could attrack the middle age ones but the reality is i doubt it would happen.
I think the biggest problem overall is not the drivers, advertising, sponsors or TV shows; it is the midset of people my age. WAYYY too many kids are into sitting on their a$$ in front of the TV/computer than they are into cars. I feel that most kids today dont look at cars as something they can improve on and make go faster and harder. Maybe I am starting to get older myself but it seems to me that the interest of body-mods and "fast n the furious" is dying out. Within the last year or two, I have seen more bone stock vehicles on the street than I have in a long time. I know before I moved most of the strip car clubs were dying off in my hometown and i have not seen any in my new town. It just appears to me that the interest in cars all together is dying off. The only interest being pushed i see is "my mpg is better than your mpg". So with this mindset the whole situation is just catch 22.
my .02 and sorry if it is too long and under explained. I will chirp in more later
First off I do not think that you NEED young drivers to pull in young people. What you need are repeat champions (that did not have the richy life that "put" them into the seat - IMO). I guess it is not going to be the same for all people, as with everything, but most people find themselves fans of individuals that they can relate too. In the light of repeat champions, it seems the majority of Americans are/will become fans of the people on top. I mean maybe it is me but I swear after a team wins the Superbowl that next year they have more fans than they did the few years before. I guess what I am getting at is as long as drivers win, their age is not going to be the basis of their fans. Its seems like the referral to the young drivers is to the "he/she is my age, look where he/she is, 'that can be me!'" While psychologically correct, economically incorrect. As others have said most people in my generation do not have the money to get into racing as a sport and with the way the economy is; i doubt most of us ever will. But the money to put forward to being a fan, i disagree. Concert tickets are in comparison now-a-days with NHRA tickets and people my age have no problem paying for those.
TV is the way to bring new fans. However, "Driving Force" is not the way to go about it. I TRIED to watch the show all the time but hell to be honest I never knew when it was on. The advertising for the show, as with NHRA is/was horrible. Also, if a kid my age is going to watch reality TV, "Driving Force" would not catch their attention if they havent already been introduced to drag racing. There is way too much other ($h!t) reality shows on all day long on MTV and VH-1. The show was a good idea, bad timing.
PINKS. I personally do not like the show at all but I have a story that relates to this subject quite well. About 3 weeks ago I went to the local CVS/Walgreens/Rite-Aid, cant remember which one it is because they are all the same. Anyways I went to the store wearing my Norwalk Buick Raceday shirt and the young girl behind the counter asked if I had gone to Norwalk for the PINKS race because her and her boyfriend had. I told her that I didnt because I dont like PINKS but i did goto Norwalk for the NHRA National event. And ill tell you, I got the blank stare with the "Huh?" The girl had been to a race track but did not know of NHRA. Such a shame in my mind.
Advertising. There needs to be advertsing. Much more so than the "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday" on the oldie Rock stations (not knocking the music because thats what I tune into). Majority of people my age do not tune into the oldie rock stations and therefore are missing the advertising. If they want advertising to reach younger crowds, they need new marketing people. Make some TV commercials. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself and there are some but I have NEVER seen a TV commercial for a National Event. Which as a realization maybe a discovery in its mind. If there are commercials, they obviously are not ever shown on channels that people my age watch all the time.
Someone I recall talked about sponsorships changing bringing in more fans (sorry this has been a long time typing and I dont remember who). In part I believe this will help and the sametime maybe not. Full Throttle in its own will help. It will also help if NHRA markets themselves on Full Throttle cans. Do like amusement parks around here do in season. Have $5 discounts printed on cans to be released in areas the races are going to be. Collect all the cans at the gate and get some of the money back in recycling. Wow thats an idea i shouldnt have given away for free haha oh well. But sponsorships in general, I think can help with younger people. They tried that before with the WWF cars. Another personal insight. My little cousin used to be big into wrestling so when I would go to the races I would collect the flyers for the WWF cars for him. At the time he was interested in racing, sponsors left. Flyers stopped. Interest stopped. If the sponsors could have stuck around there might be one more fan out there still interested. On the other side of the ladder, the sponsors that would be required to get kids interested would not be willing to sponsor big race cars. Hell when I was younger I tried to get Nickolodeon to sponsor my Jr. Dragster and I got letter back saying it wasnt an industry they were interested in. A Disney car could attrack the youngins, an MTV car could attrack the middle age ones but the reality is i doubt it would happen.
I think the biggest problem overall is not the drivers, advertising, sponsors or TV shows; it is the midset of people my age. WAYYY too many kids are into sitting on their a$$ in front of the TV/computer than they are into cars. I feel that most kids today dont look at cars as something they can improve on and make go faster and harder. Maybe I am starting to get older myself but it seems to me that the interest of body-mods and "fast n the furious" is dying out. Within the last year or two, I have seen more bone stock vehicles on the street than I have in a long time. I know before I moved most of the strip car clubs were dying off in my hometown and i have not seen any in my new town. It just appears to me that the interest in cars all together is dying off. The only interest being pushed i see is "my mpg is better than your mpg". So with this mindset the whole situation is just catch 22.
my .02 and sorry if it is too long and under explained. I will chirp in more later
