ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

I had a chance to watch both the NHRA Full Throttle and Lucas Oil Sportsman coverage on ESPN this past weekend. No real surprises here, you either like the format/coverage or you don't. It's the only "game" on basic cable!

Two things that happened DID kind of bother me, and I felt the need to vent, so here goes -

During the hour-long coverage of the TAD/TAFC racing at Pomona an interview was conducted with Mr. Forrest Lucas, a man who I have great admiration and respect for. The gist of the interview was that Sportsman racing was very important because it was the "backbone of racing" and most of the Pro's started as Sportsman racers. I got the feeling from watching the interview that Mr. Lucas is very passionate about his love of Sportsman drag racing! I just wish his concern for the Sportsman racer equated into more coverage because at the end of the program they only showed about 45 seconds of the Class finals held on Monday. (More airtime was afforded the NHRA Jr. Dragster program!)

Then during the sign-off, I heard Dave Reiff and Bob Frey say that the next show would be in March from the Gator's. I thought for a second and realized, HEY, they're not running TAD/TAFC at Phoenix, so no Lucas Oil show next week! And that's when I got mad!

Here is a PERFECT opportunity to provide a national platform for the REAL "backbone of drag racing", and they're not taking advantage of it! One hour of air-time during the year when it would be possible to high-light the other classes of Sportsman drag racing, instead of the maybe 25 minutes we'll get ALL YEAR! How much more expensive would one more show be? The advertising and promotion capabilities remain the same, we just focus on the much larger number of Sportsman racers who compete at NHRA National as well as Divisional events. Here was a PERFECT opportunity to introduce Sportsman Class drag racing to a national audience. They could have explained all the different classes, handicap starts and the other unique things about Sportsman Class racing. Is it so hard to believe that enough interest would be generated to make a program like this feasible? Lucas Oil is still the sponsor and benefactor for this production, which is why they still have their syndicated "On the Edge" programming featuring "little-guy" drag racing every so often.

Does this make sense to anyone else?

(The above comments are my opinion only and are not meant to demean or insult anyone)

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

I think one of the reasons they don't put the rest of the sportsmen classes is because most of the people at home have not clue about what goes on in ST,SS,COMR,SC,SG,. But they do understand what heads up racing is.I would love to more of all the other classes on TV. It really sucks because I sure allot of sportsmen racers would be in front of the TV to watch.

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

This is really a non-issue anymore, guys. Every run of Sunday eliminations in every class is live on ESPN3. What in the world do you WANT?

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

Obviously.....ESPN4;)

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

well you asked, ( not trying to be a smart *****)

It would be nice to have the track anouncer feed when the ESPN guys are not announcing.

Not that I am complaining, I love espn3!!!!!

I bet you know who to talk to about this. Thank's Ray

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

I don't know but I'm sure its not giant mutant bunny rabbitts!:eek:

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

ESPN3 is not available everywhere!! I would pay/subscribe to it but cant even do that!!

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

I guess my main complaint was that here was an opportunity to showcase OUR Class racing to a wider audience than just US, and maybe, just maybe, get other folks to realize that there are other people in competition at these events, NOT just the Funny Cars and Dragsters. It appears that I might be only one who thinks this way.

Lew

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

We tap in to the audiocast and HDMI the ESPN3 feed into the TV and watch it live. It's fairly enjoyable.

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

I've found out with the ESPN3 Coverage you need to have the NHRA Audio going at the same time. That's what I did most of the time last year. Only problem is that the ESPN 3 Coverage is delayed a bit so the Audio is about 5 seconds faster then the coverage so cars are at mid-track and you already know who won but, I'll take it.

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

Lew , I agree 100 percent. How do new people learn of this great sport than watching it first on tv.I thought we want to teach more people of the great time it is drag racing, the cars and the people of course. We do not get espn3 in my area, new york metro area. People identify with cars they see on the road or used to see. No funny cars commuting where I live. It really is a sin they do not televise the races with no alcohol cars.
Chris.

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

I would like to see ESPN period. They don't sell it in Canada . NHRA has dropped the ball with "NO COVERAGE". :mad:

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

They might have dropped the ball on Sportsman coverage but they sure caught Forrest Lucas mouthing..."Son-of-a-b***h"... when Morgan blew up the engine in his TF on race day.

That should have never been shown especially since it is a taped show. The idiots who produce the show probably thought it was funny to show a man of his stature cussing on National TV. Sure he should not have done it with a camera in his face but that bit of tape should have hit the cutting room floor.

Or is this the beginning of a new format? Let's call it NHRA SMACKDOWN.

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

I agree it should of been snipped, but no doubt somebody was going for the "reality tv" angle that is so prevalent now. It has been going this way for years but now it's getting too obvious that it's perceived as just another form of "entertainment" and has nothing to do with competition. The winner in any class mean no more to people than the winner of a reality show..and the reality winners get more money. I think even the Force's would make more impact on "dancing with the stars" or whatever the hell it's called.

We don't get espn in Canada and I haven't watched dragracing on tv in many, many, years. The closest I get is "Pass Time" or a rerun of "Pinks all out".

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

What a way to honor the man who just signed a huge multi-year sponsorship contract with NHRA. Way to go ESPN for coverage above and beyond decency.

http://sportsman.nhra.com/content/divnews.asp?articleid=49003&zoneid=12

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

I agree with you. Now let's do something about it. Put together a petition, maybe a facebook page that you can get thousands of people to join and send it into NHRA or ESPN. I'll do it if you want. Complaining on here doesn't get ***** done, gotta do something. NHRA will probably want to see proof that it will be watched so we will need some kind of data.. At most we could ask for the last 3 rounds or so of each sportsman category. Also, a couple key "class elimination" showdowns in stock or super stock since it's heads up racing.

I like how they let Lewis Bloom announce the class finals because he knows what he is talking about and can offer some information to viewers. It should be like that all the time, either Bloom or Alan Reinhart. I am pretty sure the other ESPN commentators don't even understand our classes, except for Bob Frey.

Re: ESPN/NHRA drop the ball again!
 

Its amazing that nhra and espn doesn't understand that there is already a gulf in audience for a sportsmen show. I don't understand since even not natgeo I believe has shows about street racing on. One of the shows follows these street racers in LA that are trying to go legal and race on the track. They showed them got to the track and make fours runs and all. I would love to see maybe the last three rounds of sportsmen on tv. If you get good announcing and go into the pits show some of the different cars and drivers it could work. People can relate more to the guy racing on the weekend and being a plumber on Monday thanx they can with Morgan Lucas. Also maybe the factories would get some more exposure for their cars and also their parts divisions.