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What NHRA could learn from IHRA

LoPony said:
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.
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And think about if IHRA has a points fund next year. Nitro classes will dip further.
 
GumbyWVU said:
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.
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I totally agree. I won’t go to any place that doesn’t have nice functioning toilets. That’s just terrible. I need to be able to get to them quickly, and “conducting a major transaction” on top of existing ones is intolerable. 💩😱
 
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I don’t know how much difference the announcer makes, but I still sure do miss Alan. If they can’t bring Alan back, they should replace him as the main announcer with Hannah Rickards, and I am absolutely not joking, I am serious. She has an amazing, to the point announcer voice, especially if it were combined with a counterpart like Logan, who could tone it down in the announcer booth. Let the other guys be the entertainment. Would be really interesting.

Edit: I don’t give Courtney Enders nearly enough credit here, she does an incredible job too.
 
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Joe said:
And think about if IHRA has a points fund next year. Nitro classes will dip further.
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Maybe some independent teams but the highly sponsored competitive teams aren’t going over to IHRA to race in front of hundreds of fans. Yes, they might run a race here or there if it’s on the way home from an NHRA race. The pros are on the road for 20+ weeks and adding more races isn’t as appealing as it was in the 70’s.
 
LoPony said:
I don’t know how much difference the announcer makes, but I still sure do miss Alan. If they can’t bring Alan back, they should replace him as the main announcer with Hannah Rickards, and I am absolutely not joking, I am serious. She has an amazing, to the point announcer voice, especially if it were combined with a counterpart like Logan, who could tone it down in the announcer booth. Let the other guys be the entertainment. Would be really interesting.

Edit: I don’t give Courtney Enders nearly enough credit here, she does an incredible job too.
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I’m guessing you meant Galvin. I had a good conversation with him at epping and I can say he’s a very down to earth guy and incredibly knowledgeable. As much as I miss Alan I like what nhra is doing this season by moving their announcers around each day
 
Chili said:
Maybe some independent teams but the highly sponsored competitive teams aren’t going over to IHRA to race in front of hundreds of fans. Yes, they might run a race here or there if it’s on the way home from an NHRA race. The pros are on the road for 20+ weeks and adding more races isn’t as appealing as it was in the 70’s.
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Do you think there will be 2 very different groups of nitro racers next year? Some crossover but those that stick to a certain series, I do, we have some of that now. I’m glad to see the lower,mid level teams get a chance.
 
Joe said:
Do you think there will be 2 very different groups of nitro racers next year? Some crossover but those that stick to a certain series, I do, we have some of that now. I’m glad to see the lower,mid level teams get a chance.
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I’m sure there will ones that just stick to one series or another. IHRA is running a 10 race series in 2026. How many of those independents are going to be able to hit all 10? Probably only a handful of them. There isn’t a lot of teams sitting at home right now not hitting any races so there is more than likely going to be less than 8 cars at some events. Even winning an event teams are not making profits. IHRA is the better option for the lower funded teams.

What if IHRA started getting 12 cars at each event? Now the lower funded teams have to run thier equipment harder to just qualify. That shortens the life and increases the cost to race and also causes more damage to their equipment. Getting more cars isn’t necessarily better for the series and racers.

I’m sure they are going to hurt the NHRA’s car counts. We might see some 12 car top fuel fields next year. Now I’ll ask the question. If you were a low buck Top Fuel car would you rather go run IHRA and have to race 11 other cars for 8 spots or run NHRA and guarantee qualifying at the bottom of the field because they have less than 16 cars?

At this point in time, with the low fan count, would you want to bring a potential sponsor to a IHRA race? I need 1 million to run the 10 race series. Your name will be prominently on the car and trailer and seen by hundreds of fans at the race or by 3000 at home watching on the free stream?
 
Joe said:
Do you think there will be 2 very different groups of nitro racers next year? Some crossover but those that stick to a certain series, I do, we have some of that now. I’m glad to see the lower,mid level teams get a chance.
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If the money stays many underfunded or self-funded teams will race IHRA if they have a chance to win there. You'll see some crossover from NHRA if the schedule and locations are easy to manage. Pretty much like it was 20 years ago.
 
Yes, IHRA really has to get with the marketing push and get the fans in if it’s going to be viable as an alternative sanctioning body. I’m not knocking them, and I’m sure they are certainly aware of this, and I really root for them to succeed. They can be a very welcome and useful presence in the sport.
 
