MESA, Ariz. — If the NHRA had a nickel for every time somebody started a sentence with “The NHRA should …,” the sanctioning body would have enough money to raise purses for the first time in two decades.
Just the same, here are four things (in random order) the NHRA would be wise to consider:
Market More Aggressively
The basics of drag racing are simple but astounding: two cars, launching side by side from a stationary position, rocketing down a drag strip that’s about the length of three football fields in less than four seconds, while using a fuel mixture that includes the chemical reaction of nitric acid and propane. What’s more extreme than that?
NHRA events feature race cars that are the fastest-accelerating machines on Earth and that deliver a sensory-overload experience. How can that not excite even a casual sports or motorsports fan? How can fans not appreciate being able to wander through the pits and watch, talk with and photograph drivers and their teams as they work?
From a 1960s-throwback-cult-following standpoint, an engineering-marvel angle or an “I don’t know how it works, but I think it’s loud and fast and cool” perspective, the NHRA has a dynamic, sellable product. Don’t take its assets for granted. Instead, recognize the marketing value of those assets.
Abolish The Countdown
It’s just meaningless. It offers no significant incentive for a racer to excel, because the leader at the end of the so-called “regular season” receives a mere 10-point bonus for his or her considerable effort. The field is bunched up behind that No. 1 seed in 10-point increments.
So everyone knows all a racer has to do is be in position for a strong final six races. If it were summed up on a T-shirt, the message would be: “I spent $2 million, crisscrossed the country for 15 weeks, abandoned any sort of normal life, outperformed my rivals, risked my life and all I got were 10 lousy extra points and a bunch of contenders closer to me than they earned the right to be.”
Anyone who participates in all the scheduled races and makes at last two qualifying passes doesn’t even have to be among the top 10 performing drivers to qualify for the Countdown. So how exclusive is this championship chase?
Shorter Season, Bigger Purses
Starting the season in Gainesville, Fla., rather than with the traditional Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., has been a financial godsend to race teams, most of whom are headquartered in the Midwest. That was a smart move.
The wildly popular, ratings-rich Street Outlaws/No Prep Kings spectacle has 13 races. The growing Funny Car Chaos series, which packs the grandstands at every event, has 10. The NTT IndyCar Series has 17.
Quality, not quantity, is what counts. Understandably, fashioning a schedule is not easy. It involves lots of moving parts and pieces. It is a blend of logistics and diplomacy. But some system — platooning race tracks in alternating years, maybe? — needs to emerge that will make racing more affordable.
The nitro-class fields have not been full at many races during the past several years. Part-time racers need some encouragement to bring their operations to the track.
Money always helps. This highly touted PRO Superstar Shootout that will take place in Bradenton, Fla., during February proves that racers collectively can figure out how to raise an impressive jackpot (even if the one-off event is a pay-to-play scenario and it’s more exclusive rather than inclusive). Apparently, it’s what they and their loyal fans want — and at least a select group of racers can manage that.
How about the sanctioning body doing the same? Raising money isn’t always easy and it requires work and relationship-building, but plenty of other motorsport series and leagues are doing it. Some have said that potential sponsors wouldn’t go for a shortened schedule, therefore negating the promise of increased purses.
How would anyone know if something will work until it is tried? And sponsors always are pleased with full grandstands, full fields and strong television ratings.
Make The U.S. Nationals Special Again
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park isn’t in shambles by any means. And if rumors are true that NHRA is going to build an impressive control tower at the scene of the Labor Day classic, it would certainly give a much-needed facelift to the 70-year-old facility.
Manipulating points and having several different specialty and bonus races across the pro classes didn’t fill the massive stands that used to be jammed for this purportedly prestigious race. Yes, a trophy from Indianapolis, from the U.S. Nationals, still means the world to even the most-decorated racing veterans. But it needs some tweaking. Should the race finish on a Sunday and not compete with Labor Day family cookouts? Finishing on Labor Day itself is a neat idea, particularly from a media-attention perspective. But something needs to change.
Are ticket prices a problem? Likely. Is the show dragging on too long? Definitely. Purists would balk at obvious suggestions for change. Maybe the Countdown to the Championship (assuming NHRA officials ignore calls for its demise) should begin at Indianapolis, the center of the motorsports universe. Whatever is happening now isn’t working 100 percent.
This facility and the sport itself have such promise. Go big at The Big Go.
This story appeared in the Oct 18, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
