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That brings us to the current state of sponsorships in the
nitro Classes and furthermore begs the question, why is it
seemingly so difficult to secure and keep a sponsor in pro
drag racing? After all drag racing has always enjoyed some
advantages not found in any other motorsport: The fire and
thunder of nitro cars at 330 mph (Unless of course NHRA decides
to set the rev limiter for 55 mph in insure closer competition)
and the ability of the fans to get up close and personal with
their favorite teams/drivers in the pit area remains a HUGE
plus.
Drag racing, unlike other forms of motorsports, keys the
sponsors name to the team---John Force’s Castrol/ Ford
or Don Prudhomme’s Miller Lite car. If NASCAR has an
Achilles heel, this is it.
I am constantly amazed to watch a company spend 15-18 million
dollars on a marketing program in NASCAR and then watch their
car be referred to as the old number (whatever) car.
So what is pro drag racing’s problem in getting and
keeping sponsors? In my view there are three major contributing
factors to consider.
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Most
nitro teams start by charging about a quarter of the value
of what they actually have to offer, the reason being if they
don’t another team will. This happens because a number
of teams are racing on the owner’s money and ANY sponsor
money they procure just means they are spending less of their
own and generally has no real bearing on the actual worth
of the program. This type of sponsorship usually isn’t
a very good business decision for either party and the sponsoring
company usually doesn’t stay in the sport long.
The multi-car teams for the most part are past this point
in their career and have “real” sponsors (Getting
to that point is the trick) and therefore have the funding
to both service a marketing partner properly as well as having
the staff to find more funding. The multi—car teams
are formidable competitors in the battle for marketing dollars
as success breeds success but they make it difficult if not
impossible for a newer or one car team to gain even a foothold.
Last, but certainly not least, is NHRA itself. Unfortunately
for a new nitro team looking for a sponsor the biggest competitor
will not be Schumacher or Force Racing but rather NHRA.
NHRA has a series sponsor slot to fill, plus 23 additional
event sponsors needed every year, not to mention the need
to fill the manufacturer's midway. NHRA says this is to grow
the sport. However, it seems to me the same group of cars
are at every event. Is this a sign of growth?
Worst of all is NHRA’s selling the “official”
rights to one company in a market segment made up of ten other
competitors, effectively blocking any race team from doing
business with any of those ten competing companies. In normal
business practices, that’s called stepping over a dollar
to pick up a dime.
The fiercest competition in drag racing today is the race
between the sanctioning bodies and the racers to gain sponsorship
dollars. Without some fundamental changes in the way this
game is currently being played what we will have in the future
is a continuation of the current trend. ----fewer, but bigger
teams. That doesn’t seem to be the recipe needed to
grow the sport. 
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