The Popularity of the NHRA by Richard A. Brink

The Popularity of the NHRA by Richard A. Brink

It is the Christmas holiday weekend, the family is sitting around the livingroom
discussing how much of a very fine meal we've eaten, when the conversation shifts:
"You on for the drag races this summer?" I asked my brother. "Oh yeah," he answers
back. As we reminisce about the past years NHRA Nationals and discuss plans and dates
for this years race, we wonder why the NHRA does not have a bigger following. If you
like fast cars, and you have not been to a NHRA Nationals event, you have no idea what
your missing. That, we decided, is exactly the problem. You have got to see it live
to understand why it has the following it does. Television is at fault, after-all
this sport has many times the horsepower of NASCAR, the pitts are open to anyone with
a ticket, and the drivers come out of the haulers just to sign autographs on a regular
basis. They even give you a free, glossy team photo to get the autograph signed on.
The problem is none of that comes across on TV. When you watch NASCAR they televise
the pre-race activities, the on-track activities, and the post-race activities. They
even have a segment called CRANK IT UP, in which the anouncers dont say a word for a
few laps so you can litterally blow your speakers apart with your surround sound. This
helps give you the feeling you are at the track. You could be watching your first
NASCAR event and by the end of the race come away with the feeling you understand it,
and more importatly you will feel like you know the drivers. I dont want to take
anything away from NASCAR; it is a great motorsport and they have done a fine job of
marketing to get to this point. But (and it is a big but) there is no feeling in the
world like two top fuel dragsters coming off the line simultaneously; it will shake
your soul. Trying to explain this feeling to someone who has never experienced it is
futile. Nor can you explain the smells of the track, the smoking tires, the rubber
dust in the air, or the way your eyes burn from the half-burnt alcohol sprayed from
the firey pipes. The sound...absolutely deafening.

If we could somehow get these sights and sounds through our TV's, the NHRA would
explode with popularity. "Maybe they should send out bag of rubber dust and a candle
that smells like burnt rubber before each broadcast," we quipped.

In reality, the biggest thing I see that can be done is for television to help
us get to know the drivers andtheir crews. Even the World Poker Tour understands they
can't just show you people playing cards. We have to feel as if these drivers are our
friends. Introduce us to their world! We must be able to connect with them on a
personal level. Show us what it takes to go 300mph in less than five seconds! The
crews can tear down an engine and put it back together in less than an hour. Show us
that! Dont talk while the rockets thunder down the track. Let us blow our speakers!
It will never take the place of being at the track, but it would go a long way in
bringing the NHRA back to the fore-front of the racing world.

Do yourself a favor, the next time the NHRA is in your neighborhood, GO. Take your
kids, call some friends, or go by yourself; just go. There is no experience like it
in the world, at least not yet. Maybe someday soon, when we can board a rocket bound
for the moon, the NHRA might have competition. Until that day comes you owe it to
yourself to take in an event.

Richard A. Brink
AftermarketGoodies.com
About the Author
Richard A. Brink is CEO of Internet Busines Realities. Richard writes articles for several sites in the IBR network including, AftermarketGoodies.com .