What is the Holy Grail in growing NHRA Drag Racing?

[Speedy_Sticks]

With so many of the old stars of the sport saying money has ruined the fun of drag racing, what is your recipe?

You have to keep it fun, but keep attendances high and go faster, but do it so you don't out price the smaller teams out of assistance? Also bearing in mind the price of safety equipment?

 

[Luke Nieuwhof]

Hypothetical one (semi real world): Make it all nitro in the pro show. Top Fuel, Funny Car, Nitro Harleys, Nostalgia Funny Car, Nostalgia Dragster. Nitro is your big brand in NHRA so it needs to be pumped as much as possible.

Hypothetical two (out there but might be possible): No more track prep besides maybe washing a track of dust. Oil spills are cleaned up to a minimum. Ban wheelie bars in all categories. No track prep would probably require a redesign on a lot of cars as they rely on track prep to be safe. Then again no prep would likely bring down your speeds.

Hypothetical three (space cadet): A nitro vehicle that doesn't require turn arounds and they all race constantly for like four hours. But you talk about your holy grails I think the chances of this idea are as good as finding the actual grail haha.

 

[Nick Name]

Big show should be all nitro and Chicago style eliminations.

 

[Toejam]

Couldnt count the number of times since the late 70's I heard how the costs are getting out of hand! What do you consider growing NHRA? Packed stands, better lower ticket prices, make it more affordable for families! You ask 100 people about the problems of Drag racing in 2013 you get several answers!

 

[HEMI6point1]

Big show should be all nitro and Chicago style eliminations.

They already have that. It's called the IHRA Nitro Jam.

 

[The Swegian]

They already have that. It's called the IHRA Nitro Jam.

I figured they (IHRA) call it that because only two cars show up.

 

[PJ]

The short version

While Nitro is a great lure there is more to the sport.

I wonder if most casual fans that watch the coverage even realize that there are other classes. That they can go to their local track and see some action OR that they can even hop in the family minivan and do some bracket racing themselves. I know people that I work with are amazed that I go race my daily driver and until our local track changed their program I had several that were interested in trying it out.

Bader at Norwalk will pack the place for a LORDS event. Their Halloween meet doesn’t have nitro and yet does very good as well.

It is about selling an event, an experience. You make the price decent, give people a great time and they will come back. We talk about ROI for sponsors all of the time. The same goes for the consumer yet that seems to be forgotten or at least pushed down the priority list.

Now nitro does sell so why not book in a couple to travel to LORDS events. The full tour guys can’t afford to take a weekend off but maybe it offers the part timers a chance to learn and build data for the big show. It gives another selling point to the tracks holding these events. There should be enough part timers around the country that you can book them to match race at a few shows a piece.

I think it is all about promotion. Right now there is not much selling of the sport. We need people to sell it, promote it. Give tickets away to local schools, the money you loose on the ticket you gain back in souvenirs, food and their parents buying a ticket to get in.

One idea that might be unpopular with some teams is to go into a group licensing deal for products. That would allow them to get into mass retailers. Walmart or Target are not going to make a single deal with this driver and that driver(although Force and DSR might be able to do it team wide) but instead you get an NHRA wide deal. Then when you walk into the local store you see a Doug K shirt, Jegs hat, Force coat, Schumacher mug all on the same rack.

Of course that would call for a lot of trust between teams and NHRA but it seems to work out well for NFL. Granted this would be a much smaller deal but you have to start somewhere and getting your imagine in front of people is very important to that process. Sometimes you need to think and act big before you actually are big in order to get people on the bandwagon.

 

[twostep]

At our local 1/8 mile track, they've booked Pro Mods - good ones - Outlaw Fuel Altereds, the 'Southwest Superchargers' (who put on a really good show, by the way), and Top Sportsman....but what packs the stands is grudge night. Gotta admit, when stock looking and sounding Fairmonts and other mundane appearing cars bust off high 4 second passes - nearly quick enough to qualify for Top Sportsman - with Lord knows how much money being bet - THAT's exciting.

