I've recently discovered your mag-e-zine, but some of us have noticed that your story on the sale of the gravy part of NHRA seems like what might be called fire sale prices.
So, I got some questions for Tom, Dallas, Peter & Co. Were your boys in Glendora in bad financial problems that $121 million shouldn't just be a down payment on what the looters are grabbing in this financial farce?
Assets? Might Colombus be worth $121 million alone at today's real estate values? Can you say NHRA Estates?
Tom, where is the oversight in this mess, the members have been robbed! Something is real fishy here Tom, your pockets are already pretty full of NHRA bonus bucks.
Our Professional racers should be very worried now. It sounds to me like the new NHRA-HD will be able to tell Pros what color and brand their underwear will be and when they will change them.
How do you spell WWE? Or is that Bruton Smith lurking behind the wizard's curtain?
Jacki Mylen
P.S.: keep watching those guys!
I was "Just Wondering" (hee hee) is this NHRA sale of the PRO assets gonna be a good thing? I think, and I don’t have anything to back this up with, that this is gonna be the end for sportsman racing at the national level. I have thought for a long time that the NHRA will split Pros and sportsman like NASCAR does with Cup and Busch competitors, mingling them at certain events but running the two series separately. What do you think? I look forward to seeing what you have to say.
Thanks for a great site, keep up the good work.
Ray Gottry
Lake City, FL
I was really caught off-guard by this announcement, which came out of nowhere! There were no rumors floating around, so the principals must have kept it all very close.
As for "the future of sportsman racing", this may prove to be a windfall.
A few years ago NHRA found itself in a difficult situation. The Gatornationals' track had been heavily rained on for several days prior to the race weekend. That left the pit area where they parked the sportsman racers literally axle-deep in squishy, black Florida mud! Rather than tell all the sportsman racers to hit the road, NHRA moved the sportsman segment of the race to Orlando Speed World. The trip was about 2-1/2 hours south of Gainesville, and nearly all the racers elected to go for this "Plan B".
I spent a full day walking around Orlando Speed World, talking with racers who chose to compete at the other track. Surprisingly, the response I got was almost 100% "in-favor"! They liked the idea of getting plenty of time to run and being the heroes of the event. Of course, spectator-count was way down, but that's because there was no time/budget to create the clever advertising campaign needed to put butts in the stands. (I must add that NHRA's Sportsnationals, which was run at Beech Bend Raceway Park, Bowling Green, KY, was a sportsman-only race that drew good crowds for all the years they ran it. That should defuse any thoughts of "sportsman race cars don't draw spectators.")
I will always defend the idea that sportsman drag racing - if properly promoted and presented - can draw from the audience of more-knowledgeable fans that truly exists. Those who fill major event stands to see the nitro Pro cars, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Bike are generally NOT in this group. They come to see/hear/smell fuel cars, and even Pro/S and Pro/SB is merely "frosting" for the "NHRA Major Event Experience".
For today's major event spectator to view sportsman racing (except Sunday, when they run off the last 2-3 rounds as "filler" to the Pro show) they must be willing to be on hand Thursday or Friday, early a.m., or long after the Saturday show is finished. In other words, the spectators who come to see the nitro cars are long-gone, and miss the interesting cars and racing. Those who come early and stay late are among those most knowledgeable fans. Just listen in on their conversations and you'll hear folks quoting engine HP ratings, Index numbers and all the stuff you normally hear only when racers gather and beers are opened. And yes, they too will watch certain segments of the Pro show that interests them.
Curiously, when I asked the racers at Orlando what negatives they saw in separating the sportsmen away from the Pro's, the only thumbs-down was to those few who liked to watch the Pro cars run, after their own cars were eliminated or maintenance completed. Of course there was griping about the last-minute venue change, but they also understood that NHRA was facing no other choice, other than to cancel all of the sportsman Gatornationals racing.
NHRA's web site carried a "Letter From Wally Parks" with endorsement of the deal. My guess is that if Wally didn't see merit in this plan, he would have remained notably out of the picture, saying nothing positive or negative. Even as he nears that century age mark, Wally's mind remains very sharp and focused, and his input continues to be valued.
So, this sale of certain segments of NHRA and tracks to HD Partners (if the share holders approve) may well prove to be a benefit to the sportsman racer, or a further de-emphasis on this part of NHRA Championship Drag Racing as we currently know it.
It's all up to the corner office group at NHRA. We'll just have to wait and see how this all transpires.
Jim Hill
Port Orange, FL