it doesn't have to be off of the same exact tape that the networks shoot.

just give somebody else media access to the event! just like they give magazine guys media passes... it doesn't cost the promoter a penny.

nhra does claim that they can't allow home video, because they stupidly let espn dictate those terms... isn't it funny how nascar can have dvd, but not the nhra?

the ndra doesn't have that problem... at one point, i tried to work it out with michael meyer, but he had the gall to ask for editorial control, and then he gaffed the whole idea off for no reason.

but this isn't about me... let SOMEBODY make those dvd's, for the good of the sport.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by danimal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

putting sport compacts on the entire powerade tour would be good for the sport, but how many of those v-8 rednecks really care about fwd cars? and how many of you guys want a v-8 because of the powerade series, lol? most of the sport compacts will be run when there isn't anybody in the stands.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I usually keep my opinions to myself but I really agree with the above quote. I think the domestic v-8 fans may eventually respect it but I dont see them becoming true fans of compact drags and start following the sport. I think its more in the marketing (TV, magazines,etc) that are viewed by people in the under 30 age group. Forcing it down the throats of the older generation is going to be a waste of time IMO.

 

True....just flip it around and it's the same reaction. Unless it John Force, Warren Johnson and the big names most of the regular sports compact fans would care less about a nitro or outlaw class v8 running high 5's to low 7's, and that's increadibly fast.

I think the V-8 guys are intrigue by the quick times of sports compact but will always have a prejudice (please I'm not talking about racist) opinion about us cause if you really look at it, it's not the same sport. We are actually the competition. I'm not saying "ALL" but a lot of those older generations would rather have their kids stick to their roots and not sports compact. I know a lot of you sports compact PRO's have parents that work on Hotrods so I hope not to offend you.

That's just the truth it's different, so it's better not to compare now and then or mix it up. I would love to see Pro RWD and Pro FWD standard in the powerade series cause to me that is the top level for sports compact racing.

Go easy on me people

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MNsnowdaboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I would love to see Pro RWD and Pro FWD standard in the powerade series cause to me that is the top level for sports compact racing. </TD></TR></TABLE>

As an ALL MOTOR fan I would have to disagree with leaving this feild out. If they would open up the rules so that v-6 or inline 6's could be built and all the cars tube chassied then you would possibly see some 8 second e.t.'s.

Don't get me wrong I love to watch Pro fwd/RWD cars run. All the other classes have a next level of progression i.e., modified/Pro RWD, hot rod/ PRO FWD...ALL MOTOR/????? I honestly feel that some people are scared of the times that an "import" all motor v6 or v8 can produce and would never allow it. That would be a class that would put people in the stands.

Import Drag/Sports Compact is still in its infancy and still has a long way to go before we can have stable rules, fan base, and next generation racers. Someone needs to analyze the current data and se how to improve things for the future so that it can continue to grow so that my 7 year old son in 10 years can hop in an import and race in front of packed grandstands and on national television.

 

Import racing won't go away, but I don't think it will grow much more. It'll kind of be like NMRA or Fun Ford Weekends. Those guys have small sponsors (usually their own shops or local shops) and still go across the country racing. Tony Gillig's(FFW Mr. Gasket Pro class champ) car has nothing but flames on the side. That doesn't mean stop racing, it means face reality and realize you might not get sponsored by Pepsi or the WWE.

 

Yes I'm that guy who wrote the opinion in my monthly Drag Racing Online column.

I'm surprised that a few of you did not take the time to read the entire column and have formed a firm opinion that I’m an *******, but most of you seem to assume that I don't enjoy Sport Compact Racing - WRONG. I would never spend the time at any drag racing event (NHRA, Goodguys, PSCA, NOPI, etc.) which I did not enjoy!

Sport Compact racing is sometimes competitive but with so much breakage, that is a very large problem for any kind of racing series in it's infancy as spectators do not come to any racing series to watch single runs no matter how quick the car is.

I'm not the one who compares Sport Compact racing with hot rodding of the 50’s; everyone outside of Sport Compact racing does though... especially the aftermarket manufacturers. The reality that your major sponsors ARE looking at whether they will continue with Sport Compact racing into the future, I know this from talking with a number of them. If there is not a significant return on aftermarket manufacturer's investment in Sport Compact racing it is impossible to justify to the bottom line and this is an advertising relationship - like it or not.

