Richard Freeman Racing (1 Viewer)

Dragracer

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There is a article on Dragillistrated.com from Richard Freeman of Elite Motorsports. Evidently the Camping World contract is much less than the Mello Yello contract. For Richard to question whether he will even be running NHRA next year is not good news. I hope this isn't just the tip of the icebergr. If it is there could be big trouble ahead.
 
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There is a article on Dragillistrated.com from Richard Freeman of Elite Motorsports. Evidently the Camping World contract is much less than the Mello Yello contract. For Richard to question whether he will even be running NHRA next year is not good news. I hope this isn't just the tip of the icebergr. If it is there could be big trouble ahead.
I didn't see where it stated the Camping World deal is less than the previous....but if the payouts stay low next year, they will "explore other options". I don't blame his comments at all. At some point, the cost of racing gets beyond 'fun' and starts
 
I didn't see where it stated the Camping World deal is less than the previous....but if the payouts stay low next year, they will "explore other options". I don't blame his comments at all. At some point, the cost of racing gets beyond 'fun' and starts
From his comments it doesn't look like NHRA has been forthcoming to the owners about points and other issues. I interpreted his interview that NHRA reduced the Championship payout in the last 2 years, changed the bonus points race from the US Nationals to the last race of the year without good communication with the owners, and it sounds like he is expecting next year purses per race to be the same as it is today.
 
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If the NHRA doesn't get the round money and the purses back to their previously very low levels, then it's all over. The racers are willing to tolerate the steep reductions for a short time due to the virus hysteria, but it is unsustainable. If the states, counties, and cities do not start allowing full crowds back in the stands, there will be no money to pay for those funds. Walmart is jammed. Home Depot is jammed. The airplanes are mostly full, with no real so-called "social distancing", but most of us still can't go to a damn sporting event. It is a travesty.
 
just speculating here but Freeman is probably losing his best cash resource, as in Jeg Coughlin and i'm reading that Alex Laughlin is currently trying to scrape up funding and by my count, KB seems to leading the pro stock market, in engine leasing. Add all that to NHRA cutting back, on the already paltry pro stock purse, so it would seem Freeman definitely has an uphill battle next year.
 
just speculating here but Freeman is probably losing his best cash resource, as in Jeg Coughlin and i'm reading that Alex Laughlin is currently trying to scrape up funding and by my count, KB seems to leading the pro stock market, in engine leasing. Add all that to NHRA cutting back, on the already paltry pro stock purse, so it would seem Freeman definitely has an uphill battle next year.
Isnt Troy driving next year?
 
no amount of complaining and bitching will fix anything. Only way to make them wake up is to vote with your wallet and car count. Stop showing up.
 
No matter where this goes, it always, and I mean ALWAYS comes back to communication and how poor it is. He even uses that word several times himself. The hard conversations obviously still haven't happened and don't appear to be happening anytime soon. And until they do, the program will continue to sputter.

For me, the significant disconnect is between the racers and the sanctioning body. When he makes the statement that the NHRA, "doesn't know who their customer is", that tells me he's a little disconnected too. The paying customer is the only customer that matters. The racers and NHRA should operate as one, with the sole objective of packing as many people in the stands each week and putting as many people in front of the television as possible. The sponsors don't give a damn what's putting asses in the seats and in front of the televisions, the only thing that matters is the ass count. I get what he's saying about his role as a racer in that whole equation, but again, the sponsors aren't catering to them and the sponsors are the ones paying the bills (along with the sportsman racers..... ;) ), so it's what they want that matters the most.

Unfortunately, nothing significant has changed. Fat needs cut, egos need parked and hard conversations need had that will end with the racers and sanctioning body moving forward together as a unit with a common objective.

Sean D
 
When Covid shut down the racing NHRA and PRO which is the organization that represents the T/F, F/C & Pro Stock owners were talking. Alan Johnson is the head of the PRO Directors which consults with the car owners before making any decisions. When NHRA decided to come back to racing PRO agreed on the purse cuts and qualifying reductions for the rest of the year to have races and keep NHRA drag racing in business because NHRA couldn't or wouldn't. I don't know if they have met to discuss the 2021 season.
Richard is correct that the PRO cars make the show, without them very few spectators will go. Just look at the normal Division Race.

