2009 Sportsman Schedule???

[Alan Roehrich]

Lucky guess, I suppose. Okay, so they include them, who does THAT send home, and how often?

I said it before, but I'll repeat it now. I'm all for people having a place to race, whether I'm a fan of their class or not. But we can't all race at the same place at the same time.

National Events and Division points races have already become terribly diluted, this will only make it worse. If those classes are added, one of two things will happen. More classes will sit out races, or races will get even longer.

Well, they don't rotate classes at LODRS events, so those will get even longer. But these days what sportsman racer has time for a FOUR day LODRS event, much less 5 or 6 of them a year? Yes, we're seeing Top Sportsman and Top Dragster at LODRS events now. But what will they add next?

As it stands now, at many National Events, one sportsman class sits out each year. The Charlotte race is supposed to be the debut of the premier facility in the country. Guess who WON'T be there. A sportsman class, Stock Eliminator. If you don't get to a National Event a day early, odds are you might not get parked in time to get through tech and make the first time shot if you run Stock, or Super Street. We went through that at Atlanta this year. Drive all night, get to Atlanta at 2AM, get up to get parked, wait for the pro rigs to get parked, rush in, get parked, unload, go to tech, and miss the first time shot. Well, if you make most or all National Events a day longer, a day early becomes a day late, and where does that leave you?

NHRA needs to learn and understand you cannot be everything to everyone. They need to learn that once you run off a certain group of fans and racers, usually hard core people, they don't come back. Then the new wears off of your fad, and those fans and racers you gained go away. But those hard core people don't all come back. In fact, 1/2 them never come back.

NASCAR will find this out when the new wears off of them in California. But it'll be too late, because the tracks in the heart of NASCAR country will have been bulldozed and replaced by malls and subdivisions, and the fans will be out fishing.

Years ago, there were a couple of 4 wheel drive truck pulling classes, the hard core fans loved them, and there were plenty of trucks. Truck and tractor pulling got "discovered". Then they brought in two wheel drive trucks that were really just tractors with "funny truck" bodies, and monster trucks. The "new" fans loved it. But then there was no room for the 4 wheel drive trucks anymore, so they were sent packing. And they took a lot of fans with them. The new has worn off of 2 wheel drive "trucks" and monster trucks. But the old 4 wheel drive guys all quit, and they're doing something else now. And the fans all discovered other hobbies and other things to do with their time.

The lesson is already there, the question is, will NHRA pay attention?