So many Sport Compact racers bust their asses to make horsepower (FWD or RWD) and get it onto the ground, damn hard to do and I respect that. I don't want to build a Sport Compact car unless it is an Ecotec powered roadster or dragster... that's my preference. I love big V-8's and make no apologies for that.

When we at Drag Racing Online have covered NHRA, NOPI or other Sport Compact races there has been little or no support from readers - you guys! We have approached at least a dozen people who said they were interested in writing a regular Sport Compact opinion column for Drag Racing Online and each one of them bailed-out on us. So how is it possible to have broader exposure for Sport Compact racing other than Honda-tech.com and others who are already interested? More people need to see your show and Sport Compact racing is it's own worst enemy.

The larger point, in my opinion, is that Sport Compact racing does not warrant it's own NHRA series since there are not nearly enough cars in competition, period. This is the first time other than Jr Dragsters that a special NHRA racing series was dedicated to their own kind of cars and not incorporated into the larger NHRA drag racing show. That the NHRA rules prevent SC cars from taking on Competition Eliminator is wrong, your cars are wicked fast and should be seen by a broader fan base to spread the word about the future.

NDRA, NOPI, Battle of the Imports all have a great show, support it, but you are segregated into a group of your own and are not seen in the broader spectator base. By being relegated to the Xtreme Rush at a few NHRA shows, Sport Compact racing remains a carnival act. Demand that the rules get changed so the competitive cars can beat up on the big boys of Comp Eliminator, show your strength and participate in the bigger picture. I’m on your side.

I’m not surprised that NHRA/Jim Skelly would say, “Has anyone ever heard of the guy who wrote the article? Ever seen him at a Sport Compact Event? He may be knowledgeable about domestic drag racing, (I don't know) but it's obvious he doesn't have much interest in Sport Compacts.”

“It's an opinion column, and it sounds more like a domestic guy just trying to bring down the Sport Compact Industry. He's trying to instill panic and fear, and that would mean people pulling out and putting their dollars back on the domestic side, which is his obvious slant.”

Realistically was there anything in my column that remotely said I was trying to instill panic and fear or simply reality? Or is this just the typical reaction from someone who doesn’t want to face the facts? Well Jim, I’ve been to NHRA Sport compact events within the last year and watched way too many of your awful ESPN TV shows with numerous single runs in competition among your 45 cars.

Good luck in Las Vegas this weekend, if I were not already headed to Denver for the Mile High Nationals I would have been in Vegas. By the way, why does NHRA hold their Sport Compact events on so many of the same weekends as the NHRA “Big Show”?

I encourage your comments hawthorne@dragracingonline.com however I am not your enemy, but reality is really a better path.

Darr Hawthorne
Drag Racing Online Magazine
http://dragracingonline.com

 

Thats cool that people asked for you to show up and you did...hopefully things stay civil

 

you know what i do got to give you credit for answering to the post and i do understand your nature and i own a 72 el camino that im restoring for 5 years now but i got to be honest, my elko even with a 383 strocker couldnt touch my p/s sport compact i know power to wieght, but ive often thought about trying other racing or motorsports but i just want to keep my focus here so SCCA, jet skis, golf will all have to wait because my love for this sport is deep and its 1210 am fri morn and im on my way to the shop to put my car together from the block up, there isnt even a crank in the motor yet but im still trying,and so is our sport I hope to see everyone in vegas if the car does ok on the dyno and if i can get some money together. iw ill try to head out by 10 am to get there for the last chance qual at 1am sun morn, now if thats not passion what is? again i do appriciate the reply though but please research a little more to find out if your knowledge of our sport i really up to par!


and if your really interested in someone who will take a column on i'd be happy to be a person to share the views and takes on sport compact racing. and im not afraid to **** a few people off every once in a while. even if its on accident!

 

s13sean, I was not refering to you. Some of your comments are actually intelligent and I think the people should listen to what you have to say.

danimal, why would you even try and bash either series? If this is truly a thread about what needs to be done to make the sport and these series grow, bashing is what we need to avoid. And to clarify, it was not me, but you, who put his foot in his mouth. Your first post started out by bashing a girl who supports a series, then you moved on to bash that series and basically said you like another series because they are a little more tame. Opionions are just that and no one should hate you for yours, but you should not hate anyone for thiers either. If your whole problem with the NDRA is because they would not let you profit off of thier series by making your own DVD, then you sir have a problem with the owner of NOPI not the NDRA and its racers and fans.

