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Street Outlaws has 4 times more TV viewers than NHRA (1 Viewer)

and then you have this

Sports Media Watch – SBJ: ESPN and Turner Were Not Interested in NASCAR Rights

what does this tell you;

NASCAR can go to NBC & FOX. NHRA will never. This is why I feel like NHRA will drop like a rock to the #10 Motorsport behind NASCAR, Indycar, F1, AMA Supercross, ARCA, World Of Outlaws, SuperDIRTCar Modifieds, Grand Am (w/ALMS merger), All Lucas Oil Sponsored motorsports (Drag Boats, Off road etc) & SCCA autocross.

Plus NASCAR has Danica Patrick. Overrated but a marketing Machine.

I have yet to see the Courtney Force ESPN Magazine in any store I've been in. Yeah doing that did much for her :rolleyes:
 
Registered member said:
. . . NASCAR for whatever reason is the biggest auto sport in America. . . . NHRA's lack of popularity isn't 100% due to NHRA leadership decisions, a good portion of it is just because drag racing isn't very popular.
!
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Nick, I appreciate your input but I disagree 100% with the 2 statements you made above.

NASCAR became the biggest auto sport because of very smart marketing decisions, like the one I pointed out.

NHRA worked its way down to their current almost invisible position by making very poor marketing decisions, as I also pointed out.

I actually think drag racing had an opportunity to be even more popular than NASCAR, when presented well its actually more exiting, both live and on TV. With the import car modification and racing craze they also had a better opportunity available to them to draw in new young participants and fans.

Add in the fact the there are multiple female NHRA drivers that are capable of winning races and you have a hell of a potential package.

I fully believe that if the management organizations had swapped positions 25 years ago the NHRA would now be the organization in the strong position and NASCAR would be the one fading to black.

Can anyone seriously dispute that?
 
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IMHO, you're comparing apples and oranges by comparing the two shows.

From what I know of street racers, (And the people who follow them.) I'd wager that 95% of them would NEVER set foot in a traditional organized racing evironment, even if NHRA completely restructured the rulebook to accomodate them.

They'd be bored sh$#less.

It's too structured, and too regulated for them. The "thrill" they get from illegal outlaw street racing way outshines anything on an organized racetrack offers. A couple of years ago, Car Craft printed an article where they had a couple of writers follow several groups of street racers. To a person, they all said that organized, regulated races were boring. The several who had tried them, said they didn't like it, and would never go back.
 
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There will be no more bashing of Scotty Cannon 'round here, particularly on this website which started as the forum of Scotty's website!
 
Motorsports in general seems to have declining interest (including NASCAR) for a variety of reasons. Attendance is certainly lessened by the fact that regardless of the BS government numbers, the economy of this country is still in the toilet. Wall Street may be fine, but Main Street is still in shambles. We are facing the same problems in the aftermarket parts business I own. As a friend of mine said recently, when it comes down to a gallon of milk or a part for the hot rod, that gallon of milk will win most of the time. Same principle for a $100 race ticket. We are making smaller sales in my shop than ever in 31 years of business. Add to this the fact that the core interest group of NHRA is getting pretty old. Those of us in the over 50 crowd grew up in a time when you had 2 things---your car and your girlfriend. And your 2 goals in life were to make your car fast and get your girlfriend in the back seat. As has been discussed in length on this board, kids today have MANY more things to captivate their interests. Unfortunately, the automobile to them is just a small piece of their overall interests. Add to this the fact that most major motorsports is full of a bunch of "millionaires" as someone said earlier in this thread. I still remember Garlits showing up at Indy with a pick up truck and trailer and taking names and kicking a$$. Dont remember that happening lately. I have no ax to grind with the Forces, Kalittas, and Schumachers of the world, but it does get old seeing only the same old group over and over. No Marvin Graham to show up out of nowhere and take on all comers and win. The street outlaws do offer a little bit of variety. Thus lies some of the reason for more interest from the average guy---they can relate to them much easier than a millionaire NHRA car owner. Or even a sportsman racer with a $150K COPO or Cobra Jet.
 
It is virtually impossible to attract new young people to organized drag racing.

I went to Famoso for a Saturday test and tune just to see what my Vette would run. $50.00 tech fee. Then I got into staging lanes and waited four hours.

How could you possibly expect the younger set to try out drag racing and they go through that and think they are having fun....No way.

I must say, we are getting a bunch of young import and Mustang guys and gals showing up for the grudge drags up here at Willow.

$15.00 to race, and you can run the wheels off of it. This type of thing has to spring up all over the country, out from under NHRA, and people can then find out how fun this really is.
 
Registered member said:
It is virtually impossible to attract new young people to organized drag racing.

I went to Famoso for a Saturday test and tune just to see what my Vette would run. $50.00 tech fee. Then I got into staging lanes and waited four hours.

How could you possibly expect the younger set to try out drag racing and they go through that and think they are having fun....No way.

I must say, we are getting a bunch of young import and Mustang guys and gals showing up for the grudge drags up here at Willow.

$15.00 to race, and you can run the wheels off of it. This type of thing has to spring up all over the country, out from under NHRA, and people can then find out how fun this really is.
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That is why the Irwindale Thursday night drags are packed.....cheap and quick entertainment....
 
Imagine the difference between people who spray illegal graffiti and Leonardo da Vinci painting the Mona Lisa. They're both doing the same thing, applying paint to a surface, but are getting vastly different thrills and outcomes from it. Same thing for street racers and your average bracket racers.

Drag racing bodies worldwide should look into perhaps sanctioning 'street racing'. Close off an area of road commonly used for street racing so no traffic can get in, ensure there is some amount of safety on hand ie ambulance, crowds in correct areas and other than that let them have at it. All the while promote ways these racers can perhaps improve their vehicles safety wise and explain to them the benefits of a proper strip where they can hook up and get actual times.

