Is IHRA Going Under?

[Rich Biebel]

In the past a racer could win a purse for an NHRA national event that may have been equal to what he had in his racecar...

I know that to be true because I did win a National event and know what I won...vs what my car was worth...

A points race was also worth probably at least double what it is today....and that was in the 1980's so it really is way more than double with todays costs...

Today that is NOT happening and not even close. Contingency $$$ has been the real problem.....and there are varied reasons why companies dropped out.....

The track operators need to make a profit sure....but as has been written many times the cost to compete has skyrocketed.......in all categories...

Your potential return is pitiful and it is driving the sport into the dirt from everyones point of view......

Class racers like to bash .90 racers or bracket racers it seems sometimes. The sport needs everyone and bracket racers that ran the .90 classes helped drive things up. Car counts.....revenue.....contingency sponsors....

The 1960's left the building folks !!! And the car culture is aging out....

The sport has become too expensive and the people participating has shrunk at most every level...

Look at the number of cars that DO show up and compete at the High $$$ bracket events and some draw very big car counts....ask why do they show up in sellout numbers.....real simple...

PAYOUTS.......giveaways.....free BBQ's and things like that.......that was all part of big events years ago.....by the HRA's.....

Today you're lucky if you get a thanks for coming.....

NHRA has always been the only choice in my area.......except for a few tracks that tried IHRA and even some other sanctions years ago..

I always hoped IHRA could expand in my area and succeed.....competition maybe would make things better for both HRA's.....never happened

[Bob Mulry]

Hi guys,

One of my gripes, and I am told that I have many, is that the NHRA rules never remain static......

Years ago when you finished building a car, it was finished......

Now the rules get "updated" (I mean more expensive) every year and sometimes even more frequently......

All this does is increase the cost, without return, for everybody....

When everybody has the trick of the week, it's not a trick anymore...

I could make list of the changes, but it would run for several pages and we would still end where we started. Only with less $$$$$$$$$......

Bob

PS:
If IHRA had a presence on the West Coast I would race there too........

[Carguy49]

Originally Posted by MikeMoller

I think the sanctioning bodies and the track operators need to do more to get butts in the seats. I knew a dirt track operator up north who ADVERTISED the races locally - radio and TV - and ran promotions for discounted tickets. The ticket prices charged to see a NHRA/IHRA divisional are way to high, not family friendly. I'd rather have 100 spectators at 5 bucks a head than 10 at 20. How about 25 bucks a carload? As the dirt track operator told me, you can't sell a hot dog to an empty seat.
The NHRA Divisional at Charlotte was not advertised at all, not even on their website. The Charlotte track had no information on schedules, run times or ticket prices.And there were only a few food truck vendors there, no track operated vendors at all.

You make a very good point, Mike. Yes, advertising does cost a lot these days, but without it nobody knows when these events happen. I remember Sunday, Sunday, Sunday on the radio in the old days. Most local events are so poorly attended that the stands are basically empty. At our local track (Pacific Raceways) we had a Stock Super Stock Combo as part of the Super Saturday program. Many cars there to participate, but only 50 or so people in the stands. On Sunday was a nostalgia show with AA/G cars (high 6's @ over 200) and many other very cool cars and a car show. Spectators in the stands - best count I got was maybe 100. Again most were, probably, friends and family of the racers. No advertising for this event and so much to see and hear.
Another point that has been brought up is the cost of food and beverage. Very few racers eat track food because of cost and quality. For the cost of 1 meal at the track ($15) I brought food to cover the whole weekend and still had leftovers. The cost for spectators has to be reasonable to fill the stands.

[Terry Witzel]

A while back, most everyone was saying 'why doesn't the NHRA make the new 'factory stock' cars the new Pro Stock'. Maybe the IHRA should consider doing this.

[PozQB14]

In 2001 (I think, maybe 2002), I attended the IHRA Empire Nationals in NY. My brother and I both a stock eliminator cars. Neither of them were very competitive but being in that environment was worth the entry fee. 25k people in a weekend!!! Top fuel dragsters, alcohol funny cars, pro stock and pro mods!!!!! We were the little guys but the sportsman racers were still relevant at that race. What happened to all of that? Clay Millican, Paul Romine, Shannon Jenkins in the pro mod Camaro, AL Billes. These guys were awesome. Fletcher was there with both cars (seeing as how he lives about 30 min from the track) and a bunch of other heavy hitters in stock and super stock, It literally felt like an NHRA full blown national event. Whats ironic is I looked at the qualifying sheet I found in our Camaro as I was restoring it last winter...and there were tons of racers from all over the east coast running stock and super stock. We need to get this type of atmosphere back. Sportsman need the pro cars and the pro cars need the sportsman cars, or else there wont be anything to show up to.

[Ed Carpenter]

Originally Posted by HR9121

If IHRA wants to increase car counts they should start by increasing their contingency program. I mean hardly any of us do this for money but we do weigh it into how far and where we will travel. I think I can earn $400 for a win at a Pro Am, that is rediculous. Somebody needs to get to work on this.

If your in racing to make money you should find another sport. Fletcher is probably the only one who makes money racing.

[HR9121]

Originally Posted by Ed Carpenter

If your in racing to make money you should find another sport. Fletcher is probably the only one who makes money racing.

Ed, you misunderstood what I am saying. I'm saying if I do win a race it would be nice to at least win enough to cover my cost for the weekend.

[Mike Taylor 3601]

Thank's Jim Wahl for your efforts of getting the facts.

Jim Reynolds goes farther back than I do in IHRA,but I say he would or will agree with me when I say IHRA has NEVER got back to where it was before Billy Meyer crashed it,there has been a bunch of good people worked hard to try to get it back there,IMO only ones that got close were Jim Ruth,his health ended that and Bill Bader, I believe both had IHRA close to the Larry Carrier days.
I think another thing that has hurt is splitting it into divisions, I believe it would be stronger without the divisions,go for quality rather than quantity.
I think the track operator takes all the financial hit if a race doesn't have a good turn out,from what I understand IHRA gets their money if no one shows up,if you want to get racers and operators to get on board,racers need a chance to win more than they lose for the time off work or win more than it cost them to get there and back and the operator needs a partner that is willing to share the financial burden,why would I have a race that cost me over 10K to put on for a organization and I would be the one that loses if doesn't go well and they don't risk anything???
I love IHRA,in KY we had 4-6 races within 2-4 hours, last few years closest thing to me is 7-8 hours away and if I won one day I would about break even for the weekend,even a hillbilly can do that math,not that I expect to ever make money,but at least like to feel like it is somewhat worthwhile.
Mike Taylor 3601

[Lenny5160]

Originally Posted by Ed Carpenter

If your in racing to make money you should find another sport. Fletcher is probably the only one who makes money racing.

Just because the sport is expensive doesn't mean that the purse shouldn't be a factor at all.

Last year I lost 5th round of a 6-round race and got $150 on a $160 entry. That should be a crime. The incentive for showing up is points toward a championship and I enjoy that style of racing on occasion, but it certainly isn't a smart business decision to attend.

Myself and most on this forum are fortunate that we don't need to make money with the racing operation, but many folks do and they can't attend these races which leads to low car counts and panic.

I really enjoyed running IHRA in the early 2000s when they had a nice collection of D5 tracks in Iowa and Illinois.

[James Perrone]

Originally Posted by Ed Carpenter

If your in racing to make money you should find another sport. Fletcher is probably the only one who makes money racing.

Gold rush is over.Even Dan said so in latest interview Get with the program NHRA. Racing is supposed to be fun it is what you make it