STATE OF DRAG
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the professional racers and the track operators.
So, it’s a three-way partnership and I think that’s
becoming strengthened through Peter’s efforts –
it’s all positive.
RC: First off, I’m a little unique in the fact
that this is all I’ve ever done for a living. I don’t
have a business on the side or at home. Thanks
to our sport, I own a house and a car and, I mean,
legitimately make a living in the sport of drag
racing. If you would have told me that when I
was 20-years-old, I would have laughed at you.
Having driven for Don Prudhomme for 9 years
before joining Don Schumacher’s team, I’ve had
the opportunity to see how two completely different owners go about things. ‘Snake’ was that
same way – he didn’t have another business, drag
racing was everything for him. Don [Schumacher], on the other hand, he’s a businessman with
an extreme passion for racing. He has a very large
company away from drag racing – several of them
across the world, actually, that he has to keep
his fingers on. To think that he does that along
with run as many as 8 pro-level NHRA teams
and to know that I can call him anytime and
he’ll answer – it’s pretty incredible. So, these last
few months where you can really see drag racing
growing – visibly – under Peter Clifford has been
rewarding on a multitude of levels. The last few
years, honestly, I spent a lot of time worrying
because I didn’t want to have to go find a real
job. With ‘Snake’ and with Don, I’ve never had
to bring a sponsor. I’ve never had to go out and
beat the brush like that, thankfully, and I’ve had
the opportunity to represent these Fortune 500
companies, so watching what was happening
prior to Peter taking over – it worried me a lot.
These days, I feel much more comfortable. Just
these last few months, the amount of times I’ve
gotten recognized away from the race track – even
without a stitch of racing gear on – has shown me
that more people are seeing our sport.
LP: Given the tremendous pressure and heavy
weight placed on his shoulders, I feel he’s done a
terrific job. Someone in that position isn’t going
to please everyone, but he has to look at what’s
best for the sport, for team owners, tracks, and the
fans. Every decision he makes is going to have a
positive and probably negative effect somewhere
along the line. You can go back to the college
studies – the greatest good for the greatest number of people, or the greatest good for one. From
the outside looking in, I think he’s focused on the
big picture and what needs to happen to grow.
He’s maintaining the integrity and spirit of the
NHRA, while at the same time trying to meet
the demands and expectations of society today.
NHRA All-Access, inviting ‘Big Chief ’ out to the
races, not totally shunning other series and parts
of the sport – Peter Clifford is doing a good job.
I’ve had a couple interactions with him in this
last year and it’s been great, and that’s important
to me. I may technically be a professional racer,
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but I’m still a fan standing outside the ropes at
heart. For him to listen to my opinion on certain
topics – whether he’s even listening or not – is a
big deal to me.
JS: Even though I’m a PDRA racer and outlaw
racer at heart, obviously, I’m like any hardcore
drag racing fan, and I keep up with all the sanctioning bodies. The NHRA side, especially this
year, looks to be going in the right direction to
me. There are things you could argue with them
on, but on average, on the whole, I think they’re
doing good – especially this new television program and broadcast partner. Drag racing on live
television is very good, and I think the FOX deal
is going to really work out for them. In this day
“I think our sport’s
always been strong.
Even during the
recession we
maintained a
good presence; we
didn’t lose nearly
as much as some
other sports did,”
Johnson points out.
and age, I think it’s important to be open-minded,
and that seems to be something they’re embracing. Considering some of the car counts, I’m not
convinced they don’t need a shot in the arm with
a new class or something, but that’s not easy to
do. I think we’d all like to see the Pro Mod show
over there grow, but it’s one of those things where
it’s a challenge – most these guys have a day job.
The fans like this type of racing, but you take it
to more of a national stage and between driving
the cost up and increasing the number of races
you’d likely lose a big majority of the guys.
SJ: The move to FOX was a positive. ESPN
didn’t give NHRA any clout. I don’t know of the
inner workings on that deal, but I know to the
casual fan it looked like NHRA was the equivalent
of a middle school co-ed softball game compared
to virtually every other sport. I’d get so mad when
college girls softball or equestrian racing was on
when drag racing was supposed to air. So, FOX is
good, and the live format they’re trying to get to
is fantastic. Lots of positive changes, and people
are noticing. I think they’re going to have to make
some decisions in regards to some of the classes
that are struggling with full fields and potentially
look at some other classes that have an abundance
of cars. If you look at NHRA Pro Mod, if they
opened that field up they’d probably get 60-plus
cars. That’s something that needs to be looked at;
anybody that denies that is blind. The grassroots
fan base that they’re trying to attract by aligning
themselves with the Street Outlaws – I call them
the ‘Street Idiots’ – is the same fan base that likes
Pro Mod. Ultimately, I do believe they’re doing
a better job. More people are paying attention
to NHRA, at least in my life, than probably ever
before. I’m hearing ‘NHRA’ more than ever before.
Spectator attendance – from national events
to regional and outlaw events – seems to be on
the rise in 2016. For instance, NHRA reported a 20% increase in advance ticket sales for
their event in Englishtown, as well as sellouts
in Gainesville and Atlanta. Donald Long’s radial shootout in February was quite-literally
overcapacity. Do you see the fan attendance
trending the right direction?
AJ: I think some of that is probably based on
television, that exposure that we talked about, and
some of it is just based on the weather. Weather
has such a large influence on our sport and attendance. If the weather’s good, you can generally
count on good attendance. If the weather’s bad,
you can count on bad attendance. When fans
are making their plans and they’re looking at
the weather report and it’s showing that there’s
a chance of rain every day through the weekend,
they’re probably not going to make their plans
around going to the drag race – they’re going to
wait till next year or whatever. The weather has
such a big influence – it’s hard to get by it – and
it’s something we’ll always have. But when the
weather is good and we have this increased fan
interest, whether it comes through television
or other marketing avenues, I think it’s really
going to pay off – especially in the months and
years to come.
RC: Absolutely. I get to spend a lot of time with
the NASCAR guys and the IndyCar guys having
done that dirt track race for all those years. It
really gave me a sense of where our sport was
and how it was perceived by these other sports
that are involved in NASCAR and IndyCar at the
time, and right now it’s the best it’s ever been.
In the past, I always kinda felt like I had to do a
little grandstanding and try to talk up our sport –
especially when you’re racing with Tony Stewart
and all those guys. I had to try and make drag
racing seem a little more legitimate for some
reason. I really shouldn’t have had to feel that
way, but I know that’s not how I feel anymore.
It just feels like we’ve become a little bit more
mainstream, and just wait until we’re racing live
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