Can NHRA survive without John Force ?

[CMcAllister]

Originally Posted by Dave Gantz

To answer the question in the title of this thread... No matter what Force has done in racing, it's racing that made NHRA and Force. Wally Parks stumbled upon an undiscovered addiction and did a good job developing it.
Force has been smart enough and entrepreneurial enough to take advantage .Even if NHRA has put too many eggs in the Force basket, NHRA will survive despite itself. Racing is bigger than NHRA and/or Force.

NHRA survived the retirement of Garlits, Prudhomme, Glidden and every other star. It will survive the loss of Force--and his organization if he shuts it all down after he retires.

Hard to tell what NHRA will look like in the future though. It could be sold, split, or just continue as it has. The people in charge have to be careful with the gimmicks and enhancements that the marketing and TV "experts" are trying to use to attract the "casual" fan. They are in danger of jumping the shark like NASCAR has and alienating the hardcore people.

The legacy sportsman classes are mostly populated by old guys. I don't see a strategy to attract young people to those classes. A good start would be to stop treating them like a redheaded step child, stop trying to squeeze every nickle they can out of them and pay some damn money. There were 700 people who showed up, and paid thousands in entry fees to race for big money last weekend - and it's happening other places almost every weekend. I'm not saying they have to pay $1.1m or even $100k, but c'mon guys. Look at where your GOAT sportsman guys are going.

I hope they figure it out, stop trying to be all things to all people and avoid ending up being the next IHRA.

[Stan Weiss]

Originally Posted by CMcAllister

NHRA survived the retirement of Garlits, Prudhomme, Glidden and every other star. It will survive the loss of Force--and his organization if he shuts it all down after he retires.

Hard to tell what NHRA will look like in the future though. It could be sold, split, or just continue as it has. The people in charge have to be careful with the gimmicks and enhancements that the marketing and TV "experts" are trying to use to attract the "casual" fan. They are in danger of jumping the shark like NASCAR has and alienating the hardcore people.

The legacy sportsman classes are mostly populated by old guys. I don't see a strategy to attract young people to those classes. A good start would be to stop treating them like a redheaded step child, stop trying to squeeze every nickle they can out of them and pay some damn money. There were 700 people who showed up, and paid thousands in entry fees to race for big money last weekend - and it's happening other places almost every weekend. I'm not saying they have to pay $1.1m or even $100k, but c'mon guys. Look at where your GOAT sportsman guys are going.

I hope they figure it out, stop trying to be all things to all people and avoid ending up being the next IHRA.

Or it could be after what happened with the Pro Stock Truck deal. They are trying to do away with you without actually saying they are doing away with you.


Stan

[CMcAllister]

Originally Posted by Stan Weiss

Or it could be after what happened with the Pro Stock Truck deal. They are trying to do away with you without actually saying they are doing away with you.


Stan

There's an art to making someone go away when they don't really want to go away, without making it look like you actually want them to go away.

[BG56]

Originally Posted by CMcAllister

NHRA survived the retirement of Garlits, Prudhomme, Glidden and every other star. It will survive the loss of Force--and his organization if he shuts it all down after he retires.

Hard to tell what NHRA will look like in the future though. It could be sold, split, or just continue as it has. The people in charge have to be careful with the gimmicks and enhancements that the marketing and TV "experts" are trying to use to attract the "casual" fan. They are in danger of jumping the shark like NASCAR has and alienating the hardcore people.

The legacy sportsman classes are mostly populated by old guys. I don't see a strategy to attract young people to those classes. A good start would be to stop treating them like a redheaded step child, stop trying to squeeze every nickle they can out of them and pay some damn money. There were 700 people who showed up, and paid thousands in entry fees to race for big money last weekend - and it's happening other places almost every weekend. I'm not saying they have to pay $1.1m or even $100k, but c'mon guys. Look at where your GOAT sportsman guys are going.

I hope they figure it out, stop trying to be all things to all people and avoid ending up being the next IHRA.

