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NHRA to cut Pro Stock field in half at nine races next season.

2K views 30 replies 13 participants last post by  Steve R 
#1 · (Edited)
NHRA is cutting the Pro Stock field in half at nine races next season. They are throwing them under the bus, I prefer them to top fuel, but the number of fans in the grandstands for the various classes says I'm in the minority.

This year, NHRA brought in some heads up "grudge" cars at the local National event and divisional race as an exhibition class. They were a bunch of clowns, at the divisional a couple had to be separated by security after a run and at the national event one idiot oiled the length of the track and shut off area because he was showboating for the crowd and TV cameras. I hope they aren't looking at giving them a stage, Pro Mod would be a better choice. NHRA was thinking about bringing them this year, but it never happened, maybe next year it will.

Steve R
 
#2 · (Edited)
Wow... I wonder what the real reasoning is?

Sounds like its going to cost the teams some sponsorship dollars with the reduce exposure...

From what I could find, I didn't see cutting the field down, but rather just eliminating 6 races...

Where'd you find the info? I checked NHRA.com, but didn't see anything... Just some stuff from back in June from outside sources...
 
#3 ·
It was on Competition Plus, I think, and Dragzine. I'm sure it will show up on more as the day progresses.

Who knows what the exact reasons are, I'm sure much of it was internal and will never be known. All I know is the local national event is always sells out the grandstands on Friday and Sunday while coming close on Saturday, yet it is one of the races that was on the list. Maybe that's because it's part of the Western swing, it's also one of the races Fox broadcasts "live" on the network.

Steve R
 
#4 ·
It was on Competition Plus, I think, and Dragzine. I'm sure it will show up on more as the day progresses.

Who knows what the exact reasons are, I'm sure much of it was internal and will never be known. All I know is the local national event is always sells out the grandstands on Friday and Sunday while coming close on Saturday, yet it is one of the races that was on the list. Maybe that's because it's part of the Western swing, it's also one of the races Fox broadcasts "live" on the network.

Steve R
That sucks...

I really like Pro Stock, and that the only event I attend, Sonoma, because its "local"... From the standpoint of a fan, I guess its better to cut the field in half then to eliminate the race completely...

Of course, there are really no west coast Pro Stock racers (Matt Hartford from Arizona and Deric Kramer from Colorado)... Almost everyone else is from east of the Mississippi, so its a long haul for the Western Swing. I know I few teams have forgone portions the WS recently (Erica Enders comes to mind a few years ago), so I can see from that standpoint...

I think those are the races where they should add bonus points to bring the teams out... For the fans...

BTW, I usually like attending Saturdays, lighter crowd, and still lots of door slammers, etc...
 
#5 · (Edited)
The unfortunate thing is that NHRA calls the shots at both the national event and the divisional races. They determine what classes run and which don't, the track has no input.

If they are going to cut back Pro Stock, maybe do what they do with the bikes. Run a 16 car field but at less races. I'm not sure if that's what they do with Pro Mod since I don't follow them.

I go Friday and Saturday but come back if some friends are still racing on Sunday.

Steve R
 
#6 ·
The theory I saw on a drag racing site sounds about right for NHRA nowadays. It's about money and more of it for NHRA (Now How Rich Are we?). First round loser money $7000, x 8 cars = $56,000, x 9 races = $504,000. Then more $ from the lesser number of remaining cars on the ladder. A tidy sum in anyone's book. I hope NRA increases the payout to the remaining spots and in the races with full 16 car fields but I wouldn't count on it.
 
#7 ·
Shame, like others here, pro-stock is my favorite "pro" category (ok, I like pro-stock bike as well). I like pretty much any door car racing and would rather watch good bracket racing than most "pro" racing. Maybe it's the relative affordability or maybe that it's relate-able to your average car guy/gal but I like it. That being said, throttle-stop cars while super competitive and highly challenging (for the drivers/teams) is not much of a spectator event.

Top fuel is (to me) more of a show and pro-stock is more racing...... but that's just me :)
 
#8 ·
No matter to me, the National events are too crowded for me and too uncomfortable, my back won't take sitting on bleachers anymore. I went to the Gator's last year and I'm done with attending. Pro Stock is my favorite as well!
 
