Wolf’s Word: Thoughts And Ramblings – Part Deux

As promised, this month’s Wolf’s Word is the second of a two-part look at the unscientific, uncalculated thoughts of your Editor on a range of topics concerning every corner of the sport of drag racing, with ideas for improving what stands to be improved. This isn’t to say any particular area of the sport is broken, but suggestions to space things up a little, if you will. Because complacency will only work for a time in any business, and this sport is indeed a business. So without further ado…

Pro Mods at divisional races. There’s a herd of them in every region of the country, so let’s give them another place to put on a show. Plus, if there are fewer national events (as outlined in the previous column), then divisionals take on an added degree of stature and therefore need more categories to draw a crowd.

One transporter in the pit area per car. Teams did their work out of one rig for decades, and many of them didn’t even have four walls and a roof on their trailers. Sure, the large, sprawling mobile compounds give off a professional image — no argument there — but the fans deserve a shorter walk to see their favorite cars and drivers; sportsman racers don’t deserve to be even further out into the North 40.

The NHRA’s Board of Directors is comprised of racers only, at least 50-percent of whom are from the sportsman ranks. Bring the Baders, Bill Sr. and Bill Jr. — the only promoters who could pack out a test ’n tune in the dead of the winter if they chose to — into the fold as consultants for event planning and promotion.

What class routinely gets the biggest applause when they’re invited to NHRA national events? The Gassers. We need a lot more Gassers.

It’s time a sense of showmanship returned to drag racing. Like long, completely unnecessary burnouts and dry hops. Fans might get frustrated watching a crew check their wheelie bars for two minutes, but they won’t mind the time spent backing up from a 1,000 foot, tire-delaminating, mosquito-killing burnout, I can assure you. If you need any pointers, just call up K.C Spurlock.

Promedia first instituted their new NMRA Coyote Stock class for sealed crate motor 5.0L Fords, then followed it up with their new LS Stock category for the GM DR525 engines. Both are brilliant ideas that should only grow bigger as times goes on. Now, all that remains is a class for the Mopar crowd using the late model Hemi engines. To put the icing on the cake, all three categories should compete head-to-head on at least a couple of occasions through the year. Even them out on weight breaks, give one make or another a head start or something, but it’d be a shame for this not to happen.

Chances are, there will never be another “factory wars” era like the deja vu of the 1960’s we’re so lucky to enjoy right now, so we should be making the most of it.

Speaking of shames; there are flocks of Cobra Jet Mustangs, COPO Camaros, and Drag Pak Challengers out there, and only a couple of events all season long where they compete heads-up against on another. Chances are, there will never be another “factory wars” era like the deja vu of the 1960’s we’re so lucky to enjoy right now, so we should be making the most of it. It doesn’t take the NHRA to make this happen; any series or any promoter can pull it off.

More no-prep heads-up racing events. Slightly unsafe? Probably. But extremely popular with today’s young grudge racing, Street Outlaws-watching, demographic? Absolutely. Like it or not, there’s still a considerable amount of interest these days in street cars racing on the street. So the best thing our sport can do is meet them halfway and deliver a closed racing environment that mimics the street.

The PDRA, as we know it now, came to being out of the outlaw doorslammer racing made famous at small, backwoods strips around the south. Overnight, they were whisked away to major national event venues that have often struggled to draw crowds. Truth is, it’s those small tracks that dot the landscape that we need to be showcasing these badass hot rods to. If they’ve got full length concrete barriers and plenty of shutdown, why not? Smaller venues that haven’t seen a major professional racing event in decades are ripe for the picking, if you ask me.

There are two major drag radial events held in South Georgia east spring and fall, and while it’s an excellent venue, running one of the two at a more westerly site would certainly draw in more heavy hitters from west coast cars and the southwest. More competition (and perhaps some cross-coast rivalries) is nothing but a good thing.

Double points and double payouts for all sportsman categories at the NHRA U.S. Nationals. To be the best (which is what winning Indy is all about) one should have to beat the best. And if you want to draw in the top racers from every division to one place, once a year, they need incentive. Because in this economy, “just because it’s Indy” is proving itself to be not enough incentive.

Nitromethane in Pro Modified and small-tire racing is a must. The NHRA put the kabosh on the nitro percentage for A/Fuel Pro Mods years ago, effectively killing the concept, but for the sake our of sport in general, such limitations should be lifted, and soon. Because who doesn’t want to see blown HEMI’s with a side of cackle running on radials?

Shorter racing programs. There’s a reason why dirt and oval short tracks around the country are still doing so well — it’s because they deliver an evening of entertainment to the casual or hardcore fan. They arrive after dinner, grab a seat, and they’re out the gate by 10. Drag racing, on the other hand, is often a sun-up to well-after-sunset deal, and it’s no surprise that the fans often start filing out the gate well before some of the best racing of the day has even occurred.

The free ticket concept worked for a time, but it’s proven itself unsustainable. On the other end of the spectrum, 60 to 70 dollars a head isn’t helping matters in way, shape, or form, either.

To that end, it’s time the cost of spectator admission is re-evaluated entirely. The free ticket concept worked for a time, but it’s proven itself unsustainable. On the other end of the spectrum, 60 to 70 dollars a head isn’t helping matters in way, shape, or form, either. That leaves the space between free and 60 bucks to work with to find a balance. I’m no business or economics major, but this starts with a top-to-bottom assessment of income versus expenses and the allocation and prioritization of said expenses, because at the end of the day, getting the fans in the gate should be the number one operating priority. Whether you can pay your marketing or tech guy’s salary doesn’t mean a thing if your customer isn’t coming in the gate and making the cash flow.

So there you have it — round two of thoughts and ramblings. Now, we want you, the reader, to chime in. Is there value in some of the concepts discussed here? What other ideas do you have to reshape different venues in our sport to improve the racer and fan experience, and at the same time, keep things economically viable?