Marketing Sportsman Racing

[Ross Family Racing]

X Tech Man,
Sounds like the way the NEW IHRA is going to do things.
Jeff Ross

[XSTOCKER]

1. Evening show (so spectators aren’t baking in the sun)
2. Affordable ticket prices and concessions
3. Creative advertising
4. Educated Announcer that knows something about class racing
5. Less classes
6. Keep cars going down the race track
7. And maybe something thrown in for a few OOO’s and AAAH’s

[Ron Middleton]

Joe,
If you get a chance check out an ADRL event. Free tickets for anyone who want to locate them, one of the best shows around and one of the best promoters in auto racing. I have crewed the last two seasons on the Bankston Boyz Racing Pro Nitrous(nitrous Pro Mod) and have seen record crowds and spectators turned away at many events. The National Guard and others have stepped up and Kenny has forged a new way to market drag racing to sponsors. We have had 36-40 nitrous cars at many events qualifying for a 16 car field and so have almost all the other classes except for Extreme Pro Stock. A very racer friendly and spectator savvy organization. They run Pro Extreme(blower/turbo Pro Mods), Pro Nitrous(nitrous Pro Mods), Extreme Pro Stock(mountan motor Pro Stocks), Extreme 10.5(outlaw 10.5 cars), Pro Extreme Motorcycle, and Pro Junior Dragster. Two day, great shows for fans. All but Pro Junior Dragster are heads-up classes so new spectators don't have a hard time understanding dial-ins and breakouts.
We runner-upped at Memphis and won at Houston and it was pretty awesome. Our first 3 second 1/8th mile pass happened in Houston and they had us come back down return road and had the crowd all into that fact. The winners circle at Houston was bigger than what I've seen for the pros at both NHRA and IHRA events.
If sportsman racers had a promotoer like Kenny then much could be possible.
JMT.
Ron

[Harry 6674]

Get rid of the shoe polish and fans will return. Some say that car counts will be down but the factoring will finally work so those racing will be serious about performance. Of course thats just my opinion but I've had plenty of fans tell me they didn't like the sandbagging and dial ins where a lower classed car gives the higher class car a head start. Now come on how silly is that?

[Mark Yacavone]

A lot of the S/SS cars could be marketed in a nostalgia / musclecar venue. That would include late model Camaros/Firebirds and CJ's as well.
I have No idea what to do with FWD conversion Cobalts and Cavaliers.

[buzzinhalfdozen]

First thing that comes to mind with respect to dialed index cars. A few years ago we ran a Stick Nationals at Edgewater they paired up the cars for eliminations with the closest E.T.'s . This at least gave the illusion of some heads up runs. Second to get good participation you need to have a reasonably sized purse. I've seen this at the Buckeye S/SS races 1400-1500 to win at the trails not bad money in my opinoin. Of course if I had to travel 200-300 miles for that it would be less attractive. They would need to get some spectators to help the track make some money then maybe the tracks would WANT these type os programs.The thought of some Prostock or Promods is to sell the tickets, get people out watching and spending money at the trtacks... the track wins the racers win. As I recall WAY back in the dark ages there were plenty of match race circiuts that did very well. This would be a form of that. We have to understand that the average Joe isn't gonna come out to watch just S/SS cars they need something more to pull them in. From what I see there are alot of southern tracks that Book in "quick" what ever shows and make alot of money at it. What's quicker than Prostock, Promod and maybe 4 nitro harleys for good measure? Joe

[Jim Wahl]

Mark, Put them back in Comp! Jim

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Ross Family Racing

X Tech Man,
Sounds like the way the NEW IHRA is going to do things.
Jeff Ross

No....the IHRA still wants a circus show with the top oilers. Screw those damn things. They just keep the race tracks from RUSTING and take up space.

[buzzinhalfdozen]

From the last 2 IHRA Nats. I attended you could run every car down the track twice in the time it took to send 6-8 Top fool cars smoking the tires and oiling the track. Again which would the average fan want to see? Some fast door cars with a bit of Sportsman Mixed in Or the IHRA's non show? Joe

[Michael Beard]

Pinks All Out successfully markets 10-sec bracket cars. So, absolutely it can be done. It's all about TV, and how it is packaged. If Pinks wasn't on TV, their events wouldn't draw anywhere near what they do. (see 1320X)