The reason you don't see DVD's of the NHRA and NDRA is just as simple as ESPN and Speedchannel have controling rights on footage.

Darr, you do bring up alot of good points and I to are glad you are on here now. If you need someone who will write articles and cover races in Sport Compact, feel free to contact Scott Miller @ STR 714-237-9250. He would be happy to do this for you.

Good luck this weekend Chad and anyone else heading to Vegas to race.

 

I'll apologize in advance for the length of this post.

There are some good points floating around this board but somewhere in this mess is the fact that racer turn out isn't what sponsors or even what the racers want, they want more racers. Who is to blame? Well we all know who is.

My favorite class to watch is Hot Rod. I think many will agree with me on some point here. The fans can associate with the cars in the class. Back in the day Hot Rod or Quick 8/16 class was where racers took cars that looked like something that could be driven on the street and raced it. These cars ran 10s then 9s and now 8s LOW 8s at that. If I were a sponsor I would be looking to put money into that class because the cars racing in it are the the closest that the average enthusiast can relate to. Basically all the parts used on those cars can be purchased through a shop to some degree. You have to look at that through an enthusiasts eyes, turbos, nitrous, these are bolt on versions of what the pros are using. The cars in this class also resemble the street-driven brethern unlike Pro FWD vehicles.

The problem with that class is that it's unrealistic for an up and coming racer to get noticed or even be competitive because of how fast everyone is running and how large the budgets are or how much money you have to invest personally to be competitive are. So you have a 9-second car? Great, go bracket race. It sucks. Who the hell wants to spend that sort of cash to either bracket race or run in the NHRA sportsman heads up? No thanks. What exposure does the sportsman class get? ZERO! NHRA doesn't post the results on their website and there are no points standings. Magazines barely cover the Sportsman racers.

NHRA also killed off the street tire class- dumb move. This goes agains the race on Sunday and sell on Monday mantra. Why not have vehicles that are true street vehicles that can race and use parts that are available to everyone? There no exotic parts on these cars in the eyes of the enthusiast. The class was killed because Supras kicked everyones asses. So they decide it's not fair to have a class dominated by one make of car, eureka! Split the class into RWD and FWD/AWD and change the rules to limit the vehicles to stock issue transmissions or of the same brand (Toyota, DSM). You can't expect a 400hp Civic to beat a 600 or 1000hp rwd Supra or RX-7 so don't put them up against each other.

Look at all the racers that run the NDRA Turbo4 class. These racers will become faster the more the race and the more they are exposed to opportunity. NDRA knows this obviously and they seem to get some love as opposed to none. There is nowhere for these racers to run in NHRA. They are the bread and butter of tomorrow. I've said this before.

It's not the racers fault that they encouter breakage.. Nobody goes out and says "hmm I think I'll go out and crack a couple blocks and oil the track down for an hour" Those V8 racers broke just as much **** when they started racing back in the day until products and tuning knowledge progressed to a level where breakage was kept to a minimal. Sport compact racing is still in it's infancy and when someone says somthing as ignorant as "you guys break all the time" people get their back up. These racers bust their *** like anyone else and they are breaking new ground as they learn. Until more knowledge is passed down and solutions are found there will be breakage and oil downs- people will get over it. That's not the reason people aren't in the stands.

NHRA keeps trying to accelerate the growth of the sport by "maintaining a level playing field" - I don't see this. The fastest Hot Rod car is 0.41 seconds behind the Pro FWD car, does this seem odd? What's going to happen when a Hot Rod car hits a 7.9xx? All kinds of limitations because they (NHRA) are reactive in the way they make rules and impulsive when it comes to changing them. They are too worried about limiting the racers in the Pro FWD class.

Another dumb move was banning FWD V6s in the Pro classes because the potential to upset the balance or playing field is there. B.S if I ever heard it. Inline sixes are dominating the PRO RWD class I guess a ban is around the corner right? Not likely. When they banned the FWD V6 there wasn't a competitive car in any of the fields. Who is the FWD V6 a threat to? Pro Stock? Signal put an NSX engine in their Civic and it doesn't even run right-not competitive. Hot Rod? nope.

