A subject for discussion on a winter's day.

[Dan Bennett]

I haven't been around the races for a while but was making my living at them when all this came up. I sepnt hours and hours at the tracks and had many conversations with a lot of people close to the action - and of course it was all off the record and not to be printed or attributed.


Sportsman racing was in trouble even when Wally was still alive. Remember, then as it is now, the people in charge had business and accounting backgrounds. They were experts at looking at spreadsheets, balance sheets, and generating profit. Some probably couldn't have told a Mustang from a Camaro if the emblems were removed. But no one was openly downgrading the non-pro side of it because they knew Wally would not stand for it.


Everybody I talked to who might be in a position to know said the same thing: the proposal to split pro vs. sportsman was ONLY to make the NHRA more attractive to buyers. I'm not sure if their lawyers couldn't figure out a way to get around the non-profit thing or if it just didn't make sense to a propective buyer. Connie Kalitta, for one, said that he'd done the numbers on the deal and it just didn't pencil out.


A good point was brought up regarding filling time between rounds. The NHRA could book in some entertainment acts to fill that time. But why shell out money (that could go to salaries and bonuses) if you could get something for the fans to watch - and not just for free, the performers would pay YOU. So yes, they need the sportsman racer but sadly, not in the way any of us want.



Sorry to be so pessimistic. But back then, there were people in the tower or on the grounds who loved cars, loved racing, and had the same look in their eye as we all do. The best I can tell, they're all gone.


We look at it as sport or a hobby. The people making decisions these days look at it as something that can generate money, and more money is more better regardless of what the whole organization was supposed to be about.



As for what would have happened if sportman racing had gone off on its own back then - I think any nationally organized effort would be gone by now. Look at all the different people who've tried to get an organizatiojn or series started. Some looked like they had promise, and others were doomed from the beginning. I won't say it's impossible but whatever or whoever it would take hasn't stepped forward so far.