Of course, you can't have such goings-on at a national event, but it proves that cookie-cutter cars, even 320MPH ones, become boring after you've watched them for 3 days. I enjoyed national events far more when there was more variety. Since NHRA has mandated spec cars in the Pro categories, it's not nearly as much fun as it once was. Besides, today's youth, who NHRA really needs to be courting, is far more interested in the latest Android app then they are the latest AJPE cylinder heads.

 

[Huge]

I have a question...where is all the extra match races that a lot of fans said would happen if Nhra allowed unlimited testing? I haven't noticed any big dollar teams match racing anymore then they did before.

 

[clwill]

Have all track owners (and maybe the top NHRA folks too) spend a week with Bill Bader. Not at a national event, just a regular week. Just watch and learn.

Bill was given nothing special. His track is located a few miles outside of a podunk town that is the better part of two hours from the nearest major metro area -- which is ranked 29th. Among national event tracks, outside of Topeka, there's probably no one with a softer base to draw on. It's only open 7 mos. a year. In a rust belt state that has had a pretty lousy last 20 years.

But he made some gutsy investments and he pushes money back in the place. He knows who his customers are (drivers, sponsors, fans, families, all of them) and he treats them well. He holds his people to the highest standards and expects the best from them. The place is Disneyland clean. He tries new things, and isn't afraid to do it differently.

People flock to the place. Racers will drive hundreds of miles to race there. Fans come out four days a week.

And he makes money.

As I said, I've seen the upside of drag racing and it's in Norwalk, Ohio.

 

[Huge]

Have all track owners (and maybe the top NHRA folks too) spend a week with Bill Bader. Not at a national event, just a regular week. Just watch and learn.

Bill was given nothing special. His track is located a few miles outside of a podunk town that is the better part of two hours from the nearest major metro area -- which is ranked 29th. Among national event tracks, outside of Topeka, there's probably no one with a softer base to draw on. It's only open 7 mos. a year. In a rust belt state that has had a pretty lousy last 20 years.

But he made some gutsy investments and he pushes money back in the place. He knows who his customers are (drivers, sponsors, fans, families, all of them) and he treats them well. He holds his people to the highest standards and expects the best from them. The place is Disneyland clean. He tries new things, and isn't afraid to do it differently.

People flock to the place. Racers will drive hundreds of miles to race there. Fans come out four days a week.

And he makes money.

As I said, I've seen the upside of drag racing and it's in Norwalk, Ohio.

Plus, if you stay at the Kalahari that even makes the trip that much more enjoyable. I always get there an extra day early and stay an extra day or two after the race.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Have all track owners (and maybe the top NHRA folks too) spend a week with Bill Bader. Just watch and learn.

Between this and the things that PJ mentioned, you could go a long way in improving the sport. A LONG way. The bottom line is you need to get a$$es in the seats, period. When you get that done, the rest will snowball. The familiar phrase, "the empty seat doesn't buy a hot dog" is only the tip of the iceberg. You think corporate america don't notice weak turnouts? Of course they do. That's certainly one of the reasons why marketing partners are so much harder to get these days, whether you're talking about race team sponors, or track/event sponsors. And if that means giving tickets away, then do it.

Whatever Bader is doing works. One look at the improvements of the facility over the years proves that he's making money, and that (profit) should be the measuring stick. It's like the NHRA takes the typical stand of greed, in that if the turnouts continue to get weaker, we'll make it up by raising the prices of those that are still coming, and that's extremely frustrating. Who's to say what the magic formula is? But one thing's for sure, change is needed. MAJOR change. Even if it's wrong, at least try SOMETHING different.

Sean D

 

[none]

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

 

[clwill]

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

Bader lets in a lot of people for free. For events like the "Cavalcade of Stars" the tickets have some face value (like $50), but they give away tens of thousands of tickets to radio/tv stations, business, etc. Only rules: you must give them away (no sales) and you must give them in pairs. Some events are almost entirely people who got in for free. But they make a fortune on the concessions, and people have a great time and come back for other events -- gladly paying.

 

[none]

Bader lets in a lot of people for free. For events like the "Cavalcade of Stars" the tickets have some face value (like $50), but they give away tens of thousands of tickets to radio/tv stations, business, etc. Only rules: you must give them away (no sales) and you must give them in pairs. Some events are almost entirely people who got in for free. But they make a fortune on the concessions, and people have a great time and come back for other events -- gladly paying.