I think that the class to watch is the Pro Stock class, that class has cars that do actually resemble street cars and while it's not cheap to race in, there's a more likely chance that you can be somewhat competitive with racers in the 11 second range and still get some exposure. I don't take this class light because it's amazing how much power Scott, Bsi, Erick, Leslie and others are wringing out of those engines and putting it to the ground.

The new players are getting screwed over and until NHRA can realize this and get their finger on the pulse of this sport the series will eventually stagnate.

These are my own personal views. I do love drag racing, and the sport. I realize I roasted NHRA pretty good, I don't care it's not the 1st time. I'll offer some positive advice and a comment. NHRA has been around for a long time and they have made their series a household name. This took time but if you want to do the same with Sport compact racing you are going to have to market the whole series differently. Get more people that are in the scene and sport involved at a level where changes can be implemented and understand that traditional NHRA thinking won't work with New Generation racers and fans.

Also, before someone says I'm pro NDRA - save it I have no ties to either sanctioning body I call it the way I see it. I don't think the NHRA series is bad, there's some great racing and racers in that series, they just have some work to do. You have to admit, NDRA does make their racers into stars. Feel free to IM me and complain.

Both sanctioning bodies need to stop worring about what each other is doing and focus on their own series - things would work out better for everyone.


Modified by S13Sean at 9:04 PM 7/16/2004


Modified by S13Sean at 10:39 PM 7/16/2004

 

thanks glen we appriciate it but all work and no play. I finished the car and we jst decided to stay home and keep everyone slept and healthy before we even attempt to go out to vegas on a prayer to make it. haveing a new shop and new responsability's are hard on on time to finish the race cars stu car was done days ago but i had customers cars to finish so i put it first this time and i feel better doing it this way because buisness starts at home first. So i hope everyone is kickin *** out there and keep it safe!

 

darr, it's good seeing you out here, and despite the present thread, this is a good forum with some hard core drag racers in it.

glenn... it's unfortunate that the ndra doesn't have the smarts to see how nopi could have profited from selling dvd's... if there had been a network rights problem as you claim, michael meyer would have said so, instead he sent email specifying that nopi must have editorial control.

so the question remains, why does the ndra continue to screw it's racers and their sponsors out of valuable dvd media exposure?

and do yourself a favor, tell your ndra flunkys to stop their brown-nosing... it only makes the ndra look foolish.

btw, promoting the sport is why i've posted all that idrc video footage on the 'net for free, for several years now: http://www.sportcompactdragrac...a.zip

sean, i see that you are claiming "NDRA does make their racers into stars".

1) what's your definition of "stars"?
2) don't you know that the nhra has the only real sport compact drag racing show on t.v.? maybe you don't believe that coverage makes somebody a star?

 

i didnt read everyones replies. since i cannot travel around the country like alot of the pro guys that post on here i have to slim it down to the events ive been to (ie NW events).
ever since NHRA took over in 00 from the old NIRA it made its presence known in 02/03 with NHRA events in woodburn. there were quite a few racers both yrs with almost record settin runs both yrs. attendance sucked both yrs as far as spectators. the pro fields werent full in every class but heres my comparison.
now its 04, NHRA decided not to come back to the NW. when we had no where near the amount of pro cars we do now days during the NIRA days in the NW 99/00 we had at least 2Xs the attendance as far as spectators. there wasnt as many racers of course cause it was a new concept to the area. now with this in mind i really wonder if NHRA even knows where/how to advertise their events.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by danimal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
sean, i see that you are claiming "NDRA does make their racers into stars".

1) what's your definition of "stars"?
2) don't you know that the nhra has the only real sport compact drag racing show on t.v.? maybe you don't believe that coverage makes somebody a star?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm saying that NDRA gives a little more exposure to the amatuer racer. Being a "star" or more importantly a "future star" is important. NHRA doesn't seem to care. Where is the information for these racers? If you aren't at the track you'd never know any of them.
If you are racing on the pro class in NHRA the expsoure is great but we aren't talking about expsoure of the pros. It's important to give and let the amatuers some exposure that they deserve. I don't believe that it needs to equal the pros. Magazines that are or supposed to be into covering drag racing don't give the sportsman racers much love except for Dsport.

