Racing Jack - Why NHRA is in Big Trouble!

[JGrossijr]

Interesting insights from Racing Jack about the overall decline in NHRA drag racing attendance and TV viewership


Follow up video

[Jeff Niceswanger]

Maybe it's because I'm old, but class racing is not what I enjoyed (anymore). Really glad I got started in the heydays of NHRA. There just too many dam classes. I remember one year at Columbus? Kyle Brothers GT/DA Firebird had 4 heads ups in the eliminator. FOUR ! Class at Indy had 8 or more cars in our class. Class's more resembled what A/SA has now, you just couldn't seem to stay away from heads up runs. Thats what John and I fell in love with. This bracket racing/hide from AHFS? Its ok, as long as you didn't race when we had the constant threat of heads ups all the time. I realize this does not have anything to do with butts in the seats, but from my perspective it's the most disappointing thing about modern day class racing.

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by Jeff Niceswanger

Maybe it's because I'm old, but class racing is not what I enjoyed (anymore). Really glad I got started in the heydays of NHRA. There just too many dam classes. I remember one year at Columbus? Kyle Brothers GT/DA Firebird had 4 heads ups in the eliminator. FOUR ! Class at Indy had 8 or more cars in our class. Class's more resembled what A/SA has now, you just couldn't seem to stay away from heads up runs. Thats what John and I fell in love with. This bracket racing/hide from AHFS? Its ok, as long as you didn't race when we had the constant threat of heads ups all the time. I realize this does not have anything to do with butts in the seats, but from my perspective it's the most disappointing thing about modern day class racing.

Most of what you are taking about is a direct result of the reduced quota in the sportsman categories. You are not going to get many heads up with only 50 car fields. Indy still has a 128 car field but when the AHFS is on then some will sandbag to avoid a hit. You are right there are too many categories now.

[Mike Walter]

I can only speak from own experience on this subject so here we go......
When I started in Stock Eliminator in the early 80's, I'll use the Springnationals at Columbus for an example. My typical scenario was to work all week and head out to the race either Wed night, Thursday, or if I didn't have a day of vac. to spare, show up Friday morning. In my early twenties I would have friends wanting to see me race so I told them to come down on Saturday because that's when 1st round was ran. They got to hang out with me, see the pro's, have a good time and be on their way home Saturday night. If any of them were real diehards they camped out, or slept on the motel room floor if I made it to Sunday and did it all over again. The point here is my best friends or most family members aren't going to take a day of vacation to come see you at the races. So the constant early/ late round elimination rounds which have been the norm for quite some time at National Events on weekdays are one of the contributing factors to this decrease. I'm only addressing the subject....not looking to bash or create a debate.

[Sean Cour]

National events are all about pros, with some sportsman, ?sprinkled? in. Let?s get back to when qualifying mattered for ?performance? based categories. One pound breaks down to a certain class (because of weight, then back to .5). 48 car entry quotas (not far off now). Qualify 16 spots, where performance would matter, and AHFS would definitely work a lot better. Qualifying on Friday, elims start Saturday morning. You could do the same for S/C, S/G, with qualifying based off of r/t?s, and/or closest to .90 as a tie breaker. Maybe maximum of 64 car fields for .90 categories with 32 car ladders? Just an idea!

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by Sean Cour

National events are all about pros, with some sportsman, ?sprinkled? in. Let?s get back to when qualifying mattered for ?performance? based categories. One pound breaks down to a certain class (because of weight, then back to .5). 48 car entry quotas (not far off now). Qualify 16 spots, where performance would matter, and AHFS would definitely work a lot better. Qualifying on Friday, elims start Saturday morning. You could do the same for S/C, S/G, with qualifying based off of r/t?s, and/or closest to .90 as a tie breaker. Maybe maximum of 64 car fields for .90 categories with 32 car ladders? Just an idea!

That?s how it was when there were only true super stock cars in the eliminator. Now there is over 100 different classes included in Super Stock. Back then we ran class at every national event. If you won class your were in the big show. Then They added the fastest qualifiers that didn?t win class to arrive at 64 cars first round. That will never work now. I think the only real class run offs at a national event now is Indy. As far as SC and SG those classes are limited by quota numbers. Most races is 50-60 car quotas in the .90 classes. Hopefully IHRA can continue its resurgence and give us another venue to race at. Personally I race for fun. I do enjoy racing super Stock.

[Jeff Niceswanger]

Originally Posted by Mike Pearson

Most of what you are taking about is a direct result of the reduced quota in the sportsman categories. You are not going to get many heads up with only 50 car fields. Indy still has a 128 car field but when the AHFS is on then some will sandbag to avoid a hit. You are right there are too many categories now.

I could call one of those guys, but I'm pretty sure the 4 heads up were at a points race at Trails. But your right, back in those days 100 plus car count point races were common.

[MR DERBY CITY]

It is pretty simple guys, when Jeff Niceswanger , Mike Walter and myself were in high school…..we were into cars / hot rods. Kids today….not at all ….I do not see many youngsters involved in NHRA racing UNLESS their dad, uncle, grandpa was involved or they started in the jr. dragster ranks ….

[Sean Cour]

Originally Posted by Mike Pearson

That?s how it was when there were only true super stock cars in the eliminator. Now there is over 100 different classes included in Super Stock. Back then we ran class at every national event. If you won class your were in the big show. Then They added the fastest qualifiers that didn?t win class to arrive at 64 cars first round. That will never work now. I think the only real class run offs at a national event now is Indy. As far as SC and SG those classes are limited by quota numbers. Most races is 50-60 car quotas in the .90 classes. Hopefully IHRA can continue its resurgence and give us another venue to race at. Personally I race for fun. I do enjoy racing super Stock.

Absolutely will work now. Did you not read my response? One pound breaks, qualified fields off of index. Back in the day, you HAD to win class to get into the big show. Seperate the Kiwi racers again. The fields are shorter than Danny Devito, in a Subway commercial, already. I?m sure it could be tweaked, but it would make the whole eliminator fun again. You can?t sandbag to have a definite spot in the eliminator.

NHRA would never do it, but one can hope!

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by Sean Cour

Absolutely will work now. Did you not read my response? One pound breaks, qualified fields off of index. Back in the day, you HAD to win class to get into the big show. Seperate the Kiwi racers again. The fields are shorter than Danny Devito, in a Subway commercial, already. I?m sure it could be tweaked, but it would make the whole eliminator fun again. You can?t sandbag to have a definite spot in the eliminator.

NHRA would never do it, but one can hope!

So want you are proposing is to eliminate all the classes they have now in Super Stock. Such as GT, FGT, FSS, modified, SS/T etc. and combine everything into 1 lb classes of traditional SS. I could see quite a bit of push back on that idea. I guess I should have worded my response ?as it is now?