Drag Racing's Perfect Storm? (1 Viewer)

[rocketman]

Sorry for not being too optimistic but I fear that drag racing faces a real struggle this year. First, you have the Knoll situation which hurts the independent teams. And, lets not forget the new chassis rules. Then I heard on the news today that they are expecting gas prices to go up to over 3.50 per gallon by June! To top it all off you have a lot of negative reports regarding the economy although unemployment remains low. And in my neck of the woods, Spokane is closing which also hurts the little guys here in the northwest.

I predict we're in for a tough year. Drag Racing has survived some similar years in the 70's but at least then there was a lot of match racing to keep the fuel teams a float. Now you have just two series with round money that's not enough to sustain a team on the road especially with rising costs of energy. My guess is that there will likely be some short fields as a result with the chance of a few teams not making it through the entire season. This will also hurt the alcohol and sportsman teams that travel. What happens after Gainesville will be the test. Tell me where I'm wrong.

 

[Joker741]

I fear you might be right. I am predicting a drop in sales for me this year due to the fact people don't have the extra cash to spend.

 

[Johnny Mopar]

I fear you might be right. I am predicting a drop in sales for me this year due to the fact people don't have the extra cash to spend.

The 2008 NHRA season will be as difficult as NHRA allows it to be. There are plenty of people (fans) out there that have the ability to attend races. The key will be NHRA's dedication to aggressively marketing each race and their series. It's all about promotion and advertising. If they plan for a down year it will be a self fulfilling prophecy.

Some of the greatest success stories happened during challenging times.

Choose to win!

 

[Toejam]

I guess that means that Drag racing's done! I guess we need to start following Nascar...

 

[Doug in the woods]

If the top brass in Glendora took a paycut for what little they do then the payouts would be higher.
JMO
Paper pushers making $100,000+ for such a small organization compared to like Microsoft, Apple, Coca Cola etc.

 

[Draw 3D]

Sorry for not being too optimistic but I fear that drag racing faces a real struggle this year. First, you have the Knoll pullout that hurts mainly the independent teams and I understand this situation is far from good. And lets not forget the new chassis rules. Then, you have one supplier of nitromethane which I heard from a good source could lead to a delicate supply and cause the cost of a drum to triple. I then heard on the news today that they are expecting gas to go up to over 3.50 per gallon by June! To top it all off you have a lot of negative reports regarding the economy. And in my neck of the woods Spokane is closing which also hurts the little guys here in the northwest.

I predict we're in for one of the toughest years ever for the sport. Drag Racing has survived some similar years in the 70's but at least then there was a lot of match racing to keep the fuel teams a float. Now you have just two series with round money that's not enough to sustain a team on the road especially with rising costs of energy. My guess is that there will likely be some short fields as a result with the chance of a few teams not making it through the entire season. This will also hurt the alcohol and sportsman teams that travel. What happens after Gainesville will be the test. Tell me where I'm wrong.

Rich, why the doom & gloom? I don't remember you being that way before.

Imho, drag racing right now is as strong as ever has been. There are alot of racing series' throughout the U.S., an abundance of new cars and classes and more public access than ever.

The economy is not as bad being reported, it is always downplayed by the press during election years. The pullout by the Knoll gang will hurt, by that just means other opportunities.

I'm sure you have worked with teams trying to land sponsorship like I have and you know some will work for it and some just wanted handed to them. Now we will find out who really wants to race.

If drag racing survived the Jimmy Carter malaise, it can survive just about anything.

Remember, the glass is half-full and continues to fill, nothing positive is ever produced in negativism.

 

[Nunz]

Everything goes in cycles. Drag racing has been in danger of becoming extinct for 50 years. There are definitely some hurdles this year, but also some positives. There have been some sponsors lost, but new ones have stepped up, and at least a couple more TBA (Dexter Tuttle & Max Naylor). The TV deal seems solid. We're back to 90% Nitro. Bruton's building a new palace. Adversity does present opportunity, and if NHRA was smart, they would take advantage of the tough economic outlook and high gas prices by offering more "deals" for families, such as the $99 deal the new track in Charlotte is talking about. If NHRA could promote itself as the best bang for the buck with regards to family entertainment budgets, I think they would recruit a lot of new fans.

