I know this is a little late guys I wrote this last week but I really wanted everyone's input on this:

I just returned from NDRA's Sport compact opener and sometimes I wonder about the state of sport compact drag racing. There was a decent amount of competitors but once again the spectator turnout was lacking. Which leads me to wonder at the longevity of this sport, and if it will still be around in a few years for us to enjoy. I mean by no means will it die ...but will we still have the manufacturer/sponsor support to continue racing at this level ?

I can't fault or blame one single entity to this seeming decline in the turnout. Maybe its just that the scene was an over hyped trend at one point in time and now it has finally stabilized? I can remember back in 1997 how crazy "battle of the imports" was, but then again maybe it was just a smaller venue? I guess I could try and say this is just a west coast issue, as the sanctioning bodies like to lead us to think. Although it seems that attendance, while still better on the east coast, is still declining. I also tend to wonder if the media in this section of our automotive piece of the pie hasn't somehow already decided we should die a slow and painful death? It remember once upon a time I could open one of these magazines or go to a web site to find an article about Drag Racing, and what the people I looked up to were doing. Slowly but surely it seems that any exposure that drag racing was getting has disappeared. Don't get me wrong it would be great if we had all the media focusing on drag racing 24/7 but it seems even now that we don't get any. I mean, I'm amazed if I see 2 articles in a publication having anything remotely to do with drag racing. This is why I have dropped all my subscriptions to these mags. I honestly would be happy to see a magazine that had more of an even spread. By no means am I a Drifting/WRC/JGTC road racing hater, I support all forms of motorsports, but I think it would be great to have a little less bias in the media.

I do know one thing. A large part of the problem is a lack of support at the grassroots level. Now don't get me wrong there are plenty of people participating in bracket/sportsman classes, heck even the pros have their share of people out there just busting their *** & spending their money just to make rounds. I can also credit a lot of smaller shops & vendors for their love of this sport and their support of these teams. It just seems there is a lack of funding/support/encouragement for those that race at this level to get from Point A: that of grassroots racing, to the Point B: of being a sponsored professional team. This disparity among the classes seems to make the racing less entertaining because we have a few cars in each class that just walk all over everybody else. Who wants to watch that ?? Honestly that's not the way its supposed to be. Man I came here to watch a race. Thank you very much Gardella & Bothwell for that final round !! That's exactly why I came out to watch !

I'm done pointing fingers and laying blame becuase when it comes down to it all we can do is help each other as a community & I guess my final thought is how do we get there from here? How can we as racers and as a community of people who love drag racing help each other and this sport we love continue to grow?


Modified by allmotorgurl at 3:16 PM 3/29/2005


Modified by allmotorgurl at 3:17 PM 3/29/2005


Modified by allmotorgurl at 2:29 PM 3/31/2005

 

well there is one thing that i see that might be wrong and it is promotion! well i live in Reading Pa about 15mins from maple grove and when they have the Nopi race there, there should be billboards and other stuff out to let people know that there is a once a year import race there. I dont' know if they do that for other events around the US but there is nothing out there to market the racing series for people to see.. I dont really know how you get the people in the stands, maybe lower the entrance fee????????.

 

i can only speak personally for myself. Ive been around since 2000. I was a spectator for almost four years and now im a racer. Maybe a lot of the spectators are now finishing their projects and are now in the pits versus the stands. Im planning on inviting all my family members and friends out to Fontana to watch me race July 30th. I think we still need to market this sport grassroots style. Hopefully after some of my guests come out they will return and bring their friends.

I do feel that soemone should also pass out flyers at the local street races and places where people cruise to also get the word out. More airtime and magazine coverage for import drag races that will be coming up in a city. all local tuner shops should have flyers.

Who are we targeting? what is the demographics we are trying to reach? then and only then can we try to get these people in the stands.

I have heard ads on POWER 106, but not 100.3 the beat , KDAY 93.5 or 99.1 FM stations. these are the urban/hip hop stations.

 

I think that Ty has it dead on, it is all about marketing and promotion. I think there is a lack of any sort of marketing when an event comes into town. I think that the two larger series count too much on their name and the smaller series just don't have the money. What needs to happen is a huge push from the series but also the sponsors in that series. If companys would actually activate their sponsorships and use the cars in their marketing campaigns, that would help gain extra exposure.

What the series and the sponsors need to realize, people will come and show support if they know about it.

Most people don't realize that many longtime fans of the NHRA Powerade series complain about lack of marketing for that series as well....

