If you are reading this then you are looking at the newly redesigned DRO magazine. This is the first major overhaul of the magazine’s basic design and layout in the almost 20 years the magazine has been on the internet.

When I first decided to publish an online magazine I wanted to bring a print magazine to the internet, something that readers of print magazines would find familiar and comfortable. I think we did a good job doing that.

But the magazine/publishing business has changed drastically in two decades. There are just a couple of drag racing dedicated slick paper magazines and these days most drag racing fans get their info from one of the scores of internet drag racing sites. Another change we have noted is that when DRO debuted almost everyone had a desk top computer with a big screen monitor to read the mag on. These days hard data proves that above 90% of our traffic comes from people using smart phones or tablet devices. So, our webmaster has spent the last six months redesigning DRO so that it is easier to see and navigate when viewed on hand-held mobile devices that the majority of our readers use.

Now to be honest, as a 72-year-old guy who still reads print magazines and newspapers and still has a flip phone I personally prefer our original design for reading the mag on my laptop/desk top computers, but I’m getting used to navigating the new site. We’ll keep tweaking it to make it more geezer friendly but I may finally retire my flip phone for a smart phone and give in to the dark side.

--------------------------------------

NHRA drag racing has all of the components to be a major league professional sport save one, and it is a major one: Viewership of NHRA Drag Racing on TV when compared to any other “major league” sport is miniscule. This is not an opinion, it is a fact borne out by the figures published by the Nielsen Company.

According to a broadcast industry friend of mine, the average Nielsen ratings for NHRA TV broadcasts are so bad that if Fox were paying to have the NHRA shows on their network they would have canceled the show years ago. It is obvious that none but the most hardcore NHRA drag race fans are watching the broadcasts.

So, the question is why? In my opinion no form of motor racing delivers more visceral, physical, visual and exciting racing than NHRA nitro racing or qualifying under the lights. Nothing else in auto racing comes close to the fire, smoke, ear-shattering noise, and 300+ speeds adrenaline rush that nitro cars do. So, the 64 million dollar question is why don’t more motorsports fans watch NHRA drag racing on TV? I have a couple of suggestions I want to put forth.

First, how about really changing the broadcast format? The NHRA TV broadcasts of the past 30-40 years have retained a fairly basic format starting back with the pre-Facebook and Twitter Diamond P productions to the recent ESPN2 and current FOX/NHRA race broadcasts. What the drag racing fans and first-time viewers see is basically a drag racing magazine on TV that shows some of the pro racing classes, some excellent pit reporting, and a lot of magazine style “sidebars”, interviews, and features.

What’s wrong with that you ask? Well, first, a very, very small number of racing fans watches the NHRA broadcasts according to the Nielsen ratings. Second, it is a sad fact that almost all of the monthly magazines devoted to drag racing have gone out of business because they didn’t sell enough copies or advertising.

Every motorsport I watch on TV -- including NASCAR, motocross, IndyCar, F-1 and even Monster Truck racing -- shows me much more actual on-track racing that any of the NHRA broadcasts.

Why not a try a special three-hour broadcast of a NHRA race with 75% of the available “air time” devoted to showing not only the Pro Classes but exhibition and sportsman racing to? Show every lap every pro Car makes during eliminations. Give some serious air time to the Nitro Harleys, Pro Mods, and all of the Sportsman classes. I think the chances of a first-time TV race tuning in and watching an NHRA race would be better if there was more cars and racing and less Fox and friends go drag racing. Or maybe just a two-hour broadcast instead of three?

How about an hour of the three-hour Sunday broadcast that nothing but nitro race cars at night with flames over the roof. Dean Papadeas’s videos from the late 1980’s and early ’90s that I believe in all probability were the best-selling drag videos of all time and the best of those were all nitro cars at night, flames and rock and roll.

My other suggestion has to do with not enough information on the TV screen of a NHRA broadcast.

On occasion, especially when traveling to and from the drags, I will find myself in one of the sports bars often found in and around the hotel (I even occasionally frequent one adjacent to my neighborhood) trying to watch the FS1 broadcast of qualifying or sometimes the race.

Generally, you have watch the race without sound because sports bars rarely turn the volume up on any screen, and that is the problem. Watching an NHRA race on TV without sound and knowing anything about the race is very hard because so much of the information about an NHRA race comes from the announcers. When they do display the qualifying or round results the info doesn’t stay on the screen long.

NASCAR on FOX displays a “crawler” at the top of the screen for almost the entire race. It displays enough info that even a casual NASCAR fan would know within a few minutes who is leading winning, out of the race, or making a move. I’d like to see NHRA producers do something similar for their broadcasts. One thing is sure something has to be changed in the way drag racing is shown on TV or it is highly unlikely the TV viewership is going to increase.

--------------------------------------

Just Wondering … NHRA’s Comp Eliminator Sportsman class is dying a slow death. It is a rare event indeed when there are more than 32 entries at national or LODRS events, so what could be done to make it a more viable class with more entries? Aren’t cars in the SS/GT class really gassers and altereds that NHRA decided to allow to run in the Super Stock class?

Just Wondering … Does the recent sale of NHRA’s National Trails track in Columbus and the strong rumor that Atlanta has been or is in the process of being sold indicate that NHRA president Peter Clifford is very serious about returning the NHRA to a positive cash flow position? I can’t prove it but I doubt any of the NHRA-owned tracks are making the NHRA a reasonable return on investment other than on the weekends when they hold a national event.

One thing is an absolute: the NHRA wouldn’t have sold Columbus if it were making the company a good profit.

Just Wondering … Is there a directive in the NHRA’s contract with the Coca-Cola Company that mandates the NHRA not show qualifying or elimination race coverage of classes other than TF, FC, PS, and PSM? Why would a company like Coca-Cola want to limit the race fans that watch the NHRA broadcast to fans of just three or four classes?

Just Wondering … Are a majority of ticket buyers at NHRA national events knowledgeable drag race fans like football or baseball fans? I think there was a time when drag racing fans were once, but not now. After seeing stands with noticeably fewer fans after one qualifying session on Friday or Saturday and sometimes after the first round of eliminations on Sunday, I’m convinced that a majority of NHRA national event ticket are less knowledgeable about drag racing than baseball or football fans. Maybe, like Dodger fans, they leave early to beat the traffic, but my guess is about half of ticket buyers at NHRA national events are not real race fans; they are coming to the drags for the party/entertainment not the racing.

Just Wondering … What’s next for the ADRL, Kenny Nowling, and the PDRA? If Nowling’s resignation finally puts an end to the seemingly endless drama between those three parties, will the PDRA become the dominant corporately sponsored doorslammer series the ADRL once was? Will the current ADRL and PDRA owners continue to invest (lose) the money needed to revive and maintain those series? My guess is they will not!