Top Alky circuit ala ADRL??? Interested or not?

www.adrl.com has the entire purse payout Will. WE attend these events and are not treated like NHRA's red headed step children. I think it would be good for the TAFC and TAD classes.

 

I'll take a look but their races are pretty concentrated in the South East aren't they. (Not much travel recquired) Also held at mediocre at best tracks. Watched one where there was 5 feet of grass between the narrow track and the tin gaurd wall. Destroyed a few pretty nice cars at that race.

They have TV coverage through Inside Drag Racing which is why its worth what it is.

I'd look for a company to sponsor 30 min. TV coverage (Sun. morning ESPN2 if possible) first, then purse sponsors will flow in. First thing I'd look for is how much would we need for 8-10 half hour shows on ESPN. Then we'd have a goal to shoot for. One big sponsor may do it or 10 seperate sponsors may be better.

For the fans at the race, ALL the non-qualifiers could be indexed off the national records for the combos and run in your secondary race for $5000.

BAD vs. A-fuel (BAD gets 5.25-5.10 = .15) That will make you AFs hate Boggs.
BAD vs. TAFC (TAFC gets 5.45-5.25 = .20)
A-fuel vs. TAFC(TAFC gets 5.45-5.10 = .35)
Nice round numbers Huh.


EXAMPLE

non-qualifiers:

TAFC
a) 5.95 = +.50
b) 6.05 = +.60
c) 6.40 = +.95
d) 8.00 = +2.55
(#1 Qual. = 5.60)

AFD
a) 5.75 = +.65
b) 5.80 = +.70
c) 6.05 = +.95
d) 6.90 = +1.80
e) 15.15 = +10.05
(#1 Qual. = 5.35)

BAD
a) 5.70 = +.45
b) 5.80 = +.55
c) 5.90 = +.65
(#1 Qual. = 5.40)

Take best 8 w/ respect to their index.
Maybe if 8+cars, a first round will be held in the morning.


Best Non Qualifiers (BNQ)

1)BAD a)+.45
2)TAFC a)+.50
3)BAD b)+.55
4)TAFC b)+.60
5)AFD a)+.65 (5.75 - 5.35 = .40)
6)BAD c)+.65 (5.90 - 5.40 = .50)
7)AFD b)+.70
8)AFD b)+.95 (6.05 - 5.35 = .70)
--------------------------------
9)TAFC c)+.95 (6.40 - 5.60 = .80)

(Ties go to the car w/clossest ET to #1 Qual. in their own class.)

If there are 16+ non-qualifiers have another field for $2000 to win.

This class wouldn't be the best performance wise, but it would be a fan favorite.

Alot of the events of the ADRL are held on 1/8th mile tracks. The indexes would obviously change if we were to run there. Some of these tracks look like 1/4 mile tracks that they choose to run 1/8th mile. Maybe our association could purposely run only 1/8th mile to save wear and tear on parts. Makes for good close racing.

Maybe I'd leave one of the cars down at your house Will if you find support for the series mainly in the South. Let me know what we need cause I'm in.

Flash

 

after giving the better part of 10 years of my life to alcohol funny cars it hurts to say this , but here goes. alcohol funny cars are a dying bread. all across the nation. when i got into f/c's it was to match race and let the car makes its pay. 20 years ago you could match race 2 to 3 times a week for $1000.00 a night . some of the racers, such as bill naves will atest to this. now adays your lucky to get 6 or 8 match races a year and most still only pay $1000.00 for a couple runs. so now what, look at the IHRA situation, as of today has anyone heard anything, good or bad? so now whats left? NHRA. I can tell you from experience that it definatly ain't easy. and far from cheap. there is fewer and fewer places to go race a f/c every year. this is why the car counts are bigger now than ever at nhra races. its all thats left. the adrl is the hot ticket right now specificly down south. people and racers love door cars in those areas. why do you think the car counts and the quality of southern f/c are so poor? it's because there aren't that many in the south east. just look at the ADRL race that was held at rockingham in the fall. in the history of drag racing have you ever heard of a track having to close the gates because of over crowding. it happened there. you might get that kind of crowd when john force rolls into norwalk for the 4th of july show but you will never get that kind of crowd with alcohol funny cars.
now adays tracks don't do that much in shows anyways because they make good money on high dollar bracket races and if they book anything it is usually a pro mod show or a b-level pro mod show. some of these b-level shows are pretty strong. most of them are equiped with automatic transmissions and run 4.20's and 30's in the 1/8 mile costing tracks around $6000.00 to bring as many as 16 cars and the grandstands are packed.
i know you mean well and good Will but your trying to cure cancer on your own. haven't you ever wondered why people like Jay Payne, Frank Manzo , and Bob Newberry aren't on here agreeing wih you? it's because they don't worry about it. they are paid to race by sponsors. yes they do love it , but if there was no prize money given out at national or divisionals they would still race as long as the sponsors paid them to. if Jay Payne, who lives on the west coast , races in div.2 ,it's not for the money or hopes to make div.2 the best division on the planet. its because he has enuff money to do that. division 2 has the lowest payout but he still goes there and he isn't standing at pep boys trying to give out tickets to fill the stands either.
I hope i haven't offended anyone, but i have been there when i got into funny cars wanting to help make the class bigger than life and wondering why the veterans acted like they could care less about tomorrow. Well after all the years and hundreds of thousands i spent i can see why. trust me, in 10 years call me and tell me how you feel about trying to save the world.
o.k. go ahead fire away, my blind fold is up and the cigarette is lit.

