What is the Holy Grail in growing NHRA Drag Racing? (1 Viewer)

[Toejam]

There is actually a lot of potential for the NHRA to make a comeback right now in terms of overall media coverage and resulting attendance and growth of new younger fans.

Having multiple young, attractive and competitive female drivers should be a goldmine for the NHRA. Danica Patrick drew heavy interest Indy car racing and then NASCAR, even without being that competitive in either series. The NHRA is in an even stronger position to connect with new fans with both female and minority drivers that are capable of winning races.

Unfortunately the NHRA board just doesn't have the experience or vision to take advantage of this opportunity.

The only smart thing they've ever done is build the "smoke screen" around the organization that makes members believe that the board somehow owns the NHRA (they don't) and can't be replaced.

Until NHRA members wake up and band together to get their board member election rights back the organization is going to continue to decline.

I remember "Good Morning America". Did a live remote from Topeka interviewing Shelly Anderson back in the 90's. Then about 3-4 years ago CBS Sunday morning did a feature on Melanie Troxel. While all that press is great, NHRA continues to struggle!

 

[mick]

Maximize event attendance and the residual profits attained via
concessions/parking/merchandise/etc; provide yourself(nhra) a stable base
to conduct a 23/24 race series annually that moves enough money
to keep your small circle of racers/officials/suppliers/track owners comfortable.

some day fairly soon cable television is going to change to some form of
a la carte programming, it's inevitable the same as what happened
in the music industry
eventually you will either pay for a channel such as ESPN2 or maybe at
some point further down the road you will pay specifically for the show
you want to watch, such as the sunday 3-hour NHRA event.
If this happens, i guarantee sports programming will increa$e as the hundreds
of crap cable channels that are currently subsidized by cable packages
will have no viewers leaving fewer channels folks want to watch at
high costs....notably sports programming.
Lets say 50% of cable buyers watch ESPN which costs roughly $5/month
to all us whether we watch or not. Then with a la carte only 50% buy
ESPN causing a 50% drop in revenue; time to raise prices so all of a sudden
you are paying $10/mo for ESPN...and NHRA is on ESPN2, a complete
different pile of money;will ESPN bundle with ESPN2 so now you're$20/mo?,
and you haven't even ordered any of your other favorite 5 channels.
NHRA pays for itself on ESPN2 to command a .5 rating; not for me and you,
but for exposure for future and present sponsors; will they still foot the bill
if that ratings number falls substantially?

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

A lot of great ideas above. Let me add we need to ban T-stops. (or at least change them)
When we do get the "first timers" to show up they expect to see a race, not a coast-a-thon. We have all sat near them. After the first pair they say "wow both of them had trouble". Then after about the third pair, they get up and leave.

If the SUPER classes must have T-Stops, then make them come on at the end, not in front of most of the fans.

 

[clwill]

A lot of great ideas above. Let me add we need to ban T-stops.

How right you are. Let's cut NHRA's racer entry income by 60% -- that's the percentage of racers who race for national and divisional points with a throttle stop.

 

[Toejam]

How right you are. Let's cut NHRA's racer entry income by 60% -- that's the percentage of racers who race for national and divisional points with a throttle stop.

Chris, I only started going to Natl. events in 1990, so I have No idea when the Super classes started using them. But I can say there are Far more people in the stands watching Top Dragster and Top Sportsman than S/C or S/G!

 

[clwill]

Chris, I only started going to Natl. events in 1990, so I have No idea when the Super classes started using them. But I can say there are Far more people in the stands watching Top Dragster and Top Sportsman than S/C or S/G!

It's not all about who's watching. The racers pay to be there, about 5x what the fans do.

 

[Toejam]

It's not all about who's watching. The racers pay to be there, about 5x what the fans do.

Your joking if you think thats the case! Let's say 60,000 fans go to a Natl. event over the weekend like Vegas or Indy! What's the average ticket price $50? That's roughly $3 Million! If you think the Sportsman racers bring in more than that your Dreaming!

 

[nwspeedshots]

Don’t make me get out my homonym-hammer…

 

[none]

Let anyone under 25 in for free and all women
We need some young blood in our sport!!

They need to do some thing. I was asked by a friend to help out on his Top Sportsman car for Friday at englishtown. I only went up in the stands on the second pro session after first round TS was done and It looked like a AARP meeting. I'm a gray beard myself (52) but WOW the crowd was small and they all looked old. The price was crazy ($43) for a Friday. Their is no drama for qualifying with less than 20 cars in any pro class. I love drag racing but having not been to a race in about 5 years has given me a different look at things and they are not good.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Your joking if you think thats the case! Let's say 60,000 fans go to a Natl. event over the weekend like Vegas or Indy! What's the average ticket price $50? That's roughly $3 Million! If you think the Sportsman racers bring in more than that your Dreaming!

I won't speak for Chris, but I'm sure he meant per person, Joe. In other words, 400 racers pay substantially more to go to the racers than 400 spectators. Yeah, they're racing for money, but only a small percentage actually get to cash in on that.

Sean D

 

[cephus]

it otta b about fast cars & the show, TF, nostalgia TF, funny car, nostalgia funny, TAD, alky funny, pro stock, pro mod, PS bike, nitro bike,,, n that order now that wuld b a show, the rest wuld b sportsman with their own races and series

Dats wat im talkin bout

N Bama

 

[clwill]

it otta b about fast cars & the show, TF, nostalgia TF, funny car, nostalgia funny, TAD, alky funny, pro stock, pro mod, PS bike, nitro bike,,, n that order now that wuld b a show, the rest wuld b sportsman with their own races and series

Completely agree!

