Asher Article (1 Viewer)

[Nunz]

Great article, pretty much sums up many of the discussions here:

http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/editorials/26922-up-front-its-about-fixing-the-show

 

[HEMI6point1]

While I agree with much of the article, I don't agree that "we need Whit Bazemore."

Now before anybody accuses me of bashing, I'm not. There is no doubt he could wheel a race car but he seemed to suffer from a permanent case of "foot in mouth syndrome."

Do I dislike the trend of drivers being way too PC and "fluffy"? Yes, but there is also a difference between speaking your mind and saying stuff that makes people want to punch you in the mouth (no pun intended).

This can apply to anyone, not just Whit....

 

[vegasnitro]

I was never a fan of Whit's per se, but the NHRA world is a less interesting place without him in it. It is not necessarily a bad thing having someone out there stirring the pot, every cowboy can't wear a white hat. Having someone to root "against" is almost as much fun as rooting for someone (within reason).

PS I don't think Asher was advocating directly for Whit, just a Bazemore type.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

I'm confused, after complaining drivers are not out spoken enough, they quote drivers without naming them. If they are not willing to be named, they shouldn't be quoted.

I agree P/S should get back to their name.... professional stock.
F/I and only cu.in. available in that body.

As far as "longer burnouts": Sure we all like them, but how you gonna police it??
Is 600' long enough?? Is 300' too short?? What if a driver only goes 275', do you subtract 5 pts?? We complain about "cookie cutter" cars now, and you want cookie cutter burnouts.

Forget 1/4mi nitro. 1,000' like it or not is here to stay. We would not like the watered down
Nitro cars we would have to revert to in order to go back to 1320.

 

[vegasnitro]

A few other thoughts about Jon's article:

- I think running Pro Stock on Saturday is an interesting idea, but in practice it would be tough. They would have to make at least 3 hits on Friday, then if you go to the finals on Saturday you will have made 5 hits ... Wow that is a long day. So do you make them do all 4 qualifiers on Friday? You are also sending the message that they are not truly a Pro class on the same level as the nitro cars. It would be a tough sell to a sponsor that you are actually increasing their exposure by leaving them out of the big crowd on Sunday (and 3 hour TV show). Many people already feel that way, but you can't institutionalize it.

- I actually think raising the payouts is a bad idea at this point. The comparatively low dollars paid out for winning an event and the Championship has formed a sort of artificial salary cap. The teams business model is already way out of whack, throwing more money in the pot would only make it worse and could just as easily force more sponsors and teams out rather than bring them in. The ONLY way it would work is if the teams/sponsors kept their budgets the same ... But with double the money on the line, it follows that the bigger teams (and thusly the sponsors) will spend more, so now you have the same screwed up business model with far fewer teams able to spend what it would take to win. Fix the economics of the sport first, the money will follow.

- I agree that we need more personality and less robot corporate speak. I am somewhat surprised we don't see more "smack talk" or what have you. Very few of the drivers are actually paid to drive. Most nitro pilots are independently wealthy or bring their own sponsors. There must be some other disincentive at work here. Q scores? Directives from risk averse teams or NHRA?

- it is becoming apparent that some people think going back to the full quarter mile is some sort of panacea for the sport. It will likely cause an immediate spike in ratings or attendance, but is it sustainable? To go back to the quarter, the cars will have to be slowed down (they probably need to be slowed down now ... But that is another topic for another day). Once people get over the the happiness of the return of quarter mile racing, will they lament the loss in performance? Also, as things stand it will be the same teams winning after the switch, so it will be same ol' same ol' in very short order.

- I also like the new factory stock showdown cars, they are far more relatable to Joe 6 Pack than current Pro Stock cars. Move Pro Stock to that model, and you might have something. The manufacturers might even get involved since they could sell some cars and parts, and a lot of the initial performance loss would be recovered in a relatively short time. A wheel standing cobra jet versus a wheel standing COPO running in the 7s would be wildly more entertaining than current Pro Stockers.

Lastly, "a Pro Stock car is a brutally efficient machine that is incredibly boring to watch" is a fantastic line ... Wish I had thought of it. And I love Pro Stock.

 

[mike]

I'm confused, after complaining drivers are not out spoken enough, they quote drivers without naming them. If they are not willing to be named, they shouldn't be quoted.