I've always said they were chasing Nascar, drag racing is FAR different-never happen. But of course Nascar has been on a downswing for years. To the point where the All-Star Race at Bristol tomorrow night will have the door numbers towards the back (wooo!) and NEON LIGHTS on the suspensions. What "gimmicks" is NHRA contemplating??!

[Herbie Null]

If NHRA ever goes away I'm sure the class racers will adapt and go bracket racing or buy a boat. The real question is what are all the doom and gloom people on here going to do, how will they survive without spreading fear on a daily basis. Pray for the NHRA and God bless Donald J. Trump in 2020!!!!

[Frank Castros]

The N.H.R.A. survives without;
Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme, Bob Glidden, Shirley Muldowney, Kenny Bernstein, Warren Johnson, Bill Jenkins, Joe Amato, Dale Armstrong, Mickey Thompson, Lee Shepherd, Pat Austin, Eddie Hill, Ronnie Sox, Tom McEwen, Jim Liberman, Don Nicholson, Ed McCulloch, Raymond Beadle, Connie Kalitta, Pete Robinson, Jack Chrisman, Gary Beck, Tommy Ivo, Gene Snow, Jim Dunn, George Montgomery, Art Chrisman , Chris Karamesines, Dick LaHaie, Darrell Gwynn, Brad Anderson, Willie Borsch, Terry Vance, Blaine Johnson, James Warren, Danny Ongais, Frank Manzo, John Mulligan, David Rampy, Frank Hawley, Dave Schultz, Ken Veney, Billy Meyer, Malcolm Durham, Richard Tharp, Elmer Trett and Me!

[James Perrone]

I have to say i enjoyed the racing format 2 qualifiers and go into elimination
Nothing guaranteed. Run what you brung. And make sure you have enough
Very entertaining short and sweet

[Pistol Pete]

Originally Posted by James Perrone

I have to say i enjoyed the racing format 2 qualifiers and go into elimination
Nothing guaranteed. Run what you brung. And make sure you have enough
Very entertaining short and sweet

Agree with you James 100%.

[jmcarter]

Force finally released a statement that they aren’t racing this year so guess we’re going to find out. Beginning to think the old truck driver is pretty savvy because it very well could be we won’t have any more National Events this year. NHRA isn’t going to have an event where they can’t get decent gate and concession receipts nor can I blame them. But they’re more than happy for you to keep entering national events, I see Atlanta has openings in Stock and Super Stock now BTW. Meanwhile the NMCA seems to be carrying on.

[KRatcliff]

Originally Posted by Frank Castros

The N.H.R.A. survives without;
Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme, Bob Glidden, Shirley Muldowney, Kenny Bernstein, Warren Johnson, Bill Jenkins, Joe Amato, Dale Armstrong, Mickey Thompson, Lee Shepherd, Pat Austin, Eddie Hill, Ronnie Sox, Tom McEwen, Jim Liberman, Don Nicholson, Ed McCulloch, Raymond Beadle, Connie Kalitta, Pete Robinson, Jack Chrisman, Gary Beck, Tommy Ivo, Gene Snow, Jim Dunn, George Montgomery, Art Chrisman , Chris Karamesines, Dick LaHaie, Darrell Gwynn, Brad Anderson, Willie Borsch, Terry Vance, Blaine Johnson, James Warren, Danny Ongais, Frank Manzo, John Mulligan, David Rampy, Frank Hawley, Dave Schultz, Ken Veney, Billy Meyer, Malcolm Durham, Richard Tharp, Elmer Trett and Me!

A lot of big names there that are gone for sure, but those are names when the NHRA was thriving. It is far from thriving now and the question is will it survive. It probably will survive, but it is a long ways from thriving in my opinion.

It is not hard to see when there are far fewer teams fielding multiple cars that the NHRA is riding on a much riskier bet than the list above. The vast majority are single car teams and much more diversified when one retires or leaves the sport.

I guess the thing that bugs me the most about this is not that people come and go. That is a natural progression. It is disappointing that a sport with such addictive qualities is being talked about their survival. I know this has been talked about for decades, but at some point it no longer becomes a chicken little discussion. Unfavorable team demographics, management decisions, and other mitigating factors seem to be hitting all at once.