The racers had a problem with NHRA back in the early 60's and Lou Baney, McEwen, and most other dragster owners- there were no funny cars or pro stock at that time - started the United Drag Racers Association (UDRA) on the West coast which is where most of the dragsters owners were at the time. The UDRA put on their first meet at Lions the same weekend as the US Nationals and the car count there was very low. The UDRA meet was a huge success. I could go on and on about this but eventually what happened was the issues were finally resolved. I realize at that time NHRA was only running a handful of races a year, not the 24 they have planned for 2021 and many things have changed and they are now the only show in town. NHRA has let that go to their head but PRO does very much have some power and many of the PRO racers will follow their direction. IF the PRO Directors, after consulting with the car owners, sat down with NHRA and presented their demands and couldn't negotiate a agreement with NHRA there could be some major problems for NHRA until the issues are resolved.
I don't think something like a boycott or UDRA happening is realistic but PRO does have the ability to put a lot of pressure on NHRA.
We shall see what happens. The PRO racers are not going to race basically for free and I would think they can negotiate their contracts with their sponsors regarding how many races they attend.
We shall see in 2021 what happens. We do know the PRO qualifying is only going to be one day with two sessions and that doesn't sit well with the big sponsored teams or with the low funded teams which will drop like flies if the purses don't go back to at least what they were before. Even in 2019 and before that there were times the T/F & F/C fields were not full.
 
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I can see some of the teams Such as Elite that also run Pro Mod and have "grudge "cars in their stable going elsewhere to race. NHRA isn't the only place, there is a lot more prize money/racing in other places. NHRA is supposedly the cream of the crop but you reap what you sow and the crop might be sown in another field soon.
 
When Covid shut down the racing NHRA and PRO which is the organization that represents the T/F, F/C & Pro Stock owners were talking. Alan Johnson is the head of the PRO Directors which consults with the car owners before making any decisions. When NHRA decided to come back to racing PRO agreed on the purse cuts and qualifying reductions for the rest of the year to have races and keep NHRA drag racing in business because NHRA couldn't or wouldn't. I don't know if they have met to discuss the 2021 season.
Richard is correct that the PRO cars make the show, without them very few spectators will go. Just look at the normal Division Race.

The racers had a problem with NHRA back in the early 60's and Lou Baney, McEwen, and most other dragster owners- there were no funny cars or pro stock at that time - started the United Drag Racers Association (UDRA) on the West coast which is where most of the dragsters owners were at the time. The UDRA put on their first meet at Lions the same weekend as the US Nationals and the car count there was very low. The UDRA meet was a huge success. I could go on and on about this but eventually what happened was the issues were finally resolved. I realize at that time NHRA was only running a handful of races a year, not the 24 they have planned for 2021 and many things have changed and they are now the only show in town. NHRA has let that go to their head but PRO does very much have some power and many of the PRO racers will follow their direction. IF the PRO Directors, after consulting with the car owners, sat down with NHRA and presented their demands and couldn't negotiate a agreement with NHRA there could be some major problems for NHRA until the issues are resolved.
I don't think something like a boycott or UDRA happening is realistic but PRO does have the ability to put a lot of pressure on NHRA.
We shall see what happens. The PRO racers are not going to race basically for free and I would think they can negotiate their contracts with their sponsors regarding how many races they attend.
We shall see in 2021 what happens. We do know the PRO qualifying is only going to be one day with two sessions and that doesn't sit well with the big sponsored teams or with the low funded teams which will drop like flies if the purses don't go back to at least what they were before. Even in 2019 and before that there were times the T/F & F/C fields were not full.

With all due respect Terry, when you use terms like the racers presenting their "demands" to the sanctioning body, that draws an adversarial picture, and that's the last thing that's needed right now. These two entities need to be on the same team.

Secondly, still no mention of the number 1 customer here, that being the fans. You're right when you say that PRO can put a lot of pressure on the NHRA, but what will that ultimately gain? If the money isn't there, it isn't there, period. When you consider the climate these professional teams have been operating in for several years (sponsorships being sparse), it strongly suggests the financial structure of the sport itself is off. Otherwise the sponsorship hunt wouldn't be as trying as it is. The sport doesn't have the viewership to demand the kind of corporate money that many of these professional teams need to operate at the highest level. That's why you see so many well-to-do folks, Freeman included, continue racing........because they can, almost regardless of corporate involvement.

I may be wrong, but Freeman's interview tells me everything I need to know about the level of communication between the racers and the NHRA, and it's far from thorough.....