The coverage of the NHRA show is alright and I enjoy it, I also watched NOPI Tunervision and it was pretty good as well. Again, it looks as if NOPI has their finger on the pulse of the culture side of the sport, which is very important to both sponsors and enthusiasts. NHRA has always been about the racing, while I don't care about jello wrestling, foam pits, etc there are many that do and those are the ones that sponsors want to sell parts too.

Do you think that BFGoodrich is making a mint selling or sponsoring tires to racers? Look at the bigger picture my friend, the kid that has a Civic that spends most of the time on the street is their target. As soon as NHRA figures out how to get fans in the stands they'll have an awesome series and they have the advantage of their history of racing. As stated previously old school thinking isn't working for them. NDRA has the right thinking and if they tighten up the racing like they did this time, NHRA is in trouble.

Re: NDRA DVD

I can understand why someone would want editorial control especially if someone is going to want the NOPI brand on it. If it's independent then it's a different story. There are always "professional" videographers at events with their $500 cameras taping coverage that they post on the net or whatever. If you want to make a DVD you'll probably have to meet Myers halfway or something. How would you distribute something like that?


Modified by S13Sean at 9:37 AM 7/17/2004

 

Modified by NOPIMAN at 9:07 AM 7/18/2004

 

dude i'm sorry... but it sucks... i mean i understand that whole car show thing that u guys have going on and the parties are cool and obviously the girls and bla bla bla.....

but you guys are rivaling NHRA. you are compeeting with NHRA.. and most of us think of you guys as the winning sanctioning body... dude NHRA is no joke... you guys could be alot bigger on the tv side of things... if you foccused more on the thing that is making you guys grow.... the show sucks hardly any racing at all i mean what was that?? i didnt even understand it... i just thought it was like a preview to what the whole show was going to be like..... but when i saw on here that "THAT WAS IT" i'm like??? are u kidding me??? you cannot ever grow to a bigger TRUE automotive motorsports event on tv... if you dont show it.... ??? i mean how are people going to know about the whole thing that garry gardella and team are about to break the seven second barrier with the kind of sponsorship that they have.. or about the craziness in the .............


MAN LET ME JUST SAY IT LIKE THIS........ TAKE ONE LOOK AT ONE NHRA POWERADE EVENT ON ESPN....

THATS WHAT WE ALL WANT FROM ANY OF YOU TWO NOPI OR NHRA EITHER ONE..... THE FIRST THAT GIVES US THAT WILL WIN.... thats my opinion and its also the truth man.... theres NO good tv coverage for us... its the only thing that will keep us alieve... its just the plain and simple basic truth...

by no means am i saying that nopi events suck... i like them more than nhra events thats for damn sure.... but that one tv show that they aired on tuesday at 7 30 sucked... it was better than the nhra thing on espn... but it still sucked...


Ed-


hopefully reading the harsh truth will make one of the two give us a good television event..

 

i would also like to add this point of view....

when gone in 60 seconds came out it was kind of around the time when fwd cars were starting to go nines... it kind of helped us out cuz they had shown the civic trying to street race against the stolen porsche driven by nicolas cages brother... i know for a fact that after that movie came out and all the people saw a civic for the first time on the big screen beeing portraid as a "fast car" everyone got into the looks thing and body kits and this and that a little only a little bit more than they already were....

then we get the fast and the furious phenomenon..... it has become a quote that is used by basically anyone that is trying to speek of a high speed machine... you hear everywhere on the news on the this on the that.... its going to be a fast and furious hot wheels car that will come in your happy meal... bla bla bla...... after that movie that showed the use of IMPORTS PURELEY IMPORTS........ how crazy did the scene get... once people were shown imports on the big screan..... of course what i'm about to say later on would be hard to acomplish on the big screen..... the "looks" side of the sport gained strongly and even has poluted the views and opinions of many.... as we have our friend "darr" over here sayin that our cars suck and whatever... (that was just a joke buddy, welcome to the site)....


until a show like monster garage/american hotrod comes out that is based on sport compact drag racing strictly or we get events like the powerade series shown on tv just like that.... the performance market side of our sport will maintain right where its at.... maintaining a constant revenue and quarterly earnings for the sponsors of the sport validating basically every point of view that dar had expressed.... either one of the two above mentioned sugestions are the only thing that would give an amazing boost on the financial side and would then maintain at that level for a LONG time.. i'm talking years and millions... we basically have it all... we have the fans, we have the cars, we have the times, and we have the ability... now all we need are theese 2 things and there go all the numbers raising higher and higher until they reach a point at witch they will maintain untill someone comes up with something esle...