#13 ·
Pro Stock has always been my favorite class but unfortunately that does not seem to be true with the newer generation of spectators. They seem to want the drama and the noise more so than real racing. If you have ever been to a NHRA race as soon as Pro Stock comes to the lanes the stands start to empty.

I personally dont buy the NHRA "greed thing". It has unfortunately become big business and has to be run profitably. You have to give the customers what they want. If they prefer the heads up grudge cars and the showboating, then thats what you have to give them. The spectators are paying the bills. I think that anyone who owns a business would understand this. Most others will not.
 
#14 ·
I understand that, but NHRA is a supposed non-profit organization with several very highly paid executives that has shown their greed constantly. They continue to profit greatly from the Sportsman categories by annually raising entry fees, membership fees, certification fees, insurance fees, pit vehicle fees, and any other fee they can dream up plus event ticket prices, but Sportsman payouts haven't increased in decades. Ask if NHRA is greedy on CLASS RACER NHRA/IHRA STOCK /SUPER STOCK Dragracing and see what the responses are.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Watch almost any motorsports event on TV. NASCAR, NHRA or Indy Car... pick one. Look at the stands, they are not filling seats. There are no end of reasons but from what I can see auto racing in the future is not going to be what it once was. Sportsmen racing in NHRA is (was?) the soul of our interst in cars back in the days when we were younger but I gotta say it is another day now.

For me the NHRA pro class racing is interesting for about two runs in each class then it is b-o-r-i-n-g. Maybe I am just getting older, maybe the cars are so technological that I see it as a tuner issue with the driver adding little more than hands and feet to the end result (not in pro stock) .

Aside from my thoughts about my feelings about the sport the young people today are just not interested the way we were. Many, not all, are not even interested in getting a drivers license let alone getting into drag racing. Unless there is some sort of huge change in attitude and / or some huge change in what happens "at the track" I think the downward spiral in interest will inevitably continue.
 
#18 ·
Here's one reason the stands are far from full. An example of the high cost to attend NHRA national events as a spectator is as follows: About 8 years ago we used to go for Friday night Pro qualifying at the U.S. Nationals. General admission was $32 each. That's after paying to park. This year it was $46. Back then it was about $52 on Monday for final eliminations. Now it's over $60. I dropped my NHRA membership about 10 years ago when the annual fee hit about $75. They had raised it substantially from the year before and the reason given was "due to declining membership we're forced to raise our rates to make up the difference".
 
#19 ·
......... and the reason given was "due to declining membership we're forced to raise our rates to make up the difference".
There it is...people just don't care about this drag racing stuff at the levels that they used to. Things change and I think that the sport is more or less played out. It certainly is played out at the levels we knew years ago. Sure there are "Geezers" my age who are still in it and there are some younger folks in it big time now but that younger population can't sustain the sport as we knew it.

All the event programs are based on higher attendance levels. Something hadda give. What "gave" was the relatively lower prices we once knew. I don't think that it initially was the higher prices that caused lower attendance...it was lower attendance that cause higher prices IMHO.
 
#25 ·
Thanks for the update.

If I were to bet, I'd say Pro Stock will not run at all of the national events in 2019, it will run a schedule similar to Pro Stock Bike and Pro Mod where they run a majority of event, but not all.

A friend of mine was at the Las Vegas race this weekend, he said they don't have top fuel qualifying under the lights on Friday night. My local track does and it sells out every seat, for some reason I thought they did that at every national event when the weather is warm. That is an unforced error on their part.

Steve R
 
#26 ·
All forms of racing boil down to one thing, finance. Who ever has the funds to stay up with the latest technology wins. they could just stick buckets at the start line and have the teams fill them with cash. who ever fills the bucket highest wins, sure there is some skill and luck but on the average its the big money team that wins.

dont get me wrong I enjoy racing, mostly off shore powerboats but it pretty much the same thing, big money wins.
 
#28 ·
I was talking to a friend on Sunday that has worked races for NHRA for the last 30+ years, he said the exact same thing. Ford and Mopar have both stopped financially supporting Pro Stock and put most or all of their of their recourses into sportsman classes. With Mopar, it seems to be working, my local track has a race most Wednesday night's, late model Mopars easily outnumber Ford and GM cars 2 to 1.

Steve R
 
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