How can we fix NHRA
 

I am not a racer so I don't really understand all that you all go through. I have been a spectator for most of my life starting at age 3 at Atco to now 3 days at Englishtown, Maple Grove and also The Dutch. My father and I are hardcore usually at the track before the first run and don't leave till after the last. My question is how can we improve the NHRA, from the pros through the sportsmen classes They are going the Nascar route with tv and expanding that way. What is your opinion what they can do

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

fire everyone in Glendora for starters

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

A 100% Sportsman racer boycott at a National event would really get their attention in Glendora......however, talking about it and actually getting the Racers to DO IT, are 2 completely different scenarios....am pretty sure you couldn't get even 75% to stay away for 1 Nat. event. My opinion only..... WJ

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Hi,

I work for the State of California and my thoughts are that the State of California and the NHRA are so institutionally flawed that they are beyond repair.

The State and NHRA will probably both have to go bankrupt and then possibly rise from the ashes.

They both need a new start…

Bob
.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

beyond repair... lets start a 2 new associations

sportsman
pat joffrion for president
wesley & travis tech directors & horsepower issues
elected racers reps in each division

professional
don prudhomme president
??? tech / research
each team owner has only one vote

where do i send my $150 ???

captain jack

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

I think part of the problem here is that the France family OWNS NASCAR and I think it is a For profit business---The NHRA on the other hand is a NON profit association that is owned by its members---2 entirely different business models you cannot compare them to each other---Comp 387

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Owned by the members!!!!!!! thats a joke
membership in nhra means nothing but money
to the board


Hammer

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Forget the "Professional" part. Id vote for the sportsman suggestion.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

I LIKE CAPT. JACK'S REPLY.

PAT JOFFRION FOR PRES.

SHRA = Sportsman Hot Rod Assoc.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

We can't fix it. Some how they managed to take away all rights of the members years ago.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

x-2 on that one . even with bad weather at this years sportsnationals , the race wen't very smoothly, as well as getting done pretty early on sunday. that man know's how to put on a race. and a hell of a nice guy too. he personally came over when the rain started to get us moved to higher ground. and even thanked us for comming. he would have my vote.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

I saw this coming in the 90's and got out of the NHRA membership and racing.
Money,Money,Money is the problem. The show has not changed with the times.
Top Fuel and Funny car are boring in my opinion and to costly for any average guy to run in which is key.
Top classes are completely boring to watch now and have been for years. I'd rather watch Stock, Super Stock ,Comp and the Top Alcohol Classes .
The little guy gets the screws in the name of many things such as safety etc.etc. This money continuosly goes into the UNIONS (NHRA) coffers.
I will not even go to a NHRA national or divisional event.
To hell with them. My money will go (and has gone) somewhere else and has for many years. I enjoy drag racing.

The NHRA Slogan......."I want your Money"

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Okay I am going to take a shot at this: First all pros go back to quarter mile, 1000ft is a joke. Slow the fuel cars down, take a fuel pump off and a magneto also make the combo cheaper so small teams can compete. If there are larger car counts in fuel classes that run cheaper it will bring in more companies. Return to saturday evening and night qualifying for fuel, header flames are cool why get rid of the one thing that separates drag racing for any other racing. Give the sportsman racers a break, make sure they get their runs for class and eliminations if you dont run class give some run back. World Champs get free entry for a year in the class they are champ in. It will help the touring sportsmen hit more tracks so more people can see them and race against them. Offer fans a car price on maybe thursday and friday of national events, this way there will be more spectators on the early days when the sportsmen are running.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Mufflers !

And titanium valves !

And stock eliminator engines in super stock cars allowed to run in SS/GT ! (hey,
that's not a bad idea is it?)

It all comes down to choices really. If we choose to be unhappy, we will be.
Like, I had a choice to either send my Granddaughter to college or build a new
Super Stock car. (I'm hoping to make the National Open at Valdosta in November).

Oh,... thanks to everyone that came to the SSSSA race in Orlando. Terrible weather
on Friday. Terrible forecast for Saturday (race day). But, the weather turned out
to be perfect for the love bugs. Brian Radley won. Randy Harrison was the runner up.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

As I said on another post, someone should approach the sheik about having stock and super stock in the ADRL.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

How can we fix NHRA?......Didn't your Parents teach you anything.......YOU CAN FIX STUPID!!!!!

