Sponsor exposure and the Kalitta Boycott

[Rajunz]

yup Sue, that is Jon O! My mom thought it was funny because in National Dragster many years ago they called them "the Oberhofer twins"!!!

She would know better than anyone if they were twins!

 

[Suzie Q]

She would know better than anyone if they were twins!

Twins that are 18 months apart!!! That was sooooome labor!!! Hilarious!

 

[Sue]

Ok , I don't really think that Jim O and Jon O look that much a like. But may be it is just me. By the way Suzie nice picture of the O family on Hillary blog.

 

[Suzie Q]

Ok , I don't really think that Jim O and Jon O look that much a like. But may be it is just me. By the way Suzie nice picture of the O family on Hillary blog.

They do up close. I can see it! Me & Jon look a lot alike. Thanks Sue, I thought that was a nice picture of us.

I told Jim that our new family photo should be all of us punching each other in the stomachs!!! I think that would be hilarious!

 

[PJ]

WHOA!! wait a second! i do believe the DALLAS COWBOYS were undefeated when the pats took them to school. and not only have the pats been beating every team they play, they are annihilating them. they've scored no less than 34 points all season long.

who have the colts played? the bucs? give me a break. not to mention the colts barely squeaked by the freakin tennessee titans.

Your right I missed them in the my tabulations
Indy has beat

no 2-4
ten 4-2
hou 3-4
den 3-3
jax 4-2
tb 4-3

the Pats have beat
jets 1-6
dolphin 0-7
sd 3-3
buff 2-4
bengals 2-4
dallas 6-1
browns 3-3

in fact their last loss was to the Colts and the 2 of their last 4 losses came at the hands of the colts

 

[BaldyLochs]

2 Kalitta special paint schemes in Vegas....and that's on Technicoat turf...Lord have Mercy.... could be all the makings for another Hillagrublitta super bash! This could get Wild....

 

[Sue]

They do up close. I can see it! Me & Jon look a lot alike. Thanks Sue, I thought that was a nice picture of us.

I told Jim that our new family photo should be all of us punching each other in the stomachs!!! I think that would be hilarious!

Yes, I think you all should do that. It would be hilarious.

 

[mick]

.... could be all the makings for another Hillagrublitta super bash! This could get Wild....

dare say megarita hillagrublitta pomonapalooza'!?
sounds like a 'gut-busting' good time to me!

 

[DragFan2]

Well, I suspected this thread might start something but I never thought it would get this many posts in less than a day.

First off, my position on the Countdown is still kind-of a wait and see deal. I'm not sure I like the cut to four yet, but looking at the Pro Standings on DRO's website, it shows that in every category except PSM, the same 4 teams would be in positions 1-4 although not in the same order. Ron Capps would still be #1 whereas he is #4 under the current system, but the only person that got screwed out of the top 4 was Angelle Sampey who would have been #3 rather than #5 and sitting outside the Countdown. All in all, it didn't change things that much except that the teams that had big points leads, such as Rod Fuller and Ron Capps, lost those points right away and also lost their #1 positions but are still in it for now. After Vegas, we'll see who really got screwed (or not), but it will come down to performance and luck so lets all wait and see. I hope freak parts breakage does not decide the championship but that is always a possibility.

And for those who feel there should be "incentive bonuses" tied to getting into the Countdown from sponsors, that is looking at it in a positive way and I agree with that. I'm just worried about the teams (& sponsors) who could decide that the value isn't there to support a team for the whole year and several have to park their cars after the 1st 17 races. If NHRA can't fill 16 car fields in the last 6 races of the year it will certainly detract from the Countdown as there will be singles in the 1st round and there's no easy way to explain that to fans.

 

[D]

First off it is already a given that the best team in other sports doesn't always win the championship. The Detroit Red Wings have been #1 seed many times but fall off in early rounds. George Mason went to the final 4 a few years back, were they really one of the 4 best teams in the country? The Mariners won a record number of games yet got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Last year the Chargers looked unstoppable....until the playoffs.
Whats the difference? There are a few. Since you used football we will start there. The Pats will be play 16 games this year against 13 teams (they will play the the dolphins. Jets and Bills twice each) There are 32 teams in the nfl. You need a playoff to get the teams with the best record to play each other. If we look deeper it could be argued that despite all the press that the Pats have received that the Colts are even better. The Patriots have yet to play a team with a winning record while the the Colts have played 3. Pats opponents record thus far is 11-27 while the Colts is 20-18 so who is better?
Another issue is that non playoff teams have an effect on playoff teams. The Colts and Bears didn't have to worry about the Lions and Raiders playing on the same field as them during the super bowl last year. Plus in drag racing we have the dirty little secret of dives. If non playoff teams were separate then this would be a non issue. The 4 players left in the countdown may not have to face each other in the final 2 races
Also when the nfl playoffs start what is the score of the game? 0-0. Thats not the case here.