 

Well,first I personal think that the "approved car list" suck azz,I would love to run in the NDRA,but I can't because I have a "factory turboed 86 svo mustang"...which was made as compition to european sports seadans such as the bmw's that are allowed,oh yea,I can race a pinto or a explorer or mountianeer or some crap like that.

This really make me mad,my car is not allowed,but a 3000gt or stealth is?,yea that's really makes sence right.

I have called "Bob" the guy who is in charge of the list about three times with no change...he said that everyone(meaning you guys..read import drivers)would bitch and say that it was a five-o or 5.0 mustang.

I think that rules should be set around the drive train and not the body of any car.I wouldn't complain about b16 turbo swaps in a civic.

Tim

 

I think import drag racing is stronger than ever ! I think right now is just the time where we are weeding out all the F&F people and the people that truelly love this sport are finally saving up a decent amount enough money to start building up full race or full race street cars.... And drifting is dying off, its starting to get boring, and if you look at the import drag racing side, all those NMRA and DOmestic guys are wanting to come over to the NHRA sport compact events now. I think tht says a lot about where we are at right now... I think if everybody keeps on racing because they love it, then drag racing will never die ! As the Bergenholtz Brothers have quoted, " Race because you love it, and not because your in it for the fame or fortune!" To keep this thing alive, i think everybody should help each other out as much as possible or at least build some competition up with other racers so that there is something to work for. What ever happened to the days where everybody wanted to represent their crew to the fullest?

 

allmotorgurl...............i hate admiting this, but i agree 100% with what you've said. i personally love drag racing and dont see myself quiting any time soon, but the lack of media attention and spectators is slowly (maybe not so slow) killing our sport.

i went to the nhra finals in pomona last October, and i was really expecting a good turnout. but even at the busiest time on sunday, i'd say the one grand stand was half full, with the other side not even open to spectators. we all know if it had been a powerade event, that place would have been standing room only. sport compact drag racing just isn't that popular of a motorsport.

sadly, i see our form of drag racing going the way of the air-cooled VW. sure there will still be annual events, but a full blown series with major sponsers and what not, i dont see it being around for ever.

 

The sport plain and simply grew to fast. It became a corporate led sport before it had evolved enough to support the big dollar competion. The sport started with the grassroot types and was quiclkly propelled to a level in which the the crowd that brang the sport to which corperate dollars were attracted to ciouldnt afford to compete. There are really only 5-10 cars or so in each class that can compete. Most of which are big dollar teams with substantial financial backings. Your average joe nobody cant compete with teams with million + dollar budgets. This is the reason the street classes are becoming so popular, this in a way is a return to grassroots racing.

Another problem Ive seen is the way the industry has grown. We have a top 1/8 of these people who are "in the know" who are able to make 1200WHP FI or 350WHP NA doing things to continuously progress and achieve new standards in the pro fields. The problem with that being, once your there you want to dust your foot and finger prints away and mislead people when asked how you achieved such goals. I know its racing, it comes with the territory but when you have guys out in the NA field running 103mm strokes telling the industry through publications and personal appearances that they are running a stock stroke crank you are slowing the progression of your own sport. Thats Racing and it goes on in the domestic world as well. The only difference with domestics is there are far more than just a handfull of elite builders/tuners who can extract top caliber power. The grassroot guys are on that level as well in the domestic world. Thats something I see that the import industry doesnt have. You have domestic guys who do a lot of outside the box thinking and testing, you almost have to in that industry. The engiens, transmissions and technology have been around for so long that the knowledge and high end parts arent too uncommon. You get ahead by trying new things. We dont have a lot of that outside of the pro fields and that plays a big part of the sports slow state.

In all honesty, what seperates the guys running high 9s/low 10's in the NA field from the guys running high 10's/low 11's is simply research and development. Those guys are going beyond what is out there to find the next big thing. Unfortunately the industry is full of followers. I mean, look at Honda-Tech for instance. Everyone has the same set ups, making the same power. You guys need to realize you dont get anywhere by following. Youll only be as good as those you are following. There is really no reason why there cant be a self funded, out of your garage pro car competing with the big boys. Ill tell you though, your not going to do it with "super duper" pistons and "buddy club" cams that seem to be the trendy items of the moment.

There are people on this site that dont even realize that the pro cars out there are running cams with 13.8+mm of lift. Most assume they run the same shelf cams available to them. Which leads back to what I mentioned before about industry progression. They think that because that is what they are being told.

