What NHRA could learn from IHRA (8 Viewers)

[Mike]

1. Free youtube livestream. NHRA did this with Indy sportsmen and some divisionals do this. Not everyone is goimg to watch the show on Fox or FS1.

Many folks, especially younger or without disposable income, are not going to pay for NHRA tv, but they will watch for free. Some of those may become fans and come to a race when they can afford to.

2. Saturday night racing. It's been mentioned in other threads, but it floors me they,'ve not tried this.

3. Payouts for non-nitro divisions, and treating top alcohol as a pro class. The fastest classes after nitro should not be considered sportsmen.

Others may have additional things NHRA could adopt to help it's product. No matter how good or large an organization is, there's always room for improvement.

Btw, 13 tf and 9 fc at Columbus. Whether crowds will follow next year remains to be seen.

 

[Chili]

1. Free youtube livestream. NHRA did this with Indy sportsmen and some divisionals do this. Not everyone is goimg to watch the show on Fox or FS1.

Many folks, especially younger or without disposable income, are not going to pay for NHRA tv, but they will watch for free. Some of those may become fans and come to a race when they can afford to.

2. Saturday night racing. It's been mentioned in other threads, but it floors me they,'ve not tried this.

3. Payouts for non-nitro divisions, and treating top alcohol as a pro class. The fastest classes after nitro should not be considered sportsmen.

Others may have additional things NHRA could adopt to help it's product. No matter how good or large an organization is, there's always room for improvement.

Btw, 13 tf and 9 fc at Columbus. Whether crowds will follow next year remains to be seen.

NHRA has done the free stream several times on Friday’s this year. The one issue is if they are going to offer the free stream for all day, every race, there is no need for the NHRA.tv subscription. We don’t have the numbers they make vs. cost. Making it free would cut profits but if they get more exposure, then it might be worth it. IHRA was originally supposed to air on Speedsport 1 which I believe is bundled with Amazon prime. However I think they decided to stick with YouTube as well to get eyes on their product.

The PRO organization is one of the hurdles with night qualifying and races. The one downside with an evening race is weather. It could be beautiful all day with rain moving in during the evening. Hard to move a race to an earlier start time if scheduled for evening. Also the dew point comes into play. Now I’m all for some night races especially in the summer.

The payouts for the Alcohol classes need to increase but the money needs to come from somewhere. IHRA is paying more than NHRA but still not enough to make it feasible long term. They just call them a pro class because they can and want to. The alcohol cars need more exposure but they really aren’t getting it in IHRA either.

The poor crowds are really concerning for IHRA. It was slightly better this weekend than previously but how many in the stands are actually the sportsmen racers and families? They postponed the Friday sportsmen until today because of rain so I think a lot of people in the stands were racers stuck waiting to race today. The general population just doesn’t care for drag racing like we do. IHRA is drawing around 300 spectators for an event. It’s $40 a ticket and two dozen Nitro cars and they couldn’t get a crowd. Also most of the crowd even left before the second round of nitro last night. Now there are ways to do it better. I don’t know what the Midwest Drag Racing series did for their race in Michigan last night but they had a strong crowd. It could be free tickets but if they killed it on parking and concessions you can make a profit.

 

[Funnycarfanatic]

1. Free youtube livestream. NHRA did this with Indy sportsmen and some divisionals do this. Not everyone is goimg to watch the show on Fox or FS1.

Many folks, especially younger or without disposable income, are not going to pay for NHRA tv, but they will watch for free. Some of those may become fans and come to a race when they can afford to.

2. Saturday night racing. It's been mentioned in other threads, but it floors me they,'ve not tried this.

3. Payouts for non-nitro divisions, and treating top alcohol as a pro class. The fastest classes after nitro should not be considered sportsmen.

Others may have additional things NHRA could adopt to help it's product. No matter how good or large an organization is, there's always room for improvement.

Btw, 13 tf and 9 fc at Columbus. Whether crowds will follow next year remains to be seen.

The free stream destroys any need for a TV partner. Paying for the all costs in house is hurting the NHRA, they need a paid TV partner for network and streaming it's really the only way to bring large revenue into the sport. Also grants large scale sponsor exposure. The NHRA is the last of the sponsor to consumer model.

You got me on Saturday night racing and a two day national event. This would be a huge and allow for the sport to lessen team expense also

 

[Joe]

I have been going to 3 to 6 National events a year til this year. Went to Bradenton both years and going to Vegas and Galot this fall. I live 2 hours and 20 min from the Motorplex in Ennis and i stopped going on fridays as it drug out too long. Im waiting for IHRA to name its locations for next year and plan on going to several of them. Im more interested in the lower and mid tier teams.Probaly wont go to any NHRA races. The 2 day IHRA format suits me, go at 2 maybe be done by 10.

Was glad to see Jody Austin and Eric Stevens have the chance to qualify and get their FC's running better. Sure hope Larry Dixon and Dan HIx get the wins shotly.

 

[yoda]

Post in thread 'Where do you think drag racing is going for 2021?'

Aug 3, 2020

Your question prompted another question: What, if any, would the TV ratings change for a Saturday night Finals on live TV vs Sunday Finals?

