Almost immediately after the NHRA finished their press conference announcing a five-year program making Coke's Powerade drink the series sponsor, DRO started getting emails and phone calls blasting NHRA, Tom Compton and the size and distribution of the points fund monies. Many if not all of them compared the amount that NASCAR's points program pays their racers to what NHRA will pay out at the end of the 2002 season. I also understand that some of my peers in the press also are questioning the new payout structure.

OK gang, once more, repeat after me: "NHRA is NOT NASCAR!"

Comparing NHRA and NASCAR on almost any level is like comparing an NHRA Fuel Funny car to a NASCAR stock car. The two have almost nothing in common except four wheels. As far as I am concerned, that same logic applies to NHRA and NASCAR. The only thing the two organizations have in common is that they both administrate and control an auto racing series.

Frankly, I am very impressed with the series sponsor program that Tom Compton and his team were able to secure, considering what they had to offer a Fortune 500 company like Coca-Cola. I believe bringing Coke on board with NHRA to be major coup for all of drag racing.

The fact is, selling drag racing to any corporation is a difficult proposition if any comparison with NASCAR is part of the equation.

Consider the following.

As far as the number of fans, a good case could be made that NASCAR probably draws more paying fans to just three races (the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the annual 600-mile race at Charlotte) than NHRA does to all 23 of their events combined.

Then there is the television audience. NASCAR on its best day may get a Nielsen rating of 6, which means approximately six million homes are watching the race. On the other hand, on its best day NHRA drag racing gets a rating of about 1/2 a point which means about 500,000 homes are getting NHRA television for any given event. NASCAR broadcasts average a rating of 3.9!

So, it is no wonder that Winston puts around $30,000,000 or more each year into their Winston Cup Program for NASCAR, and that the top NASCAR teams have a budget of over $20,000,000 per year.

I had a couple of readers write me lamenting the fact that the NASCAR team that finished 44th in the Winston Cup points program for 2001 would receive a cool million bucks which equals the number of dollars the World Champs in NHRA Top Fuel, Fuel Funny and Pro Stock combined will receive in 2002. Sorry folks, but all factors considered, I think the NHRA champs are getting about all they deserve considering that any points series payout is really a reward to the racers for advertising and participating in the sponsor's series.

Everyone has to understand that the amount of money a series sponsor puts into any points program is directly related to the exposure they receive. How many consumer's eyeballs are going to see Jeff Gordon either in person or on the tube during the 36-event NASCAR cup schedule compared to how many are going to see Tommy Johnson Jr during a 23 race NHRA race schedule? Do the math and you'll understand why the 44th place finisher in NASCAR is worth a million bucks to their series sponsor and the first place guy in NHRA Top Fuel or Funny Car is worth $400,000.

I think that both the Coca-Cola Company and NHRA made a mutually sweet deal that will benefit both parties. Coke gets a five-year deal as the sponsor for an entire 23-race national racing series for about the same money that it would have cost them just to sponsor one team. NHRA, thanks to Tom Compton and his crew, gets something that no other major auto racing sanctioning body has been able to secure in the last 10-15 years -- a series sponsor with the ability to promote and cross-promote the series worldwide.

Look at the series sponsors that have come onto the scene since RJR sponsored NASCAR and drag racing: Pittsburgh Plate Glass, Northern Lights, The Pep Boys, and FedEx. These are all great companies with solid reputations, but not one of those companies markets directly to the 18-45 age group like Coke does, or has the worldwide spectator appeal that the Coca-Cola Company has. Oh yeah, and did I mention that all of them except FedEx areout of the sponsorship business currently? You can bet that the IRL, Cart, IHRA, or NASCAR would have loved tosigned a company like Coca-Cola as a series sponsor and marketing partner.

My granddad told a story about how, during the Great Depression, as times got tougher, doughnut makers would make the hole in the doughnut bigger so that they could make more 'nuts with the same amount of dough and many of Grandad's friends would bitch that the hole in the doughnut kept getting bigger. The moral of the story, according to Granddad, is to not worry about the size of the hole in the doughnut, just be glad you have one.

The point I'm trying to make is that NHRA champs in two classes are going to get $400,000 next year, and the Pro Stock champ will get $200,000. Who the hell cares what the NASCAR champ is going to get paid? Everyone should be glad that they have a points fund not to mention a big raise. Purses or points funds really mean very little to the popularity and growth of the sport. As to what NASCAR pays their guys -- when those guys start burning nitro and going 330-mph, I might get interested in what's happening in that sport. NHRA drag racing has a major corporate sponsor when many other motorsport sanctioning bodies have nothing at all. So, I suggest that some of you are paying too much attention to the hole.

Tom Compton and his management team's ability to secure a company like Coca-Cola warrants them receiving some serious praise from the fans and racers. They put a pretty nice present under NHRA drag racers' Christmas trees and I personally am going to buy those guys a couple of adult beverages on the DRO tab the next time I see them.

Peace and a Merry Christmas to all.

photo by James Drew

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