NHRA Marketing Strategy, or Lack Thereof..

[Chris "drooze" Wertman]

I agree

1) You were Exposed to racing, hence you race...some decided its not for them and dont, but once youve got the bug its harder than gonaherpasyphilitis to get rid of.

2)Your pop had the resources and was able to field you in a car
A LOT more people WOULD race if ever given a chance, how many people you were in school with raced or their fathers raced ? Ill BET it was less than when I was in school...it was NOT at all uncommon to see a Garlits, Purdohme, or even Girl wearing a Muldowney shirt, especially a new one on Monday after the races.

3)If you dont get new people to the races and let them race, you cant get new fans OR entrants....

With every racer I figure he brings at least 5 fans to the sport just a guess...but think about it , Joe Nobody Races.....Ok, his mom and pop are built in fans following, his gal, and a buddy and maybe an aunt or uncle. They have no prior exposure to racing, NOW they do, they are at the track filling the seats. THEN You have Joes Cousin Johnny, who through Joe gets exposed, and decides he likes it, and so on so forth.

Its socially viral in its spread......to do that you need to seed it.

Seed it with a LOT of people who would have otherwise had NO exposure to racing.

You and Me were pretty much guarenteed to be and interested in racing because of our exposure, but as that dwindles the next generation of racers/fans dwindles.....

Dont start with FANS to make the Sport big, cant get a fan in something they dont understand, Get the Racers, the fans WILL follow.

Gone are the days of CATASROPHIC Explosions , Car fires, and On and On on a REGULAR basis, you KNEW when you went to a National Back in the 70's Something was going to go wrong in a BIG way....it was almost a guarentee....people LIKE seeing it, noone wants ANYONE hurt....but FANS LOVE **** going wrong.....nascar.....nuff said.....

DAMM Im getting old at 38 or inflation is worse than I thought, look at some of your dads old ND in the classifieds from 78 or so hell you could buy a TFFC for 10k a couple years old, damm near any combo you wanted for 10k....ouch..In ND from that time you see all kinds of competitive packages for 5 and sometimes under....(Im a pack rat, and so is the old man, Ive got damm near every magazine he subscribed to since 1957.....love the old rod an customs and car craft etc.) The classifeds are always one of my favorites, I saw a Coffin Nosed Cord in the one for like 6 months running for $3000......crazy...

Originally Posted by BKSG1198

I mean 30 years ago you could go buy a competitive Vega or Monza Bodied car for like 10,000 turn key and take it to the strip and go,.

[treessavoy]

All of "old" guys got into drag racing by taking our street cars to the races one Sunday and got hooked, we were surrounded by guys just like us.

Today's kids are more interested in how loud their stereo is than how fast the car is. All they are interested in is how big a muffler they have, stereo, ground effects and how low it sits. They're not interested in Drag Racing!

I spent a good deal of the summer at Gainesville on test and tune nights and there never were more than three to seven of them there to race. How are you going to sell them on drag racing when they have no interest in it?

If you made a Pure Stock front wheel drive class for them I bet you couldn't get any participation.

I don't know the answer but somethings got to be done to bring new blood to the sport.

JimR

[Dick Butler]

Jim, As I understand the Grudge race nights here in Dayton are the money makers. Hundreds of kids racing for fun with lots of girl friends. Just like when Stock and SS got their start. No one comes to Sunday to see Brackets . the car count is dropping also.
One problem is Which cars could be the basis for new appeal? Mustangs? CHargers , Camaros? Needs to be a Heads up show added that night to show real Class cars for the kids to question, understand and use as a goal to achieve... Or Show them some fast stuff and suggest a starter class for them (to be determined later)
It is a project not a quickie solution.

[hemidup]

Originally Posted by drooze

I agree

3)If you dont get new people to the races and let them race, you cant get new fans OR entrants....

With every racer I figure he brings at least 5 fans to the sport just a guess...but think about it , Joe Nobody Races.....Ok, his mom and pop are built in fans following, his gal, and a buddy and maybe an aunt or uncle. They have no prior exposure to racing, NOW they do, they are at the track filling the seats. THEN You have Joes Cousin Johnny, who through Joe gets exposed, and decides he likes it, and so on so forth.

Its socially viral in its spread......to do that you need to seed it.

Seed it with a LOT of people who would have otherwise had NO exposure to racing.

