4/22/04

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY THE LAST BATCH OF LETTERS ON ESPN TELEVISION COVERAGE!

It's taken me awhile to chime in on the TV packaging currently available. I don't like it either. I cannot put my finger on it, but it lacks energy, excitement and emotion. Maybe the production of drag racing on television has gotten beyond 'good, to perfection', and has lost the 'ragged edge' and immediacy and novelty of the old days of Diamond P and even the older IHRA productions with Bret (Kepner) and company. Today's production is so slick and polished. I would almost prefer grease and dirt.

Why the pro classes are so boring is beyond me. I would rather watch a Jackson Bros video, an old R&R or a Drag Racing Underground video than watch the current stuff. I would rather watch an old IHRA video shot at the old Bristol track than something from today. I don't know what the answer is, but for the producers of the current product might want to look at some of the older shows. They may pick up something there.

Just a thought.

Jeff Hayes

I couldn't agree more with you that the coverage of drag racing on tv is just not the same. I also miss the days of Diamond P Sports coverage when we really saw racing. I live in a seriously deprived drag racing area (Southeastern New England) and attend at least two NHRA events a year -- Englishtown, NJ and Maple Grove, PA. They are

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a 225 and 400 mile drive respectively. For the past bunch of years, my husband and I have been flying around the country in an attempt to see each national event in person. So far we have been to 10 other tracks and this year we will be going to Atlanta and Indy (we saved that trip for this year, the 50th anniversary celebration).

I guess what I'm trying to point out is that we are dependent on tv and the internet (audio at least) for our drag racing fix in between these few live events. I'm with you that I don't care to watch Bill Stephens and crew and their drivel when we could be seeing two cars going down the track. It irritates me enough that I keep my copy of Drag Racer magazine or my husband's National Dragster handy for entertainment when they get carried away.

My favorite class is Pro Stock and they usually get less airtime than Top Fuel and Funny Car (just another irritation).

Anyway, I'm glad I found someone who shares my opinion.

Thanks for letting me vent.

MaryLou Gallop

I have to agree with you that watching TV Coverage has become predictable and almost boring - almost as bad as Pro Golf! The usual routine of skipping all the action at the track and instead concentrating on the Pro Categories is understandable but routine. Yes, Top Fuel and Funny Cars are the draw but there is more to an event than John Force and Kenny Bernstein. We have all seen it, starting with burnouts and sound bites from owners while the announcer continues his mindless chatter. Then the run and replay followed by the inevitable interview with the winners - where instead about talking about the race they try to get in as many plugs for their sponsors as possible.

I don't believe that the fans want this format. I believe that commercial promotion and the almighty dollar control the format. It's all about getting as much advertising dollar both for the network and NHRA and the racer's constant need to hype their sponsors.

I personally like all the door slammers, especially those wheelstanding stockers. How about a little coverage of the Sportsmen final rounds and winners instead of the endless bellowing of Force?

This behavior has permeated all media coverage, not just drag racing. How about all the stickers mounted in the NASCAR cockpit so that onboard cameras catch them. I understand that the Madison Avenue boys sit in front of their monitors with hand counters tabulating each time their client's name is seen. Tennis. College Football. How many stadiums have Corporate logos? All have been bribed with the lure of money for pimping for a sponsor.

Yes, this might be a little extreme. I have no problem with sponsorship when its excesses are controlled. I even use some of the products. Crass commercialism has unfortunately turned off many viewers. I just that I think that the sport is suffering from a lack of media coverage, and the little coverage that is available is a dull format full of promos. The fact that the ratings are low is not an indictment of the sport but rather of the lackluster boring format.

JD Moore
Los Angeles, CA

P.S. As a longtime fan I am also highly amused that even the most obnoxious racers that wouldn't give me the time of day when I was a kid, who would yell "Hey get out of there kid!" are now forced to be fan friendly. I won't name them but those of you that have been around for awhile know who I'm talking about. This is one good side effect of the big sponsorships the pros have.

Jok, glad to read that you enjoyed yourself at the Jeg's event.

I like your ideas about what you would change on the television coverage. If ESPN would have interviewed me last year right after I won my first national event they sure would not have got the same old "I'd like to thank bla bla bla bla...", heck I couldn't remember my own name! They would have recorded possibly the loudest "whohooooo" in history and caught on tape a person actually floating 2" off the ground!

