In what has to be professional drag racing’s most repetitive drama, the future of Pro Mods racing as their own “Pro” class at NHRA national events is once again in question. Current series sponsor, “Get Screened America”, a company owned and operated by Pro Mod racer and team owner Roger Burgess has announced that they are not going to renew their contract after the 2014 season and that they’ve chosen to take their option and discontinue the television program that centers around the class as well. Reportedly, the entire funding for the TV series came from Get Screened America.
On the upside, this is the most notice that any company has given on their departure as the series sponsor, as GSA has three years left on their contract and Burgess seems to have every intention of holding up his end of the bargain. On the downside, the NHRA has said that despite the fact that the series will run until 2014, it is only going to grant organizers until December of 2012 to find a replacement sponsor. Barring that, the series will be dunzo at the end of the 2014 campaign.
The simple question becomes, “Why?”
It certainly follows no past precedent. Afterall, when the original series sponsor, AMS Staff Leasing pulled the plug after the 2008 season, it wasn’t until less than a month before the NHRA Gainesville event that Jegs was announced as the series sponsor. The glue on the decals wasn’t even dry by the time the first race of the year came off, and now the NHRA is closing the window two years before the current deal runs out? It was GSA that stepped in after the single year Jegs agreement ended at the conclusion of the 2008 campaign and they’ve been headlining the series ever since.
NHRA has never figured out the Pro Mod category, which is simultaneously unsurprising and a bit sad. Unsurprising because they never really figured out the sport compact thing (I remember watching a disaster of an exhibition at the US Nationals one year) and augered that series into the ground. Also along the same vein and in a far more recent story, they folded their “NHRA Unleashed” series which was centered around door slammer racing and featured Pro Mods at the first season’s events. Lots of the racers were into it, but you could have fired a howitzer at the stands and injured zero people at most of the races. Granted, they only gave the series a year and a half to turn into something, which seems to be another hallmark of current NHRA management, impatience. But that’s another story for another day.
The sad part, in our perspective anyway is that it was the NHRA Pro Mod series, only seen as an exhibition (that didn’t award a Wally to the winner!) up until 2010 when Burgess’s money got the Pro Mods granted “official” status as an NHRA professional class, that was the primary cause of the death of IHRA’s Pro Mod division, which created the entire class to begin with. .
Through the mid-2000s there was a fair amount of crossover between racers running in both places, but soon the rules became incongruent and the “big name” guys chose sides, which unfortunately for the IHRA often wasn’t them. The racers were drawn by the bright lights, huge tracks, and ego stroke that came with running the NHRA side, even though they were often treated like Jr. Dragster competitors, being the first class to be bumped off the order when weather or other delays held up “the show”.
2006 was a year of major crossover and it ended on a note that had to have the IHRA management smiling when Josh Hernandez ran the first 5-second, competition legal, door slammer lap in North America at the fall Rockingham IHRA national event with a 5.99 second blast.
By 2008, the rules were so far spread that the big guns were running the NHRA series and the smaller guys were running on the IHRA side. As the economy slumped harder and harder, those small guys melted away until IHRA ultimately changed formats and discontinued their traditional pro competition classes.
BUT….
Things on the NHRA side remained, and continue to remain strong. Outside of the gonzo ADRL which is still pulling strong fields and decent crowds, the NHRA offers the quickest and fastest Pro Mod racing on the planet and a quarter of a mile of it at that. Pro Mods are an international class. The points leader as we type this piece is Khalid Balooshi from Qatar, a shocking departure from the chaw spittin’ southern dudes that got the whole wild doorslammer deal rolling in the first place. We’d argue all day long that it would make more sense for NHRA to lop Pro Stock off the docket before throwing the Pro Mods to the curb.
HUH?
Blasphemy, you say? Well, the most popular body style in the class is a Pontiac GXP, a model no longer made by a brand that no longer exists. Yeah, them “factory hot rods” have lost their fastball. Running a Pro Mod is no small expense, but in comparison to running a Pro Stocker it is damned reasonable.
More reasons? When’s the last time you heard about a local track running a Pro Stock match race or special event? Yeah, we thought so, the 1970s was probably it. This weekend, there will be Pro Mods running at probably 100 drag strips internationally. That’s right, they love ’em in Canada, Australia, Puerto Rico, Norway, England, etc. Pro Stock? not even close. NASCAR will have EFI on their engines next year. Will NHRA? Hell no. Hear about all that bitchin’ Pro Stock racing going on over in Arabia? No you didn’t because the rage is Pro Mods.
