Jok, I fully agree
with what you wrote. My father and
I have watched in disgust the past couple
of years at what NHRA has turned into. We
both love the Pro Stock cars and, yes, lately
it has been a little one sided (Greg Anderson).
Being a racer myself and really burnt out
on dragster/delay box racing, I enjoy my foot
brake Mustang and have been class index racing
in the NSCA American Muscle Class. These are
the cars (Super Stock, Stock, Comp, etc) that
really turn me on and I want to see more action
involving them. The tide is changing and the
face of NHRA has to change if it wants to
grow.
Jim Gorski
I agree with you
completely. I love the sport but I
get bored to death with the same finish line
interviews, crew chief interviews, etc. They
could do the whole show in an hour if they
didn't sttrrrreeetttccchhh it out so much.
Your ideas for improvements are good. I also
think changing the rules so that some noticeable
innovations make a difference would help too.
Now that NHRA supposedly wants to slow down
the fuel cars, I think this is the opportunity
to force the FCs to go back to bodies that
look like stock instead of these ridiculous
Monte Carlos, etc. It's a great sport, but
it is boring beyond belief unless you are
there.
I am a marketer (not, unfortunately, with
the right target regions/demographic to be
sponsoring an NHRA car) and I think they (NHRA
and TV especially) could do a much better
job marketing this sport.
Chris Williams
Jeff, Enjoyed your
Blast. I think there are a couple of
things that have to be sold to a TV audience.
Numbers (et's rt's) are o.k. for die hard
racer / race fan but you have to add an entertainment
angle to the show "soap opera," sort of Good
vs. Evil etc.. This could be done with the
"color crew" I will sit in a "Break" room
at work with the races on, people around me
say that's cool but what's going on?
I wish I had the answers.
Larry Clayton
Darr, I would just
like to take a moment and thank you
for saying all the things I have been thinking!
Your statements about the much lauded ESPN2
coverage could not be more true! For the second
largest drawing auto racing venue to be pre-empted
by a high school girls baseball or college
basketball game slays me, and should tell
NHRA how importantly they (ESPN2) take Drag
Racing. The fact that the qualifying coverage
is aired at 1:30 in the morning should be
a small clue. I thought that the Winternationals
starting line coverage and sound was the worst
in any televised broadcast. I am fighting
a local battle with the Chicago Tribune sports
editors, to at least include the qualifying
and race results in amongst the box scores
of the sports section. My three-year vendetta
has started to pay off; they now include some
of the qualifying results, and the Pro Class
results on a regular basis; and they recently
ran a 10 line blurb about Chicago Native Tony
Schumacher! I felt like I won a major victory
in my quest!
But I laud you for the articles, which I
am sure are the feelings of many drag racing
fans, and want to know if an organized E-mail
campaign might help to influence both the
NHRA and ESPN2 to try and improve the TV coverage
of the best automobile racing sport in the
world! Have you made sure that Tom Compton
& Wally Parks have seen your articles? If
not, I urge that you do!!!
A Sincere Thanks For Your Efforts.
Gary Grabow
As usual, (Burk's)
negative attitude towards our sport
again biases your 'reporting'. I work in television
and can tell you that early morning ratings
always stink. People do have to sleep, you
know. If 'Seinfeld' was aired at 3:00 AM instead
of prime time, it wouldn't have lasted a season.
But you seem to have neglected that fact for
your story. How many Nextel Cup races would
you watch at 2:00 AM, or even 11:00 PM for
that matter? How about promoting drag racing
for a change instead of the constant negativity.
Wayne Maxwell, racer.
