It's not an earthquake strong enough to have dumped California in the ocean, but the tremor resulting from the announcement that SFX Motor Sports Group has taken an ownership position in the IHRA was, nevertheless, quite powerful. The aftershocks are certain to be felt for months, perhaps years, to come.

Virtually overnight, the IHRA has become much more than just a nuisance to those who hold court in Glendora, Calif., world headquarters of the larger NHRA, the organization that founded drag racing in the 1950s and which, for the last 50 years, has been the sport's most powerful voice.

Long considered little more than a poor stepchild, the IHRA suddenly has access to the resources of a company that bills itself as "the world's largest promoter, producer and presenter of live entertainment events."

Among the myriad of companies operating under the SFX umbrella is the former Cotter Communications, a full-service sports marketing company with close ties to NASCAR. SFX also has considerable expertise in sports management and representation and is a major player in television production and programming.

However, live entertainment is its forte. Last year alone, SFX promoted or produced more than 26,000 events in the U.S. attended by more than 60 million people. 60 million! And while it is best known for its music concerts (7,800 music events last year including the Metallica tour), it has focused more-and-more attention on motor sports.

SFX Motor Sports Group, which, according to a letter from IHRA president Bill Bader has become IHRA's "marketing partner," is a subsidiary of SFX which, in turn, is a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, a global communications giant which operates more than 900 radio and television stations in the U.S. and maintains more than 700,000 outdoor advertising displays (billboards, bus and subway signs) worldwide.

The creation of the SFX Motor Sports Group speaks directly to the company's increased interest in the kind of alternative entertainment that racing provides. Initially involved only with motorcycle racing and monster trucks (the National Arenacross Series, the EA Sports Supercross Series and the United States Hot Rod Association Monster Jam truck series, among others), the addition of the IHRA's Summit Drag Racing Series represents a significant expansion of the group's scope.

Ironically, it was the NHRA that first prominently introduced SFX to drag racing when it retained the New York-based company to assist in revamping its 2000 TV package. Now, it appears SFX is in position to revamp much, much more.

Unfortunately, the news of IHRA's purchase could not have come at a worse time for the NHRA which, in the midst of its 50th anniversary celebration, finds itself more vulnerable to competition than at any time in its history.

Due to long-term mismanagement, over-leveraged assets and a downturn in core business revenues, the world's largest sanctioning organization has little capital to re-invest in projects like the renovation of Indianapolis Raceway Park, the facility that hosts what ostensibly is drag racing's biggest event, the Labor Day U.S. Nationals.

In addition, in the midst of mass firings and layoffs, however necessary they might have been, company morale has fallen faster than Action Performance stock.

Finally, the NHRA's historical perspective, its link to the drag racing past, is almost non-existent within the current administration. Carl Olson may have been expendable as Vice-President of Insurance, Risk Management and International Relations but, as a former champion Top Fuel driver, he was one of the few remaining insiders from whom current NHRA executives actually could have learned something about where we came from and what that means to where we're going.

Not that we all should immediately lower the tower flags in respect to NHRA's passing. Historically, the company has responded well to challenge.

When Texas Motorplex owner Billy Meyer bought the IHRA from founder Larry Carrier in 1988 because of his dissatisfaction with NHRA policy, he aroused a sleeping giant. Directly challenged by Meyer, NHRA immediately improved its product, aggressively pursued new track alliances (adding Seattle, Sonoma, Houston and Topeka), exerted political pressures and, in the end, ran the former Funny Car champion out of money. After a year, Meyer capitulated.

Besides, the NHRA still has many advantages over the IHRA starting with a roster of recognizable stars like Gary Scelzi, Kenny Bernstein, John Force, Don "the Snake" Prudhomme, Warren Johnson and Ron Capps.

Brand name recognition, 50 years of racing tradition, quality tracks in major U.S. markets, a new five-year ESPN TV package, a wildly successful house organ (National DRAGSTER) that reaches an 80,000-member fan base 48 times every year, and long-term relationships with companies like R.J. Reynolds and Budweiser also contribute to the company's rock-solid infrastructure.

Conversely, IHRA suffers as a regional sanctioning body whose facilities generally are second tier. The IHRA has too many classes, too few stars, an ailing TV package and little presence in major U.S. markets. While the NHRA produces events in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Houston, the IHRA has races in Norwalk, Ohio, Leicester, N.Y., Stanton, Mich. and Shreveport, La.

However, Bader already had addressed the TV issue by hiring Diamond P Sports, once an NHRA subsidiary, to produce 2001 TV coverage, and SFX has the money and the influence to make all the other negatives disappear. It also has the resources to accentuate IHRA's positives starting with two of the most exciting classes in the sport: Pro Modified and Nitro Harley.

In a letter to sponsors, racetrack operators and racers, Bader said "we are stuck between being a small regional organization and a large global company. Our needs are changing and we want to accomplish more. As we go after more, the roadblocks become bigger and harder to circumvent. The answer is simple: We need a bigger "Hammer"!

SFX is Bader's "hammer."

Of course, amidst all the euphoria experienced by long-suffering IHRA minions, there is a downside that hopefully also has been considered. To get something, you always have to give something up. Money and influence never are free. Inside the music industry, there probably is a reason SFX is known, surreptitiously, as "The Evil Empire." It is, after all, a large conglomerate accustomed to doing things its own way.

Can IHRA's unique personality survive in the shadow of that empire?

Since buying the struggling sanctioning organization three years ago, Bader has more than doubled its size (in numbers of tracks and competitors). At the same time, he has managed to retain the feeling of family which is at the core of IHRA's relationship with those who always have supported its programs.

Since its creation in 1972, IHRA has provided a fan-friendly, racer-friendly, sponsor-friendly, racetrack-friendly alternative to the NHRA which, right or wrong, has a reputation for being callous and insensitive in its dealings with all of the aforementioned groups.

Depending upon the extent of the SFX influence, especially in day-to-day operations, that sense of family may fall victim to the evolutionary process.

While reassuring supporters that he has retained "a significant ownership position" in the IHRA and that he will continue to run the organization, as usual, from his Norwalk offices, Bader said the deal resulted from his desire to make the IHRA a "world class drag racing organization."

Only time will tell whether or not it was a deal with the devil.

Dave Densmore, a paid columnist for DRO, also works for John Force.

Photo of Densmore by Jeff Burk

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