I'd think live attendance would increase for a Saturday night Finals, not sure how TV would be impacted. Post-Covid, perhaps NHRA could try Saturday evening Finals to see how it goes.

You never know until you try.

Been saying this for years.
Give Sunday to the Sportsman, and let any Pro teams that want to test on Sunday get in where the show allows them to, like an exhibition run.

• yoda

• 

 

[ironpony]

Friday qualifying and Saturday racing, free parking, reasonable food pricing. IHRA had a food tent for all crew and racers to eat at.

 

[Billy]

The free stream destroys any need for a TV partner. Paying for the all costs in house is hurting the NHRA, they need a paid TV partner for network and streaming it's really the only way to bring large revenue into the sport. Also grants large scale sponsor exposure. The NHRA is the last of the sponsor to consumer model.

You got me on Saturday night racing and a two day national event. This would be a huge and allow for the sport to lessen team expense also

Well they haven't finished a race on Saturday night yet, so keep in mind when planning your schedule (I think Columbus #1 was due to weather, but the others were due to the engine carnage and clean-up time).

 

[mgty3whlr]

Well they haven't finished a race on Saturday night yet, so keep in mind when planning your schedule (I think Columbus #1 was due to weather, but the others were due to the engine carnage and clean-up time).

Nope. This last Saturday night was called because of the dew point. If you saw Shawn Reed's interview at the top end, He mentioned his visor fogging up and it was difficult to see through it.

 

[Billy]

Nope. This last Saturday night was called because of the dew point. If you saw Shawn Reed's interview at the top end, He mentioned his visor fogging up and it was difficult to see through it.

Uhhh yeah - because it was supposed to be completed earlier in the day. They were already late starting (moved Opening Ceremonies from 1:30-2pm), and it continued to drag later and later throughout the day. I had to sit through this happen at the Epping divisional for 2 years. The schedule PLANS for the dewpoint issue; their original schedule planned for it. They were LATE. It's FACT.

 

[Funnycarfanatic]

I still like the idea of a 2 day national event fri and Saturday with Sunday as a rain day

 

[mick]

what was the consensus after that 2day'r at VMP? (which was a 3 day'r with just pros on sat and sun)

 

[Butch]

I don't ever remember night racing at National Trail. Back when it was in its heydays we always ran during the day. Maybe due to the location it's normal for the due to set in very heavy.
At other tracks it was normal for us to throw a blanket on the windshield to keep it clear then remove it just as we started the engine. Never had a race cancelled because of heavy due

 

[chop]

I don't ever remember night racing at National Trail. Back when it was in its heydays we always ran during the day. Maybe due to the location it's normal for the due to set in very heavy.
At other tracks it was normal for us to throw a blanket on the windshield to keep it clear then remove it just as we started the engine. Never had a race cancelled because of heavy due

This is probably the reason that the ones calling for night time NHRA racing is falling on deaf ears.

 

[Mike]

This is probably the reason that the ones calling for night time NHRA racing is falling on deaf ears.

If true, that's silly. Most drag strips run at night. NASCAR is a damning example against that thinking if that's a reason NHRA uses.

While not drag racing, 36-40 cars regularly run at night close together (Daytona 3 weeks ago in humid Florida) and you never hear about foggy windshields or helmet visors.

 

[justafan]

I don’t know what the Midwest Drag Racing series did for their race in Michigan last night but they had a strong crowd. It could be free tickets but if they killed it on parking and concessions you can make a profit.

The event is billed as Funny Car Nationals which has ran for a number of years in early September. MWDRS runs their normal program of PM, TD, TS, etc., with Nostalgia Fuel Funny Cars, Front Engine Dragsters, Jet Cars, a Jet Truck and a Wheelstanding Bus. I think this is the 2nd or 3rd year they have run together. The fans always show up for this race. One of my favorite tracks in the Midwest.

 

[Butch]

If true, that's silly. Most drag strips run at night. NASCAR is a damning example against that thinking if that's a reason NHRA uses.

While not drag racing, 36-40 cars regularly run at night close together (Daytona 3 weeks ago in humid Florida) and you never hear about foggy windshields or helmet visors.

Just curious as to where you've raced at, my primary tracks are in the Midwest like Cordova to the west, Martin/Saginaw north, Bowling Green South Quaker City east, and just about any track within that area. Many times, we raced at night but never at Columbus.

 

[ironpony]

Well I live there and all I can add is it was probably just the right combination of temp, humidity, and rain the days before. NT tends to hold water around the track and have it percolate up thru the track. I can remember running test and tune there a couple of years before and they shut down because of the dew on the track IIRC that was about 10-11 o'clock PM. I wouldn't say it is common but I have seen it before.

 

[Butch]

Haven't been there since the last Nationals.
I've heard that most of the farms are gone and housing is taking over.
I remember that time that all the brass parked there rental cars in the area close by. Only to find most of the cars where up to the dashboard in rain water.
Tractors had to pull the rigs out that didn't get the pavement pits.

 

[Mike]

Others may have additional things NHRA could adopt to help it's product. No matter how good or large an organization is, there's always room for improvement.

Michael, honestly, you think people at NHRA arent trying to come up with new ideas to improve the show??????????