Professional Fan said:
I was told by a Pro Stock driver that it isn't going to happen. It was too much of a hassle to put on for the PRO folks who had to organize and plan it.
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I was skeptical of this from the get-go, despite others being all pie-in-the-sky about it. Turns out the payouts were never what were advertised, maybe 1/8 of what was promised. It’s a huge hassle, it’s just not worth it. And honestly, people just got greedy.
 
Dnl_t4r said:
I’m guessing you meant Galvin. I had a good conversation with him at epping and I can say he’s a very down to earth guy and incredibly knowledgeable. As much as I miss Alan I like what nhra is doing this season by moving their cannouncers around each day
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Actually, I meant Logan! I don’t know his background knowledge, but he has a better voice than Galvin. He would have to tone it down in the booth, though.

The perfect replacement for AR would be Lohnes, but I don’t think they can steal him from Fox full time.

Haha, they just need to bring Alan back.
 
Chili said:
I’m sure there will ones that just stick to one series or another. IHRA is running a 10 race series in 2026. How many of those independents are going to be able to hit all 10? Probably only a handful of them. There isn’t a lot of teams sitting at home right now not hitting any races so there is more than likely going to be less than 8 cars at some events. Even winning an event teams are not making profits. IHRA is the better option for the lower funded teams.

What if IHRA started getting 12 cars at each event? Now the lower funded teams have to run thier equipment harder to just qualify. That shortens the life and increases the cost to race and also causes more damage to their equipment. Getting more cars isn’t necessarily better for the series and racers.

I’m sure they are going to hurt the NHRA’s car counts. We might see some 12 car top fuel fields next year. Now I’ll ask the question. If you were a low buck Top Fuel car would you rather go run IHRA and have to race 11 other cars for 8 spots or run NHRA and guarantee qualifying at the bottom of the field because they have less than 16 cars?

At this point in time, with the low fan count, would you want to bring a potential sponsor to a IHRA race? I need 1 million to run the 10 race series. Your name will be prominently on the car and trailer and seen by hundreds of fans at the race or by 3000 at home watching on the free stream?
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Great insight. If I was in the position, I would fund it myself, I would not care for sponsor obligations but thats me. Its 15000 vs 10000$ for getting in at this time. Do you see that changing? Non qualifers at IHRA is 7500$. I really enjoy the 2 sessions on friday. So far, the 2nd sessions have been great.I would choose IHRA over the other. Id say Shawn Reed is glad he went to Columbus, 2 in a row!
 
Joe said:
Great insight. If I was in the position, I would fund it myself, I would not care for sponsor obligations but thats me. Its 15000 vs 10000$ for getting in at this time. Do you see that changing? Non qualifers at IHRA is 7500$. I really enjoy the 2 sessions on friday. So far, the 2nd sessions have been great.I would choose IHRA over the other. Id say Shawn Reed is glad he went to Columbus, 2 in a row!
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Yes an independent team funding it yourself, the IHRA definitely gives you the better chance to win. Worsham is the perfect example. Only has to make 5 total runs to make the same money that in most cases would take 8 in NHRA. 10k a run and he breaks even in IHRA but loses 30K in NHRA. Now I do believe NHRA pays $13k for first round loser but that doesn’t move the needle in their favor.

However I don’t think the nitro racing in IHRA is considered high quality. I love the competitors and their effort but the top times are barely getting in a 16 car NHRA field. Worsham was the only sub 4.20 in FC. The main reason they are running IHRA is because they can race and compete which is very hard to do in NHRA with their budgets. I consider it comparable of the NFL vs. UFL. Both are pro leagues, but there is a difference in quality. It’s money and not talent or heart that separates the two organizations.
 
Chili said:
Yes an independent team funding it yourself, the IHRA definitely gives you the better chance to win. Worsham is the perfect example. Only has to make 5 total runs to make the same money that in most cases would take 8 in NHRA. 10k a run and he breaks even in IHRA but loses 30K in NHRA. Now I do believe NHRA pays $13k for first round loser but that doesn’t move the needle in their favor.

However I don’t think the nitro racing in IHRA is considered high quality. I love the competitors and their effort but the top times are barely getting in a 16 car NHRA field. Worsham was the only sub 4.20 in FC. The main reason they are running IHRA is because they can race and compete which is very hard to do in NHRA with their budgets. I consider it comparable of the NFL vs. UFL. Both are pro leagues, but there is a difference in quality. It’s money and not talent or heart that separates the two organizations.
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I thought 10000$ was still first rd money in NHRA. I dont mind the slower runs, easier on parts. And maybe they can make it to the next one. If anyone does know first rd money for sure,let me know.
 
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