Atlanta fan appeal.

[Tim Kish]

I think several here have hit the issue. There are MANY late model, sport compact cars that show up at every track around the country every week. It's amazing how may 11-12 second street driven Subaru WRX, Mitsibishi Evo and Neon SRT-4's there are. NONE of these cars fit any of the current NHRA class structures beyond the Neon being factored for AF/S. Since even most bolt on modifications are illegal for stock, there is no appeal for this crowd to compete (plus the expense vs reward). Most of these cars are also daily drivers, not at all unlike the street racers of years past with their Cragar's, wide ovals and glasspacks. But when that era of cars was at its peak, the NHRA class structure was revamped (early 70's) to embrace that crowd. When the Sport Compact series was created they created the top level (Pro) categories and the series ran a handful of events that criss-crossed the country - no grassroots structure to grow the sport like the traditional sportsman series with divisionals and as Art stated, with GM in particular pumping over a $1 million/year into their team, I know I realized there was no competing with that as a privateer.

I think the fan appeal is two-fold, 1) youger fans can relate better to the newer cars, but also 2) they like to see them compete against the classic muscle. I know I've been told by many how cool it is to see my FWD Neon running against the Hemi cars and Big Block Camaros. Having a mix of old and new is what is required to cover the spectrum of audience appeal.