I think the ADRL was like that in the beginning as well and those races were packed!!

 

[mick]

every track must have GA bleachers and beer garden within steps
(think most tracks do, some do not)

more time in the pits for fans between qual. rounds on fri. and/or sat.

sunday racer introductions are lame....pre-race fan energy towards
the pits.....sunday show is now quick leaving little time to be in pits on
raceday....sponsors and concessionaires are face to face with
customers in the pits, money to be made. 20,000 people there on raceday,
the last thing you want is them sitting in their seat all day for fear of
missing something, let them get up and spend their money.
if your on-track program is so fast that your fans don't leave their seat
a few times during the day then IMO that is a problem.

if a sponsor hires good looking models, let them walk wherever they want.

TF cars look the same as they did 25 years ago; problem? not sure

franchise(like) system to tie team owners and nhra together.
again, not sure about this one

sat. night elims., somewhere somehow

mello yello set up some sort of POP program where
points can be awarded upon purchase of product and then redeemed
online for discounts @ nhra nat. events....whether admission or merchandise

increase ticket pair give-a-ways with local radio pre-event.

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....to me when done
right (and i've seen done right and wrong) it sets the tone for whole day and
makes your(nhra) program look just ok or incredibly cool

 

[rckymtn3]

That's the lure of racing for most. Performance. Tuning your car to go faster than the other people, bettering the records. Follow the nostalgia groups lead I say. Smaller SPEC tire, 392's, single mag, lower overdrive ceilings, smaller blowers. All that really does it put you at a different square one. Racers are racers, and they will always find holes in the rules to exploit, and deeper pockets will create/design/build better mousetraps, and shop equipment, so you end up back in a spending race. It's a toughie...always has been.

For a quick fix to put seats in the stands, a celebrity would have to become bitten by the nitro bug and drive or field a team. It's a brief fix, as it always finds it's way to the equilibrium again, no matter how famous the person.

 

[vegasnitro]

We talk about ROI for sponsors all of the time. The same goes for the consumer yet that seems to be forgotten or at least pushed down the priority list.

THIS is the most important thought in this thread. ROI for the consumer of the product, whether it is money invested for a day at the track or time invested in front of the TV/computer, is the absolute key to the lock for NHRA. Once that lock is opened, the fans come and the sponsors follow.

It is very obvious there has been a paradigm shift in the last few years and it is affecting all forms of sports/entertainment, I just have no idea how to "fix" it. A very smart man (whose name escapes me) speculates that there is a "bubble" not unlike real estate or dot com stocks and that ALL entertainment from movies to the NFL is about to burst. The landscape will dramatically shift ... no more movies with $150 million budgets, no more sports contracts worth $20 million per year, no more $2 billion dollar stadiums, etc.

 

[Toby]

I think that NHRA is competing against itself in a sense. I bet there are alot of NHRA fans in Bristol or where ever the next race on the schedule might be trying to decide it they should pay $60 or so dollars to go the race sunday/person...pay $20 to park...another $30/person or so to feed themselves...wait in line most of the time to park and to get into the track...then spend 5 or 6 hours watching the races...sweating their asses off then fight traffic to make their way home........or spend their sunday afternoon screwing off around the house maybe listening to the race online or every once in a while get online and see round by round results.

My point in that NHRA is competing against itself is that they are there to provide a form of entertainment but the costs involved to be actually at the event (money and time wise) might not offset the spectator getting onto NHRA's website and listening or at the least checking round by round coverage. I bet this is magnified with drag racing because the entertainment is only five seconds long times four rounds times the amount of pros racing that weekend. Really that time isn't much. Its probably less than the time they will spend fighting traffic on their way home should they decide to attend the race. Fans/potential spectators can eliminate the hassle of the waiting/lines/expense/etc and stay home..listen to the race live on NHRA's website or just check online once in a while for results.

It all comes around to what I was talking about in the PS thread. There are two types of fans...the diehards which are an older group for the most part and the younger ones. The younger group, which is the most important part of growth for the sport, really doesn't give a rip about much other than the results. They can stay home and get that online from NHRA's website rather than showing up.

How you fix that it a tough call. Maybe topless mud wrestling between rounds.

 

[Paul]

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.