The state of NHRA

Mike Delahanty · 10-23-2011, 09:52 PM

NHRA isn’t alone w/ its issues. As I was scanning through the 10/17/2011 of Autoweek there was a well written 2 page article delving into the issues facing SCCA. There are a number of direct comparisons that can be drawn between NHRA and SCCA – both were created to foster amateur level racing. Take away the NHRA PROs and the two sanctioning bodies and racers have a number of similarities. Both have regional and national “points” events and lots of classes.

But what caught my attention was the commentary of declining participation and an aging competitor base. Car counts are way down at SCCA. Sounds familiar – huh! But SCCA is doing something about it. It has created a 6 member committee to take a deep dive and examine everything SCCA does. One of the goals is to get the SCCA members that still have race cars in their garages to get them back to the track. The committee is looking at every requirement placed on participants and “seeing if there is a valid reason for it”. Also on the top of the SCCA list is improving its appeal to younger racers. SCCA member average is 45 – and the average age of its racers at the Runoffs (the big end of season race where champions are crowned) is 49. SCCA realizes that the cost of racing is a factor that makes it tough for young racers to participate. SCCA is looking at ways to shorten the Runoffs – which run for a week now. Sounds like Indy. And to get the younger racer involved, SCCA is turning to “Spec” racing with new small cars like the Mazda2, Chevy Sonic, Nissan Versa and Honda Fit. Not sure this will work at NHRA – but there is always the JR. Dragster feeder series to get the young people involved. But I’m not sure any of this helps w/ what we care about – Stock and S/S.

No answers here – just some observations. At least it would be good to see NHRA recognize the issues and proactively look for solutions – like SCCA.

10-23-2011, 09:52 PM	#14
Mike Delahanty VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,201 Likes: 0 Liked 275 Times in 54 Posts	Re: The state of NHRA NHRA isn’t alone w/ its issues. As I was scanning through the 10/17/2011 of Autoweek there was a well written 2 page article delving into the issues facing SCCA. There are a number of direct comparisons that can be drawn between NHRA and SCCA – both were created to foster amateur level racing. Take away the NHRA PROs and the two sanctioning bodies and racers have a number of similarities. Both have regional and national “points” events and lots of classes. But what caught my attention was the commentary of declining participation and an aging competitor base. Car counts are way down at SCCA. Sounds familiar – huh! But SCCA is doing something about it. It has created a 6 member committee to take a deep dive and examine everything SCCA does. One of the goals is to get the SCCA members that still have race cars in their garages to get them back to the track. The committee is looking at every requirement placed on participants and “seeing if there is a valid reason for it”. Also on the top of the SCCA list is improving its appeal to younger racers. SCCA member average is 45 – and the average age of its racers at the Runoffs (the big end of season race where champions are crowned) is 49. SCCA realizes that the cost of racing is a factor that makes it tough for young racers to participate. SCCA is looking at ways to shorten the Runoffs – which run for a week now. Sounds like Indy. And to get the younger racer involved, SCCA is turning to “Spec” racing with new small cars like the Mazda2, Chevy Sonic, Nissan Versa and Honda Fit. Not sure this will work at NHRA – but there is always the JR. Dragster feeder series to get the young people involved. But I’m not sure any of this helps w/ what we care about – Stock and S/S. No answers here – just some observations. At least it would be good to see NHRA recognize the issues and proactively look for solutions – like SCCA.