Why cant Sportsman Racing be like this on TV these days???

[Pistol Pete]

That was a Great post Bret.
I try to explain handicap racing to my co-workers & all they do is scratch there heads.
They say "what in the world are you talking about". I tell them you have to come to the
track and see for yourself.
Even watching the Top Fuel & Funny Cars on T.V. i tell people that's never been to a drag racing event, you can't appreciate the sport watching it on T.V. I tell them to go and see it in person.
And i would say somebody that's never been wants to see something fast & a possibilty of it blowing up. Or they would probably like a handicap start between a U/SA & a AA/SA.
I've been following drag racing for some 40 plus years, both watching & racing.
My first time to a drag race was at Englishtown, when the pit side was on 1 side of the track. I think all they ran were class eliminations, but there were hundreds of cars & they used to ride back right in front of the stands, which at age 12, i thought that was cool.
At that time you couldn't get in the pits unless you were 18. So i sat by myself while my brothers were on the pit side. I had a Great time that day.
I've been a drag racing addict since then, and after a 30 year off lay off, i'm back racing in Stock Elim.

I would love to see more $10,000 races like Brian & Lee are putting on in May in the future. Thanks Guys for organizing this race.
Mainly because "We Are The Show".
Even if it's a $5,000 race, it sure beats a Divisional race that's 3 days with lots of down time.
Sorry for the long post, i got carried away.

Pistol Pete Dutko
1374
I/SA

[Lew Silverman]

At the risk of adding more fuel to the fire...........

This is 2011. Motorsports is BIG BUSINESS. And in business the bottom line is pushing product, and has been for a good long time. The pursuit of money drives everything! For the corporations who make television possible, the more people who watch their advertisements the better. The average drag racing "fan" likes the smoke and fire, so that is what's presented on TV. That's the economic impact of the business! Who would have thought that people would watch "bass fishing"? Or Poker?? Someone figured out a way to make a buck so there you go!

Drag Racing may have started as a hobby for most of us. Some of us have been able to be quite successful at it, but for most of us, the only return on our investment is just the enjoyment of doing something we love. If the most important part of your hobby is the money you make from it, then maybe it isn't a HOBBY anymore! And not that making it your job is a bad thing, but if that's the case, then it might be time to go Top Fuel or FC racing, where the REAL money is .

Just my opinion, flawed or not! I'll still be out there, because that's where I want to be, good or bad!

Lew

[FED 387]

I personally want to thank Brett for offering his inside expertise on this subject---Most if not all of us are not aware of how the subjects/production company/networks work and his explanation of what it takes to make it all come about is very helpful to my understanding of what it takes to get a TV program aired----I too have watched Brett over the years and have always admired his knowledge about racing and his on camera delivery---I heard that Forrest is doing his own TV programming /production/ whatever you call it, I merely was using him as an example probably because he is one of the most noticeable people right now in not only drag racing but other forms of racing. Thanks Brett for all you have done and keep up the great job you have been doing/done I appreciate what you have done and I'm thinkinking that you put a lot of your "heart" into the show not only as well as it is your "job" too---FED 387

[Jim Bailey]

Bret: I'm Glad,.. NO..., Thankful that I was (we were) part of those days, and yes, those were the Days!!! How can you not smile! JB .... P.S. my wife wants a rabbit.

[Toby Lang]

Bret,

As you can tell by the smiley face I was trying to make a joke. I'm sure you're still as good as you ever were. I know I'm as good once as I ever was.

You probably don't remember this, but you interviewed me at midnight for the TV show after I won my first, and only, Iron Man in Shreveport back in 1998. This was two weeks after I won my first national event Wally at Memphis.

The Shreveport event was rained out the week before and I didn't plan on going to the make-up race since it was being held the same weekend as the Dallas national event. It had been raining in Dallas also and it was one of those deals where the sportsman would come in on Thursday make their runs and leave later that night so they could park the Pro's on the asphalt.

We only got two time runs and I screwed up in qualifing and had a heads-up race first round, which of course I lost. So I had plenty of time to go back to the Shreveport race. I did win a heads-up race in the second round there though.

As my car owner Jim Meador likes to say, things happen for a reason. I'm glad I had the opportunity to win an Iron Man. It's one of the only things I've won that Jody probably never will.


