HOLY COW! US Nats coverage

[Xplantdad]

Here's an interesting article from someone that was very well known in the NHRA...and I agree with every word of what she says...

BTW, the NHRA has only themselves to blame for all of this happening. The "little" guy can't even get into the stock classes and race competitively...unless they are heavily sponsored.


Originally taken from Hemming's Muscle Machines...November 2008 issue!


http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/...feature11.html
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Hemmings Muscle Machines - NOVEMBER 1, 2008 - BY SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY



When I'm at the races, I spend a lot of time interacting with the fans--it's something I've always looked forward to. Even if I get tired after signing a few thousand autographs, I figured out a long time ago that I can never let the folks who have stood in line in the sun know that. For each one of them--and please forgive the way this is coming out--that autograph and a few minutes of talking is, I hope, something special, so I make sure that it's just as special for me.

In recent months, I've heard from fans who've been disappointed by the reactions of some of their heroes when they approach for an autograph. I've witnessed it myself, so I know what these people are saying is true.


As a racer, it's your obligation (and I don't use that word lightly) to treat each and every fan courteously. You may be having the worst day of your career, but just as you're lost in your own little world, so are those fans. Most of them have no clue that you blew the rods out of your last engine, and even if they do know, they don't care. All they want is an autograph and 30 seconds of your time.

What too many racers fail to realize, even though they pay lip service to the concept, is that the fans really are what makes racing work. Without the live people at the track, there is no racing, and in a stagnant economy where jobs are hard to come by, we need to remember that the price of admission for that fan and his family eats up a lot of his take-home pay.

Respect those people for what they've invested in your career. Believe me, that family just made a financial investment in your career, and you owe it to them to give each and every autograph-seeking guy and gal your best. That means a smile, and darn it, eye contact, so they know you mean it when you say "Thanks!"

The last thing you want is a disgruntled fan who says, "I'll never buy another T-shirt from that jerk." What you want--and need--is fans saying, "Man, that So-And-So is a real person. He's my guy from now on!"

Next point: Racers have no chance of financial survival without sponsorship support. That's a given, and everyone knows it. But while watching a number of races on television, I felt myself cringing as driver after driver started spouting off sponsor names. I know it's important to get your sponsors as much exposure as possible, but when they come pouring out like a flood every time a microphone is nearby, it can actually have a negative effect.

When you've won the race, go ahead--name 'em all and nobody's going to complain. But when you're at the top end of the track after your first qualifying run, it gets a bit much when, in a 45-second interview, you spend half of that time naming your sponsors. The person that's interviewing you asked a question, so spend that 45 seconds answering it, not touting the company whose name is all over your car, firesuit, and the hat you just pulled onto your head. Save the big pitch for your post-victory television interview.

Along with the corporate names that are plastered all over you (some of the drivers probably have tattoos of logos, just in case someone takes a photo of 'em at the beach!), there are probably a lot of "little guys" who have been instrumental in getting you to the top. Maybe after your big win is the time to mention some of them, too. Don't ignore the people who helped you climb the ladder, because when you need them the most, they might pull that ladder from beneath your feet.

I can recall a few truly refreshing finish-line interviews in which drivers have said things like, "I'm not going to start spitting out my sponsor's names, 'cause you all know who they are, and their names are all over me, so let's talk about the race." Wow! Talk about leaning forward to hear every word. Now that's an interview I can really get behind.

Third and final point: The NHRA continues to surprise me in many ways. Drag racing is a dynamite sport with a potential future that seems so bright, but never seems to be realized. I wish the senior management was a bit stronger in its dealings with potential sponsors, and that its marketing efforts were more targeted. I'm not a marketing expert, but in my view, the best people to sell the sport and take it to that never-reached "next level" are the ones who know the most about it, and that should be the individuals who have dedicated their working lives to doing just that--the employees of the NHRA, not some outside agency.

I mean no offense towards IMG, recently contracted by the NHRA to handle marketing matters. But what do they really know about our sport? What do they know about our people, our fans, our racers? One of the NHRA's weak points, in my opinion, is that over the years, the very NHRA people who know the most about the sport have departed for other opportunities. Now the company is largely run by individuals who appear to be more interested in having a job than in working for the sport.

Drag racing's relationship with Coca-Cola may have done some good things, but one thing it hasn't done is produce a million-dollar winner for the media to shout about. POWERade has never done the things it said it'd do for drag racing, and now we're heading into 2009 with Full Throttle as the series sponsor--at a time when energy drinks are coming in for more and more criticism from American mothers.

Kind of makes you wonder.


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Thanks Shirley!

[BJCHEV396]

Boy and I thought there is a lot of drama and politics in F1!!

[FANTASY FACTORY]

???? Bud is no longer controlled by the BUSCH family,
First order of business by IN-Bev was to pull all motorsports support, and divert it to,, PING PONG & VOLLEY BALL! nice!!! Sam Addams gets my drinking dollar now!
"BUD" is owed nothing, especially loyalty,

[1970Bluel78]

[ QUOTE ]
???? Bud is no longer controlled by the BUSCH family,
First order of business by IN-Bev was to pull all motorsports support, and divert it to,, PING PONG & VOLLEY BALL! nice!!! Sam Addams gets my drinking dollar now!
"BUD" is owed nothing, especially loyalty,

[/ QUOTE ]

And Miller is South African and now Coors is half Canadian....Pabst Long Necks USA !!

[1967 Impala]

"Coors is half Canadian"



And now Molson's is half American

[wheelhop]

Canada is like our attic.
you go up there once in a while and realize, HEY, there's a lot of cool stuff up here!

[ORIGLS6]

NHRA levies fine against John Force
Thursday, September 10, 2009

Funny Car racer John Force has been fined $10,000 by NHRA for an incident involving physical contact with an NHRA official Monday, Sept. 7, during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Videotape from the event showed Force making physical contact with an NHRA official at the top end of the racetrack during a confrontation with fellow Funny Car driver Tony Pedregon. Such physical contact violates the Participant Conduct policy as stated in the 2009 NHRA Rulebook. The fine, which Force can appeal, must be paid in full prior to participation at any future NHRA event.

__________________________

and notice they even got in their plugs like the nice corporate people they are.

"during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at O’Reilly Raceway Park"

I hear they're already using this as a 'drawing card' for Bruton's Show at the Quadplex next week. Hmmmmmm, attendance was down at Indy, ......... confrontation between two stars, ................ new event coming up, .................

Nah, just a coincidence.

[1967 Impala]

[ QUOTE ]
Canada is like our attic.
you go up there once in a while and realize, HEY, there's a lot of cool stuff up here!

[/ QUOTE ]

Canada...........America's hat