CLASS RACER FORUM - View Single Post - "Live From" 2023 Baby Gators / Gatornationals

Mike McCandless · 03-13-2023, 08:45 AM

It's ran as a straight business that needs to be profitable. Those making the decisions are making the decisions they believe will give NHRA the best ROI. They might not be making the best choices, but I'd bet that's the reason these decisions are made. Easier to make those decisions for the now vs the future. If sponsor X will pay Y for something to happen, they'll take the path of least resistance vs building something long term.

I can promise you that 99% of people in the stands have zero clue how difficult it is to enter stock/super stock and be competitive. Yet, optically, it's the class most can relate to because the cars are real cars they've seen before. I believe there is a way to make S/SS more relevant and part of the bigger show, but it wouldn't be easy or fast. Like it or not, social media and video consumption is at an all time high. NHRA won't do this, because they'd default to the bigger classes, but a "drive to survive" type of series for S/SS in my opinion, is the only solution to gain fan interest.

If you profiled 4-6 people in each class that were running nationals schedules and divisional's, I think you could make something compelling. Make it in consumable video content, no more than 30 min per episode with 2 races per episode. If people can't relate to the struggle, I'm not sure you get them engaged. There has to be a human interest element to this. Looking back now, I would do anything to be able to go back and profile the insane things we had to do for Jason to win D2 last year in Stock. It would have made for an insane TV show, with the outcome being decided at the last race of the year in the finals against the team owner of the car. You couldn't have scripted it any better. We need stories like that to get out, hook people and that's how you get things to change. NHRA has to believe the class provides a positive ROI, otherwise it will get cast to the side.

In the cold world of business, why would NHRA care about any non pro class? They're looked at as filler that don't bring fans to the track. If any sportsman class was instantly dropped, what's the overall impact financially to NHRA? Knowing they'd just put in another class or expand the field to get the count it needs? S/SS have decades of work put in them by the participants. As much as we all bitch, we're not going anywhere, NHRA knows that. If we do, they'll just pull something off the shelf to replace it. It would be sad, but that's my guess.

My worthless .02

03-13-2023, 08:45 AM	#2
Mike McCandless Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 129 Likes: 3 Liked 477 Times in 43 Posts	Re: "Live From" 2023 Baby Gators / Gatornationals It's ran as a straight business that needs to be profitable. Those making the decisions are making the decisions they believe will give NHRA the best ROI. They might not be making the best choices, but I'd bet that's the reason these decisions are made. Easier to make those decisions for the now vs the future. If sponsor X will pay Y for something to happen, they'll take the path of least resistance vs building something long term. I can promise you that 99% of people in the stands have zero clue how difficult it is to enter stock/super stock and be competitive. Yet, optically, it's the class most can relate to because the cars are real cars they've seen before. I believe there is a way to make S/SS more relevant and part of the bigger show, but it wouldn't be easy or fast. Like it or not, social media and video consumption is at an all time high. NHRA won't do this, because they'd default to the bigger classes, but a "drive to survive" type of series for S/SS in my opinion, is the only solution to gain fan interest. If you profiled 4-6 people in each class that were running nationals schedules and divisional's, I think you could make something compelling. Make it in consumable video content, no more than 30 min per episode with 2 races per episode. If people can't relate to the struggle, I'm not sure you get them engaged. There has to be a human interest element to this. Looking back now, I would do anything to be able to go back and profile the insane things we had to do for Jason to win D2 last year in Stock. It would have made for an insane TV show, with the outcome being decided at the last race of the year in the finals against the team owner of the car. You couldn't have scripted it any better. We need stories like that to get out, hook people and that's how you get things to change. NHRA has to believe the class provides a positive ROI, otherwise it will get cast to the side. In the cold world of business, why would NHRA care about any non pro class? They're looked at as filler that don't bring fans to the track. If any sportsman class was instantly dropped, what's the overall impact financially to NHRA? Knowing they'd just put in another class or expand the field to get the count it needs? S/SS have decades of work put in them by the participants. As much as we all bitch, we're not going anywhere, NHRA knows that. If we do, they'll just pull something off the shelf to replace it. It would be sad, but that's my guess. My worthless .02