Any suggestions on how the TV package could be improved?
FL: An issue I have is the lack of exposure for some teams on the current TV broadcast. Sometimes your driver never gets seen. He might get on the screen if he gets to round 2 and might get an interview if you make it to round 3. If you're the right guy, though, it seems to make a difference about how much exposure you get.
What specifically would you like to see changed with the current TV package?
FL: In my opinion, we need to take our TV shows to prime-time. Get the race broadcast on ABC or NBC, or one of the major networks. One of my biggest complaints is that the television show overall is not good and they (NHRA) seem to have no control over when it is broadcast. To take a professional show and show it at midnight or to be pre-empted by some other sport. . .that's not supposed to happen. Somebody needs to have control over the television because television is what makes this whole thing happen. The whole sport is based on sponsorship -- the sponsors have to see some value for their investment. I (Lucas Oil) sponsor the one-hour sportsman show and I can tell you we have some input about when the show airs.
One of the proposals floated by the new NHRA Pro Racing is to increase the race schedule by 3-5 races in the next three years. Races in Mexico and Canada have been mentioned. As a team owner, how do you feel about that? Can you do 3-5 more dates with the current budget you have?
FL: Right now, the way things are, I think we're going to have a problem getting our current sponsors to re-sign for next year, much less get more money from them for more races.
Teams have to show their sponsors justification for that kind of request. Right now the cost of running a team is getting way outside the cost to the sponsors. I don't know, another five races, that would add about a half million dollars in expenses to our budget.
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Specifically, what do you think about the idea of staging an NHRA race in Mexico and returning to Canada?
FL: Well, NHRA used to race in Canada and IHRA races in Canada. And it's probably closer to race in Canada for us than races in California. Mexico…I don't know where they would race at down there, probably Mexico City; that's a long, bumpy road down there. They (NHRA) better throw in another hundred grand for the racers just to pay for that trip.
As a manufacturer, would it be to your benefit to have your product advertised in Mexico and Canada? Do you do business in those countries?
FL: We do a lot of business in Canada and we are doing a lot of business in Mexico. I could probably justify it more than anyone else as far as money goes, probably more than any other sponsor out there, but it all comes back to television. You want to get a certain number of people to watch, not just the people in the stands, so there would have to be a good TV package for those races.
You’ve mentioned that you would like to see the NHRA do as some other racing circuits have and purchase prime time on a major network like NBC, ABC, or CBS for their races. How would you feel about fewer of the races being televised so that the sanctioning body could afford to buy major network time?
FL: No way in hell. No way would anyone run down the track (at a national event) without the race being televised. Regardless of how many people watch the shows, a lot of these guys are racing because the race is broadcast on TV.
