Nitromater
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What NHRA could learn from IHRA
- Thread starter Mike
- Start date
The old Gateway management said they would never run on Thursday ever again, after running Thurs, Fri. and Sat back in the day.
I'm not there so I have no idea what they are or aren't doing.
US Nationals TV viewership up? Great! Live attendance at the same race with perfect weather? Not so much.
I can tell you from personal experience and others mentioned this, the bathroom issue for a property NHRA owns is inexcusable.
Lohnes on the NHRA podcast said Indy had its best attendance since prior to COVID.
I really believe some of what's been happening over the past several years, at least at the NHRA events, is that fans don't go for the entire event, they'll pick one or two days to attend. In addition, it seems like people don't stay in the stands as long, or even at the track for the entire day. Which may explain why Bader's Night of Fire and other 1 day shows seem to pack them.
It can chase plenty of guys off too.....who wants to drink half a bottle of Immodium before going to a race just to overcome the fear of having to "conduct a major transaction" in one of those, if you know what I mean. I guess the alternative is to bring along a Teflon toilet seat cover with the portable bleacher seat too. At least while hunting you can find a nice tree to lean off of.
I think it was 2021, at Monday at Indy, at 9am when we got there that one block bathroom was already of out TP and paper towels.....I know there's a thread about it somewhere on this site.
I've always assumed that was the norm - just going for one day. And I agree, I've noticed that more people seem to be leaving earlier too. When we get to the car a lot of neighboring spots are empty, and it doesn't always take that long to get there.
What I have picked up on is that it seems more people are choosing Saturday than Sunday. Too bad attendance figures are treated like top secret information.
Joe
Nitro Member
The 2 Pro races at Bradenton were great. Plenty of bathrooms, especially by the back fence. I hope track goes back to IHRA.
Rajunz
Nitro Member
i really only go on friday, less people and you can talk to the drivers easier. plus cheaper
There is no way to tell because NHRA does not release attendance or capacity numbers.
Joe
Nitro Member
Maybe have first race of the year there. Was a large crowd both years of Pro race.
sfw1960
Nitro Member
We went to this. even if slightly OT - it was a well run show.
Saturday there were a few oil downs (none from nitro cars!) the TF bike broke a chain and destroyed the cowling and they went down (he was fine) and John Lawson's runaway kissed the wall with the headers and I think one PM or TS went to the beach with a chute malfunction but nobody got hurt.
Joe Haas was the fastest FC around 301-304...don't recall exactly as my days of documenting & editing are probably behind me/us.
Names like Murder Nova attract the people that were familiar with NPK, the Jets are always a draw, especially that Canadian HellFire Freightliner! We knew it was going to be a problem with dew/temp later but decided to go anyway and I'm glad we did. We parked our butts around 300' and the pit side had the breeze coming toward us - so we got the nectar delivered to us. I believe there were 8 Nostalgia Dragsters, a TF bike, 4 Nostalgia FC, 4 Nostalgia altereds & a pair of more modern FC (with two mags) as well as TS,TD, PM and some cool gassers & the cool bus, 4 jet dragster & the jet truck (which we probably have on Hi 8 tape somewhere).
Pretty damn good for a $40 ticket IMO and it probably didn't take zillions of dollars to book in.
In that same vein, NHRA could learn from seeing what others are doing.
This one runs the same engine as the ShockWave but was faster for those familiar with Shockley's rig.
Enjoy ALL of it!!
8.1K views · 125 reactions | Hot, loud, and totally wild—this jet semi brought the heat! We found someone who loves them as much as our girl Jonnie 🤣 #supersemifan #jonnievanderhydenrealty #lawsonfamilymotorsports #cordovadragway | John Lawson's Runa
Hot, loud, and totally wild—this jet semi brought the heat! We found someone who loves them as much as our girl Jonnie 🤣 #supersemifan #jonnievanderhydenrealty #lawsonfamilymotorsports #cordovadragway
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LoPony
Nitro Member
Hear hear! It seems like NHRA is thinking more long-haul than immediate gratification. I’m hopeful. There are signs this year, i.e attendance at events from Sonoma forward as of Maple Grove, that what they’re doing marketing-wise is at least trending in the right direction. They shouldn’t get complacent, though! I wouldn’t be surprised to see car counts in some of the nitro classes dip farther before they rebound, and a lot of this is also going to depend on the economy which, frankly is on a precipice right now. So things may get worse before they get better, but looks as if we’re headed in a good direction.
Joe
Nitro Member
Do you think there will be a 3rd Pro race? Any idea what 2nd year payout was?
