If the NHRA gets all this attention, is that a good thing for other series and tracks? In other words, as NHRA goes, so goes drag racing?
Bader: The more attention our sport receives, the more we can educate the public on drag racing, what it’s all about. The more they can become familiar with us—and there are a lot of small tracks that hold drag racing—the more we can educate our fans about how it works and what it’s about. I think it’s a good thing for everyone in the sport.
We’re constantly trying to pump up our Friday-night or Saturday-night events to get people to come out and do the same thing the racers are doing on the track. Our biggest night is Wednesday night when high-school kids come out with trucks and vans and all kinds of cars. We had 465 cars here on a Wednesday. That’s a big night. For some reason it peaks in June and July and then tapers in September and October. So, yes, I think the more NHRA succeeds, the more attention the sport will receive.
What do you think attracted NHRA to place a national event in Norwalk?
Bader: Part of the reason our track became attractive them—and it wasn’t because of IHRA, it didn’t have anything to do with Bill Bader or the Bader family—it had to do with our geographic location to a market that they didn’t serve as well. Keep in mind we are the farthest track north they have in this area.
We pre-sold every seat for Saturday and Sunday, we know where our customers come from. The Buffalo market, the Toronto market, the Detroit market, we’re closer to Pittsburgh; did you realize if you Mapquest it, we’re closer to Pittsburgh than Columbus? We had our Pennsylvania market, our Indiana market, we are two hours closer to them than Columbus, and we are closer to some of them than Indy, so moving the event here from a marketing perspective makes far more sense.
Now please understand, when we first talked with them, they were … that was not on their minds. They were looking to move the race out of Columbus and when we talked to them about hosting a national race here, moving the race from Columbus to here, they said, ‘Why would we want to do that?’ because they got 100 percent of that event and I would only give them 50 percent of the event. But they came to the conclusion that, yes, we would consider that so we met with them and talked with them and eventually put together a contract.
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What do you think of NHRA’s decision to add a 24th race to the schedule next year? Are they nearing the saturation point for the teams?
Bader: I think it would have been a real hardship five years ago, but I think more teams are professionals, they have full-time team members; it’s not a part-time thing anymore. I don’t know what the number is; I don’t know what the saturation point is, but it will have to be an evolutionary process.
If they just came out and added three more races, or five or 10 more races, they would break the back of a lot of teams. It’s about giving the teams time to go to their sponsors and get more money. It’s all business. If the sponsor thinks it’s a good deal, he will pay more and get more return on investment. It’s the smaller teams it will be difficult for. The teams that are running out of pocket now only go to the races they can afford. The big teams will be at every event.
What about the idea of NHRA having a track Mexico? Do you think that’s a good idea, or where do you think a better market would be?
Bader: The Canadian market has been very good for IHRA, but there is a stronger concern crossing that border now than there was five or six years ago. I’m hearing more about it now than I was back then and I’m not even involved.
There’s no need to step outside the U.S. and create a hardship on anybody by doing so. We have all the markets in this country that we really need and if the tracks can get built I think we could run as many events as NASCAR does right here in the U.S. without a problem.
But I do think stepping outside the U.S., Mexico City offers some huge number of people. With IHRA I was potentially moving a race to Mexico City; we looked at the track there and it didn’t go anywhere because a lot more work needed to be done and I just didn’t have the time to do it. I think if that opportunity presented itself they’d have to weigh their options, but there’s really no reason to have to go outside the U.S.
What’s your initial impression of the ADRL? (DRO spoke with Bader in August during the inaugural ADRL Chevy Drags at SMP)
Bader: I’m watching their presentation and their marketing strategies. I think Kenny Nowling is an excellent marketer and promoter. He’s very creative; he approaches things from a different perspective. Kenny’s great with sponsors, he’s great with designing a program that makes sense for everybody. It’s kind of a win-win-win scenario. I don’t know that Kenny is a racer; I see him as a promoter. I don’t know if he is a showman or not yet, we’ll wait and see.
He’s using motor sports as his platform to create Kenny Nowling. He has been with racing a long time and I think he’s smart and astute and hardworking. I love his concept. I think he’s going to have to decide how that concept fits into the marketplace and where to take it. I don’t have the experience yet to know his success and failures.