DISAGREEING WITH GLEN
Interesting ideas on the future on NHRA. I think you missed on a couple of points though. First Live TV, I don't agree that this is as important as you think. I believe the current tape delay same day coverage is fine. What is important though is the time slot. Each race needs to be on the same channel at the same time for each event. That way the viewers know when and where to go to see the race. Having it tape delayed and edited makes it fit into the 2 hour package that I agree is needed. But having the shows delayed starting do to women's softball is bad as is the show not even starting until 10 PM eastern, who can stay up on a Sunday night until 1 AM to see the end? I agree with you on getting rid of the stupid features like Scelzi Says and the fan questions. I would rather see first round of Pro Stock than that crap, or better yet spend some time following what the crews do before, during and after a race, those guys work hard! Maybe pick a team and travel with them to and from the event, showcase some of the characters on the teams.
In regard to the sportsman racers you make the mistake of lumping their future in with that of the Pro's. The sportsman racer does not need the professional racers to be successful or to even exist for the sportsman to be viable. Sportsman racers don't race for the purse money, just looking at the purses being paid should tell you that. Sportsman racers race for the joy of the competition, being with friends and the love of the sport. Take away ESPN and John Force and there will still be sportsman drag racers racing all over the country every weekend at their local race tracks. I know this because I am one of them and have been for 20 years. I offer as proof the hundreds of local race facilities that have never seen a national event or a pro racer. These local tracks do not depend on NHRA, large corporate sponsors or thousands of fans for their livelihood. The racers themselves carry the financial burden. Go to a local bracket track and see how many fans are there, virtually none, yet the racing goes on. I believe that today there are 2 NHRA's, the one you see on TV and the one that lives and breathes on the local level. They have very little in common these days.
Now what is important and why the Pro NHRA needs the Sportsman NHRA much more than the other way around is something you touched on, breeding stock. Today's sportsman racer can be tomorrow's Pro. NHRA needs to foster that growth by providing the step up classes needed for these racers to mature. Lately they seem to have forgotten this by the fact that they keep pushing the sportsman racers down the ladder rather than providing a hand up. The high cost and multi car teams have made it more difficult than ever for sportsman racers to graduate to the Pro Series. My evidence is the ever-shrinking Pro fields at national events. New blood helps boost car counts and fan interest, everyone loves an underdog (not lucky dog). NHRA needs to create or change rules that make it easier for A/Fuel cars to step up to Top Fuel, AA/FC to Funny Car and Competition Eliminator to Pro Stock. Growth can't happen just in Nielsen ratings.
Gregg Pickens
Omaha, NE
AGREEING WITH GLEN
Mr. Grissom, you have said what I have been telling the roundy-round fans I talk to since I saw my first national event in '92.
You can't get in the pits at a NASCAR event without paying extra, (if then). And the sensation of even being in the stands when two nitro cars go by full tilt and blur your vision cannot be experienced on TV.
I am lucky enough to work on an Alcohol Funny Car and the first time I got to stand on the starting line for Top Fuel runs was a highlight in my life.
Thanks for expressing your views.
Neal Roberts
Crazy Horse crewman
MAYBE DRAG RACING SHOULD BE FOR THE RACERS, NOT THE FANS
Glen, I enjoyed reading your article. My drag racing interest also started in the early sixties when I went to my first race at Lion's and watched Stone, Woods & Cook racing against John Mazmanian in their '41 Willys. Eventually my buddies and I ended up with cars (a '62 Galaxy 406, a '65 Mustang Hi-Po, and me with a '62 Impala 409...and, no, none of us were smart enough to hang on to them) that we'd street race in the Pasadena area and at Irwindale raceway. Then in '68 one friend got a '66 Chevy 427 425 hp Biscayne that he ran
in NHRA C Stock (which eventually became D Stock) and we did the Division 7 races. Drag racing was popular. Drag strips were packed on "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday." Companies paid contingency money for winning with their product and decals on the car. There were a lot of racers, lots of fans, and it all seemed to work very well.
My question is, why does the NHRA, or any racing association have to change so that the racing is more interesting to the general public? Why can't it be focused on the racers and true racing fans like it used to be? I lost my interest in NASCAR years ago. It just looks like the WWF of motorsports to me nowadays. And lately I've had less interest in seeing the televised NHRA events. Back when Diamond P did the shows you'd still see some sportsman class racing, but now it's just about the Pro classes, and more and more about Pro racers' personalities. Did it all just get too big? Too many national events? Too much money needed to race in the Pro classes? So now is the only choice to appeal more to lots of casual fans and less to race fans? Something has gone wrong if that's the case. I like to watch F1 racing on Speed TV. All the shows, practice, qualifying, and the race are very well done. And the people who watch it are true Formula One racing fans. It doesn't need to appeal to anyone else. Maybe the NHRA should contact Bob Varsha.
Regards,
Jack LaMonica
Pisgah Forest, NC