the show could be called "AMERICAN IMPORT" :-P

english isnt my first language and i'm just fed up... thats why what i have writen on theese last two post might not make much sence... but every time i see go carts or lawnmowers having more air time as a form of motorsports than us... it just makes you think..... damn why did i stay up all those nights working on the car trying to get it ready for the event and went through the event without any sleep like a zombie killing my self inhaling race gas exhaust from dynoing a car all night long trying to get that one ignition popping out of the motor before the event cuz thats just what always happens right when ur getting ready the very last day at the shop... you finish all the cars u hadda finish for the week so u would have money 2 go to the event on the weekend... then work on the car on friday finish putting the motor in and then u gotta pull an all nighter getting the bugs out of the car to then go to the track and be lucky if u make it to the 3 round... man....... if all of that was documented and video fotage was taken.... **** like that happens all the time and it happens from a like 30 if not 50 different shops.... THAT WOULD BE SOME GOOD *** TELEVISION.... THE SHOP SHOWS AND THEN THE EVENT AT THE WEEKEND....

Ed-

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NOPIMAN &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Modified by NOPIMAN at 9:07 AM 7/18/2004</TD></TR></TABLE>

deleting your post was a smart thing for you to do, mark... it was a bunch of crap.

but i've also shot off my mouth a lot more than i should have, and i'd like to apologize to nopi, and cassandra in particular, for being too vicious in trying to make a point.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ModenaTwinTurbo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">TAKE ONE LOOK AT ONE NHRA POWERADE EVENT ON ESPN....

THATS WHAT WE ALL WANT FROM ANY OF YOU TWO NOPI OR NHRA EITHER ONE..... </TD></TR></TABLE>

mark meyers, you aren't a drag racer, but please attempt to understand what he's getting at... that's my point exactly.

you can do a much smaller scale version of that on dvd, for minimal cost to you, that you can sell thru nopi, and make a profit off of... and that doesn't have a damn thing to do with me, either

nopi makes $$$, everybody gets some exposure, and it'll help grow sport compact drag racing... and you'll have an advantage over the nhra, it'll be another reason for people to run with the ndra.

put the $$$ you make off of dvd's towards a better version of nopi tv.

s13sean, appreciate your feedback, but i don't shoot with a $500 camera... i've spent upwards of $50k on video production gear over the years.

i see your point wrt to the street cars and the nhra... on the positive side, the nhra just put on a special event at pomona for the bracket guys that got their classes bumped months earlier... that is dedication to the little guys!

1 2 nv, i shot a race at sir in '96, but the circuit i was shooting didn't return to the area because most of the racers in cali couldn't afford the tow up there... good air, fast tracks, great people, but probably never see a national sport compact event up there again... heck, the ndra won't even come out west! the nhra is the only national points circuit that we have.

 

wow he's not a drag racer huh?? and he's one of the guys that runs it??


THAT EXPLAINS ALOT.. ))))))--IF--((((( he is one of the guys that runs it on the corporate side..

also let me just put it in much more calmed down and relaxed writing. i feel pretty good today .

Right now the tv coverage that sport compact drag racing is recieving is not good, its not great, its not ok, its just something that a few people slapped together and said "ok here you go watch that, there, did you see that? thats sport comp drag racing" its horrible...

we need a better show so that we can pull in new fans and pull in new "capable people" from different forms of motorsports. what the fans will bring is, the money, the money for everyone because one thing will affect the other like a domino effect. And the new "capable people" will just add to the ones that we already have and will make for that much more of an exiting and competitive sport.

if all theese people with degrees in finances and marketing cant see whats going on and what needs to be done.... then the company that they are running should stay right where its at... because that tells me that they wouldnt be able to handle a company of the caliber that it would become once there's better tv coverage..


Ed-

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by danimal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">s13sean, appreciate your feedback, but i don't shoot with a $500 camera... i've spent upwards of $50k on video production gear over the years.

i see your point wrt to the street cars and the nhra... on the positive side, the nhra just put on a special event at pomona for the bracket guys that got their classes bumped months earlier... that is dedication to the little guys!

</TD></TR></TABLE>

danimal,

I never implied that you shot with a $500 camera, it was an observation. I'm not one of those people that say something about someone without seeing it. I've never met you.