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

As soon as you add S & SS to the ADRL nhra will refuse to let them use the race tracks, remember all the problems they had at start up.......nhra said no and surely will say no to S & SS.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Sorry guys but, I think it's too late unless someone starts a new association. I'm not saying NHRA has been or ever will be perfect but, in the past few years things have made a turn for the worse. It used to be the higher above people were ex-racers and somewhat understand what it's like to be a sportsman racer now, it's turned into a bunch of pencil pushers who only care about the bottom line and $$ signs. It's turned into "How many rounds can we get into 1 day so we can clear out the sportsman pits and park spectators". Could anyone imagine if Bruton's plans to buy NHRA went through? There would be no .90 Classes or Stk or Super Stk and Maybe no Comp because they don't fill up the stands with Fans like the pukers do. I think that's why your seeing more and more associations popping up and normal NHRA racers are running more of these races and putting the Divisional and Nationals on the Back Burner. Dave Ley runs an awesome association in the East Coast Stk/SS, You have the New Super Comp Assoc and MASGA on the East Coast and hopefully come next year we can try to get all 3 together for a few races and it will be similar to a Divisional Event. I think the only way you make it better is to have each division have 7 or 8 Divisional Races, eliminate Us from National Events and have each division have 2 or 3 Sportsnationals (I know it's tough in the Northwest) (Still get a Wally because we all know thats what racers want) count all your races and have the same point system as now. Put TAFC, TAD and Pro Mods as fillers for the Pros so they can fix the motors in 90 minutes and this way we don't have to take a week off to go racing. Just my .02 cents....

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

How do you stop a fully loaded freight train, going down hill with no brakes?

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Not really all that hard Cyclone. Just tear up a few sections of rails.I'm confident we all know what the 'rail sections' are.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Ken, That will "stop" it but I don't think it will save the train. Oh, I guess I did forget to mention that huh. LOL

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

BKSG you dont get it, Dave Ley's program dose not compeat with nhra. As soon as you try and run a sportsmen race that is in direct competition with nhra they will not let there sanctioned tracks run the event. You need to get their approval first and you wont get it. The only way is to dismantle nhra, once its gone you will have all the tracks open for your event. If you dont believe me look it up its in writing.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

What I would like to know is what ever happened to the idea that there would eventually be a Sportsnational race in every Division? Len Imbrogno told me that was the goal, but they haven't added any Sportsnationals in several years. Still only three. Jim

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Bob,
I do get it. I never said anything about competing with NHRA. That is like David vs. Goliath for anyone. I understand the whole deal with Dave Ley's association as I help out with other .90 Associations on the East Coast. All I was saying was that we will never have a "Race" at a NHRA track on the same weekend as a NHRA Divisional or National Event in the same area but, we have had Stk/SS, SG and SC at the same track on the same weekend. My point is that "You can't fix NHRA, no matter how hard you try, it is what it is". The easiest solution is to let the sportsman and pros be 2 totally different organizations. 1 with just the Pros and Alky and 1 with Comp down to Super Street. It would prevent people from having to take millions of days off from work in which jobs are being lost everyday, Kepping it somewhat local to save on travel costs and without Alky there we might be able to do 2 races in 1 weekend. I'm just pointing out that if there are other options out there for anybody who still loves NHRA racing without the BS and Frustration.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

In 1981 our membership rights and voting rights were taken away by management at NHRA in basically an illegal vote of a small part of the members. Prior to that, we as members had very few rights because the board had to call membership meetings for us to vote, which they almost never did. At present time the board is made up of the four members of top management; Tom Compton, Peter Clifford, Graham Light, and Dallas Gardner. Because management and the board are one and the same the board does not hold management accountable and there is no one to hold the board accountable.

As most of you know NHRA is a non profit 501 C6 corporation. I have done a fair amount of research on this and I can't find any other similar non profit where there is no accountability to anyone. Most non profits have a board of directors that is elected by the members. The board then hires the management to run the company. Usually the President of the organization is the only member of management on the board. The board usually is the one who decides on compensation for top management and also with the general direction of the company. Because the board and management are one and the same management can do what they want and run the company any way they want. Right now I think we all know what it's about and that is maximizing revenue.

NHRA is operating in a way that is illegal for a 501C6 non profit corporation to operate. The only way I see anything changing is for the members to get our voting rights back and vote in a transparent way, for a new board of directors, who then in turn, could hire new management to implement policies and direction that the new board would decide on. As long as the current management is in place they are concerned about one thing and that is making themselves as wealthy as possible.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

One thing to add to this idea is a Sportsman racer boycott would need to be at a race held at a NHRA owned facility, that way NHRA and not a independent track operator can take the full financial hit.

Would this fix NHRA? Probably not, but it would go a long way in getting their attention.

Will it ever really happen? I doubt it.




Hey Dan Moore, you're #1. :D

RIP Mark Graham

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

You will know how screwed up the whole deal is if the two new board members announced. are

Graham Light II and Tom Compton Jr

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Wow, i think there are soooo many things we can do to make our (sportsman racers, this includes S, SS, Comp & the 90's Cars) OWN Organization a better place to race.
SHRA- Sportsman Hot Rod Assoc.

Let's think of the possibilites: Top Stock, Jr. Stock, Top SS, Jr. SS, Handicap Stock,
Handicap SS. I know Top & Jr. Stock faded out here in Div.1 but it's worth a second try.

Pinks All Out fills the stands with spectators, Why ????? is it because you see Heads Up
Racing, & you still can't go under the time that they choose for the final 16 cars.

I would love to have a SportsNationals in each division, that would be cool.

