Pretty soon, everyone is going to have a Nitro Mall...

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

Although it was probably part of somebody's signing deal ( ), at what point does it go from hospitality to "nah nah ne nah nah"?

I think the pit neighborhoods are a necessary evil these days. To make the sponsor happy, to woo potential sponsors, and to have room for family and friends of the crews, and as support for the teams, especially the multi-car teams. Many of the multi teams use the neighborhoods as a central spot for members of all their teams to commune and share a meal, as in the Kalittas saturday night Mac Tools dinners.

well, you dont really have to have hospitality to keep your sponsors. all you really need is 10, 12, 13 or so national championships. if you run on out and get those pretty quick, then you dont need it. just ask john force. he doesnt have a hospitality area. he does have a chef though, and a very good one i might add (hows it going johnny), but he only cooks for the boss and the team and maybe a guest or two. every now and then ford will bring thier own hospitality bus to the race (you might have seen it in joliet).

but if your like every other racer out there then you might want to think about adding it to your future top fuel dragster and f/c drag racing plans. oh... and by the way... i know another very very good chef (much love back atcha chef dale).

but ofcourse, after having said all that, we did have hospitality (didnt we dale) and i think there is a certain beer company thats not around anymore so who knows. certainly not me, im just a former hospitality guy who got too drunk one night and came in too late the next day (teehee).

peace out race fans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Suzie is dead on! The Kalitta "Pit Experience" hospitality area is very small compared to Schumacher and (now) Powers. And . . . it is set back from the "ropes". Get up front between the FC and TF - best view of any fuel pits!

Force does not have a hospitality area per se but he does have his bus at the back of the pits and they do the sponsor thing there, either under the awning or in the bus itself. Most of the personnel related to Force's sponsorship package that come to the events (the major players at least) are somewhat in the realm of "insiders", Dan Davis (Ford) and the AAA/SoCal people so they don't need to be coddled like the one event per year guests at some of the other teams' pits.
Powers' Matco deal probably was based on the hospitality package. As a company Matco entertain their distributors at the races in an effort to build a better relationship. I know that there a lot of keyboard artists out there who don't particularly like Whit but he is a big part of Matco's deal. The distributors love him and so does head office. What works of rthe sponsor is usually what works for the team.
Not too many of the drivers do the "will sign at x pm" deal and there is usually a reason if they do. W.J. for example works pretty much full time on his car and in other cases the drivers do indeed have commitments to schmoozing the people who sign the checks or their guests.
Drag racing still leads all major motorsports in driver access. In general the drivers spend an inordinate amount of time making themselves available to the fans compared with NASCAR etc. Try going to a Formula One event where pit access is by a swipe card credential that is impossible to purchase for any amount of money.
Even NASCAR autograph sessions are usually a stand in a long line and go from driver to driver deal--just like being in a cafeteria collecting your meal. I personally have never seen a one item only sign and I have never seen a charge as in the pro stick and ball deals. And on the 1 item deal, it is probably not a bad idea in general as then more fans may get their one item signed and some of the E-bay "fans" would have less to sell.
Remember even though the fans are the ones who pay the bills of the track operator and the sanctioning group the drivers are at work and have a job to do, some with more responsibilities than others. They are trying to keep their sponsors happy so that they can continue to get the funding to race and they are trying to win those races to make getting those sponsors easier in the future (Although the win/keep sponsor deal is a whole 'nother story).

Roo Man
(off the soap box for now)

Damn straight, Suzie!!!

I saw a pic of the Powers hospitality set up, but for the life of me I cannot seem to find it again.Can anyone post a link?

There is a picture in this thread:

https://www.nitromater.com/nhra/4522...pdate-d-3.html