Sanctioning bodies need to sit down with selected groups of "spectators and fans" and simply ask them what they want. Its simple supply and demand. I think there needs to be s tronger emphasis on the street classes. Those classes recieve the largest turn outs and should be given appropriate treatment. I would like to see a more "semi pro" street class with more leniancy in terms of the body and chassis modifications. This is where the sports heart lies and the sooner the sanctioning bodies realize this the sooner we can get our sport to the level it should be at. If it continues to be the same corporate/factory backed teams blowing everyones doors off the grassroot crowd will jsut go back to good ol' street racing where it all began leaving our sport at a professional level dying of thirst in a bucket of salt.

 

Wow what a great response so far !
I appriciate the input on the sanctioning bodies & promotion info...but i'd like to see more of what WE as competitors & fans can do as well.....keeep it coming...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Innovation &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">We have a top 1/8 of these people who are "in the know" who are able to make 1200WHP FI or 350WHP NA doing things to continuously progress and achieve new standards in the pro fields. The problem with that being, once your there you want to dust your foot and finger prints away and mislead people when asked how you achieved such goals. I know its racing, it comes with the territory but when you have guys out in the NA field running 103mm strokes telling the industry through publications and personal appearances that they are running a stock stroke crank you are slowing the progression of your own sport. Thats Racing and it goes on in the domestic world as well. The only difference with domestics is there are far more than just a handfull of elite builders/tuners who can extract top caliber power. The grassroot guys are on that level as well in the domestic world. Thats something I see that the import industry doesnt have. You have domestic guys who do a lot of outside the box thinking and testing, you almost have to in that industry. The engiens, transmissions and technology have been around for so long that the knowledge and high end parts arent too uncommon. You get ahead by trying new things. We dont have a lot of that outside of the pro fields and that plays a big part of the sports slow state.
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I will agree with you to some extent but I do want to let you know that you are not entirely correct about us "PRO" racers misleading the competiton. People on my team as well as other teams have tried to help people with their setups in the past. Now grantid its usually not something crazy like giving out the complete spec sheets on our engines (even if we did most people could not duplicate them or make them run the same). I myself in usually speak in general terms. But 99% of the time people are too proud to listen to something as little as "Why don't you try and lower your tire pressure a little bit ?" or "Why don't you look for a gear set with a different final drive?" People don't listen....trust me the PRO racers try and help out much more than you would ever think.
We understand completely that it only benefits us to help along the competiton so that in the long run we can have better racing and possibly better publicity. But like I said before people want to do it their own way. I understand that but at the same time if someone gives you a tip don't blow it off. Think about it see if it makes sense logically try it if you will. Who knows maybe it will help.
I will tell you right now none of the top PRO teams got to where they are by ignoring other people. We have all learned and grown together and continue to do so.....Your welcome to join us....

 

good post innovation

 

tagging to respond later.

 

Its all in the marketing and scheduling of events.

Take the NDRA opener for instance:

1: First even of the year on the west coast of a race season mainly run on the East Coast.

2: Good Ol' mother nature played a major factor not only in racers attended but in spectators as well.

3: Other events that were taking place at the same time....IRL event, LPGA event, some huge remote controlled car convention, and an air show all effect crowd turnout. Granted to look into "other" forms of events that might conflict with a race takes time and money but these things all play a factor.

NOPI did a hell of a job here in Phoenix, the best Sport Compact event here ever by far and I hope they come back. There is no such thing as TOO much promotion, just have to spend that marketing budget wisely.

The State of Sport Compact Drag Racing has a bright future...if we want it, we just all have to work together and the promoters just need to think outside the box when it comes to promoting there events, especially on the West Coast. Forget about doing it all by themselves and for example network with local track or instate event promotors and try to get as much exposure as they can. Get over the tunnel vision syndrome and look at the big picture. And most importantly never forget the small guys, cause thats what the industry is all about.( there are 27 million of them)

Just some of my .02 worth

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Full-Race Motorsports &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
NOPI did a hell of a job here in Phoenix, the best Sport Compact event here ever by far and I hope they come back. There is no such thing as TOO much promotion, just have to spend that marketing budget wisely.