That was a nice jesture on NHRA's part but it's only a drop in the bucket. I was watching an IHRA Event from Grand Bend and racers that were in their Sportsman class got some decent hype, why can't the same be done for sport compact racers in that class?

I didn't think the Nopi Tunervision wasn't that bad. It was the pilot episode and it fit with what the NDRA is about. I think that Mike was smart in having that show the way it is because it really promotes the series on a whole. It's obvious that NDRA isn't just about the racing and believe me, when they first came out I thought that there was too much emphasis on non-racing. It appears to be better rounded and it will only improve as time goes on, they've got the formula. I wish NHRA would get the formula because they do have great racing. They need more butts in the midway and bleachers.

OT When was the last time an event was held at Seattle? Just curious?


Modified by S13Sean at 10:57 PM 7/18/2004

 

last pro import event in seattle was NIRA 00'.

 

I hope NHRA goes away. I know the old school guys remember idrc and battle when it was packed. NHRA has brought corporate to a community that doesnt have the funds to go that route. That article was 100 percent right. Majority of compact owners are young w/low income and have a hard enough time living let alone building cars. Thats why basic bolt ons are usually the end of most purchases. I would love to see Battle or IDRC step it up and bring it back to the racers the die hards who are independent builders,owners,drivers. NO more huge teams/budgets. The way this sport will live is through the average joe not Dodge, NHRA,etc. NHRA I hope you go away and racers can enjoy good track events w/ out corporate america breathing down our backs.

 

Modified by NOPIMAN at 6:25 PM 7/18/2004

 

Quote:I hope NHRA goes away. I know the old school guys remember idrc and battle when it was packed.

After 15 years seeing this sport grow, I don't even know where to begin...besides having two kids now, having screwed for a driving job by a non sport compact domestic driver, and dealing with people that cannot stand by their word... one of the things why this sport has disappointed me was when I showed up at an NHRA event they pitted us by the size of our trailers. What ever happened to the time they pitted you by your class?This tells me that the big corporate sponsors pay the bills. They're trying to make it more professional, for who? Who benefits from this? the racer? I don't see Gary G, the Bergenholtz benefitting from it. If NHRA wants this sport compact events to get better and have a full field they should:

* Start allocating some of those corporate dollars (sponsorship) towards NON-CORPORATE BACKED TEAMS. It's already hard enough to compete with them with their parts budget(changing complete motor/trans in 25 minutes, having 10 back-up motor/trans per event,) how will you compete with them with their travel budget.
* Regular racers do not have the money to pay the Jerry McGuires (Marketing) of racing to get them corporate sponsorship. The non profit NHRA does.
OR maybe?
In Hotrod: They should bump those corporate backed cars to the PRO FWD class, Im pretty sure their budget will find a way to make them compete with the 4 cars in that class. You know there's a problem when you see the the number 5 qualifier in this class to be 1.4-second slower. I don't even get why those guys #5-12 even bother to race in this class. How many times will those top 4 guys break something for you to win a race? They added 250 lbs/ change a wing to the Sunfire and he still runs 8.1's.

NDRA has not been affected by this YET because GM or MOPAR has hot flashed their checkbooks in this direction. It's also good that NDRA has scheduled some of their races at the same time or close to NHRA. You can guarantee that more racers will come to NDRA's event cause they have a higher chance of winning. Just look how competetive and how many qualifiers are in the class without the million-dollar guys.

I don't really know if this corporate stuff has really helped the sport. All I know is that you have more non sportcompact-domestics guys trying to get in it. And some of them are really good getting on their knees and working it.

Props goes out to Gardella, Bergenholtz and whoever competes in NHRA with their own "hard earned" money. Hope someday it pays off. I'll stick to Battle of the Imports, at least whoever I compete with in that event still breaks parts...and I have a higher chance of winning. The prize is almost the same as NHRA's too.

Just my 5 cents.
Myles Bautista

 

Couldn't put it any better myself, words of wisdom coming from one of the original's. Watching the rev hard cars back in the late 90's is alot of what got me excited about this sport.Come on people lets bring this sport back to the racers IDRC and Battle are you listening!!!!!!!!!! Don't support something that doesnt care about you or your hobby. NHRA will cease to exist in the import world if people just stop going . Look at the street classes idrc/battle has created. WHY?? Becasue they care about us the little guy. NHRA