Drag Racing Online - Tocher Talks Vol. IV No. 1 January 2002

NOTHING CERTAIN HERE

Amidst the usual blower vs. nitrous talk recently, there seems to be too little debate about where the country's top Pro Mod racers will be parking their rigs on raceday this year. With the NHRA welcoming the Pro Modsters with eight-maybe 10-races in 2001, it's hard to say where guys like Mike Janis, Fred Hahn, Shannon Jenkins, and the Stott brothers are going to devote their energies.

Sure, all of these drivers are likely to enter at least some IHRA races, but I don't think their participation at IHRA national events can be considered a gimme'. If any or all of them (among others, of course) commits to running the NHRA circuit, will any of the traditional IHRA stars be in the hunt for a championship at season's end? At least two confirmed NHRA race dates (at Atlanta and Englishtown, NJ) conflict with scheduled IHRA events (Shreveport, LA, and Cordova, IL), so we know there's no way to run both series full time. And if the NHRA does add a couple more dates, who knows how the IHRA schedule will stand up?

Could 2001 IHRA Pro Mod champion Mike Janis be taking his act to NHRA in 2002? Although there's been no suggestion Janis won't return to defend his title, it's not beyond belief. (Photo by Ian Tocher)

Also, what happens if a class sponsor ($$$s!) materializes on the NHRA side of the fence and Pro Mod becomes a limited-race professional division (much like Pro Stock Bike is now)? Like all professional racers, these guys are mercenaries, prepared to do battle wherever the biggest payoff awaits their efforts. Janis, the 2001 IHRA Summit Pro Mod champion will receive a sizable $50,000 check at this year's awards banquet, with another $79,500 to be distributed to the rest of the top-10 points gatherers. That's nothing to sneeze at and both IHRA and Summit deserve credit for making Pro Mod a truly professional drag racing class. But if that kind of money becomes available with the NHRA, I'd say all bets are off.

Although Pro Mod racers didn't gain much exposure from running as an exhibition class at a few NHRA events last year (Quick! Name the inaugural Pro Mod winner at the U.S. Nationals), you know that would change if it becomes an "official" class. The live and same-day telecasts of NHRA events on ESPN/ESPN2 would expose Pro Mod to the many casual drag racing fans who simply won't seek out the tape-delayed broadcasts that seem to have become the norm for IHRA. Plus, Pro Mod's wild image might play well with new NHRA sponsor Powerade's marketing plan as it seeks to reach a younger audience. What could be a more extreme sport than Pro Mod racing?

With the fans come the sponsors, which brings up another point related to where and how often these cars can race. On the whole, current IHRA Pro Mod sponsors are not large multi-national corporations with deep pockets for backing race teams. Most are medium-sized, usually automotive-related businesses with a principle already somewhat interested in drag racing. They are accustomed to the expenditure required to run a 12-race IHRA campaign in 2002 and I'm not sure how many would have the desire or wherewithal to add the cost of an eight to 10-race NHRA schedule to their sponsorship budgets. On the other hand, a complete switch to NHRA Pro Mod racing might place their names in front of more live fans, a bigger TV audience, and in bigger markets than IHRA can offer.

So while it's all well and good to argue and complain about Pro Mod degenerating into a Funny Car class with doors, IHRA fans might also want to consider whether they will even see many of the top runners at their local track this year. And I hope the powers-that-be in Norwalk are cognizant of the threat that a mass exodus to "the other sanctioning body" poses to the Pro Mod class they have nurtured and developed into a real winner.

By the way, it was Ronnie Hood who won at Indy.

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