With the recent announcement that New England Dragway will be leaving the IHRA to race under the NHRA banner in 2011, I’ve been thinking a lot about the format change that IHRA made coming into the 2010 season. The “Nitro Jam” series has been met with both support and derision, but I have a feeling that the IHRA is laughing…all the way to the bank.
As background, the IHRA bucked traditional drag racing coming to the 2010 season by switching to the “Nitro Jam” format which essentially took a multi-day national event and made it two single day races. They ditched open fields for booked in talent at the professional level and changed their ticket pricing and event promotion. Essentially they took drag racing toward the model of “Monster Jam” (owned by the same company that owns IHRA, Feld Entertainment).
Lots of traditionalists and die-hards said that it was doomed to fail. “Real” drag racing fans would see right through this sham and abandon the IHRA in droves. The races would be empty, devoid of spectators and racers. It was absolute and total suicide.
As it turns out, they were wrong, by a lot. The events have been very well attended and all indications are that this new format has made the company much more profitable and viable.
I’m kind of a heretic when it comes to this stuff. I don’t think drag racing has any sacred cows. I am absolutely 100% behind 1,000-foot racing in the NHRA, I dig the fact that IHRA had the balls to stop being a second fiddle NHRA copy and make their own way. Drag racing is about pure evolution. The only thing sacred in drag racing is going quicker and faster. That’s it.
One of the big things that ADRL supporters point to is that 70-something percent of the attendees at their races have never been to a drag race before. They are simply there for the show.
THE SHOW!
It is almost a dirty term to use in racing, as if to denote that the sanctity of an event would somehow be stripped if fans were not all 100% educated about all the racers, classes, and goings on. When I go to an event, I’m the guy who knows stuff, who has done some research, etc. I’m in the vast minority.
As much as people in racing don’t seem to want to believe that, it is the truth. That guy in the stands next to you that is calling a Camaro a Mustang and spouting all kinds of misinformation to the people around him? He’s there for the show! The die-hard, know it all, dedicated fans of racing are not the people who make up the majority of the crowd. More people show up because they dig cars and wand to see something cool.
The proof of that is aired on SPEEDTV almost every day and it is called Monster Jam. The traveling road show of monster trucks, which may be going on in five cities at the same time, has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the show rules. While the series is televised, there are few people who follow the “series” and the events are packed with thousands of people who are looking to be entertained. Nothing more, nothing less. Give them a show, make them happy, show them something they will tell their friends about and have them back next year.
I have personal evidence of this on the drag strip as well. New England Dragway has been throwing an event called “Jet Cars Under the Stars” for nearly 40 years. It is by far and away the best attended self-produced match race of the season with numbers rivaling the IHRA event. Why is this? Because it is a SHOW. An experience that the novice, uneducated, first time fan can take away with them, tell their friends and come back the next year. The visceral experience of a burner pop thumping your chest is something you tell the guys at the office about on Monday.
There are parts of the change that suck. The loss of Mountain Motor Pro Stock and a dedicated Pro Mod class hurt. The usage of more regional racing series and classes is cool in some ways (because it allows these racers to make some money) but there is still something to be said for legit “star power” to draw people out. Lots of that has been lost, although Top Fuel saltwarts like Bruce Litton and Bobby Lagana remain.
I think there is a place for the IHRA model in drag racing as much as I think there is a place for the ADRL model. The NHRA is working to branch out with stuff like the Unleashed series and other ventures, but their events on a national level will be the same for years and ultimately that may be their undoing. The hard-liners believe anything outside of the traditional national format is sacriledge.
The problem with traditional NHRA “legitimacy” is the fact that they are still pitching their series like it is the 1960s or 1970s. The cars being raced are not making direct connections with the fans anymore. Pro Stock is a fantasy land of their own making. No one cares.
No ones cares when you call them “factory hot rods” and they look like they came from Willy Wonka’s factory. When you start to realize that you are selling a show and you promote them as 500ci V8 powered versions of your economy car, you’ll get some people out.
At the end of the day all three of the “big” drag racing series have their merits and faults, but I’m more interested in seeing something innovative and different that is bringing new people in to see drag racing and experience the mind blowing show that it really is, versus a sanction that has a corral of sacred cows which cannot be killed to help advance the sport.
Thanks for reading,
Brian