The State of Sport Compact Drag Racing has a bright future...if we want it, we just all have to work together and the promoters just need to think outside the box when it comes to promoting there events, especially on the West Coast. Forget about doing it all by themselves and for example network with local track or instate event promotors and try to get as much exposure as they can. Get over the tunnel vision syndrome and look at the big picture. And most importantly never forget the small guys, cause thats what the industry is all about.( there are 27 million of them)

Just some of my .02 worth </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the input

 

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

Thanks for the input

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NP...I could go on all day on suggestions on how to help our sport....
Be interesting to see what others have to say before I go on.........

 

I like the way this post is heading, lots of good info and suggestions.

My 2 cents would be the sports is evolving, people are finding their niche. You will have the big pro teams, but I think the sportsman classes is where you got to focus racing, and for specators, take the cross markets. Find simular interest groups and get them out. it can definetly be a "family" event as long as a certain level of professionalism and cross activities being tasefull. Example a NOPI bikini event and not a NHRA E-town show where it's all booty shaking and strippers. I wouldn't mind seeing professional acting models.

THe BMX and dirt bike shows are cool, Audio is good, but keep volume down.

NOPI knows how to do a show, slowly it's evoling it's Drag events. Let stay for the ride, cause in the end it's going to be great.

 

It's not a drag racing thing. Sales in general are down across the board in the sport compact industry.

Ryan

 

The only Domestic guys that have come over from the NMRA are the guys who can't keep up. Scranton and Glidden. Tim Lynch has them all covered with his 6.96 @ 207 with a 10.5 tire. The problem is that every sactioning body from drag to dirt has to compete with NASCAR for sponsorship money, and that my friends is a hard task. Look at the ESPN coverage for NHRA sportcompact events. It's either on at times when everybody is at work or asleep. What a joke.

 

Its not jsut a drag racing thing though, its the industry in general. You have companies with domestic origins trying to get into the sport compact world with literally no respect for the import enthusiast or industry. Instead of going out and hiring specialists to run their import divisions they take V8 guys who already work for these companies and put them to work in the new import dicision. Those guys for 1, dont know much about the products, the motors/chassis they are being used on or the cars in general. And, 2... Hate imports all together and think of that particular market as a joke.

I for one have worked for 2 domestic based companies that were trying to get into the sport compact market. In both cases I was needed to assist in the development of new sport compact parts and dismissed when all market research and production planning was finished. I was then, in both cases replaced by a domestic representative with little knowledge of the products I helped produce and the cars they go in. Its unfortunate to anybody with experience in this market, you really cant raise a family with sport compact market experience. Your forced to take on other forms of motorsport as trade. Its a lack of respect IMO.

As far as pro drivers theres really not a lot you can do in terms of self. You need the drag racing sanctioning bodies at this point so I can understand your conserns. but in all honesty, its up to the 2 halves of the circuit. Those 2 halves being the sanctioning bodies, the decision makers and the fans that attend the events. Ive heard many people say that the sport will never die, which is very true. But, what will die is revenue, with the decrease in revenue follows a disinterest of corperations and funding sponsors. When sponsors start decreasing their offers and corperations start pulling their deals off the table our pro competitors will have no choice but to either find a new trade or look into the larger domestic markets. Money makes the word go round and its a never ending circle in the world of motorsports. It really starts and ends with the same group, the fans and consumers.

IMO, the sanctioning bodies could use a lesson in marketing. First of all they are marketing to the wrong group. You are 1 trying to attract many by marketing direct to the public. Thats not too smart. I wouldnt waste time marketing to the consumer, rather, invest more time marketing to the industry. Create relationships with industry participants. Manufacturers, distributors, shops. Market the programs to them. Create deals in which you have co-op advertizement deals. Give them exposure on the circuit and maybe fan participation events in exchange for exposure and joint advertisement in their adds, shops, events. When it becomes in industry effort rather than the ffort of one individual things will start to sway the way they should.

 

sorry but i have to say that we (low ballers) can compete against BIG ballers...people with big sponsors are the only ones that cant stay up!!! and me and many many others have to wait to come up with some money to buy one of the many parts we need.. i wish i could compete against allthe big timers but i need a sponsorship maybe like mc donalds or coca cola..
dont get me wrong i love going to the track at least to check out the races and the girls but for some reason i dont see as many people i used to see like battle of the imports back in 95-99


Modified by MadnessRacing at 5:25 PM 3/29/2005

 

for this to stay alive, they have to make it possible for the grassroot people to participate. i don't have money to build an engine, as well as many of my friends. but we manage to hit the events, everytime they come around. we do what we can, with what we have. but what we have sometimes is not good enough, for any class other than bracket racing. they need to keep it simple, so that everyone with the love for this sport can some day be a participant. an example of this si the scca, they have a class for just about any body! they are still alive because they cater, to every one no matter what how deep their pockets are. i hope you guys can get my point, i'm not the best writer