Dont start with FANS to make the Sport big, cant get a fan in something they dont understand, Get the Racers, the fans WILL follow.

Point well taken. A couple years ago, some friends of my sons stopped by and was talking crap about my supercharged pickup truck and telling me how their little turbocharged Civic, WRX and Camaro would kick its butt. I told them to put up or shut up..... let's take 'em to the track.

Now these little street racer's had very little track experience so I set up the meet for an NHRA Friday Nite Street Legal event about a month in advance. Off and on for the next few weeks, I helped those kids with certain items and issue's so their cars would pass tech. They all thought they had 11 second rides based off their butt dyno and I gave them crap about how slow they would be that they probably wouldn't even need a helmet. lol Those kids were on their cell phones, Facebook, etc, telling their friends to come out and watch the race. I couldn't believe how many kids and family members showed up. There was a caravan of them. Must have been at least a couple dozen and for most, it was their first time ever at a track.

A few things were achieved that night.

#1, I took their racing off the street and put them on a safe track where racing belongs.
#2, Introduced drag racing to people who've heard of it but had probably never even watched it on TV.
#3, Grudge racing is fun. The kids had a blast setting up races with other racers they met for the fisrt time and building new friendships.
#4, Sportsmanship. I told them to never under estimate your competition and don't be a sore loser cause they'll aways be someone faster than you, especially an old guy in a big yellow pickup truck.

These kids have now moved on from the Friday Nite Street Legal drags and compete in bracket racing at Rock Falls. They've broken, busted, rebuilt and repaired their cars, but are having a blast doing it with family and friends.

Maybe its time for us racers to get involved if scheduling permits it. Maybe volunteer a Saturday or Sunday once a year? Maybe go to your local school and setup a field trip? Talk with your local newspaper for some free press? Talk with your local parts stores and have them kick in a few bucks to keep the cost of the field trip down? Talk with your local track for reduced or free admission since they'll make it up at the consession stand?....Just throwing some idea's out there is all.

[Bobby Fazio]

This is perfect and my hats off to you for helping these kids out!

Originally Posted by hemidup

Point well taken. A couple years ago, some friends of my sons stopped by and was talking crap about my supercharged pickup truck and telling me how their little turbocharged Civic, WRX and Camaro would kick its butt. I told them to put up or shut up..... let's take 'em to the track.

Now these little street racer's had very little track experience so I set up the meet for an NHRA Friday Nite Street Legal event about a month in advance. Off and on for the next few weeks, I helped those kids with certain items and issue's so their cars would pass tech. They all thought they had 11 second rides based off their butt dyno and I gave them crap about how slow they would be that they probably wouldn't even need a helmet. lol Those kids were on their cell phones, Facebook, etc, telling their friends to come out and watch the race. I couldn't believe how many kids and family members showed up. There was a caravan of them. Must have been at least a couple dozen and for most, it was their first time ever at a track.

A few things were achieved that night.

#1, I took their racing off the street and put them on a safe track where racing belongs.
#2, Introduced drag racing to people who've heard of it but had probably never even watched it on TV.
#3, Grudge racing is fun. The kids had a blast setting up races with other racers they met for the fisrt time and building new friendships.
#4, Sportsmanship. I told them to never under estimate your competition and don't be a sore loser cause they'll aways be someone faster than you, especially an old guy in a big yellow pickup truck.

These kids have now moved on from the Friday Nite Street Legal drags and compete in bracket racing at Rock Falls. They've broken, busted, rebuilt and repaired their cars, but are having a blast doing it with family and friends.

Maybe its time for us racers to get involved if scheduling permits it. Maybe volunteer a Saturday or Sunday once a year? Maybe go to your local school and setup a field trip? Talk with your local newspaper for some free press? Talk with your local parts stores and have them kick in a few bucks to keep the cost of the field trip down? Talk with your local track for reduced or free admission since they'll make it up at the consession stand?....Just throwing some idea's out there is all.

[Chris "drooze" Wertman]

Originally Posted by hemidup

Maybe its time for us racers to get involved if scheduling permits it. Maybe volunteer a Saturday or Sunday once a year? Maybe go to your local school and setup a field trip? Talk with your local newspaper for some free press? Talk with your local parts stores and have them kick in a few bucks to keep the cost of the field trip down? Talk with your local track for reduced or free admission since they'll make it up at the consession stand?....Just throwing some idea's out there is all.