The drag racing championship has always been whoever was the best over the entire season. I would say that it is the purest of championships in sports. Now its has lost its luster and meaning. No longer about greatness but luck.

The Clowndown and the Chase are the BCS of motorsports, utter BS, they need to scrap it and go back to the old system. 9 & 10 not being paid when the purses and point fund don't even remotely come close to offsetting team costs is boot to the groin.
GO MEL!!
GO V!!

S/F
D

 

[rocketman]

If they don't show up we can at least solute those teams who ever they ended up being for having some balls.

 

[BF]

Imagine if some of the final fours don't qualify, then the rest lose in the first round. What will they talk about on ESPN? At least if they were paired against each other one would be guaranteed to make the semis. It could make for a very anti-climactic finish to season.

 

[none]

I am VERY proud of the Kalitta team speaking out about this. Bob Vandergriff did the same thing and it got everyone's attention. I am very interested in the ratings as well. I was very disgusted with the fact that there was no interview or even a camera pan by Douggies pit when he won the semis!

The only purpose that this year serves is to work out the kinks of this countdown. Nothing is perfect, but if we have to live with it, fine, but fix it to make it fair to all the teams and the fans. It is just a crime that 8 & 9 don't get any money. That is a bunch of crap to me.

Amen to that, after reading the interview Connie did with DRO if the suits took Connie up on some of his suggestions they would put a better product on the track for the fans and not have to resort to this smoke and mirrors points chase. At least we got 90% back for next year. What were left with is a points system that the sponsors don't like, the majority of racers don't like and the majority of the fans don't like.

 

[Jay]

i fully respect your opinion suzie. but i'm sure that if the numbers went up across the board, you'd be willing to keep the countdown around (with a few tweaks of course)

as far as sponsorship money is concerned, i am a FULL supporter of performanced based pay...with NFL athletes, with teachers, with EVERYONE. if i am considering sponsoring a funny car, i will ask that team,"how can you increase my brand awareness." hopefully that team will be smart enough to admit that exposure will increase with winning. so i will ink a deal that will gaurantee more money based on performance. why should a 10th place finisher get the same advertising deal as the 2nd place finisher? is NHRA all of a sudden becoming a charity case? No! what happens to football coaches that don't win...they get canned! look at joe torre! and frankly, i don't think someone that finishes 15th in the points deserves as much TV time as someone in the top 4. (now i will admit vandergriff has gotten hosed)

the question is then posed, "well a sponsor can't expect us to win a championship if they don't give us championship caliber money." well, rod fuller did it for most of this season...

While your theory makes SOME sense, be careful of how much emphasis that you put on winning...The best designed programs, with the right activations, can out perform, in a marketing and value propisition sense, a program that wins more races.

A perfect example of this is Dale Earnhardt Jr. vs. Jeff Gordon. Dale hasn't won a race in almost 2 years, and there are people that actually hate Jeff because he wins so much....

I disagree with your final point about Rod Fuller having a great year on "not championship caliber money." He absoleutely DOES have championship caliber money behind him. While it didn't come from a sponsor, it came straight out of David Power's personal checking account.

 

[Jay]

Re: The Kalitta Boycott

The only complaining I have heard is about how much money Toyota is giving their teams. The fact is that there are more full time, fully sponsored cup teams then before the Chase.

You are correct...there ARE more full-time cup teams since the chase started, however, it has NOTHING to do with the chase...It has to do with all the "super" teams following suit with Hendrick and Roush having 4 teams since Nascar put the 4-team-limit" into effect, along with all of the outside investors that are coming into the sport.

And for the record, the only new full-time teams that have come into Nextel Cup racing in the last few years are the 2 Red Bull cars, the 3 Michael Waltrip cars, and the Furniture Row team...