So back to the original question. Why would the NHRA allow this popular class to die a slow death as a lame duck if a sponsor couldn’t be found by December 2012? After 10 years of competition at NHRA events, Pro Mods have certainly proven their place at the “big kid’s table”.
We’re guessing that it is the simple fear of upsetting the apple cart, which sucks because the apples are starting to rot. In our eyes, the NHRA not in any position to turn away race cars that put people’s asses in the seats.
Wally Parks is dead, he’s not going to come out and kill anyone if changes are made to NHRA’s drag racing “formula”. Making Pro Modified a part of it should be a front burner type job, but we’re guessing that in some back room there’s a guy in Glendora ticking the days off the calender until December 2012 when they can pass the word along that the Pro Modified series is dead. One less hassle for them.
This series has survived multiple death scares. Let’s hope that this is another one that can be dealt with before time runs out. As positive as the words have been on both sides about working on finding a new sponsor, we are really left to wonder how much commitment the sanctioning body will put behind this effort.
The problem with Pro Mods is that they did not originate at the NHRA, or even in California. The big wigs at the NHRA are still stuck in the 60’s and early 70’s when dragsters ruled and ran everywhere. When was the last time you saw a top fuel match race? Yep- been a while. NHRA needs to adapt or it will go the way of the dinosaur.
Gotta love those fast door slammers!
Great article, Brian. Long live Pro Mods. I can see one or two on any T&T weekend at one of the three 1/4 mile tracks “local” to my hometown, but I have yet to ever see a real, live Pro Stock make a pass in person. Not to say that I’d like to see Pro Stock go the way of the dinosaur, either.
Guys, if a major sponsor stepped up along the lines of Powerade, Monster Energy, etc., NHRA would take this class off life support immediately. The lack of embrace of this category by a major, nationally-known sponsor is what keeps it circling the drain. Aside from Jeg’s, I would hardly call the longest-running sponsors in this category “household names.” We should be asking why these sponsors don’t see the value and what can be done to bring a viable program to them.
I’ve struggled with translating motorsports programs that had grassroots appeal into thriving national program. One would think it is easy, but that is not always the case. Sometimes the local appeal is truly local: “Billy from the trans shop has finally got that sh*tbox car to go down the track. Let’s go see him wreck…” that dog don’t hunt at a National event.
Just my .02 – not hating on Pro Mods, just sharing some experience
The bigger question is why do they have to bring their own sponsor to the table? No other NHRA “Pro” category has to do that. They are literally the only class in the entire freaking sanctioning body that has to bring their own money to the table. Everyone else falls under the PowerAde banner.
I’d agree whole hog if every class had to do what these guys have had to do. It is like bizarro world.
Brian
Whoops….strike PowerAde and insert Monster Energy Drink
i have been around dragracing as long as i can remember(70’s). My father in law has not, and when we go to a national event that is what draws him to the stands.
I record all the NHRA events, specifically so i can fast forward past pro stock. Sorry but to me way to boring to watch
NHRA officials have said to me personally that they don’t want to add any categories. Many reasons for this, but in short, they can’t absorb much else into their cut-to-the-bone Tech and safety infrastructure.
I think this is where your comments about the way NHRA defines acceptable types of “Competition” come into play. In short, they haven’t sold this as part of the sponsorship package because it’s either outside their vision OR the sponsor balked at including Pro Mod for some reason and NHRA never pushed back
NHRA- “still” in the stone age. Just try to convince them to put ProMod under the Monster Energy Drink banner- aint gonna happen!
That sucks pro mods are great what is the NHRA doing?, they’re a very much loved class in England and Roger Burgess comes to Santa pod with Melanie Troxel to race.I feel bad for any pro mod teams/fans on the other side of the pond.
Brian – I almost never disagree with your commentary, but you’re 180 off on this one. Pro Mod is not dead, the NHRA is.
DAD GUM! A Ford gets to the final round in PS a time or two and some are ready to AXE THE CLASS!
Pro Mod would be a lot more entertaining if the bodies weren’t so freakish and there was more diversity. I’d rather watch vintage gassers and “nostalgia” Super Stocks or the Drag Week “Unlimited class” than an ugly composite “’63 Corvette” packing a $100,000 TAD mill in Pro Mod.