 

[rocketman]

Well thanks for being upbeat. I never said it was going to end I just think we're in for a tough time. I hope I'm wrong and I agree that drag racing has survived tough times before but again there was a lot more racing and much more affordable than it is now. I just wonder if we are reaching the tipping point. I haven't heard much good news for a while now.

 

[cephus]

I ten to gree with Rich, the economy is good for the Petro industry and related busness but the average family now has to spend an extra $5k each year cause of the fuel companies and dis is screwing the other sectors of the market xpecially when it comes to entertainment.

when a company makes Billions per qtr sompins up, hell Elvis didin make that
just aint American

we may race 1 or 2 races this year but sompin needs to change in purses
and the structure

In Bama at the creek sippin the Nitro-Shine

ya moma

 

[coyotedale]

I've always said "what is the worst that can happen". Imagine, sponsors pull out, running a team requires scaling back on the budget. What happens then is smaller teams are now as capable as the big teams, since the big teams have scaled down towards the smaller teams. Now you have some deals that have been parked, seeing the opportunity, you now will have many single car teams coming out of hiding.

The other thing to consider, to help with operating costs, since the cost per run has been scaled back, it is now more affordable for tracks to book in the cars for match racing. Imagine that; you match race to make money, and test all at the same time; remember, JFR used to match race for that very reason, as it served as a test session for them.

So, it won't go away, but the state of the sport on a pro level will have to adjust.

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

In racing, or in life, there will always be good times and tough times. It's not these times that dictate our lives, it's how we handle situations as they arise. Many times, our problems are self-inflicted. Sometimes they are external and beyond our control but they will come and we will either deal with them or we will be dealt with. Economically, we have had far worse times than this.

Paul Flies' post pretty much sums up my feelings.

I'll choose the glass-is-half-full path every time. See you at Pomona!

 

[Kelly]

Shoe and Kenny address the economy in the 2nd article here...
PIR test sessions set for March

 

[Dave]

It sounds strange but this doom and gloom may bring some good. How would everybody feel if Match Racing made a comeback. The guys could get paid to race again at your local Dragstrip. They wouldn't have to put their cars on kill to run a big number. Hey, long smokey burnouts used to drive the crowds wild and pack 'em in the stands years ago. You might even be able to make some money Match Racing. The guys wouldn't have to run the cars hard so the chances of hurting parts would decrease. The Match Race days were all about putting on a show. Do a big burnout, make your run and click it at 1000 feet. The teams and tracks could come to an agreement on a fair price to show up. The guys could go back to selling t-shirts out of their trailers without having to share the money with the sanctioning body. They could test things and get paid to do it. You don't have to make a full pass when testing. How many full passes did we see at Phoenix last weekend? This could work and maybe this year is the time to try it.

Dave

 

[megadeth]

The main problem that didn't exist in the past is the excessive cost of running an operation today as apposed to yesteryear!
I'd say it's in scale with healthcare cost percentage wise what I see happening is it will weed out the independents and that's never a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
There is no TV package per say not when they are paying to have it broadcasted that is the one thing that needs to turn around if they did get a good, lucrative, package that could definitely help everyone involved as long as the NHRA brass don't hog it as they seem to do any time they get the chance and make sure it gets to the competitors!
The economy is not in good shape and the fed's acted to slowly to stop the oncoming recession that we are on the brink of.
The recent steps they have taken are just prolonging the inevitable!
No need to panic its just part of a normal economic cycle it’s a time to spend wisely and wait it out.

