Want to "bring back" Class Racing?

[FireSale]

Originally Posted by Bryan Worner

In 2001, my dad won class eliminations 9 times! Each class win was worth around $2000.00 in contingency money. To put that in perspective, I got $15,000 for winning the World Championship in 2020. What do we have now, a total of 7 class eliminations races country wide that you'll be lucky to claim $200 for winning!

I was wondering if NASCAR's payouts were the same as they were in 2001 and if their executives still got their 150% increases in salary and bonuses over that time span???

Maybe instead of focusing on the AHFS, someone should focus on bringing class racing back to what it used to be and the AHFS would take care of itself! Don't you think someone might push their combo a little harder if the payout was worth a little more than $100-$200???? I do!

Can't find a purse for the 2001 Daytona 500 but in 1998 the winner took home $1,000,000. It was the 50th. Anniversary Race. Joey Logano won $1,581,453 in 2015. The 2022 winners purse is $1,600,000
In 2010 the NASCAR "Sportsman" (Xfinity and trucks) took a 10 percent cut.


Teams get guaranteed spots in a race (not qualifying spots) if they have a NASCAR Charter. A Charter is currently $12 million per car. Roger Pensky has, like 4 of them.

[Frank Castros]

Bryan,

What class did your dad run in 2001? If I remember correctly GT/KA? His record is super impressive.

I agree with all your points but it comes down to the manufacturers posting the money, certainly not the N.H.R.A. Is this something that should be be taken to David Kennedy Director of Multimedia Content & Contingency Program?

Your'e correct about the AHFS questions being solved and also remember back in the day if you set a national record you got points for it.

[John Duzac]

So true Frank. Setting an ET record earned you points. The same was true for a mph record. So many vacant class minimum records is just a shame. NHRA should promote record setting by awarding points to racers if their car passes tear down. I bet then the tear down barn would be jam packed.

[Charley Downing]

I believe nhra has brought up giving points for national records and top 3-5 qualifying positions in the last 3 months. But 5 of the 7 current SRAC stk/ss members are more bracket Oriented racers and it was shot down. I believe one even used an example that he would have lost the world championship to drew skillman if those qualifying points were in place a few years ago.

[Monte Howard]

Let’s not forget the way NHRA has treated the contingency paying companies over the last 20 years also, I believe that is another reason most left. Besides most Companies where owned buy car guys, now they have all been bought out by pencil pushers.

[B Parker]

forget just about paying for winning class. Look at the list of companies that pay winner and runner up. It's a far cry from what it was 20 years ago. It would be nice just to get more to sign on to pay winner and runner up. I'd love to see points for setting records and the top 5 qualifiers. Put a limit on the number of points you can obtain from either one of these 2. Say a record could get you 5 points. Max it at ten so you could only get points for setting 2 records. Set the number of points you could obtain from qualifying at 20. Just examples BP

[4543]

The contingency money issue is multifaceted. Companies are posting for exposure that will translate into increased sales. The number of sales that can be made to our active racers is really pretty limited. This means exposure to spectators, passerby’s, print media, tv, etc. Pretty hard sell to a company when a divisional race(most of our events) have a minimum number of spectators. Solution is for promoters(NHRA, tracks, private race promoters) to partner to change this dynamic. More spectators = more sales. National Dragster reaches the same group of viewers each month, few new viewers. Remember when everybody used open trailers. People were always honking, waving, and pointing at the race cars when they passed you on the highway. When you stopped at a gas station people always came over to look at and talk about racing. Bottom line is proper promotion of sport with increased viewing and spectators can lead to more sales and an increased number of contingency sponsors. Mike McMahan 2543 H/SA

[Bobby Fazio]

With the advent of social media marketing campaigns, you can reach a wider audience quickly and cheaper than having your decals on cars at divisionals where there are 5 people in the stands or at a national event when your decal is hopefully on the remaining 4 cars on Sunday. And if you’re lucky, maybe the 10 second tv spot but only if alcohol dragster is in town. Personally, given the current ad impressions my stickers would get, I would not join the program if I had a business, other than the fact that I would want to support my racing community and be a nice guy but I would have to have LOTS of extra money to do so. Why do you think I push so hard for increased coverage and more favorable Friday-Sunday scheduling? If I were a potential contingency sponsor on the fence I would be asking NHRA to get my stickered cars in front of the crowd as much as possible. It has to be worth it for them. And to be honest some of the companies have to step into the 21st century with their payment process but that’s another issue. The team at Draginsights could fix that easily.

[Bryan Worner]

Originally Posted by Frank Castros

Bryan,

What class did your dad run in 2001? If I remember correctly GT/KA? His record is super impressive.

I agree with all your points but it comes down to the manufacturers posting the money, certainly not the N.H.R.A. Is this something that should be be taken to David Kennedy Director of Multimedia Content & Contingency Program?

Your'e correct about the AHFS questions being solved and also remember back in the day if you set a national record you got points for it.

Correct. GT/JA and KA, mostly K. I've emailed Kennedy many times and he has been helpful with contingency claims, but I've had a few suggestions lately and have yet to receive replies on those. We shall see.