-Toby

[Jeff Kempton]

Thanks for the clarification Bret; I stand corrected. I was hoping that someone with hands-on experience in the TV production of drag racing events would post, and I appreciate you stepping up with some good and accurate information.

If I understand you correctly, then the lawn mower racers/demo derbies/snowmobile racers pay up to $60,000 (less the revenue from the commercial time) to have their event produced and televised? I must say I'm shocked that some of these organizations can afford that much money.

As far as Inside Drag Racing goes, unfortunately here in Canada we do not get that show (I say this through gritted teeth). We also do not get the full ESPN race coverage; instead for each event we only get a single condensed show on TSN of about 2-2.5 hours' duration, usually aired only once and at the most inconvenient time possible. From what you've said, I assume that it costs NHRA for it to be aired here too, and it's edited down because that's all the airtime they're willing to pay for in Canada.

Were the Diamond P shows financed the same way, or was that "another era" in Motorsports TV?

[Ed Fernandez]

I would think that the amount paid to air the show would be determined by what day and time it would be aired at.Say Sat night 8PM EST as opposed to Thurs morning 1PM EST.

[Jason Oldfield]

IMHO, the average American is smart enough to understand handicapped starts. What's so hard to understand about a head start? Kids even know what a head start is.

What the average American CAN'T understand though is breakouts. If two people are RACING, how is it possible that one person goes too quick and is disqualified? I thought this was a race!

The main eliminations of Super Stock will never be popular to the masses. If ALL of the eliminations were run like class eliminations (or Comp with no CIC, or like the old Modified Eliminator used to be run), then I think you could have a made-for-TV product.

Now don't jump all over me...I'm not condoning changing Stock or S/S to be like the old Modified Eliminator. I'm just saying that it would be more interesting for the casual fan to watch. Comp could be fun to watch, but with the huge disparity in performance (due to the lack of cars) and everybody so concerned about getting a CIC violation, it has made Comp about as interesting to watch as grass growing. Too many competitors red-lighting, and too many competitors letting off after the 1/8th mile clock (and many times both in the same race).

The .90 categories COULD be interesting to put on TV, but not with electronics. All this stumbling crap coming off the starting line makes the .90 classes ALMOST as boring to watch as the alcohol classes (particularly S/C where you have 120 identically prepared rear-engine dragsters running). I can watch this type of racing because I know what's going on, but it's never going to get somebody to stand up out of their seat, or get the average American to set their DVR to tape it.

The IHRA sportsman programs were the last good ones on TV, but they've been off the air now close to 15 years. Those were replaced with showing only the final rounds to what they show today, which in most cases is nothing. IHRA's TV program is horrible now, but it's a reflection of their horrible Pro program, IMHO. NHRA's TV program has been horrible for at least the last 10 years. I've gotten to the point where I don't even care if I catch them or not (that's a pretty sad statement considering that drag racing is #1 in my family!)

If you can catch IDR, their shows are decent when they're not 30 minute long commercials (which they typically do in the off-season around SEMA and PRI), but they typically only have one camera filming so you're not going to get the type of production that you get from an NHRA race. But, at least you get to see something else run other than T/F and AA/FC (when it actually tapes...I've noticed that recently the guide on my DVR has said IDR, but it ends up being Two Guys Garage!)

And Brett - Please do me a favor and tell the blonde haired guy on IDR (his name escapes me at the moment) that when he cuts himself shaving to TAKE THE BAND-AID OFF BEFORE GOING ON CAMERA! It looks terrible, and just draws your attention to that area more (I've caught him doing this on multiple occasions).

[A100]

You guys DO know that there is another way to communicate these days. Other forms of class racing racing have figured it out. How long is it going to take you guys to figure it out.

Example:
Here is a promotion of a race the last weekend this month at SGMP.

http://www.dragraceplace.com/
Then click on the No Sleep Till Geogia vidio

There were over 400 cars at this race last year. Roland was overwhelmed by the car count. It would not suprise me if the count went up this year.

You want to be on TV? Show up, Duck will have a live stream, for a few bucks your friends can watch you back home. Maybe just buy a CD of the event. Time you figured out how to get past the gate keepers.

[SS Engine Guy]

Thanks for the great explanation!

So who gets the money for the commercials?
The production company? Since it owns the air time?