I agree P/S should get back to their name.... professional stock.
F/I and only cu.in. available in that body.

As far as "longer burnouts": Sure we all like them, but how you gonna police it??
Is 600' long enough?? Is 300' too short?? What if a driver only goes 275', do you subtract 5 pts?? We complain about "cookie cutter" cars now, and you want cookie cutter burnouts.

Forget 1/4mi nitro. 1,000' like it or not is here to stay. We would not like the watered down
Nitro cars we would have to revert to in order to go back to 1320.

Want longer burn outs? Give 1 point for 300ft---2 for 600 --3 for 900

 

[Nunz]

I really liked Asher's article, as I always do. While there are no concrete answers as of yet, at least people within the sport are thinking. Realizing there's a problem is the first step. I tend to be an optimist. Yes, we've had events with light fields and lighter crowds. But when I pulled into Maple Grove on Friday AFTERNOON, and had to go to 1000ft to get a seat, I didn't get the feeling that the sport is over. We have a hell of an opportunity to make leaps forward. Lots of good ideas floating around. And with the automakers building muscle cars like we've never seen before, it would be a sin to not do whatever it takes to get them more involved than ever before. We have the world's loudest, hardest accelerating race cars, what a heck of a platform to work from. We just need drag racing to be less vanilla and more badass, the way it should be.

 

[mw6789]

. We just need drag racing to be less vanilla and more badass, the way it should be.[/QUOTE]

This about sums it up. The big question is how do we get there. Nobody wants to hear a driver read off the canned list of sponsor credits. I also understand that Fortune 500 companies cant associate themselves with a bunch of redneck equivalents of Saturday night wrestling. But there should be a happy medium somewhere. I too am not a Whit fan, but I do miss his brutal honesty. As I have said here before, the Allison bros vs Yarbrough fight at Daytona on national TV probably did more to catapult NASCAR to the forefront than anything else at the time. You need a certain amount of drama. I spend little time watching a NASCAR race, but I try not to miss the Bristol night race---knowing the next "Earnhardt punting Labonte out of the way for the win" moment may be coming. Like the man said---less vanilla and more badass. Like it USED to be.

 

[Toejam]

While I agree with much of the article, I don't agree that "we need Whit Bazemore."

Now before anybody accuses me of bashing, I'm not. There is no doubt he could wheel a race car but he seemed to suffer from a permanent case of "foot in mouth syndrome."

Do I dislike the trend of drivers being way too PC and "fluffy"? Yes, but there is also a difference between speaking your mind and saying stuff that makes people want to punch you in the mouth (no pun intended).

This can apply to anyone, not just Whit....

That is exactly what I loved about Bazemore, he didn't care who he offended or Pissed off. Yet that is what ran him out of the sport, People are Far to PC to tolerate someone like Whit anymore.

 

[Nunz]

Being too PC for Whit Bazemore is a problem then, because, IMO, there's nothing wrong with Whit. Have you ever read the backstories he writes with his pictures from over the years? Just great stuff, cuz he "gets it". He's a racer, and he's super passionate about drag racing. Doesn't mean everyone has to like him. Everyone shouldn't like everyone, otherwise there's no rivalries. If Whit or someone else gets you "up on the tire", that's a good thing, because then it's not boring and predictable. But personalities is just a part of the discussion. Asher touched on several things, even mentioning giveaways and samples of company's products. People love free stuff, it helps fans leave the track feeling like they really got a lot value for their money. And wouldn't that help sponsors. It goes on and on, there's just a lot than can and should be done going forward.

 

[mick]

rite now the big 3 retro muscle cars are wildly popular with the general public yet languish in S & SS with only
one special race annually @ indy....and on display in mfg. midway.
would bet 95% of nat. event attendance gawk at these cars under an awning while the real deal
is running rite behind them in S or SS and they don't even see them.
these cars are for sale on monday yet they are not featured prominently on-track, IMO they should be,
and maybe with various engine combinations?....nobody has done anything wrong; just think it's time, and it
mite be the perfect time, to show off these late model beauties.....the factories would sure appreciate it and
IMO the fans certainly would......racing to 1320 of course.

 

[Jon Asher]

Chris Cook, I appreciate your comments.