 

[Larry]

Lot's of ifs but it will have to be played out before anyone can say for sure it's not good for the sport.
There's still shoot out points and after all the sponsors did pay for whatever exposure can be garnered.

I say get inventive and get attention.

 

[mick]

the sponsors will inevitably decide if this program is working.

sponsors are going to look at the nhra and hopefully see a motorsports
series that is trying to put it's best foot forward for growth; fan growth,
event attendance growth and national media/TV exposure/growth......
all this and at a fraction the cost of competing series.
I think it's foolish to conclude 7/8 of the way through this first year
with changes that a sponsor would 'pull out' after indy.
I would think a major sponor wants to know, at least during race weekend,
'what are you doing for me 24 times a year'........
do i have kiosks? do i have hospitality? is my driver interviewed on tv?
do we need pretty girls in the pits? is my driver on local radio, at local
businesses before races? etc.....
and somewhere lower on the list is the points race.

 

[Darryl]

And for those who feel there should be "incentive bonuses" tied to getting into the Countdown from sponsors, that is looking at it in a positive way and I agree with that. I'm just worried about the teams (& sponsors) who could decide that the value isn't there to support a team for the whole year and several have to park their cars after the 1st 17 races. If NHRA can't fill 16 car fields in the last 6 races of the year it will certainly detract from the Countdown as there will be singles in the 1st round and there's no easy way to explain that to fans.

THAT is my biggest fear in this whole thing. That series that shall not be named allows 35 teams a basically free ride. As long as you stay there you don't even have to QUALIFY! Drag racing his a different breed of sport. Every week everyone HAS to qualify. Of all the nitro teams out there(as well as the gas powered Pro classes) how many have REALLY strong contracts that pay all the bills and provide living wages to all involved? Not many. In many cases drag racing is still an ego involved sport that some play in because they love it and can afford it. We most times have around 18 nitro cars trying for the 16 car field. What if as much as 25% of the funding were cut after 17 or 18 of the 24 races. Just how short might some of those fields become? I know I'm an old fart because I can remember 64 car Top Fuel fields but I'm truly worried NOW over perhaps being short on 16 car show.

Certainly not all, or most of this worry is due to The Countdown, but watching escalating prices to field a car and the lack interest on the part of real world business to become involved with drag racing I am afraid of anything that MIGHT lessen the amount of money for any team out there!

 

[SAS]

First off it is already a given that the best team in other sports doesn't always win the championship. The Detroit Red Wings have been #1 seed many times but fall off in early rounds. George Mason went to the final 4 a few years back, were they really one of the 4 best teams in the country? The Mariners won a record number of games yet got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Last year the Chargers looked unstoppable....until the playoffs.
Whats the difference? There are a few. Since you used football we will start there. The Pats will be play 16 games this year against 13 teams (they will play the the dolphins. Jets and Bills twice each) There are 32 teams in the nfl. You need a playoff to get the teams with the best record to play each other. If we look deeper it could be argued that despite all the press that the Pats have received that the Colts are even better. The Patriots have yet to play a team with a winning record while the the Colts have played 3. Pats opponents record thus far is 11-27 while the Colts is 20-18 so who is better?
Another issue is that non playoff teams have an effect on playoff teams. The Colts and Bears didn't have to worry about the Lions and Raiders playing on the same field as them during the super bowl last year. Plus in drag racing we have the dirty little secret of dives. If non playoff teams were separate then this would be a non issue. The 4 players left in the countdown may not have to face each other in the final 2 races
Also when the nfl playoffs start what is the score of the game? 0-0. Thats not the case here.

The drag racing championship has always been whoever was the best over the entire season. I would say that it is the purest of championships in sports. Now its has lost its luster and meaning. No longer about greatness but luck.

The Pats beat Dallas who at the time were 5 - 0, they will beat Indy.
The two top teams should play for all the marbles , but its all about the money, playoffs make mega bucks for TV time. Also all the leeser teams get a piece of the pie by extending their playtime.

 

[D]

The Pats beat Dallas who at the time were 5 - 0, they will beat Indy.
The two top teams should play for all the marbles , but its all about the money, playoffs make mega bucks for TV time. Also all the leeser teams get a piece of the pie by extending their playtime.

True in stick and ball, but there's no revenue sharing or paying TV contract in drag racing. Everybody pays to play, despite some appearances a lot of the sponsorships out there aren't full support.

S/F
D