What's the future of Drag Racing with this generation?

[nwspeedshots]

Wait for it...

 

[Toejam]

how crazy everyone isI stopped going at 1,000 ft.
I was becoming bored with the sport long before that.

Here is why.
I find todays drivers to be everything that's wrong with drag racing. Nepotism just blocks out the guys who actually deserve to race. and who might relate to the fans again.
I find the "Super" classes almost as painful to watch, and would rather get smoke inhalation from one of the greasy burger stands on the midway than stay in the stands watching that crap.
I miss Tony Christian and Whit Bazemore. Those guys were real, and didn't care about buckling their collar before an interview. I can relate and respect that.
I miss Kenny's southern professionalism. I miss Amato's all out assualt on proper English grammar. I miss the Aura of Big. I miss Ercie's tight red pants as she proudly backed Eddie up to the starting line. I can't stand DSR or JFR. Not because I don't respect Don or John, but they killed the pro classes by being hogs. Four car blocking teams? Really guys?
Take a bite of the loaf, and pass it on so the next guy can eat.. That's good business that lasts. Now, nobody eats....
I miss Shirley kicking ass and taking names.
I miss Reher & Morrison vs. Glidden, and then Butch Leal walks away with the cash.
As an old motorhead, if I'm bored to death, just what is left to draw the video game generation?

The personal, relatable element which was the core of drag racing is long gone.

OK Joe, post some nasty comment directed towards me, while you look up in the tarp covered stands on race day wondering just how crazy I am because in your eyes, there standing room full...

I find it hard to believe you ever enjoyed this sport as much as you whine about everything under the Sun! And for the Record...I never said NHRA packed the stands at every race but I don't need to sit in 2-3 mile traffic lines getting to the track. Or waiting in line to the bathroom for 10 minutes to decide if Im getting my monie's worth! And despite what you and the other "Back in 1975 crowd" think, not all the races were packed then either! Rent FC Summer or Burnout and look at the dumps they ran on in those days. Ill take the Modern facilities we have today!

 

[misterv]

What's going on right now is really simple.

Peoples interests are changing to other things and has someone already commented today many young people are into cars but they are the four cylinder turbo charged cars or even motorcycles.

Look at some of your larger car shows around the country and the only way they can keep the car up is by allowing newer later model style cars.
I friend of mine who asked his three sons if they would like to go to a drag race and they said they would rather go see a Monster Truck Show instead and it just shows you what some of these young people are thinking about.

What happens over the next five to ten years for all motor sports is a big question mark.

I am sure the drag racing will continue in some form or another just maybe not as we have known it for the past 40 years.

The problem I see is that many of the racing companies and sanctioning bodies might really shrink in size or even go out of business.

One other comment I would like to make is that many racing forums on the internet are seeing fewer people then they did just a few years ago either logging in or posting comments.

Guy's the times are changing and I hate to see this happening but it is and you cannot make believe you don't see sponsors looking for other ways to spend their advertising dollars.

There are no simple answers for how to fix the problems right now.

Just my opinion. Jim Hill

 

[Huge]

St Louis was packed with younger generation fans.

 

[misterv]

Jim, the opinions you and so many posters have shared on this subject seems to miss the point on the most critical part of this issue...generating revenue. If the sport was equipped to adopt a "spectator-friendly", market-driven approach like Bill Frantz did 60 years ago with NASCAR, perhaps threads like this would not be necessary. True, the cultural "shift" and a sagging economy are key factors in the sport's decline and it is entirely possible that drag racing will be one of the casualties like drive-in movies despite the best efforts of the NHRA or any of the "movers and shakers" that drive the sport. Oh, drag racing will never disappear completely but is the inevitable return to street racing the way it was before Wally Parks built a drag strip in the California desert an unacceptable alternative?

I'm 72 now and don't much care one way or the other...my time is passed. I do have a stake in this debate however and should preface my comments by quoting the owner of the Boston Red Sox in 1917..."when you have a production that people are willing to pay to see, you are in the entertainment business". So, that begs the question...can the sport attract a crowd? Or, can drag racing improve its "market reach"? We all know it can because we were around when every track in the country was packed on weekends. The reason it has never seen the kind of growth and revenue-generation over the years however, like the multi-billion dollar "left turners" at NASCAR is because of some misguided refusal to format the sport to appeal to the spectator. For that simple reason drag racing builds nothing and 99% of society today isn't even aware the sport exists. Putting the other guy in the trailer is absolutely anathema to "putting people in the seats".