Sean D
 
With all due respect Terry, when you use terms like the racers presenting their "demands" to the sanctioning body, that draws an adversarial picture, and that's the last thing that's needed right now. These two entities need to be on the same team.

Secondly, still no mention of the number 1 customer here, that being the fans. You're right when you say that PRO can put a lot of pressure on the NHRA, but what will that ultimately gain? If the money isn't there, it isn't there, period. When you consider the climate these professional teams have been operating in for several years (sponsorships being sparse), it strongly suggests the financial structure of the sport itself is off. Otherwise the sponsorship hunt wouldn't be as trying as it is. The sport doesn't have the viewership to demand the kind of corporate money that many of these professional teams need to operate at the highest level. That's why you see so many well-to-do folks, Freeman included, continue racing........because they can, almost regardless of corporate involvement.

I may be wrong, but Freeman's interview tells me everything I need to know about the level of communication between the racers and the NHRA, and it's far from thorough.....

Sean D
PRO has always had a relationship with NHRA. The reason it was formed was NHRA was making changes without any discussion with car owners. It many times becomes reactionary when NHRA makes a change without any discussion with car owners. "NONE" of NHRA management has ever raced a car, they got rid of everyone who raced and could give them insight into making decisions. Ergo, PRO was organized so the pro racers had a consolidated way of making their concerns brought to NHRA for discussion. NHRA is one way, their way, always has been from its beginning and that has always been part of the problems between them and the racers.
 
PRO has always had a relationship with NHRA. The reason it was formed was NHRA was making changes without any discussion with car owners. It many times becomes reactionary when NHRA makes a change without any discussion with car owners. "NONE" of NHRA management has ever raced a car, they got rid of everyone who raced and could give them insight into making decisions. Ergo, PRO was organized so the pro racers had a consolidated way of making their concerns brought to NHRA for discussion. NHRA is one way, their way, always has been from its beginning and that has always been part of the problems between them and the racers.

I don't disagree with anything you said, I guess the point I'm trying to get across is that it's apparent (to me, anyway.....) that the scope of their relationship needs broadened. I understand why PRO was formed and what that relationship entails, but it can't stop there, especially now. It's fine and dandy that the racers banded together to form PRO to "protect" themselves, so to speak, from knee-jerk rules changes and such, but now the professional level of the sport is in peril.

So again, egos need to be parked, and they need to come together on a whole different level. Whether either of them like it or not, they need each other. There's no way around that. As I see it, they have 2 different financial structures at their disposal right now:

1. Current state and operating within the financial envelope corporate America is telling them they can operate in through the financial interest/support they currently show, and figure out how to run a marketable amount of cars within that financial envelope.

2. Figure out what it's going to take to get corporate America to invest the amount of money to run the same marketable amount of cars at a level only a select few can run now.

Number one continues to have cars drop off, and it will continue that way until they figure out how to run these cars on less money and keep it that way. Number two is going to require a much larger viewership base before corporate America will be able to quantify those kinds of dollars. No matter which two they decide to pursue, none of it is going to work with the current state of the relationship between the NHRA and PRO. The level of communication needed to do either simply isn't there. Freeman all but said it, and he's right.

Sean D
 
FACT: NHRA is the "circus" coming to town. Some people get excited and flock to see the freak cars go FAST and LOUD for the day. Then they do not even think about a racecar for another year.

Just look around unfortunately drag racing is dying, kids do not have the interest in cars that we did.
80% plus of the "fans" that attend the one national event near them does not watch it on TV or attend another event that year. Car counts to them mean nothing, most do not even understand the racing. They are there for the noise and show.

Even the "fans" leave during PS and PSB what does that tell you?. They are there for a loud, fast show not racing.
Do I think NHRA is going to fold and go away? yes someday. Tracks are being sold and turned into housing because there are not many people racing anymore.

The wife and I have attended as many as 13 events in one year, I live next to National Trails and listen to cars racing a few days a week. Events are getting smaller, car count is lower and spectators do not exist at local levels. National Trails is lucky because it is the home of JEGS so JEGS runs events, series there.
Houses are closing in and I am sure it is only a matter of time till complaints outweigh benefits.

Enjoy what we have, yes the costs are out of control but I do not believe it has anything to do with the spectators attending.
 
