Because as Jon Asher noted in his article, NHRA is violating their own policies by allowing O'Reilly to have title rights to six national events without sponsoring a Professional category team. First and foremost, teams need sponsor to compete. And NHRA has a history of poaching sponsors for their own benefit.

I remember commenting as we arrived to pit at the Winternationals when Powerade first came on board and every competitor got a nice new Powerade cooler that the cooler would probably be the only thing we ever see from Powerade.

I stopped racing National events a couple years ago because of all the B.S. NHRA was shoveling... especially to the sportsman racers. And I've been commenting on issues like this even longer and have been labeled a complainer or NHRA basher.

After reading Jon's article, I feel sadly vindicated. This is not what want our sport to be.

If John or Ron were to ever miss an NHRA event in order to attend an IHRA event, they'd probably have so much fun the would never go back.

Oh ya, and it would be real nice if the event they chose was Edmonton.

I'll step in with a somewhat contrary point of view.

1) What is the retail price of a pack of cigarettes vs. a bottle of Powerade?

Although the markup percentages may be the same for both RJR and Coke, there are more advertising $$$ available when your promoted product brings 4x's or more the sales and income of another item or brand.

2) Did NHRA (or expand this same question to other sanctioning bodies, race teams, tracks, etc.) have a line of businesses standing in line with money in hand wanting to take RJR's place?

NHRA's Powerade deal came down very near the season start. IHRA has had both series and events that came down to the final days this year before having sponsorship in place. "Hot Rod" Fuller still races down the track with body panels that are bare. NASCAR is still looking for a replacement for the Busch sponsorship that is leaving their #2 series at the end of this year.

If you listen to commercial radio, you must have noticed the increase in :15 commercials.

Times are tough. Sponsors and advertisers are hard to come by, no matter who you are. Sometimes you have to make adjustments.

3) A small point but Asher lamented Powerade for not offering free product at the events like RJR did. It's been a while since I've been to a NHRA National Event but all that I did attend in the past years (Indy and Columbus) had free Powerade available for those who hung around for the Powerade winner's circle presentation at the end of the day.

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The whole point of my post is that big guy or small guy...there aren't a lot of people out their wanting to open up the checkbook or wallet, even for proven winners.

The suggestion by others boycotting an existing sponsor seems foolhardy and may even drive away other potential sponsors who would see this as just one more reason to keep their Benjamins in their own pocket.

Great piece Jon. It amazes me that after 50+ years, drag racing remains to be the red-headed stepchild of motorsports. The sport with "all the potential", the "best bang for the buck in all of motorsports". Yet, in 2007, we have only a handful of racers who really make a living racing. The rest of the sport, from the majority of the pros to a good portion of sportsmen racers, is filled with wealthy people racing because of their passion. It's unreal how well the events have been attended by fans this year, given the lackluster marketing efforts directed toward drag racing. It makes you wonder what could be if all the "potential" was lived up to. I've said it before, nobody is really looking to the future of Professional Drag Racing. There will come a time when the guys who started it all, either won't be around or will want to relax and call it a day. Then what? If it doesn't make business sense for someone to come into the sport as an owner, and make the investment necessary to build a team, then eventually there will be a major problem. It may not be as far away as we think.

The retail price of a pack of cigarettes versus a bottle of Powerade is irrelevant. A huge portion of the price of cigarettes is "sin" taxes.

Just a small link to a big article that asks what we all are thinking

Torco Racing Fuel's Competition Plus.com - Drag Racing's Internet Magazine - UP FRONT - TWO SUBJECTS THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED

I think Mr. Asher hits the nail on the head.

Just put nicotine in the Powerade......that'll keep 'em coming back for more.


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* *Jim Yates' Blog* *

Thanks Jet, but it's been covered in this thread.

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AKA DrRocket

I would bet the there is far greater profit in Powerade than any cigarette pack. The retail price of a pack of cigarettes, depending on which state you live in, is about 50-60% taxes.

Add to that added shipping cost for cigarettes since all Coca-Cola products are bottled at regional plants where as cigarettes are produced exclusively in particular regions.

If there are fewer advertising $$$ from Powerade, it is only because Coca-Cola is only giving them X number of dollars or that their market share is so small.

One can dream Jeremy, One can dream................

Not related to the Powerade deal but the two sanctioning bodies really should work together in the interest of building the sport. The more exposure to major league drag racing, the more fan base you'll build. It isn't rocket science.

Related to the Powerade deal is the fact I buy alot of the stuff during the winter for my kids hockey. I specifically buy the Powerade because of the sponsorship. I might have to rethink that stance next time I'm looking at both Gatorade & Powerade sitting next to each other on the store shelf. All of a sudden I don't feel much loyalty to Powerade anymore..........

Jet must have forgotten to put the crack on his Corn Flakes this morning and isn't fully awake yet.

The NHRA has done more to damage the visibility and growth of drag racing than any other person or thing. Many don't realize it but, Wally Parks and NHRA would not even return Winston's telephone calls when they came calling. Had it not been for Bill France Jr. and Ralph Seagraves (of RJR) Winston would have put it's money and talent behind another drag racing sanctioning body. The NHRA simply did not want a series sponsor that was bigger than themselves. There was a thought that Winston would take over drag racing and NHRA would be left out in the cold. This had nothing to do with cigarettes either. It had to do with control.

I don't think anyone really realizes how much Winston did for the sport. If a race track would put up a Winston sign, they could get the whole place painted in red and white. Some National Event tracks even got grandstands for placing Winston signs in strategic places. Winston came up with the idea of paying professional racers that were in the top 10 at every race. Who can forget the Winston Invitational Race, a race where the competitors were treated like royalty. At year end Winston paid the Champions. NHRA simply stood by and pulled in the money. And, don't forget, RJR even sponsored a few teams along the way.

If you ever met Ralph Seagraves, T. Wayne, Jeff Byrd, Deb, Jackie or any of the other RJR people, you just knew that they appreciated the racers and would do whatever they could to help them out. Some people were even given a one or two race sponsorship deal just to make sure they were out there racing, while looking for a sponsor.

At least NASCAR was smart enough not to sell out it's series sponsor rights for a few pennies. Bill France Jr. even said that if the price was not right, NASCAR would continue on without a series sponsor. The NHRA, on the other hand, went on a desperate search and took whatever came along. If you knew the marketing people and the logic within the NHRA, you could easily understand how they arrived where they are right now!

I know that Jon only presented a glimpse into the NHRA, but if he could, he could blew the lid right off that organization. Would that be good......maybe, maybe not.


Pat

I do believe Winston was with IHRA and Larry Carrier first.

I am sure that the contents of a bottle of poweraid, doesn't cost as much to produce as the plastic bottle does.

Jay

No Pat, that would NOT be a good thing for anyone invovled. And as I've said before, most of the articles that Mr. Asher writes, portray his aversion towards the sanctioning body. Agreed, surely it is his journalistic right to write about these things, but at the same time he should be offering solutions to the problems that he points out. That would be the responsible thing to do, if he cared about the sport. People ***** all the time, it doesn't accomplish anything.

I just read that Vodafone sponsors the McLaren F1 team to the tune of
UK£ 30million -- that's US$ 60million at current rates, on a single team. Apparently, with the Lewis Hamilton effect, Vodafone is very happy with the value it provides -- much better than when they backed Ferrari, they say.

Doesn't get us anywhere, of course, but I just thought I'd mention it.