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There's got to be a better way…
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Drag racer and freelance writer Wes Tarkington conveys what he thinks would be a better way to present the sport.
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By Wes Tarkington Photos by Roger Richards |
The recent NHRA Cajun SportsNationals in Belle Rose, LA conjured up some memories and sent me to the archives of my porthole to the electronic universe-my computer. It was there that I found a potentially prophetic master plan that seems more relevant today than it did nearly four years ago with the recent sportsman class scheduling at NHRA national events. While it was much broader in scope than I will present in this forum, the essentials of the vision couldn't be timelier.
However, once privy to this knowledge, I was eager to put my two cents worth in and began penning a master plan to bring all of this together. I wasn't asked to do so, nor was my manifesto intended to be thrust upon the world. I simply had to organize all the thoughts and ideas that this possibility conjured up in my nitro and methanol infected brain. Based on the current trends we are seeing in the sport, it seems that maybe some of these ideas need to see the light of day. Both major sanctioning bodies seem to be stuck in a rut. A 50 year rut of the status quo. Maybe some jarring and pushing will get them out of said rut and on the road to larger profits, better event coverage on television and in print, happier customers-fans and participants alike, and a fresh start on a motorsport that has more potential than many in existence today.
NHRA and IHRA have conducted national events in the same manner for, well, always. The events have always followed the same format. Hundreds of sportsman racers slugging it out in time trials, qualifying, and eliminations while a minority of professional class cars prepare for a maximum of 6-8 runs over the course of 4-5 days. As many as 14 classes will be in attendance with up to 1200 participants entered. Spectator attendance varies depending on which report you are looking at, but it is safe to say that more than 90% of the paid admissions are there to watch the professional stars, not the seemingly endless slew of sportsman dragsters, stockers, and roadsters. While participant attendance is high, the events desperately need strong spectator attendance numbers, and the participant entry fees are consumed by the enormous staffing and operational costs.
Now, to really confuse things, these two groups are nearly identical in their event make-up. Same classes, some of the same stars, same demographic, and even the same geographical markets. Redundancy? Planned obsolescence is more like it. There are other series out there, too. The street-legal crowd, the all-Ford or all-Chevy stalwarts, the sport compact Gen-Y army, and the various motorcycle circuits. What has evolved is a plethora of very segmented and sometimes conflicting event series.
All legalities, egos, and personal differences aside, there is a blatant need for one company to take the best of all the current drag racing series and melt them into a diverse yet individual line-up of events and series. Yes, smaller localized series will remain. The single track has nothing to worry about. The bracket racer that faithfully attends the same track every week and year will not be affected negatively. But, on the grand scale, this is the way to go in the future.
First, the new company must remove itself from sanctioning racing facilities. It needs to be in the event business to market the sponsors and stars of the new series. Creating and administrating programs solely for the survival of each facility in the fold costs money, requires staff, and allows the facilities to become exceedingly reliant on Big Brother to conduct their own affairs. Yes, the new company should maintain or even increase the minimum standards for the facilities to be affiliated, but that is already mostly dictated by the insurance companies that underwrite the policies so they could take over in that role. NASCAR, IRL, ASA, and other major organizations do not hold their host tracks to any type of exclusivity and neither should our new company. The event series that is prevalent today would be wiped off the map. There would be too many racers, sponsors, suitable facilities, classes, and fans to attempt a simple combining of the series. Instead, there would be a host of touring and regional series designed to maximize profits and racer participation at all levels.
Pomona, CA Phoenix, AZ San Antonio, TX Las Vegas, NV Houston, TX Rockingham, NC Bristol, TN Richmond, VA Gainesville, FL Atlanta, GA Chicago, IL Topeka, KS Columbus, OH Edmonton, ALB, CAN Englishtown, NJ Detroit, MI Toronto, ONT, CAN St. Louis, MO Denver, CO Sonoma, CA Martin, MI Brainerd, MN Norwalk, OH Indianapolis, IN Memphis, TN Reading, PA Dallas, TX Other venues could be added based on facility quality and market demand, but by taking the best of each world, there are 27 possible national events. That's only 4 more than the current NHRA program. The maximum would have to be set at 30 due to the work and travel load on the participating teams. The events would be run over a short time frame and feature a reduced number of required passes. There would be a Friday schedule consisting of an early qualifying session in the afternoon followed by a “Night of Fire” style presentation after dark. Qualifying for all classes plus a feature freak-show would highlight the evening's action.
The classes invited to participate? Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Modified, Nitro Harley Davidson, and a street-type unlimited 10.5” tire class. Five very exciting and different categories. A regional or divisional program would look as different as the national series. Instead of the current geographical boundaries, a simpler dividing line using the time zones would be used, splitting North America into four regions. Within these regions, a 10-12 event schedule would be planned. These events would be spectator friendly, showcasing professional and sportsman categories alike, but designed to be short in duration and not heavily dependent on car counts for profit. To specify each possible location for these regional events would take up too much server space, but they would require facilities meeting high standards for vehicles traveling nearly 300 miles per hour. Some facilities may be visited twice as needed. All events in this regional series would be ¼ mile.
