To quote some advice given in the early nineties to a former governor of a small southern state, "ITS THE ECONOMY STUPID". In light of the dire straits of our national economic condition, I would imagine companies are not exactly lined up to hand out million dollar checks to sponsor drag race teams or any other racing endeavors at this point. Obviously, all of us who post or read this board are generally rabid supporters of drag racing in general and NHRA in particular. We can sit here and say what a bargain NHRA sponsorship is, but I would doubt few of us (myself included in the group) could quote cold hard facts that would back up this claim. Race car sponsorships can be a hard sell during good economic times and certainly dont go to the top of the list for compainies faced with falling revenues and employee lay offs. Face the facts---our beloved sport falls far behind in recognition to the common man or woman off the street. Print coverage in the mainstream is lacking at best, and the only way it seems to make the TV is if someone dies or has a narrow escape of doing so. Add to that some punk crashing into a mini van load of kids and being labeled a "drag racer" while headling the 6 o'clock newscast. And by the way, ever tried explaining bracket racing or class racing to somebody outside the sport. Add to that the fact that we have not one, not two, not three, but FOUR professional classes in our sport---not to mention a whole flock of other classes. And in my opinion, one of the real problems with getting the next generation in the sport could have to do with the very fact that it takes MILLIONS of dollars to compete at the top level. The days of starting out like Prudhomme, Force, Garlits, and others who were not born with a silver spoon in their mouths are long gone. To keep up with the Jones' and compete in even the sportsman categories is long past ridiculous in cost, let alone field a fuel entry. If you can run a low four second fourty yard dash, bench press a small car, or jump 12 feet in the air, you probably have a pretty good chance of becoming a pro athlete in some sport--and trust me, some college coach will find you and give you a shot. But you can have the reaction time of a coiled cobra and drive the wheels off anything, but if you can't bring a multi million dollar sponsorship package to the table you will be locked in obscurity. Unless of course you have that silver spoon in your mouth of are a member of the luck sperm club and have the right last name. Just my two cents worth---and probably overpriced at that.