I've spent the better part of this century managing drag strips, staging my own series of pro-mod events and developing my website, http://www.Showdowndragracing.com to prove the efficacy of the non-elimination format designed to keep the product on the track and in front of the audience for an entire event and provide the comprehensive marketing formulae requisite to showcase the product, increase attendance and...generate multiple revenue streams. Every detail of the operations, marketing and administration to introduce a marketable, entertainment component to an existing racing program is on the site and available to the sport It is my fervent hope that before they scatter my ashes on the golf course, somebody with vision and marketing savvy will put it to some use.

Thanks to everyone for hearing my plea,
Van

 

[Nick Name]

For todays youngsters to want to race, everyone would get a trophy, somehow there would be no losers. That could damage their delicate psyches.

Did you read the piece in ND about Tony Schumaker helping out at his kids school when they played musical chairs?

 

[vlad the impaler]

St Louis was packed with younger generation fans.

St Louis wasn't packed with any fans, young or old.

And, if the track keeps playing games with ticket prices even less people will show up.

Friday at noon the ticket booths claimed GA was sold out causing everyone to buy reserved seats at $13/more per ticket. Funny thing is the GA grandstand was practically empty all day, as were the reserved.

I knew they were hosing us, but after you pay $20 to park you're committed.

 

[Huge]

Well I would much rather watch NASCAR on TV than live, Drag racing is nothing on Television. Need to be there!

Joe, you missed a good race in St Louis. I thought maybe i would see you there. I really enjoyed St Louis...but now i'm in Reading and it should be just as good...if not better.

 

[Toejam]

Joe, you missed a good race in St Louis. I thought maybe i would see you there. I really enjoyed St Louis...but now i'm in Reading and it should be just as good...if not better.

Eugene, just don't have the Vacation time I used to 5-6 years ago, have to pick and choose. Vegas will be it for me

 

[Jimbo]

Michael Van Natten: Jim, the opinions you and so many posters have shared on this subject seems to miss the point on the most critical part of this issue...generating revenue. If the sport was equipped to adopt a "spectator-friendly", market-driven approach like Bill Frantz did 60 years ago with NASCAR, perhaps threads like this would not be necessary. True, the cultural "shift" and a sagging economy are key factors in the sport's decline and it is entirely possible that drag racing will be one of the casualties like drive-in movies despite the best efforts of the NHRA or any of the "movers and shakers" that drive the sport. Oh, drag racing will never disappear completely but is the inevitable return to street racing the way it was before Wally Parks built a drag strip in the California desert an unacceptable alternative?

I'm 72 now and don't much care one way or the other...my time is passed. I do have a stake in this debate however and should preface my comments by quoting the owner of the Boston Red Sox in 1917..."when you have a production that people are willing to pay to see, you are in the entertainment business". So, that begs the question...can the sport attract a crowd? Or, can drag racing improve its "market reach"? We all know it can because we were around when every track in the country was packed on weekends. The reason it has never seen the kind of growth and revenue-generation over the years however, like the multi-billion dollar "left turners" at NASCAR is because of some misguided refusal to format the sport to appeal to the spectator. For that simple reason drag racing builds nothing and 99% of society today isn't even aware the sport exists. Putting the other guy in the trailer is absolutely anathema to "putting people in the seats".

I've spent the better part of this century managing drag strips, staging my own series of pro-mod events and developing my website, http://www.Showdowndragracing.com to prove the efficacy of the non-elimination format designed to keep the product on the track and in front of the audience for an entire event and provide the comprehensive marketing formulae requisite to showcase the product, increase attendance and...generate multiple revenue streams. Every detail of the operations, marketing and administration to introduce a marketable, entertainment component to an existing racing program is on the site and available to the sport It is my fervent hope that before they scatter my ashes on the golf course, somebody with vision and marketing savvy will put it to some use.

Thanks to everyone for hearing my plea,
Van

I understand what you are saying and in many respects I agree with what you are saying and there is no question that drag racing could be better promoted.