I think another thing we as racers can do at a Points race is put up some x-tra money
(even though we are getting raped as it is) like $30 more.
At our last Div. race at Atco, Stock Elim. had 116 cars.
116 x 30 dollars= $3480.
When you are down to 29 cars, which is after 2 rounds
14 losers get there $30 back, next round losers which will be 7 they get $50 back,
next round losers which will be 4 they get $100 back, next round losers which will be 2
they get $200. Runner up gets $600 & The Winner Gets $1300.
That means there is $10. left for me for running this pot. lol

THIS IS PROBABLY MORE THAN NHRA GIVES US.

If you win, it also sweetens the pot a little more.

This is how the Hemi Shootout started, the racers were putting up there own money.
Of course i think it was winner take all, but i'm not sure.

LET'S BRING ON THE DEBATE FELLOW RACERS.

Pistol Pete Dutko
1374
I/SA

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Hey pete like those ideas but I don't want the sportsmen to split off. I do enjoy pro stock and fuel which both have issues. Why did top stock and jr. Stock fail.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Greg's got the answer. Since NHRA,for tax purposes is a 501c, they act as an org for "business members". With the amount of sportsman racers, there's no way they can act for "business members". Business members meaning to better the members business.
Do a search and read the requirements for a 501c non-profit org.
If a good lawyer took them on NHRA would probably have to pay back taxes for 50 yrs or so. That would surely break them and a new board could take control.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Many of you make some good points, but the majority are just complaining and not actually stating what you don't like about NHRA racing, or how to fix it.

here are a few questions, at what tracks do you plan to hold these events? Where will the advertising and promotional dollars come from? have any of you priced the cost for radio, print and TV advertising? Or do you think people will just show up? Plus, where are your sponsors going to come from in this downed economy?

It would take millions in capital to design, launch, operate, and grow a national racing series that would probably operate at a huge loss the first few seasons. You need trucks, trailers, uniforms, insurance, etc. Not to mention a business plan for problems such as lawsuits, multiple rain outs and other essentials. It goes way deeper than dreaming up a few classes and appointing a few qualified people.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Dean, I think you are forgetting about Alex Dennysenko and his Race, US Class Nationals was mostly done thru the Superstock Forum and the turn out was Outstanding. It can be done.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Yes....but can it be done again?

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

The Class Nat'ls may have been a once in a lifetime thing. To me, it compares to Woodstock. Once in a lifetime. They have tried it(Woodstock) a few times, but it hasn't even come close the original!

Thanks Alex and crew for a GREAT time at the Class Nationals!

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

That was a great race that Alex and a few others worked very hard on and promoted for a year or so prior to the event. Not to speak for Alex, but I bet he wouldn't want to do that 10 (or 20) times a year.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Been into this sport since 1963, what has become of this sport by the suits at NHRA these days is depressing, I see so many flaws, yet, I see some bright spots.

Some of the bright spots, many more hours of TV coverage even though the time of telecast is better suited for night owls. Better awareness of the stars of the sport. Nicer facilitys, better food, better cans. (restrooms) Safer tracks, better lights. A renewel in the interest for Super Stock and stock Elim. People long for long lost musclecars and enjoy watching 'em and enjoying todays DPs and Stangs. There are more but time to switch gears.

The lowlights. Delays, oildowns, oildowns, long cleanups and more oildowns. In todays world in the get it done now cuz my attention span is short, is hurting the show.

1000 ft. nitro racing is awefull. Get 'em using one pump. one mag, 12:71 or 10:71 supercharger, dump the dumb ***** gear rule, lower the weights, go back to 1320! Have more night racing, a complete no-brainer. Have Pro Stock go to EFI. Dump the supercharged diggers in T.A.D, go all A/Fuel and call it Pro Dragster. For national events dump the ultra boring Super Gas/Comp trainwrecks. Bring in Top Dragster/Sportsman. Have nostalgia Funny Cars and Top Fuel, also a good wheelstander.

The suits of today at NHRA just don't get it in my view, a view from a geezer. Don't think it can be fixed. The NHRA has ran off so many companies with their lame policies. I could go on and on.

Hands down, Super Stock and Stock are the best sportsman categories.


SuperStocks@LionsDragStrip

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

Super Stock I agree with alot of what you say, but dont think it is a lost cause with Glendora. I think with the amount of fans like this weekend people are loving good quality racing. I like the supercharged dragsters in alcohol it makes it less normal. Super gas/comp/street is boring because it is the same thing pair after pair maybe take off the electronics and see. NHRA needs to push the lucas oil series more get it out there tell the casual fan that is where the stars of the pros came from. If people realize that you get so much at a live event then the gates will be that way everyday not just sunday.

Re: How can we fix NHRA
 

I'm with you on this one, skills....a perfect example of how great Stock/SS racing is, is by going to "You Tube", and watching the US Nationals A/S final between John Calvert & Jason McCormack...that was the perfect combination of an outstanding heads-up race (although I wonder how it would've turned out if Jason's wheelstand would've been shorter like John's was...due to his wheelie bar?), the announcer extraordinare "Bob Frey", that kids voice prior to the launch of the cars, and the lady's voice once the went airborne. That to me is......."THE SPORTSMAN RACE OF THE YEAR"!!!!