Regarding Pro Stock making five runs in a day, maybe I’m missing something, but at every national event I work I see these guys turning the cars around in a very short amount of time. I have never had a P/S team tell me they couldn’t make that number of runs in a day.

Sorry, but EVERY national event’s largest crowd is Saturday, NOT Sunday, so that argument doesn’t work.

Even if the Saturday television show highlights P/S eliminations that doesn’t mean that, say, the final round couldn’t or wouldn’t be replayed during the Sunday show. Besides, P/S becomes the highlight of the Saturday show, which would mean more air time than they now get on Sunday.

I also disagree – strongly – with your points about increasing the points fund payout. Holding back the money doesn’t help the class, while increasing it does, in many ways. If the concern is that the lure of more money will mean more spending, then stop or curtail that spending by outlawing or somehow controlling the influx of outrageously priced items.

I have no clue where you got the idea that “Most nitro pilots are independently wealthy or bring their own sponsors.” There are only three drivers in the two fuel categories who would appear to be financially well off. Very few drivers have brought money to their teams. Very few. However, it is true that some drivers are being paid little or nothing because of their desire to drive at any cost. In other words, give me the ride and don’t worry about paying me. That’s an awful business concept, but who are we to judge what someone else does.

I stated clearly in that editorial that the cars will be slower in the quarter mile than they were in the past. That has to be part of it for many reasons, including logistical.

If Pro Stock isn’t changed you’ll see what you’ve asked for – Factory Stock taking its place. It’s what Detroit wants and, from the fan reactions I’ve seen, it’s what many fans also want – Real cars that they can relate to (as you wrote).

The guy who penned the “brutally efficient but boring to watch” line also said to me, when I asked what he thought of Pro Stock Truck, “It’s two years too late and nobody’s going to care.” Right again. (The “two years too late” part referred to the fact that the NASCAR Truck series was not only already up and running, but its support in terms of sponsorship and TV viewership was already in decline.)

Nunzio, please remember that each facility has different seating capacity, so what looks like a great crowd at one place might be half-empty at another. I am not knocking the Grove, so think of it like this: Everyone said there was a fantastic crowd at Epping this year. Same with Bakersfield for the Reunion. Neither facility has much seating capacity, so a small crowd really looks “big.” Check the Maple Grove attendance against that of Chicago in June or Charlotte in September and yes, it was much better. But, place that crowd in either one of those facilities and it would have appeared half empty or worse.

Mike, it’s largely team pr people who are “holding back” the personalities of drivers for fear of blowback from their team owners. Drivers also hold themselves in check for fear of saying something their team owners won’t like, thus we have the “I-love-everyone” interview that puts even a sloth to sleep.

Joe, you’re incorrect about Baze’s departure from the sport. That may be the public perception, but it isn’t accurate. Good seeing you in Vegas, albeit briefly.

Jon Asher
Senior Editor
CompetitionPlus.com

 

[SoCal Racer]

I also disagree – strongly – with your points about increasing the points fund payout. Holding back the money doesn’t help the class, while increasing it does, in many ways. If the concern is that the lure of more money will mean more spending, then stop or curtail that spending by outlawing or somehow controlling the influx of outrageously priced items.

I agree with Jon here. Offering more money may inspire more people to get involved. I think it would create a “gold rush” of sorts to make racing *appear* lucrative (even though we almost all spend more than we can/do win). Injecting new cars and teams into the sport is a big positive, as it would give the multi-car teams others to race against than themselves. No disrespect for those teams, but when fans know it’s going to be a DSR or JFR car winning the event, I’m sorry but that’s boring. And the TV ratings prove it. I want to see more horses in the race.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Want longer burn outs? Give 1 point for 300ft---2 for 600 --3 for 900

Interesting

 

[legendman]

Want longer burn outs? Give 1 point for 300ft---2 for 600 --3 for 900

Right on and a point for each throttle whack in the pits with a limit of 3 or 4

Some say teams are saving money not doing throttle whacks, well how much fuel is saved by not running the full 1/4 mile?

 

[Larry]

Unless costs are addressed there won't be very many Local Independents left for fans to support .
Going to make for short fields in the future .

 

[Muddy]

It's my belief that Jon doesn't go far enough. Races should be cut to 2 days with 3 rounds of qualifying on Friday, one Saturday morning and eliminations Saturday afternoon and/or evening.