Lol...yuppers....It WAS Called "Safety Safari" and it helped to boon the sport to the track when street racing was becoming a menace.

Worked then, and as you see it would work now...its gonna take effort.

The other thing for FANS is they WONT, and wont bother to understand something oddly complex, the do understand first guy to the finish wins...the racers understand brackets and eliminators, but not the fans....

Let see, 5 card games, Canasta, Bridge, Pinochle,Blackjack and Poker.
All 5 are hard to play well....but 2 anyone can understand with about 5 minutes instruction, 2 are played on TV, 3 arent....not that theyre that hard, just people WONT get it, some do...but people have too short an attention span to "learn" to enjoy and understand something.

First guy to the finsih . my 3 yr old understands, try to explain bracket to her.

Thats a GREAT Idea, to go out and bring them in.....grab anyone and everyone, a "caravan" to the track, get some "Youth Evangalists" Younger guys in the know with a hot ride to hit the "hangouts" and hey follow me.......out to the track....

Great doing...is this Jerry or Don ? lol.....

[hemidup]

Drooze, Explaining bracket racing to someone is very time consuming and hard for some to grasp. Been there, done that. I found the easiest way was to start my wife and kids to watch the races from the stripe on the big end. I told them whoever got there first, chances were good that he or she had won the round. It made it alot easier for me to explain to them and for them to understand what a "dial in" was, "break out", "red light", etc afterwards. It made for some good conversation on the long 2-4 hour trips on the way back home from the track.

One of my best memories in racing just occured last year. One of my son's wishes was that one day he could race against me. All the planets must have been lined up that day cause he got his wish. It was a 3 day event, combined car show and drag racing and the class we entered in, a ladder was built based off best reaction times during time trials. I was #2 qualifier and my son, Dustin was #3 out of a 25 car field. The #1 qualifier got the bye which put me and my son up against one another in the first round on Sunday. I'll never forget the look on his face after asking me question's and looking for tips. I told him, "Don't ask me. Man up and make your own decissions cause now your my competition and I'm done helping ya." Long story short, he beat me in the first round and put me on the trailer. He went on and red lighted in the semi's, but still took home a check. Made me proud as any dad would be if it was their son. This year my son is already planning to introduce his wife, my grandkids and a few friends to this wonderful sport, plus Dustin now picked up interest in wrench time with me which brings him to the house and shop more often.

[Myron Piatek]

Originally Posted by drooze

First guy to the finsih . my 3 yr old understands, try to explain bracket to her.

While she may still not get it, I try to explain handicap racing to others by saying something like:

Sportsman racing puts emphasis on consistency, predictability and driving ability. It allows more people to be competitive without being dominated by money, even though it's still not easy or cheap. But there are still heads-up races during class and regular eliminations that puts more emphasis on a driver's mechanical talents when extra resources are available.


Aren't there "handicaps" in bowling and other sports?

[Chris "drooze" Wertman]

Originally Posted by Myron Piatek

Aren't there "handicaps" in bowling and other sports?

Yeah I dont play those Wish they had handicapps in cash poker....well...maybe not...I do better than most, and a level skillset in poker is fun but its always more fun (and profitable) to be just a little better

Thanks for the advice...I try....but well....they usually dont get it....and thats the problem with people.....

Now when I take em to the track, I tell em first one to the finish wins...lol...after a few runs they "figure" out that isnt true, THEN they ASK, and are willing to learn.....try explaining it before hand Ive had more productive conversations with my grapevine.

But when someone feels the "should" know and realize they dont they open themselves to learning....

Maybe a bit zen...but its my lazy *** way of making them care...let them think they should know and they will...

Wanna see something REALLY funny put someone on the track woefully under matched and tell them get to the finish first and they win....My son got tromped in his 10.90 Jr by a gal in an 8.90....I never told him Hes still out gunning for her....that was before he understood and only about his 4th pass.......hes still burnt especially when I remind him how bad she torched him. Or put em in a fast car and when the hit the finish they loose....good for hours of pitside fun...

But those are my friends and family...70% of the general population dosent have that capacity.

[will prater]

I wonder if it would help if someone marketed a really cool version of drag racing video game. Seems thats what all the young adults and kids want to do anymore. Maybe it would get them to go see a real race in person.