Should Pro's be seperated from Sportsman

[skills]

The main reason why it is like that is because of the tv exposure. ESPN and NHRA have on tv not only talk about the cars but the drivers and crew chiefs. People attach to the drivers look at nascar and Dale Jr. Now if they did the same for sportsmen it would be a win/win for everyone. Say they picked one or two drivers a year and followed their progress. Say Dan Fletcher and SS and David Rampy in comp, explain the class and car fits and then follow them for the year give them 10-15 minutes a show. Show all the finals live from every class make people attach to the cars and drivers and you will get more people in the stands to see how that driver does when at their local national event.

[Byron Worner]

Nhra screwed the sportsmen at Houston then did the right thing at Atlanta. Mother nature can reek havoc and no matter what the outcome somebody would always do it the other way. I didn't hear too many, if anybody, complain last year at Maple Grove when they finished the sportsmen on Saturday night so you didn't have to sit around in the rain for a few days.
If you are totally disgusted with National Events then stay at home. These events have not changed in the 20+ years I've been racing and they probably aren't going to anytime soon. Get over it! Sportsmen aren't the priority at National Events. The Pros are.
Keep us together!!!

[Don Kennedy]

Originally Posted by jmcarter

For two consecutive National events the PRO's held court by themselves (plus some Alky cars) and not that any sportsmen racers were there to witness it but has anyone heard how the experiment went? Granted, weather was a factor and sure the Lucas Oil competitors were thankful for being able to run their rounds without the track prep(?) for fuel cars. But has anyone heard it was a success from NHRA's perspective? From ESPN's perspective I'm sure they enjoyed the "drama" of shorter turnaround times for the Pros but do the typical fans really enjoy seeing less variety and fewer cars going down the track?

Found my” Old Soap Box”

There will always be Sportsman racers at National Events: The reasons are many > The Sportsman racers have to be in the pits , if not the fans would not see any race cars and the pits would look like a abandon space and a failed race image ,it is all about image /. The entry fees help pay NHRA expenses, The extra pit passes help Pay NHRA expenses, The money from the insurance helps pay NHRA expenses. The manufacturers row is gear towards the sportsman which helps pay NHRA expenses. The money from advertising in National Dragster helps pay NHRA expenses. The Money from chassis certs helps pay NHRA expenses, The money from the membership fees helps pay NHRA expenses. The low payouts help pay NHRA expenses. The money from the 500 at a national event or so racers who buy food and souvenirs helps pay NHRA expenses. I suspect that if a NHRA accountant who knew nothing about the process and magnitude of putting on a race he would be very happy to accept the amount of money Sportsman bring in and would not delete them lol .A person has to look at the overall picture which not only includes our eyes as well as NHRA eyes to come up with a Plan for all to have a good racing experience If NHRA fails we all fail to solve the issues >

Now as I get back up on my old worn out “Soap Box” this in my opinion again . NHRA must get together with the following: Racers who have no personal agenda, workers who work for NHRA who know how to solve some issues but have not told NHRA cause of no one listens, people who don’t have a burr or chip on their shoulder against NHRA ,race track owners who are very successful in solving some of the issues NHRA has not ,such as track prep ( new machines to prep< new machines to scrape and new way to schedule a race is a start)

A meeting with people who have a problem and also know how to offer options on how to solve those issues in a civil manner would be great ,all paid for by NHRA at a central location for two days with a executive secretary taking notes all day both days and then later come out with a report for all to see on issues and what can be done to solve them ,remember I suspect there are issues we don’t know about that NHRA has and we should know about them not fight them to have a successful adventure with racing our passion and their business ok I just fell off my soap box must go Granddaughter is playing the piano and I must listen lol

[Dan Fahey]

This is where we have to do something different.

AND IMHO IHRA has an opportunity to grab it..!!

D

[skills]

Byron I do agree with you, but I am not a racer so I only say what I say because I am a fan and love seeing hours of racing. NHRA will make more money not only by track attendence but tv sponsorships. If they put half the effort into sportsmen that they do in pros everybody would win. Like I said people get wrapped up in the personal racers if they put the drivers out there you can win.

[Byron Worner]

I agree totally the sportsman coverage is terrible. They could easily show the semi finals and finals of all sportsmen eliminators in their hour coverage of the alcohol classes.
The format of national events could be tweaked a little but for the most part they have to get the Pros in for their tv coverage. We do get bumped occasionally for this but that is expected when there are delays. We, the racers, need to remember that when we enter!

[joe176]

I say split em up .... Or have more Sportsnationals !!!!

[Michael Beard]

Originally Posted by joe176

I say split em up .... Or have more Sportsnationals !!!!

Or more Class Nationals...

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Rory McNeil

Sad to say, but from my experiances at NHRA National events, the"typical fan" doesn`t care about anything besides Top Fuel and Funny Car. Once the nitro cars run, the stands empiy out quickly, presumably so these "fans" can stand in line to get John Forces autograph, and watch the crews thrash between runs, and hopefully get a facefull of nitro fumes, and jump when the crew chief whacks the throttle during warm up. These are the same fans who almost seem to treat anything below Pro Stock with contempt, and appear to enjoy walking 10 abreast thru the pits and staging lanes, and holding up the cars trying to manuver past them on the way to the staging lanes withut overheating. Of course not all are like that, but many are.

Great post, Rory.
Fuel Zombies , I call them.

[Dan Fahey]

Actually this might be a great opportunity..!!

The Pro's dominate the Public who will not look at other classes.

Having a Sports Nationals adding the Pro Stockers only would create its own following.

I run SCCA, NASA and AutoCross with my son and they seem to get a good crowd.

Made other suggestions about clean facilties.
Sportsmand Classes have not been lauded for a long time.
The only thing we see on TV are the 60's and 70's era cars.

We have some of that coming back and just needs more focus and marketing.

Again I think IHRA has an opportunity to rock on this..

Dan