The current configuration of pro stock cars should be moved to a top sportsman class along with most/all door types. There should be 4 classes in top sportsman (or what ever you want to call it) based on weight to cubic inch and handicaped off a national class record. Any type of fuel induction but you move up a class or more if it's not carbs. Any fuel except nitro but a class adjustment if its not gasoline.

All non nitro altered and dragsters should run a top dragster class. Again 4 classes based on weight to cubic inches with any fuel (racers choice) except nitro and any induction again both with class adjustments. All classes handicaped off a national class record.

Pro Stock should be just that. Factory hot rods with heads up racing.

This leaves motorcycle and you can do what you want with that but IMO it should either be factory configuration or nitro with my vote going to nitro.

This would give six eliminator brackets. Races are all first to the finish line. I realize there are a great many things you can object to with this proposal but you have to start somewhere and this is my idea.

A great many details would have to be worked out and the transition to this should be phased in over 1 or 2 seasons with everybody having a clear understanding of where it was going to end up.

 

[SkidMark]

Forget 1/4mi nitro. 1,000' like it or not is here to stay. We would not like the watered down
Nitro cars we would have to revert to in order to go back to 1320.

 

[vegasnitro]

Thanks for taking the time to respond Jon.

- I agree 5 runs for Pro Stock in a day is doable, it just seems harried.
- My untrained eyeball test usually sees Sunday as the biggest crowd. I have no empirical data to support the claim, it just takes longer to park, get concessions, tougher to move around the pits on Sundays in my personal experience.
- I agree that at some point payouts are going to have to be increased, my only point is to fix the economics of the sport first. It would be easier to do when costs and revenues are lower. Throwing more money in the pot at this point fixes the symptoms rather than the disease, in my humble opinion.
- I was completely agreeing with you that the cars need to be slowed down to go back to the quarter, my only point is that alone might bring some fans back, but more will need to be done to keep them back.
- I should have said nitro pilots either bring their own sponsors or are related to them, the others are just rich. There are the working class hero types like Scott Palmer and Terry Haddock (and god bless them, we need more like 'em) but for the most part, you better have the surname Force, Kalitta or Schumacher, be married to one or be very good friends with one or bring a fat check to one. Otherwise, no one s getting anywhere near a nitro car.

Good article and discussion!

 

[Usual password less 1]

I have no clue where you got the idea that “Most nitro pilots are independently wealthy or bring their own sponsors.” There are only three drivers in the two fuel categories who would appear to be financially well off. Very few drivers have brought money to their teams. Very few. However, it is true that some drivers are being paid little or nothing because of their desire to drive at any cost. In other words, give me the ride and don’t worry about paying me. That’s an awful business concept, but who are we to judge what someone else does.


Jon Asher
Senior Editor
CompetitionPlus.com[/QUOTE]

Top Fuel

Shaun...paid
Antron..brought Matco
Doug Kalitta..Connie
Brandon..if it wasn't for his Dad he probably wouldn't have got the ride he has now..paid
Britney...Dad
Sidney..$$$
Grubby...paid
Morgan...owns team
Spencer...paid but brings $$
Terry..owns team, has sponsor
Clay..brought Parts Plus
Tony...Dad
Torrence..owns team..family sponsor
BV Jr...owns team, has sponsor

Funny Car

John Force...owns team
Robert Hight...see above..paid
Courtney Force...see above..paid
Cruz Pedregon...owns team
Tony Pedregon...owns team
Jack Beckman..originally brought MTS sponsor
Matt Hagan..originally brought Shelor sponsor
Ron Capps...paid
Del Worsham..paid
Johnny Gray...is doing OK for himself
Jim Head/ Chad Head..also doing ok for himself
Blake Alexander...brought sponsor
Alexis Dejoria..bought sponsor
Todd Lesenko..brought sponsor
Tim Wilkerson..owns team
Bob Tasca...owns team

Not seeing all that many paid drivers that didn't bring $$$ somehow or who aren't well off. Not complaining but the facts are the facts! You can also tell there aren't too many paid drivers by the amount of talented drivers that are sitting on the sidelines (Larry, Melanie, Jon, Phil, TJ, until the other day as well as a bunch of others)

Jeff