There's a lot of tut-tutting around street racing, but there's an awful lot of pro racers out there for who street racing was their introduction to the sport - perhaps it's something we need to attempt to guide in the right direction for the safety and future of those involved rather than outright ignoring (because that hasn't done a lot for the problem).
 
Dunno about PBIR, but down here, both County Line and Immokalee Raceway's have affordable grudge racing and test & tune nites and the street racing still goes on. Guess they just hate rules.
 
Registered member said:
Nick, I appreciate your input but I disagree 100% with the 2 statements you made above.

NASCAR became the biggest auto sport because of very smart marketing decisions, like the one I pointed out.

NHRA worked its way down to their current almost invisible position by making very poor marketing decisions, as I also pointed out.

I actually think drag racing had an opportunity to be even more popular than NASCAR, when presented well its actually more exiting, both live and on TV. With the import car modification and racing craze they also had a better opportunity available to them to draw in new young participants and fans.

Add in the fact the there are multiple female NHRA drivers that are capable of winning races and you have a hell of a potential package.

I fully believe that if the management organizations had swapped positions 25 years ago the NHRA would now be the organization in the strong position and NASCAR would be the one fading to black.

Can anyone seriously dispute that?
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I would like to hear from a huge NASCAR fan that has no interest in the NHRA why they like NASCAR but not the NHRA. I bet it would come down to something like "drag racing is just two cars going in a straight line.. and it's just two cars that only run for 4 seconds"

In that respect, I would agree that a few better choices marketing wise here and there, NHRA could be more popular today.... but in the end the products are the same... You can market the hell out of the NHRA, and that might get them to tune in or buy a ticket, but in the end if they aren't a drag racing fan, they will lose interest.

But I can see the NHRA is trying... they has a couple fuel cars do burnouts at a NASCAR race... their commercials highlight the horsepower... their ESPN broadcasts highlight the manufactured drama that the reality TV generation loves... hell, I even see Ron Capps doing commercials with some NASCAR dude on those NAPA ads. The best promotion for the sport is to get people to attend a race, I think ticket cost is prohibiting the average joe from checking it out - but that's another story.

FWIW... I don't get NASCAR. I challenege any friend of mine who likes NASCAR... I ask them why do you like NASCAR? The speed? (NHRA IS FASTER) The noise? (NHRA is louder - point out that the fuel cars register on the Richter scale) The racing? (NHRA has more races on race day... every run is a race). The crashes? (I don't have a comeback for this one). The expierence? (NHRA pit access is clearly better) The horsepower? (10,000 HP is pretty damn impressive).
 
One thing that I feel like NHRA is missing---no true "characters" as in the sports past. Just a driver reading off the same canned sponsor mentions like in NASCAR. The Allison brothers fight on the backstretch at Daytona probably did more to boost NASCAR from a small southern series into the national spotlight than any other single event. I still remember a reporter sticking a live mic in front of Dale Sr after Ricky Rudd wrecked him at a short track. He asked him what happened and his reply was "The bast*rd wrecked me---cant you see?". Imagine if a pro drag racer said the same thing? Can you spell FINE. Even today NASCAR has Tony Stewart and the Busch bros (who have been calmed down considerably) to add a little spice to the series. I realize you cant have a "free for all" on track or off, but even NASCAR realized that a certain amount of "passion" should come forth out of the drivers and backed off the clamp they had on them. To me, that is why reality shows are so popular. Viewers like to see folks get mad, say what they think, and occasionally slap the sh*t out of somebody. Drives the PC Police crazy. But it is just human nature.
 
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Registered member said:
It is virtually impossible to attract new young people to organized drag racing.

I went to Famoso for a Saturday test and tune just to see what my Vette would run. $50.00 tech fee. Then I got into staging lanes and waited four hours.

How could you possibly expect the younger set to try out drag racing and they go through that and think they are having fun....No way.

I must say, we are getting a bunch of young import and Mustang guys and gals showing up for the grudge drags up here at Willow.

$15.00 to race, and you can run the wheels off of it. This type of thing has to spring up all over the country, out from under NHRA, and people can then find out how fun this really is.
Click to expand...

One thing that seems to get missed is how much times have changed-and what we can do with the tech available.
Lets use 1973-a 24 y/o kid gets a loan to by a few year old car. He gets a 440 Cornet-396 Chevelle-428 Mustang. He dumps a few hundred into it to turn a 300 hp motor into a 350hp motor. Its fun on the street-does 0-60 in 5 seconds from every stop light.

2013-24 y/o kid get a loan for a few year old car. He get a Subaru WRX-Mitsubisi Evo-Neon SRT4. A few hundred turns it from a 300 hp car to a 350 hp car. It can do do 0-60 in 5 seconds-and then he can turn the wheel + make a corner! And hit the brakes + feel a negative 1.5 G.
Face it-the old cars we all are talking about that we drove to the strip for a day of fun were only good at going down a 1/4 mile. Now the cars kids are into can turn-stop AND go fast.
That same $25 that can get you 4 13 second passes at grudge nite can get you 5 1 minute runs at your local autocross. Spending a day sitting at a dragstrip to "see what she'll do" isn't that much of a draw when a simple app for you smart phone can tell you the same thing.
Picture when your grand children all have flying cars-how much time you think they are gonna want to spend racing them on the ground-just because that how it used to done? ;)
 
burnoutcontest.jpg
;)
 
Don't know about that. The only time those folks would accomodate Willie was when they were up for re-election.

Soon as the election was over, they wouldn't give him the time of day.
 
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