 

[Baron]

C'mon guys, get a grip!
Growth in the last quarter of 2007 was .06%. Not much. Note, however, it was growth. We are not in a recession regardless of how many people say so to influence the election. It happens every four years.
Fuel prices are up and so are profits. Wonderful. Profits are our friends. In a market economy profit attracts capital. Capital investment drives exploration and the search for substitutes. If you want an endless supply of energy, you want energy providers to be profitable. I don't like high gas prices and that is exactly why I like the energy companies to be profitable - their succes invites competition - competition ensures supply and encourages innovations to provide new fuels at lower prices. It does require a bit of patience, but it works. We often have the unfortunate tendency to interfere with the market's self-correcting mechanisms. It feels good in the short run; but it costs us in the long run.
I talked to a fellow recently that was complaining about the cost of fuel in connection with a race he attended last year 300 miles distant. Towing his race car at 8 miles per gallon he used 75 gallons of fuel for the trip. We checked what he paid last year for fuel and then calculated the cost for this year. The difference was $22.00. If he towed there every week, it could run into some real money. For the special event he attended, the price wasn't intimidating.
Have you noticed that everything is a "crisis?" H.L. Mencken once observed that politicians phrase everything as a crisis in order to stampede us to whatever snake oil solution they're peddling. We are smarter than that.
That said, I'd like to see some leadership from the NHRA in addressing some of the perennial questions. The $99.00 National event deal (3 day ticket)sounds like a good idea. What others are out there?
We are tougher than the problems. We'll survive and prosper.
Cheers,
Ed
"It ain't what folks don't know that's the problem; it's what they know that just ain't so!" Josh Billings

 

[Toejam]

Rich, in any of your Sponsor presentations have you told possible sponsors that because Huge sponsors have pulled out of the sport, and because Gas prices may force some racers to the sidelines. That you would understand if they didn't want to be involved in Drag racing?? I bet you haven't...

 

[vegasnitro]

I only see oppurtunity.

NHRA drag racing is at a crossroads, it is either going to take the next step and become a premeir racing series that many know it could be or it is going to plateau or regress some.

If the former happens, then exposure, purses, attendance, media attention, sponsor involvement should all increase accordingly.

If the latter happens, most things will stay as they are now only with maybe fewer races and sponsors.

 

[TOOLMAN]

I've been involved in Drag Racing for over 30 years. I consider myself fortunate to have been actively racing in the 70's and 80's, it seemed so easy back then. I don't believe Drag Racing is that much harder now to maintain and operate, the numbers are just different. These last few years I have been working on a new venture to get back into actively racing again to prepare for my grandchildren to have the same experiences from racing and to learn about self esteem, competition, about maintaining schedules and many more things they will experience later own in life.
The sport of auto racing will be fine, it's just going threw some adjustments right know.

Just remember your actions always follow your beliefs. Keep you positive thoughts and everything will be fine.

 

[club]

In racing, or in life, there will always be good times and tough times. It's not these times that dictate our lives, it's how we handle situations as they arise. Many times, our problems are self-inflicted. Sometimes they are external and beyond our control but they will come and we will either deal with them or we will be dealt with. Economically, we have had far worse times than this.

Paul Flies' post pretty much sums up my feelings.

I'll choose the glass-is-half-full path every time. See you at Pomona!

Bobby, remember being able to get 16% on a CD? People think you can't afford a home loan now, what if we were paying 21% or 22% for a home loan and 30% for a credit card?

Remember the worries of double digit inflation, double digit unemployment? Historically unemployment, interest rates and inflation are extremely low. Things are not good in certain sectors but this is not near the worst the economy has been.

 

[rocketman]

Thanks Joe for bopping me upside the head. I still think drag racing is a very marketable sport for any business to be in. I preach it and I believe it. I just think that the rising costs will have a significant impact on the pro teams. Last year I was at Seattle and there were only two independent fuel teams there and it was the first time that I can remember where there wasn't a couple of northwest fuel cars in competition.

Now Spokane is gone and last year they eliminated their Top Fuel show. There use to be close to 8 top fuel dragsters in every division. Other than nostalgia, I don't think fuel racing is coming back to match racing as it's still way to expensive for most promoters to book in.

I got a call from someone we all know with much more insight than I have and some of the doom and gloom isn't as bad as I had thought. But don't kid yourself about 3.50-4.00 per gallon gas, it will have an impact. That will hurt people in all sectors and our sport as well. Racers won't travel as much so batten down the hatches!