 

I hear you Bruce, New england dragway used to have 5 AFC match races a year! But i must admit they were getting really lame and they got no spectators.
I think Wills passion is great and it sounds like a lot of fun. And i also think that someday that it will take someone like Will to put something like this together so we have a place to run ALKY cars! After all alcohol racing is as far as most can go on there own dollar.

 

That would be great if happen.

 

Tv, Tv, Tv

I'm sticking with my logic that the reason for the great payout isn't the crowds at the track, it’s the viewers at home. ADRL got it right with the TV coverage. You're reminiscing about the old days when there was a maximum of 20 channels on TV and ticket prices to an event were $5. Now, race fans and hot rodders get their fix from the TV because its free and convenient. Set your TIVO and watch when you're ready. Attending an event is time consuming and expensive. A life-long race fan who's now over 70 years old told me, "I have a hard time making it to the races not because of my age or health but because the TV coverage is just too good. You get to see the pits and the track and the staging lanes all at the same time. It's free and you don't have to fight all the hassles of getting to the track getting into the track and the people around you blocking your view or something." This man owned and operated a drag strip for years so that's something I really took seriously.

Trust me, Payne, Manzo, and Newb. aren't living off their sponsor money. They'd be racing at the NHRA with or without them. They race to be the best, to be the best you got to beat the best, and the best race in the NHRA. Their sponsors aren't just impressed by the massive crowds, that's only a small part of it. These team's sponsors might even demand that a team start running the series because they want to be a part of the "big new thing" in drag racing.

The real value to the sponsor is in the 16 hours of national TV coverage and the readership of the 400,000 + subscribers to the National Dragster. If a sponsored race car is on the cover of the ND that makes the sponsor's annual investment to that team worth it right there.

If you want this to happen and be successful we need it to be on national TV because that's where the value would lie for a series sponsor and the racers that attend. It doesn't need to be much, I think a half hour show would do each race justice. Read on I've got ideas on how to jam it into 30 min.

If anyone knows about how the TV coverage for Inside drag racing or the lucas oil sportsman series works I'd like to know. Does Lucas give ESPN money then sell commercials to other companies to recoup some of their investment? Does ESPN pay the NHRA a certain amount to have the privalage of covering the events? Does Lucas oil give NHRA money for ad time during the hour that NHRA pays ESPN for?

If the 30 minutes is for sale and no commercial interuption is necessary I'd say do away with the commercials all together and push the series sponsor(s) during the tellecast state that this broad cast is brought to you commercial free thanks to XXXXXXXXX. Then use split screen ads during interviews, a sponsored scroll bar at the top of the screen detailing the pairings, (like the pomona coverage had) sponsored ladders, etc. If its only going to total 4-5 hours of coverage a season there's no reason to leave an opening where people can TIVO scan past any of it. Give the viewers the full 4-5 hours of good racing without fluff and filler. Each 1/2 hour would be jammed with exciting racing that wouldn't drag on too long and lose the attention of the A.D.D. plagued viewers of today. I'm sure the programs would be tape delayed at least a week so there would be plenty of time to put together a well produced, easy to follow program. If necessary delay the programing to the end of the season so people get into an 8-10 week in a row rythem of waking up and watching the races on Sunday. Maybe even wait til' the winter when there is no racing to fill the void. Heck, I watched Tractor pulling this winter because it was the closest thing to racing I could find.

I honestly wouldn't care if a single fan came to the track, if it were covered well on TV the gate money wouldn't be needed to fund the races. The purse would come from the series sponsor. The gate money is for the racing facility so its their responsibility to let the people know that were going to be there and the show they'll see is uncomparable to anything else they'd do on a Friday or Saturday night.

Maybe "extended coverage" could be available online. Streaming low quality video would show more of the interviews, races, details that there wouldn't be time for on the paid for program. This is just another place to gain sponsor exposure.

I know I've taken this little idea of a match race series and blown it into something huge, but I think it can reach this level. Yes we need $$$ but the place that this $$$ originates from will be getting a great value from their investment. It would be an infomercial that people would want to watch. If we expect to get a purse of that size, something like this is what has to be done.

Another 2 cents and I'll have a dime.

Flash

 

Don't let me push other ideas out. I tend to go a little overboard when I start a rant like that so please throw your comments in too. Like I've said before I'm good at being wrong and can accept when I am.