 

[none]

it otta b about fast cars & the show, TF, nostalgia TF, funny car, nostalgia funny, TAD, alky funny, pro stock, pro mod, PS bike, nitro bike,,, n that order now that wuld b a show, the rest wuld b sportsman with their own races and series

Dats wat im talkin bout

N Bama

Sounds good! Nice streamline show with all great classes. Only problem I can see is when do you go buy a hot dog??
Guess they could have an "intermission" with some music and T shirts hitting the air............

 

[vegasnitro]

Guy, the tickets to that show would have to be $100 bucks per day at least to pay everyone, and even then you better have a decent crowd. It would also take ALL DAY to run first round if there are not many oil downs, if there are several oil downs ... UH OH.

As it is now ... they can usually pay off everyone with the back gate from the sportsmen or come dammed close. And that is the REAL reason sportsmen will NEVER disappear from national events, they can charge one group of racers to pay for the show.

 

[mike]

Sounds good! Nice streamline show with all great classes. Only problem I can see is when do you go buy a hot dog??
Guess they could have an "intermission" with some music and T shirts hitting the air............

there would be plenty of down time for "track prep"


I really think the root of the problem is there isn't the car culture like there used...cars have pretty much become just an appliance for way too many people, and the car builders are fine with that. Performance cars are pretty much only marketed to older guys, and priced accordingly, and the young guys aspire to have cars that sync with their smart phones, not run a quarter mile...

I don't think drag racing will go away, but there is no way it will be as popular as it was when "everybody" under 25 lusted after high performance cars, and had the recourses to actually buy or build one, know what I mean?

 

[rckymtn3]

every track must have GA Yup...wondering what tracks has reserved only?

sunday racer introductions are lame....pre-race fan energy towards
the pits..... oh man are they EVER lame!

on raceday as anthem is on last note the first pair should be firing; no words
spoken at all, just turn them on as the song is finishing....can't ever remember being at a race that didn't start that way, but where/whoever DOESN'T start it this way is a flat-out moron

Until NHRA members wake up and band together to get their board member election rights back the organization is going to continue to decline. Absolutely TRUE...certainly, positions at the top should change. It's as corrupt as any political upper-echelons

the young guys aspire to have cars that sync with their smart phones, not run a quarter mile...Soooo true...still laughing

I don't think drag racing will go away, but there is no way it will be as popular as it was when "everybody" under 25 lusted after high performance cars, and had the recourses to actually buy or build one, know what I mean? Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! I do know exactly what you mean

Ditch the shock-jock in-your-face geico types slinging swag. Produce a large number of "inside drag racing" clips to be played, teaching people about the cars, the track, etc. Will help educate newcomers, and keep the rest of us up-to-date with current practices. I'm imagining them showing us a blower rebuild, then tested on shop equipment, or exactly what a bottom-end or clutch tech is doing....not just point a finger and say it, show us...get some of those smaller cameras off their heads and just give us some good shots of stuff we would not normally be privy to.

Re-read all the posts and find some good ideas. I elect "us"...at least our hearts are in the racing, not the kick-backs and bloated salaries for a job sub averagely done

 

[PJ]

I go to this funny car race at this small track every year. The track has the teams toss out event shirts, sponsors shirts and frisbees like crazy.

On one Saturday night I bet they come pretty close to equally what the NHRA/Geico guys do in a season.

What does that mean. It means those kids I'm tossing that frisbee too will play with it the rest of the summer and their friends see the track name and ask questions. The adults are wearing racing shirts, and plugging sponsors around town. This gets thier image out there and you have to be seen, be known before you can get a new customer. Not many people stumble across a dragstrip on a Sunday drive and decide to stop for the first time.

It's a grand product placement type of deal. Granted the placement is random but the more eyes see your stuff and the more often, the better chances of catching one of them.

Also to the people that did grab some swag, that just increased their ROI for the race. Which means that there is a better chance that they will return.

The view should be that the selling of the event to the fan doesn't stop when they pass the ticket counter, it needs to continue throughout the event and needs to spread beyound what happens on the track itself. THe goal should be to keep them as a long term customer not a one and done, or even once a year when the tour hits town.

You want to turn that fan into someone that also watches the TV coverages, which increases ratings and brings more sponsors which helps the sport grow.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Grow the sport you say. Drop the 16 car max. We have doubled (or tripled) the ticket price, but still give the same 16 car shows from 30 years ago.

 

[Rat]

I would contribute, but for once I legally cannot as I was given some great, great answers when I asked a similar question. One answer from Big Daddy especially is very, very interesting.

The Ultimate Guide to NHRA Drag Racing Statistics. Amazon.com, Bandn.com, (barnes and noble) PublishAmerica.com

 

[Pete]

Ditch the shock-jock in-your-face geico types slinging swag. Produce a large number of "inside drag racing" clips to be played, teaching people about the cars, the track, etc. Will help educate newcomers, and keep the rest of us up-to-date with current practices. I'm imagining them showing us a blower rebuild, then tested on shop equipment, or exactly what a bottom-end or clutch tech is doing....not just point a finger and say it, show us...get some of those smaller cameras off their heads and just give us some good shots of stuff we would not normally be privy to.

Re-read all the posts and find some good ideas. I elect "us"...at least our hearts are in the racing, not the kick-backs and bloated salaries for a job sub averagely done

Some pretty good ideas!