Real Pro Mod Continues To Forge Ahead In Co-operation With NHRA

Despite the generous contributions of Jim and Annie Whiteley and significant financial concessions from the National Hot Rod Association, Real Pro Mod is still standing on the gas when it comes to a search for marketing partners. In a late-July interview with Dragzine’s Susan Wade, RPM spokesman Danny Rowe, owner-driver of the Vektor Vodka ’68 Camaro, emphasized the value of his series aligning itself with the NHRA. Weighing on RPM’s mind, though, have been the goal of increased purses, racing all Pro Mod rounds on Sunday, and ensuring the continuity of the class with the next generation. Here’s what Rowe had to say.

DZ: How did your recent meeting at Bristol, Tenn., with NHRA President Peter Clifford go?

DR: Our big meeting went fairly well. Unfortunately, I think there’s a lot of people that had perceived that we were walking away from our Bristol meeting thinking that all the problems of the world were going to be solved. And that wasn’t what the meeting was about. It was about where was NHRA willing to go or what did they see that they could do to help us move forward. That was the goal. The goal was “What can we do to help the series move forward?’ And NHRA has made some concessions with regards to financing and what it’s going to cost for RPM to be there. And they’re very involved in wanting to promote it and grow it. And we tried hashing out some of the issues.

DZ: What were some of those issues?

DR: We want to have four qualifiers. We want to race on Sunday. We want certain things that are important to the racers to keep the level of interest up. I think it’s hard for a guy to show up:  There’s 32 cars and three shots at the racetrack. That’s really, really frickin’ hard. I just think that having that fourth qualifier makes a big difference, just like racing on Sunday [only]. [Sponsors] come out and they bring guests in for the weekend. They don’t bring them in just for Saturdays. If you go out on Saturday, what do you do with your sponsors? Everybody goes home? Or they stand and look at you load your car? It’s not the same thing if you’re a ‘professional.’ Pro Mod is supposed to be professional. I believe they’re starting to realize that and they’re starting to open things up to make it easier for us to be able to attract sponsors.

DZ: Do you suppose they’re standing back and trying to learn from the J&A Service Series how to be a little better organized or more efficient, looking at RPM as a strong business model?

We want to have four qualifiers. We want to race on Sunday. We want certain things that are important to the racers to keep the level of interest up.

DR: They’re actually giving us concessions in financing. What it cost us to run the series when we first took over the series was close to $1 million a year. That’s what they were getting paid – not from RPM, for Pro Mods to be racing at NHRA [in the pre-RPM era]. Going into next year, they’re going to be under a tenth or at a tenth of that going into 2018. They’ve taken a big haircut for Pro Mods to be there. They want us there. They know we’re a part of their show. Every business is in business to make money. They want to make money, as well, but they’ve definitely gone the other way in concessions in regard to what it costs the Pro Mods to be there. We’ve gone down [in payment to the sanctioning body] every year for the last four years. We’ve gone down [with] the cost to be at NHRA every year.

DZ: The format fits your racers’ needs and lifestyles. They like the schedule and the pace. Some fans are calling for the NHRA to replace Pro Stock with Pro Mod.

DR: We have meetings all the time, and some of them are very heated. But I’d say the majority of the teams are happy with the 12-race format. I know that for 2018, it’s what the majority of the board members and team members have asked for. So I think we’re going to stay with this 12-race format. I don’t think anybody wants to do much more than that. The 12-14 races is pretty much as big as most people want to get, because [after that] the costs start going, No. 1. And No. 2, I don’t think anybody wants to replace Pro Stock. Rickie Smith said it’s too [steep] for the guys running [the] Mello Yello [Drag Racing Series]. We’re not going to be able to afford to race there. The glory of being on the Mello Yello Drag Racing [program] is not worth the risk to the average Pro Mod racer. Unless you have an unlimited budget, you have to look at this thing realistically and think about what exactly you are trying to accomplish. I think we’ve done a good job of limiting our expectations of the series. We’re not what we want to be, but we’re moving in the right direction.

DZ: What do you want to be?

I would like to see that we’re completely funded by a sponsor that’s working with us and the NHRA, where the racers would be getting paid more money. I think they deserve more money.