It seems to me that before you can even think of generating more revenue you have to put on a show that draws more spectators to come and watch. The Big Question for the people in charge is how do you go about doing it and what changes need to be made before we start thinking about scattering the ashes on any golf course.

Your comments and suggestions are interesting and it's that kind of thinking we need to hear more of right now.

After reading Whit Bazemore's thoughts on the future of drag racing a few months ago it became clear that we are not the only ones who see a distributing trend happening right now.

Jim Hill

 

[Riley7]

I've enjoyed all of the comments and ideas here on this topic, makes for good reading and forces all of us to really look at the sport.

I think one topic that has yet to be touched on here, is the simple lack of disposable time most families have these days. If you have school aged kids, odds are that they are involved in youth sports or other activities that consumes a huge amount of disposable time......and no small amount of money, as well. My fiance has 3 kids, and you can't imagine how much disposable time is chewed up simply carting people back and forth to games, camps, practices, etc. Youth sports aren't just in school, either...and they don't simply go for a few months season. Most kids are involved in this crap year around now, which puts incredible stresses on families both time-wise and financially. The kids simply don't have the free time to get out to the drag strip and develop the interests that we did as youngsters. Same with parents, by the time you end up working, doing your kid stuff, and taking care of everyday chores, there is very little time or energy left to cart the clan off to the dragstrip.

I'm blessed in that our oldest has developed a keen interest in motorsports of all kids. He enjoys Nascar, and is highly interested in NHRA racing.....so there is hope for the younger generation. A lot of it might have to be developed in front of the Television watching races, as well as working in the garage on projects. I don't think the sport will die, but I do think we're going to see some changes coming to really cultivate the younger market and fans.

 

[mw6789]

Christopher Riley, you make some very valid points that I think may have escaped several of us on this topic. Kid's sports are now a year round deal. My grandchildren are always doing something or involved in some type of sport. Not only is this time consuming, it is EXPENSIVE. And look at the shear increase in the number of all types of motorsports events in the past 30 years. The market is a little saturated at best. Only so many hours in a day. And unfortunately only so many dollars in the bank.

 

[misterv]

Michael Van Natten: Jim, the opinions you and so many posters have shared on this subject seems to miss the point on the most critical part of this issue...generating revenue. If the sport was equipped to adopt a "spectator-friendly", market-driven approach like Bill Frantz did 60 years ago with NASCAR, perhaps threads like this would not be necessary. True, the cultural "shift" and a sagging economy are key factors in the sport's decline and it is entirely possible that drag racing will be one of the casualties like drive-in movies despite the best efforts of the NHRA or any of the "movers and shakers" that drive the sport. Oh, drag racing will never disappear completely but is the inevitable return to street racing the way it was before Wally Parks built a drag strip in the California desert an unacceptable alternative?

I'm 72 now and don't much care one way or the other...my time is passed. I do have a stake in this debate however and should preface my comments by quoting the owner of the Boston Red Sox in 1917..."when you have a production that people are willing to pay to see, you are in the entertainment business". So, that begs the question...can the sport attract a crowd? Or, can drag racing improve its "market reach"? We all know it can because we were around when every track in the country was packed on weekends. The reason it has never seen the kind of growth and revenue-generation over the years however, like the multi-billion dollar "left turners" at NASCAR is because of some misguided refusal to format the sport to appeal to the spectator. For that simple reason drag racing builds nothing and 99% of society today isn't even aware the sport exists. Putting the other guy in the trailer is absolutely anathema to "putting people in the seats".

I've spent the better part of this century managing drag strips, staging my own series of pro-mod events and developing my website, http://www.Showdowndragracing.com to prove the efficacy of the non-elimination format designed to keep the product on the track and in front of the audience for an entire event and provide the comprehensive marketing formulae requisite to showcase the product, increase attendance and...generate multiple revenue streams. Every detail of the operations, marketing and administration to introduce a marketable, entertainment component to an existing racing program is on the site and available to the sport It is my fervent hope that before they scatter my ashes on the golf course, somebody with vision and marketing savvy will put it to some use.

Thanks to everyone for hearing my plea,
Van

I understand what you are saying and in many respects I agree with what you are saying and there is no question that drag racing could be better promoted.