Flash

 

Mediocre at best????? Door cars running 3.80's to the 1/8th mile. I would have to say these track are among the best prepparred and the grass thing is of the past.......national event standards for the ADRL from here on out.

 

adrl

Will:

We have been currently looking at the ADRL for running a pro-mod
mainly because of the rules and the payouts. If your readers will look it is very attractive, qualifying money is the same but as you go up the ladder it
gets even better. I have personally spoken with Kenny Nowling and and we have approval for an a-fuel pro-mod running same % as NHRA and could even run a pure blown nitro mtr, its pretty much run what ya brung as the
home page says,(real racing) and if you look at the tracks some of the same
NHRA facilities. this should answer safety issues but to answer your question I would rather run a dragster series just because we already have the data and crew, I wish you (Will) would push for this to happen to start a class for the dragsters in ADRL we need a new (drug) and NHRA needs a wake up
call, also an response to Payne, Newberry, Manzo yes they would race they
have deep personal pockets, something your average racer doesn't have i know what it cost me to race and win it's not cheap!

G Kelly
Bama Boys

 

Will, I think something like that could fly. But it would take some Mega sponsorship to pull off such a feat. Plus scheduling to not buck Div/Natl races could get pretty tough.

Bruce Mullins, I think your a victim of Location. Alky FC's have never had huge numbers on the East coast compared to Divs 3,5 or 7. Look at how many Dragster guys have crossed over? I bet there are more Alky FC's running today than 5 years ago.

 

I don't agree with you in the least. East Coast Alky FC's have more than just NHRA to race at and that is why the numbers seem lower compared to the midwest and west coast races. IHRA hurts the car count in Division One/Two more than you would think...

 

If my Mega Millon Numbers hit this week Its good to go

Lanny

 

This has a lot to with seats in the stands!

Will, I think you are on the right track but in todays TV climate you have to change it up a bit, you know offer something that the others don't have, or haven't thought of. It's all about marketing, and the Sanctoning bodies don't really give a damn about marketing a class all they want is seats in the stands, and something that stands out on TV, Like Reality TV does. I miss the old rivalries from the old days and a lot of that went away when we lost Steve Evans, and others that wasn't just Sports Reporters but Real Drag Racing Showmen of their own right that made Diamond P what it was. Ever Wondered what happened to Diamond P, Steve Evans Took it with him, rest his soul! This will work but keep in mind that the alternative energy folks are trying to sell a product as well and there is major competition coming in that arena also in the next few years so think outside of the box here! It will take something off the wall to pull it off with any fanfare!
The DI/ADRL Connection
I haven't put together a complete release, but here's the scoop...
In an effort to bring new people and added exposure to Drag Illustrated and the American Drag Racing League, the two organizations have put together a program to offer all paying subscribers of DI, both current and new, a pair of season tickets to the 2007 FLOWMASTER ADRL National Event Series. A value of nearly $500 for every subscriber, this deal will bring more new people through the gates of ADRL events in ’07 and provide added value to all subscribers.
“We just wanted to do something special for our subscribers. We thought about a free t-shirt or key chain, but we really wanted to do something different and exciting,” said Wes Buck, editor/publisher of Drag Illustrated. “This deal came together quickly and was going to work well for everyone involved. We’re working hard to prove DI to be the best drag mag available. We might not have needed to do something like this, but we wanted to. We appreciate the support we’ve received over the course of the last year or so and all our subscribers will know it, for sure. How cool? Our subscribers now have the opportunity to check out some of the absolute best drag racing on earth and it won’t cost them a damn thing – well, twenty-bucks to subscribe.”
Special thanks to Kenny Nowling, the ADRL and ProModSource.com
To subscribe, log onto www.dragillustrated.com
You see what I'm saying here Kenny is thinking out of the box, and NHRA and IHRA don't like it, but it is really good for both because it is sturring up controversy, which makes a good, worthy story to print, which makes people come out to see what all the hipe is about. NASCAR was founded on the same principle a good rivalry with sanctions and drivers, and most will agree all racers want is some good old fashioned fun again, and not go broke doing it!

 

Kenny Knowling is without a doubt the best promoter of our time!

He never misses a chance to turn a negative into a positive! Case in point;
http://gallery.competitionplus.com/main.php?g2_itemId=532687

A link that fits Kenny;
http://www.princetonreview.com/cte/profiles/dayInLife.asp?careerID=128

 

I agree with that description of Kenny, but I think what helps the ADRL more than that Jack is the fact of how he looks at who is customers are, his customers are not the just the fans, his customers are the racers, the fans and the sponsors, and I think that philosophy is what will help the ADRL grow and has gotten it to where it is today. Sorry for hijacking the thread Will.

 

Unfortunetly, I have to agree with Bruce on this one. I just dont think it would work. The racers would love it but I dont think the fan turnout would be all that great. Just look at divisionals, they dont have a high spectator count.

 

You Missed My Point Totally!