DR: I would like to see that we’re completely funded by a sponsor that’s working with us and the NHRA, where the racers would be getting paid more money. I think they deserve more money. [Another goal is] that there’s no burden on RPM to raise money any longer, that the series is completely funded by that sponsor and we just help manage it.

DZ: You have to wonder what would happen if series sponsors Jim and Annie Whiteley decided not to sponsor the series.

DR: We talk with them all the time. If Jim and Annie went away, and there’s no guarantee that they won’t, we’d have to find another sponsor, and that’s a part of our plan. We ran the series without Jim and Annie for the first year, and they came in and helped us – thank God for them – the last couple of years. But we’re constantly looking for new sponsors. It’s a part of being in the business. We look for sponsors constantly, and we hope that we can one day take the burden off Jim and Annie.

DZ: Do the Whiteleys have a timetable?

DR: I’m not really in a position to comment on what they believe or what they want to do. All I can say is we are thankful they’ve been a part of our program and hopefully they think that they’re helping us create something. If we can be in a position where we don’t have to depend on them, that’s a goal for all of us, including, I’m sure, Jim and Annie. They deserve recognition for helping us save the series. That doesn’t mean it should be a lifelong commitment.

DZ: On whose shoulders does it fall to secure series sponsorship?

DR: The responsibility is on everyone who’s involved with RPM. We’re all working towards it. The way this started, remember, was eight or 10 of us sat down in my motorhome and said, ‘OK – what are we going to do for next year? Is there a way we can find enough sponsors to keep us going?’ That was all the racers sitting in my motorhome. That’s how this started and that’s the way it continues. We have a weekly call talking about potential sponsors, people who are interested in the series – every week. Every week we talk about what we’re doing to help find the track people and try to create more ROI for the businesses that are involved with RPM.

DZ: So it’s a massive brainstorming/networking effort with lead-sharing?

DR: We have board members. (We call them board members, but they’re volunteers.) We talk about what we can do to help their businesses and what we can do to chase down and develop sponsors. Forward Sports Marketing – Ryan [Haas, Managing Partner], Todd [Parker, General Manager], Jeff [Foster, Director of Sponsor Development], they’re great people. They’re out there, chasing a dollar every day, trying to help us make the thing continue to grow. It’s not one person. It’s not responsibility on one person. We’re all working towards it constantly.

Door car racing is more exciting than anything out there, because I relate to it. I don’t have somebody putting a body over the top of me. I don’t have a 72-inch dragster. I have a car.

DZ: You really have the fans’ attention. They’re craving Pro Mods more and more. What would you say to the fans who can’t get enough of you?

DR: I’d say they’re right! They’re right! I love Pro Mod. I think John Force is a nice guy. He has a great program. But if I had a choice to go watch a Pro Mod event, not matter what it was, I would. Door car racing is more exciting than anything out there, because I relate to it. I don’t have somebody putting a body over the top of me. I don’t have a 72-inch dragster. I have a car. I get in the door. I drive it down the racetrack. There’s nothing more exciting, nothing better for me. So to me, Pro Mods are the most exciting class out there. It doesn’t matter the [engine] combination. It’s just exciting. I think it’s fun; I think it’s exciting racing.

DZ: One of things that makes your class so lively is the various power-adders. So much else in drag racing is controlled/spec/innovation-killing.

DR: That’s part of it. But I think the cars are quirky. There’s lots of variation. They’re unpredictable. They’re noisy. They’re scary-fast. They’re doing 300-foot wheelstands. There’s just stuff that goes on that doesn’t happen in other classes of door-car racing. You don’t see a Pro Stock guy with the wheels up at 300 feet.

DZ: Everybody’s looking for somebody on the edge.

DR: Exactly. Exactly. Exactly.

DZ: And you deliver. You’re the new rage.

DR: I hope we’re not just the ‘new’ rage. I think we’ve been the rage. I think we’re being able to get some more national exposure, so people get the opportunity to see what we can do.

DZ: Do you think you’re inspiring the NHRA in any way with the way you operate?

I don’t think there’s a bigger venue in the world than racing at an NHRA event, for us right now. You have to be there. There are fans in the seats.