It seems to me that before you can even think of generating more revenue you have to put on a show that draws more spectators to come and watch. The Big Question for the people in charge is how do you go about doing it and what changes need to be made before we start thinking about scattering the ashes on any golf course.

Your comments and suggestions are interesting and it's that kind of thinking we need to hear more of right now.

After reading Whit Bazemore's thoughts on the future of drag racing a few months ago it became clear that we are not the only ones who see a distributing trend happening right now.

Jim, It's nice to know you took the time to read my post. My problem for more that a decade has been "getting the message out". I know everything there is to know about the sport and how to give it life again but how do you get to someone that will actually take up the challenge. It should be clear to anyone who reads my website that I have left nothing out and nothing to chance. It is a "blueprint" on everything the sport must do to reinvent itself , begin building market presence, generate revenue and prosper. I welcome any and all questions and/or challenges from anyone interested to the operations, marketing and administrative tools I advocate and my contact information is available on site to start something...anything. I'm going to "give it up" one of these days and will take down the site when I do. Hope we can "stir the pot" some before I get to that point.
Regards,
Van

Jim Hill

 

[Nick Name]

Over 800 entries at the MIROCK all motorcycle drags at MIR last weekend. Majority of them young people. These people are racing, they just don't have any use for the NHRA thing.

 

[Toejam]

Over 800 entries at the MIROCK all motorcycle drags at MIR last weekend. Majority of them young people. These people are racing, they just don't have any use for the NHRA thing.

The Bike crowd never really was into the Car thing anyway...

 

[Jimbo]

It just becomes clearer to me each day that for whatever reasons people interests are changing away from racing in general and other forms of sporting events.

I do not completely understand why this is happening right now but I think in the coming months and years this trend will continue.

Watch for the signs of fewer major sponsors, less racers and spectators and my guess is even fewer events. For racing related companies this could really spell TROUBLE in their future.

I know change is inevitable but knowing that does not made it easier to except or deal with.

I really hope that I am wrong because I do not like what I see happening right now but looking at all the numbers simply point to a trend that is disturbing for the future of racing in general.

Just my opinion. Jim Hill

 

[Muddy]

My 02 cents cause that's about all it's worth;

Drag racing and the modification of vehicles will always remain. It will revert back to a more local level much like it was until the early 80s. There will be far fewer national events and they will be more of a show than actual racing. Rules will be changed that reduce and limit the cost of racing in the higher classes. Far fewer classes. For example there might be only a top sportsman and 2 or 3 bracket classes for doorslamers and the same for dragsters or anything else that won't fit in as a doorslamer. Fuel coupes and dragsters will mostly compete at national events although there might be divisional events for them. The days of 330MPH and 3.xx second ETs will be gone for a few years until they learn how to do it under the new limits. But then my glass ball is no better than anyone's so what do I know?

 

[glofria]

The act of drag racing will not die. Shoot kids in Vietnam drag race their motorbikes;

https://vi-vn.facebook.com/DragRacingVietNam

 

[FABMAN]

At 58 years old, I grew up in a time when the car was the center of the universe for most teenagers. My mother was always perplexed as to why her son grew up to be a gear head, since my father thought of a car as only a tool to get from point A to point B. As I tell young guys that come into my shop, when I grew up, you had 2 things---your car and your girlfriend. And your goal in life was to make your car fast, and get you girlfriend in the back seat. As has been debated on this forum numerous times, young people have vastly more things to capture their imagination today than us grey hairs had in our youth. My son grew up in a household with Corvettes and Camaros in the garage, and worked at my shop that housed a drag car during all of his childhood. He had been to more drag races and Super Chevy shows by the time he was 16 than most folks attend in a lifetime. He is almost 36 now and frankly could give a flip less about drag racing or muscle cars. He has other things that excite him and occupy his time. As the poster before me said, the only certainty is change.

The problem I had I didn't have a back seat it was al tires tubing and tin work. Had to get out with blanket and chiggers

 

[yoda]

Say the National event schedule cut back to 12-14 races a season. FEB- NOV are still Pomona. Which races would you cut, based on keeping the ones that appeal to the regional audience- taking into consideration that with less races, the region for some races would expand (No Phoenix, for example- do crowds go to Vegas or Pomona).