FACT: NHRA is the "circus" coming to town. Some people get excited and flock to see the freak cars go FAST and LOUD for the day. Then they do not even think about a racecar for another year.

Just look around unfortunately drag racing is dying, kids do not have the interest in cars that we did.
80% plus of the "fans" that attend the one national event near them does not watch it on TV or attend another event that year. Car counts to them mean nothing, most do not even understand the racing. They are there for the noise and show.

Even the "fans" leave during PS and PSB what does that tell you?. They are there for a loud, fast show not racing.
Do I think NHRA is going to fold and go away? yes someday. Tracks are being sold and turned into housing because there are not many people racing anymore.

The wife and I have attended as many as 13 events in one year, I live next to National Trails and listen to cars racing a few days a week. Events are getting smaller, car count is lower and spectators do not exist at local levels. National Trails is lucky because it is the home of JEGS so JEGS runs events, series there.
Houses are closing in and I am sure it is only a matter of time till complaints outweigh benefits.

Enjoy what we have, yes the costs are out of control but I do not believe it has anything to do with the spectators attending.

Agreed, however I am interested in your last sentence. Are you saying you believe the problem would still exist if a way to generate more viewership proved to work? I just can't help but believe if the viewership was there, the money would follow. Or are you simply saying that because of the times we're in (generationally speaking), that there is no way viewership can be brought back to that necessary level?

Sean D
 
If you would compare NHRA racing to, say, "Outlaw" racing, which would bring the most viewers? Which would be the most popular? Just curious, cuz I watch the Outlaw shows on TV (Discovery Channel usually). I like the Pro Mod type classes, but if I had a choice, would go to a NHRA race. Notice that a lot of the Outlaw fans are younger, & don't seem to mind that it's 1/8 mile, or "no time" (which I don't like). they just wanna see the cars.
 
Agreed, however I am interested in your last sentence. Are you saying you believe the problem would still exist if a way to generate more viewership proved to work? I just can't help but believe if the viewership was there, the money would follow. Or are you simply saying that because of the times we're in (generationally speaking), that there is no way viewership can be brought back to that necessary level?

Sean D


I am saying because of the times, mostly peoples interests, we are not going to see a massive increase worthy of supporting the needed funds.
"Fans" show up tp see nitro, period, 10 cars 12 cars 20 cars no difference to them.
You may get a few new viewers but in todays need it now gratification not many want to watch 4 seconds of WOW and then wait an hour to see 4 more seconds of WOW.
They do not have enough interest as to what is going on in the pits, yes they go down to the pits for some autographs and to hear engines warm up but IMO are not really interested in the mechanics of it.
And I think the viewership has stayed the same the costs have gone up exponentially.
 
If you would compare NHRA racing to, say, "Outlaw" racing, which would bring the most viewers? Which would be the most popular? Just curious, cuz I watch the Outlaw shows on TV (Discovery Channel usually). I like the Pro Mod type classes, but if I had a choice, would go to a NHRA race. Notice that a lot of the Outlaw fans are younger, & don't seem to mind that it's 1/8 mile, or "no time" (which I don't like). they just wanna see the cars.


from what I have read/heard outlaw events have to CLOSE the gates because so many people show up. And if you look at outlaw cars, guess what, you know what kind of car it is WOW no decal needs on the windshield. Everything from old to new and Ford Chevy Dodge Plymouth Studebaker Pontiac, HMMMMMMM isn't this where NHRA started? AH the good old days.
 
It seems to me that while the fuel classes have obvious leverage with NHRA because they are the big draw, Pro Stock teams have a different sort of leverage in that they actually have alternatives to racing with NHRA. As noted, many teams already have programs in other top-level doorslammer classes like Pro Mod. And series and tracks that run classes like Pro Mod or Outlaw clearly have the capability of running a class for NHRA spec Pro Stocks if they wanted (even if it is 1/8 mile). Point is, if NHRA went away tomorrow, PS teams could almost certainly have a place to run if they wanted to. Not sure you can say the same about fuel cars anymore. TF and FC need NHRA as much as NHRA needs them; not sure that is true for PS.
 
Notice that a lot of the Outlaw fans are younger, & don't seem to mind that it's 1/8 mile, or "no time" (which I don't like). they just wanna see the cars.

No, they are there for one reason. They want to see crashes and carnage. They don't care 2 cents about any racing or classes, rules, parity, points, etc... They just want to see cars crash.
 
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