DR: You can look at the struggles that every organization that’s big goes through. The challenge with NHRA, unfortunately, is that they have a lot more people than Pro Mod to answer to. So it’s different. We’re able to judge and be judged based on what we’re trying to create. But NHRA’s kind of that big beast that has a lot of history, and they have a lot of people that have personalities and egos. So it’s a challenge for them to be light and nimble. It’s a big ship. It takes time to turn it. It’s not like us. We’re 10 guys sitting in a room, talking about what we think we’re going to do. It’s nice and easy.

We’re not trying to make a decision on a $100 million company. So we’re a little bit different. I understand the challenge that they have from a business standpoint. But I do believe that the opportunity to make changes that would help the fans – that’s where it’s missing. There’s a lot of things that the fan would like to see and could make it better for NHRA. I think that’s where the challenges are for them.

DZ: And you’re committed to the NHRA, despite the fact that Pro Mods have the leverage to race anywhere, even in one-off, high-dollar stakes events.

DR: I think it’s a good place to race. I don’t think there’s a bigger venue in the world than racing at an NHRA event, for us right now. You have to be there. There are fans in the seats. There are people constantly coming by. They average close to 100,000 people a weekend. It’s pretty hard to beat that venue if you’re a racer and if you want to have people and sponsors come by. I love NHRA for that reason. It’s the biggest venue in the world. Do I think it’s the most organized? Of course, I think it’s much more organized than other racing venues. A lot of things they do very, very well.

Now, in all fairness, next week I go to a race at Bradenton, Fla., and race in Denver for $100,000. And it’s winner-take-all. There’s nothing more exciting than that. It’s a lot of money. Is it a whole series? No. Is it a great race? I think it’s going to be unbelievable – 100 percent, it’s going to be one of the biggest things we’ve ever done.

DZ: As you know, increases in purses have been initiatives that have moved at a glacial pace.

DR: We’ve been very, very fortunate that we have a lot of good people that are invested with us. We have a lot of racetracks that want us. To come and be involved in their [programs]. The legal Pro Mod [movement] is getting some momentum again. There’s a lot of positives that are happening right now for Pro Mod, for RPM, across the entire country. We just want to keep amping it up. And making it exciting and trying to get more and more teams racing legal Pro Mod. We want them to become the next generation of Pro Mod racers at NHRA.

We just want to keep amping it up. And making it exciting and trying to get more and more teams racing legal Pro Mod.

DZ: How much has sustaining the growth of the series been on your mind?

DR: There’s no easy road for any of us. The idea is that we have to come up with a succession plan. What that means to me is we have to have places that we can go and have legal Pro Mods run and be able to be a part of the show – or be the show – so that there’s growth from the bottom. You build that foundation of those racers who are going to come and race at NHRA. Listen, I’ve been racing a long time. I’m not going to be racing forever. [Teammate and fellow RPM board member] Steve Matusek isn’t, and [multi-time champion] Rickie Smith isn’t. There’s a lot of guys out there that have been around for a long time and they’re not going to be racing forever. So the next generation’s got to come in and run it: the Steven Whiteleys, the younger generation. There’s guys who are going to come in and make this happen – the Michael Biehles . . . they’re a part of what’s happening in our future.

DZ: Maybe “Big Chief” Justin Shearer will return.

DR: Exactly. That’s what it is. Those people are going to be the next generation. There’s no easy road for them, but you start with a legal car and you start building it.  I really believe everybody is excited about it. It’s some really exciting racing. Between a No. 1 and No. 16 is five-hundredths of a second. At 250 miles an hour, that’s some bad-ass racing.

DZ: It is. What can you share about the 2018 J&A Service Pro Mod Series schedule? Will you be racing at the same venues as you have this year?

DR: That’s being worked out with NHRA now. We have no commitments on where we’re racing at this point. Hopefully we’re going to have that all answered by Indy [the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals Labor Day weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis]. We’ll hopefully be able to come out with a press release on what’s going to happen for 2018 at Indy.

DZ: We look forward to it. Thanks for your time and insight.

About the author

Susan Wade

Celebrating her 45th year in sports journalism, Susan Wade has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with 20 seasons at the racetrack. She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, St. Petersburg Times, and Seattle Times. Growing up in Indianapolis, motorsports is part of her DNA. She contributes to Power Automedia as a freelancer writer.
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