Selling the Sizzle
From the beginning of organized drag racing the spectators and racers were practically interchangeable. Until just recently the fan in the stands was as big a gearhead as the guy driving the car. For many of us, going to a national event was more than just watching our heroes racing their cars; it was a place to get the "hot tip," talk to guys that raced a car like yours, and even buy the newest parts. For many years when my partner or I needed a part for the racecar we would find out where the next NHRA or IHRA national event was being held and go there. In many respects a national event was just a great big outdoor speed shop. The sanctioning bodies made it easy. They wanted their major manufacturers/sponsors at the races so they came up with contingency programs and the "Manufacturers Midway." They also made it easy and affordable for manufacturers to rent space on the Midway. Those manufacturers stocked the trailers with their parts, some machinery and qualified technicians to service the racer whether they were racing or not. As I said -- a big outdoor speed shop. It was cool. Sadly, it appears the Manufacturers Midway, like a lot of other traditions that made up drag racing for its first 50 years, may drastically change. The days of the manufacturers/sponsors sending fully manned displays are numbered. In case you haven't noticed in the last two years, each trailer on the Midway now represents four or five manufacturers instead of one or two. The folks at Comp Cams and Strange Engineering, just to name two, cut back their commitment to NHRA events. In the case of Strange, when they had their own display bus, they cut back from 27 events to 7. Currently, they've signed on with Tim Hyatt, and will will be going back to all events, but without their own bus. Both Strange and Comp Cams have told me that the reason for their action was very basic: they weren't selling enough products at the races to warrant the expense. This year welders supreme Paul LeSage and Dave Siipola almost didn't come back. Fortunately they will be back on tour for another year, but with a reduced presence. It was strictly a financial decision; they simply didn't have enough work to support the program. It's pretty clear to me that a majority of NHRA and IHRA's fan base are no longer gearheads and racers but, instead, are more like the fans that support other professional sports like football, baseball, and hockey. They know and love the sport but fewer and fewer actually participate. Evidently today's drag racing fans are much more interested in being entertained with fireworks, interactive games in Nitro Alley, and close racing. Instead of buying speed parts, they are buying Oakley apparel, T-shirts, and other non-performance trash and treasure. At least it appears that they do. Both the NHRA and IHRA seem to be determined to make it hard for the smaller manufacturers to bring their act to the midways and seem to encourage more a more carnival-like atmosphere on the midways. Don't be surprised if one day you see a tent where they are selling and demonstrating the official steak knives, rotisserie or blender of the NHRA. Don't laugh, it could happen. These days, for the sanctioning bodies cash is king. According to a couple of smaller companies I spoke with, the NHRA either already requires or is going to require all manufacturers that are on the Midway or are contingency sponsors to have $1,000,000 worth of liability insurance. In today's litigious society you can hardly blame the sanctioning bodies for trying to protect themselves, but for many of the smaller manufacturers the cost of the insurance siphons off what little profit or cash flow they had and in effect forces them off of the Midway. The bottom line here is that like it or not NHRA and IHRA drag racing has matured into a true spectator sport where increasingly their marketing efforts will be focused on attracting and supporting mainstream manufacturers like the Coca-Cola Company, GM, DaimlerChrysler, Schick, UPS, and Lucas Oil by delivering fans in the right demographic. As far as I know, there isn't a Manufacturers' Midway at Nextel
Cup events and I think that may soon be the case at NHRA and even
IHRA. It'll be somewhat of a sad day when that happens, but if the
racers want more and bigger purses losing the Manufacturers' Midway
may be part of the price they have to pay. |
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It
has kind of crept up on me, but recent conversations with some of
the major NHRA sponsors and their guys have led me to the conclusion
that the current NHRA and IHRA management teams are hell-bent on
not only changing the overall way drag racing is presented to their
spectators, but are actually trying to change the demographics of
the spectators that attend their premier events. 