 

first off I saw that someone posted about this sport is starting to weed out the F&F trend lol thankfully. im proud to say though that i was introduced to the import stuff when i was 12 from fast and the furious but a year after that **** i was trying to learn about ever aspect of an import engine i could and my parents had to rip me away from the computer and learning about cars because my school work was starting to slip greatly. Im still only 16 right now and I can tell you that the kids my age right now in the 15-18 year old range are going to be all about racing in the next 5-8 years. The sport has a great future to look forward too. With the way i see it right now and the people on this forum keeping to their faith of racing sport compact cars until they die the sport compact scene will just keep growing with the younger ages coming up and learning from the vets of the sport that do the racing every weekend. This sport has made it's mark that it isn't a phase and it is here to stay. this is my 2 cents that is from all over the place.

 

I FEEL THAT THE LACK OF SPECTATORS AND COMPETITORS IS DUE IN PART TO TOO MANY SANCTIONING HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT SERIES YOU WANT TO RUN? IN IT WAS SAID EARLIER THAT THE NDRA SCHEDULE IS PRETTY MUCH EAST COAST BASED YOU HAVE THE IDRC THAT IS PRETTY MUCH WEST COAST BASED AND THE NHRA THAT IS PRETTY SPREAD OUT NOW I SEE THAT THE IHRA IS TRYING TO GET THEIR FOOT IN THE DOOR WITH A SPORT COMPACT SERIES OF THEIR OWN. THE VAST AMOUNT OF SANCTIONING BODIES I FEEL RUNS THE CLASSES THIN SO TO SPEAK. EVEN IF A RACE IS NOT THE SAME WEEKEND IT COSTS A LOT OF MONEY TO RUN 10 OR 15 RACE SCHEDULE LET ALONE TRY TO MAKE IT TO 20 OR 25 EVENTS AS TO THE SPECTATORS I GREW UP AT THE DRAG STRIP AND IN THE ENGINE SHOP. ON THE SPORTSMAN LEVEL EVEN IN THE NHRA OR IHRA SERIES THE STANDS ARE NOT PACKED IT SEEMS THE ONLY GROUP THAT BRINGS A CROWD IS THE NHRA POWERADE PRO CARS . AND EVEN AT THE GRASS ROOTS LEVEL IN MY AREA IT SEEMS LIKE THE SPORT COMPACT RACERS ARE THE OUTCAST EVEN IF YOU SHOW UP AND ARE KICKING THE CRAP OUT OF THE DOMESTIC CARS ITS ALMOST LIKE YOUR NOT WANTED THERE

 

You're caps are locked.


Without thinking too hard about it, I think there are two sport compact owners catagories:

-Those who like drag racing in general

-Those who aren't into drag racing, but love the thrill of trying to kill people on the streets. These are the "import culture" people IMO.


We're seeing the first group at the races wether to watch or race, and the second group has no interest in watching it. (which is naturally the stage before racing at events.)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stealthmode62 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You're caps are locked.


Without thinking too hard about it, I think there are two sport compact owners catagories:

-Those who like drag racing in general

-Those who aren't into drag racing, but love the thrill of trying to kill people on the streets. These are the "import culture" people IMO.


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good point, ppl who street race alot for some reason wont get to the track, i dunno why but thats how it is.
i think that they shouldnt charge so much for ppl in the stands to get into a event, i mean come on this isnt the powerade events and we dont have all the big time cars and things going on, should be cheaper, IMHO..... i know alot more ppl would come.

 

When I used to work for Venom, I had people call and ask me, or approach me at the track wondering how they could get sponsored. At least back then, the best thing they had to offer, was that the sponsoring company could use it as a write off. I used to tell them that basically they had no chance to get a sponsor, because they had nothing to offer. Most people on here probably hang with a group of people, and they all have a car that is fixed up in one way or another. But if that group of people could come together to build one car, then they would have something to offer, and would be a force to be reckoned with. In a group of five, let's say, there is one guy who can drive the best, one guy whose motors are always the strongest, and one guy who can tune a diamond out of his turd. Basically if you could get together and form a team, and realize that not all of you can be the hero, then together you can form a team that can compete with the best of them. I see the biggest problem being that peoples pride will get in the way of common sense.