The same Friday-Saturday plan would be in effect and provide fans the following classes: Pro Stock (under current IHRA rules with a few modernizations), A/Fuel Dragster and A/Fuel Funny Car, Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, and a version of Pro Street not far removed from the Nostalgia Pro Street rules for unlimited back-half cars. The A/Fuel classes would be the equivalent to NASCAR's Busch Series in that is would be a training ground for the next stars of Top Fuel and Funny Car. Again, six very different and appealing classes to draw in the fans. For the grass-roots sportsman racer, the possibilities get very enticing. Using the same regions as above, another 10-12 event schedule dedicated to the largest majority of drag racer would be planned. These events would be longer in duration in order to maximize participation and competition opportunities. To offer these events to as many suitable facilities as possible, the events would be run on either ¼ or 1/8 mile tracks that could house nearly 600 sportsman teams. These events would be designed to maximize profitability from the pit-gate and be very racer-friendly. Beginning on Fridays, the events would not only feature racing in each specific category, but the participants would be able to compete in special bonus bracket races on Friday and Saturday night. Heads-up events in Super Stock and Stock and special shootout races in the various .90 categories would also be added. Class eliminations in Super Stock and Stock would be rotated throughout the schedule. The classes of competition would be Super Stock (combining NHRA and IHRA rules), Stock (combining NHRA and IHRA rules), 7.90, 8.90, 9.90, 10.90, Quick 32 (patterned after the NHRA Jeg's series), an open electronics bracket class, and a footbrake/no-box bracket class. A wide array of classes that have proven over time to produce great racing and high car counts. Both of the aforementioned regional series would have a points structure. There would be no “out of division” points awarded as there are now. The racer would be encouraged to stay within his or her region. At the end of the regional series each year, the top finishers in each class would be invited, and paid, to attend a national championship event to determine the best of the best in each class. Television coverage would be best served to go to a format very much like the AMA Supercross Series. Their events are run on Saturday nights and then broadcast the next day on ESPN. The national series along with the pro-sportsman regional series could follow this format. By taking the production restraints off the events, the races would become a much better live show and help increase spectator attendance. Perhaps this could be the future of our sport. While a joint venture between the NHRA and IHRA is not likely, maybe one or both of the organizations could look at these ideas and get a new perspective on where to go next. The sportsman racer fearful of losing the national events could look at this and believe there is a better place for them in the grand scheme of things. The fan's would benefit from being able to see their favorite classes in a condensed package without sitting through classes in which they have no interest. Whatever the case or whatever the next few years holds for drag racing as a sport and business, change is in the wind. Just hope it is a fresh gentle breeze rather than a stiff, stifling gust. |
I was on the inside track on some information a few years back that would have brought on a utopian existence for those of us deeply involved with drag racing. Hell, for even the most casual fan this new dawn brought the promise of one unified and diverse drag racing Mecca . There was to be a new world order of sorts involving Clear Channel, IHRA, NHRA, and whomever else the mighty CCE whirlwind could absorb. The end product was to be the “World Racing League,” a single company producing professional and sportsman level events and series all over North America and elsewhere. Suffice to say, it never came to pass. Legalities, money, egos, and an ever changing global economy threw the chute out on the deal. 
Meanwhile, the same two sanctioning bodies-one that calls itself a not-for-profit association and the other that calls itself a company-each have large, geographically-based sportsman series. Designed to appeal to the grass roots racer as well as the touring “pro-sportsman” hitter, these events showcase a variety of categories over a 3 day period. Spectators, well, they are fairly non-existent unless the host track books in some kind of “show” to bolster its bottom line. Even with, in the case of NHRA, blown alcohol funny cars and injected nitro dragsters, the fans do not show up in the absence of a Force, Bazemore, Schumacher, Bernstein, or Johnson. These events become almost totally reliant on the “back-gate” revenues to make a profit. 
Here comes the fun part. To keep it somewhat simple, let's take what we know in this day and assume the IHRA and NHRA series were somehow purchased and combined. The possibilities are staggering. Let's look at some of the ways this new company, or alliance' could move forward and create this drag racing euphoria. 
The national event schedule would be designed to showcase the cream of the crop classes. Exclusively for the professional categories, this series would conduct events in the best markets once each. In no particular order, the following facilities could be awarded this series: 
Saturday would showcase one final qualifier before noon with final eliminations for all classes beginning around 6:00 PM. The eliminations would run into the night, providing cooler temperatures and a higher level of visual excitement for the fans. The schedule would be altered to compensate for changing seasons, but the events would never go beyond the two-day plan. Sunday would be left open for a rain-date or testing. 