Here in Colorado we have a "quick" style program at both Pueblo and Bandimere. I attended the opening Top Comp race at Pueblo two weeks ago and, like you, found it to be a refreshing change from S/G style racing. While I did have my weather station on, I never took my lap-top out of its case and never turned on my pager. I dialed based on the 'seat of my pants' feelings. I was relaxed, loose and happy. After three NHRA S/G races so far this year in Arizona I was already feeling burned out, but this race refreshed me!

Finally, if I were calling the shots on NHRA television coverage one thing I would do is change the sequence of events. Currently they show the first round of T/F & F/C, then come back for second round of T/F, then F/C, then P/S and so on until the finals. That is a lot of jumping around from class to class. What I would do is show first round, second round and thirrd round of T/F all together. Then I would do the same for F/C and then P/S. This way there is continuity within each class. Finally, I would lump all of the finals of all classes together to give the show a decisive conclusion. I would also cut out most of the cutesy segments and show ALL of the races, not just selected matchups in the first round like now.

Well Jok, thanks for listening to my thoughts. Good luck this year. Keep on putting into words all of the things we sportsman racers feel yet for some reason cannot emote with the razor sharp point that you can!

John Steffen

Jeff, I just read your rant about ESPN'S coverage and I too agree! The at-home watching drag racing fan/viewer should be getting more of what it is like at a race because that's what draws the person that knows nothing about the sport to go see a race! If someone that does not understand NASCAR and watches it on TV the guys doing the show make you feel that you are almost right there, but if you had the same person watch a drag race on ESPN they would more than likely turn the channel and watch ice skating or something like it.

I feel that if the media and drag racing hardcore fans let the NHRA and the IHRA and anyone else who is doing the coverage know how bored we are with the coverage we might just see as much drag racing on TV as we do NASCAR, maybe even talk shows, news shows, etc. I know in the years I have been involved in our sport of drag racing, filming with the Jackson Bros. and crewing with a few different NT/F'S and a couple Comp cars, it's always the same old story -- "When will they start showing more of the races on tv and less of John Force?" My answer to those people is when you start contacting the NHRA or IHRA and start complaining about it!

That's my 2 cents,

Brian Christiansen

Jeff, I think one of the big problems are that the times they put the races on stinks..... Either late nights or early mornings... As for me I am a diehard drag racing fan and they need to put a Nielsen Box in my house and the numbers would change. On the other hand I think NHRA is just becoming too much like a business and not taking care of the fans and the racers, the tickets, food and sovereigns are just too much. $6.50 for a $.38 cent hamburger. If you bring the fans to the track, they will watch it on TV. That's my thoughts.

Peter Bjordhl

The coverage is okay but way too many commercials and like someone said earlier why isn't the sound of the cars much better. Marty Reid is okay but I probably would use someone with more drag racing knowledge. My experience says use a hardcore drag racing fan/racer.

Thanks.

David Anderson

I completely agreed with (Darr's) article about NHRA/ESPN's TV coverage being horrible. One thing you didn't mention that makes it completely unbearable is how it never airs on time. As I am writing you it's 2:45am pst and the Houston qualifying show just ended 1 hour and 15 minutes ago. Why does ESPN treat the NHRA as a second class citizen and why does NHRA put up with it. I set my TIVO to record the races and 6 out of 10 races I miss the end because the show started late. Also I noticed this year that they have pushed back the qualifying show to a very late time slot. I just read that NHRA renewed the TV contract through 2006. I see this as a huge mistake I think FOX sports could do a much better job at covering the events and would treat the NHRA like a first class citizen not just filler in-between women's college basketball and cheerleading competitions.

Sincerely,

Nathan Jones

Since a lot of the country doesn't have cable and even less get ESPN 2 and since rating are so bad maybe its time for a change.

Whatever money their pouring down the ESPN black hole instead of spending all of it trying to get all the races on, why not pool all the money and see how many spots they can buy on FOX? If they could only buy two or three races they would be so much better off than they are now, it would be unreal. Just look at what FOX has done with news, shows and especially with what they have done with NASCAR.

Maybe after a couple of years of being on FOX another network would actually pay to get the remaining races.

Thanks.

Johnny Claridge

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