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

[Greg Hill]

Guys, I guess my point got lost in all the discussion about TV coverage. My point was that NHRA has made a conscious effort to promote only top fuel and funny car over the last 25 years. The only person the average guy on the street knows is John Force. Even drag racing fans generally only know a few of the pros. How come these fans don't know Ben Wenzel who won Indy in 1967 and is still racing the same car. How come they don't know Charlie Westcott who has taken the old super stock hemi cars to a whole new level or David Rampy who has more wins in competition eliminator than any one. How come they don't know Dan Fletcher, or Peter Biondo, or Edmund Richardson three of the best sportsman racers ever. It's because NHRA has taken the path of least resistance and decided it's too hard or too much trouble to educate the fans about sportsman racing.

They have done what put the most money in their own pockets while doing harm to the sportsman side of drag racing. When's the last time you saw a stock or super stock car in one of the magazines. Car Craft used to have an All Star team of sportsman drivers and tuners. They should be sending out press releases to the hometown papers, tv stations and radio stations of winners of all their races including points races.

Why do they show the top fuelers and funny cars tearing down their engines between rounds instead of showing sportsman racing? Why do they have those idiotic interviews
with the pros instead of showing sportsman racing. They have failed miserably to do things to benefit sportsman racing. Brett I apologize for not giving you credit for what you have done in the past.

[Curmudgeon]

Greg,you hit the nail on the head in second paragraph. It's all about the money. The ruling elite in the front office are only interested in packaging "product" to sell most profitably as NHRA is a business. The noise,phoney drama and big speed numbers seem to be what sells their product. As example a few years ago a co-worker went to a Nat event at E-town, Monday morning when I asked him about SS , as had a friend there,response was "what's that" and a looooong orgasmic diatribe on header flames,smokey burnouts and"I got John Force's autograph". This by the way was from a 40 year old alegedly intelligent adult .

[Nitro Joe Jackson]

Bret, your still my hero, this guy announced many races both my parents won and was the announcer when i won my first national event at Marion, Ohio in 1988
"He's the best of the Best"

[Bret Kepner]

Originally Posted by Greg Hill

How come these fans don't know Ben Wenzel who won Indy in 1967 and is still racing the same car? How come they don't know Charlie Westcott who has taken the old super stock hemi cars to a whole new level or David Rampy who has more wins in competition eliminator than any one? How come they don't know Dan Fletcher, or Peter Biondo, or Edmund Richardson three of the best sportsman racers ever?

Greg, I swear this isn't a slam but every example you cited HAS been included in NHRA's TV coverage of both Full Throttle and LODRS events. I name both series because all the aforementioned racers have been included in both telecasts and that information was inserted courtesy of Lewis Bloom or Todd Veney.

Actually, my first instinct was to answer your questions with the question of, "How come you don't know who won the 1982 NASCAR Modified Championship?". It's no different with drag racing. Only the hardcore fans care and only the hardest-core fans retain the information.

By the way, you've already given me all the credit I deserve by not bashing me to a pulp.

Originally Posted by Greg Hill

When's the last time you saw a stock or super stock car in one of the magazines. Car Craft used to have an All Star team of sportsman drivers and tuners. They should be sending out press releases to the hometown papers, tv stations and radio stations of winners of all their races including points races.

WHAT magazines? Jim Adolph finally gave up on the Car Craft All Stars program in 2002 when nobody would sponsor it.

However, I'll take exception to your claim of a lack of press releases. The NHRA does an absolutely amazing job of sending a complete and massively detailed press release from each day of each LODRS event from each division. These releases go to thousands of print, radio and television outlets. The biggest question is why aren't those outlets using those releases? The answer would be the same I offered in an earlier reply: "Drag racing just isn't that big of a deal".

I will admit I was dismayed when the first 2011 LODRS release came today, (from Bradenton), and the opening line stated, "A local to the track, Ed Richardson, Bradenton, Fla., took the win in Super Comp...". The reason this was mentioned first is because the releases are geared to the local news outlets to feature area talent victories. However, the new writer could, (at the very least), have mentioned a few of Ed's other "small victories"!

[Jim Bailey]

BRET; (lmao) hence the rabbit !!! Jim.

[Greg Hill]

Brett,you seem to think NHRA is doing a good job of promoting sportsman racing. When Ricky Decker won the SS championship in 2008 some of his friends had to inform the local media. When they found out there were some nice stories done about Ricky. I don't see how you can defend what they have done over the past years as promoting sportsman racing. There is no tv coverage on espn 2 of sportsman racing at National events that I have seen.

[FED 387]

I can understand Brett not saying(bad mouthing) much about NHRA ya dont wanna bite the hand that feeds ya!!! The only Sportsman stuff that Ive seen --not alcohol cars either- for the most part has fallen thru the cracks--every so often ya might see a little blurb on a sportsman but for every 50 telecasts 49 1/2 will be about J FORCE/ A FORCE/C FORCE and how many other kids he has and a smattering of the other Pros--personally I would rather watch poker/cheerleading than FORCE!!!!! We will see how well he runs now that Coil is gone might be OK but I definately believe that Coil is the brains behind that car running as well as it does--FED387

[Jeff Kempton]

Thanks again Bret, for giving us a further insight the complicated world of television! I know that I understand it much better now after your postings.

I agree that Internet shows are the coming thing; and at a price advantage that makes it accessible for many of the less-funded sports. Already you see it in heavy use by some of the more media-savvy tracks and teams, and I'm sure that will only grow in the near future.

[Ed Wright]

Thanks for taking the time to respond and explain how TV works. Some people just can't seem to accept that what we do ain't really that big a deal. I appreciate your time and effort.