[Bret Kepner]

Since I've been mentioned a few times in this thread, I'm going to offer a few observations. I'm not picking on any individual but I am going to address the many misconceptions posted herein.

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Perhaps the way to go would be having an independent producer film, edit and package for sale to Speed, FSCR or ESPN coverage of one or more of the Stock/Super Stock association combo events.

Originally Posted by Nitro Joe Jackson

We need a independent firm to do it with experienced ex-racers more or less directing what to do.

Originally Posted by Stephen & Horace Johnson

Why doesnt NHRA sign a deal with Speed channel and get more TV exposure!

One of these days, you folks will understand how television works in the twenty-first century. Networks do not pay for shows about drag racing. It works the other way around. Everybody, from NHRA's Full Throttle series and the IHRA's Nitro Jam events to the weekly Inside Drag Racing show, pays the network for the airtime. To the network, a drag racing show is just an infomercial.

How much does it cost? Using rough but accurate numbers, it costs any production company $1,000 per minute of air time to shoot, edit and package the event and the "slot" of airtime costs $1,000 per minute to puchase. In other words, if you'd like to put a thirty-minute sportsman show on television on any major channel, be prepared to spend a minimum of $60,000. Using this equation for an average NHRA National Event weekend which includes five hours of coverage, you'll see why the NHRA pays approximately $8,000,000 per year for their ESPN schedule.

How do I know this? This is how I've made my living for twenty-seven years.

Originally Posted by Greg Hill

There has been, in the last 25 or so years, a complete lack of promotion for sportsman racing unless you include alcohol cars as sportsmen.

Originally Posted by dynomo

It is sad that sportsman racing never got any kind of shot at TV.

...unless you count the 137 sportsman-only IHRA shows, (by my count, which is pretty accurate), which we, (including myself as a contractor), produced and aired on ESPN between 1985 and 1996. However, I'm going to guess you think those don't count. Because of this, I probably shouldn't mention the dozens of sportsman-only shows aired on Inside Drag Racing, (for which I'm a contractor), for the past twenty-one years including everything from Alex Denysenko's Class Nationals at Byron (IL) to IDR's exclusive coverage of SS/AA eliminations at the NHRA U.S. Nationals for seven years straight.

In all seriousness, I could take these comments quite personally; we, (as a production company and as fans), poured our souls into those shows to make them the best possible representations of sportsman drag racing. However, I'm old enough that my feelings won't be hurt.

Originally Posted by Greg Hill

I can remember back to the late 60's and early 70's going to Indy to watch and there were huge crowds the days of class with people hanging off the fence.

I'm going to presume you don't remember why all those people were hanging on the fence to watch class racing back then but here is the real reason. In the 1960s and 1970s, there were no "days of class" racing as they are currently presented. At that time, there were no Professional Qualifying Sessions. In any given hour, fans would watch every class from Stock to Top Fuel running a few pairs at a time. The reason the grandstands were so full was because the fans saw every class during every hour of a ten-hour (or longer) day. Those fans weren't there just to see sportsman cars.

Originally Posted by FED 387

Hell, if he (Lucas) or the other companies want to buy advertising, ya dont think the TV guys are gonna say no do ya?

Yes. As a matter of fact, they will. The majority of the advertising money for the current shows goes to the production company...not the network. The production company has already paid for the airtime so the network has no stake in the advertising. In fact, the network could care less who advertises on these programs; it's not their show. As a somewhat humorous sidenote to your comment, this is the very reason Forrest Lucas recently started his own television network, (MAVTV), for which I'm a contractor.

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

A reasonably smart marketing man could still sell S/SS racing as a viable niche program.

If this were true, it would be done on a regular basis. It's not done at all. Don't think for a minute it hasn't been analyzed or tried; any racing association will do anything which proves successful and makes money. Stock and Super Stock are not marketable on their own will only be televised if the airtime is purchased from the network.

Furthermore, your concept of the "niche market" system is askew. The sport of professional drag racing is the "niche market". Sportsman competition is a miniscule niche within that niche which, as a separate entity, has extremely limited appeal. Many people see the television ratings for professional drag racing and ask, "Why are the numbers so low?". The incredibly simple answer is, "Drag racing just isn't that big of deal...period".

Originally Posted by Jeff Kempton

The "Lucas Oil/On The Edge" series features a wide variety of motorsports-themed stuff; anything from schoolbus demolition derbies to snowmobiles racing on ponds. These are all fringe type events that certainly can't afford to pay the full cost of getting on that show yet there they are on national TV.

You're dead wrong. These shows are only on television because they paid the production company and bought the airtime to be on television at the rates mentioned above. How do I know this? I'm a contractor for the Lucas Oil/On the Edge television show.

Originally Posted by Jeff Kempton

What do all these events have in common? Simplicity!

Very true; they all include the simplicity of writing a check to get on television.

Originally Posted by dynomo

Bret Kepner was one guy that could have done the sportsman racer well...sad that no one capitalized on his talent.

Originally Posted by Toby Lang

Yep, Kepner used to be good back in the day.

I appreciate the prepared obituaries but, in 2011, I still make my living as a televised drag racing commentator. I've been lucky enough to hold the same job since 1985 and my schedule is still full every year. I guess I was the guy who capitalized on my talent but the companies with whom I've worked as a contractor have made out pretty well on the deal, too. However, I truly appreciate the compliments....even if they are in the past tense!