How "healthy" is the NHRA in your opinion ?

Especially from the racers ... How are you guys treated ? How much is it to race at divisional and national events ? Prize and contingency money better ? Now from a TV watcher - WOW - some of the TV shots of the stands show almost empty !! 

Costs way more to run Divisionals and Nationals than it did 20 years ago. NHRA purse is about the same, which isn't much. Have to run points meets to get grade points to get in to Nationals.

Contingencies, which is where you made the money, are way down. Make about half what you did 20 years ago. Costs are way up for everything from tires to fuel to parts to transporters. Need bigger, better stuff to stay competitive. Not a money making proposition. Don't get me wrong. It's a lot of fun. Great way to spend a summer and a pile of money Better get a dragster and hit the big bucks brackets if you want to maybe break even.

About the only class I see that’s what I would describe as “thriving”, is stock eliminator, particularly on the east coast.

But that’s never done much to put people in the seats.

Wow ... It's about 20 years since I was a NHRA contingency sponsor! ... I haven't seen a recent list but some time ago I saw a list and YEAH the list was smaller. Haven't seen the rules lately at all ... What's the deal with cars displaying a Jegs and Summit decal on the same car ? How much does it cost to enter a car at these events now ?

Big Bucks bracket racing ? ... Come to the Sunshine state next month .... Decent money offered at both Bradenton and West Palm and I think at Orlando

Last Divisional I raced was 2008, last National that year as well.

After I quit racing them, I would still go watch the Arizona Nationals on Friday.

In 2015, my buddy and I took Friday off of work, went out and were the fifth car in line to get into the spectator gate. We sat there for an hour and a half. Stock had already completely ran, and Super Street was half way through before staff showed up to open the gates and sell tickets. I haven't been back to one since.

That same buddy and I used to get together on Sundays for pizza, and to watch the ESPN broadcast. We watched one broadcast on Fox and threw in the towel, I haven't watched a single NHRA National event broadcast since.

I thought once I gave up the Divsionals and Nationals, I could go back to the local NHRA Summit Series team events and that would be good enough. But everyone at those races are spoiled little babies who expect the local track and track officials to kiss their butts every time they drive through the gate! It's really sickening, and the constant griping and bellyaching sucks all the fun out of it.

The truth is...I like people who like CARS! Not people who think they are a tool for them to use to try and prove they are a superior driver to everyone else on the property. So I find myself drawn to Specialty type events: Mopar Races, Nostalgia Races, Street Car races and such.

I'm still a member, (have to for the license), still thumb through the National Dragster...maybe I'll try it again some day...it's just not as important to me as it one was.

Compared to IHRA, yes. To NMCA, then not even close. Best example to present date is Sears. Living off the past glory and no one at the helm that knows much about drag racing. Now bankrupt, NHRA has the same destiny.

Despite the issues mentioned above NHRA has had increased track attendance and increased TV ratings over the last several years.

National events have quotas for most if not all Sportsman cars. Some races fall short, other races fill up quickly.

Lots and lots of complicated issues here.

In my opinion the best way to watch a national event is the NHRA All Access product. It's not perfect but you hear the NHRA track announcers rather than some TV guy. My only issues are the product itself could be managed better and it takes a lot of time, just like if you were actually at the track.

Kinda how I feel.
I'm a two hour drive from Indy and always looked forward to the Nationals, but haven't been to them in 11 years. I don't even care to watch their national events on tv.

I enjoy going to NMCA, Mopar, muscle car, radial and street car specific races more than NHRA national events. I've also found the racers at smaller events like theses to be more cordial

I'm sure the NHRA thinks everything is fine. Isn't the big man drawing a $750,000 salary?

I know attendance is up at NHRA right now, but like anything else, results are not instant. As Pro Stock circles the drain, as a bunch of people squeal for FSS to replace Pro Stock (which will kill that class as well because the only way to keep things "fair" is to legislate the [censored] out of the cars and make them cookie cutter junk...sound familiar...like the current PS) or use Pro Mod, which will fail because the word is PM doesn't want a 24 race schedule, as the fans are realizing Funny Car is slower than it was 2 years ago, as the track prep continues to produce the results we all knew would happen (the guys with the money will figure out the prep and still whip the guys who can't and it's money that makes that happen)...as all this goes on in a year or two (say by 2021) the NHRA will again be behind the 8 ball.


The NHRA should take the hint and sell off the Sportsman classes and Pro Stock and run a fuel show with jet cars, wheel standers and other circus act [censored] as filler.

Let someone else promote and control the other drag racing.

I'm surprised so many guys will put up with being treated like [censored] to race a car.

That being said, if the No Prep, Duck style and other races as such can get into the biggest tracks, they will put NHRA to shame. If for no other reason that that stuff has the best marketing plan devised. And because it's a much better show.

I love nitro as much as anyone, but I'm a doorslammer guy from birth. I'm bored to death by bracket racing. I don't want to watch a dragster that doesn't burn fuel make a boring pass.

When door cars pull to the water box, I want to KNOW what that car is, not by a sticker on the windshield. And that [censored] better have a hood scoop.


NHRA doesn't see the storm about to land on Glendora. But sure as God made little green apples, it's coming.

The people who dislike the NHRA will tell you it's going down, the people who like it will tell you things are great. Me personally? I've been hearing the NHRA is dead since the early '80s. Someday they will be right, but not today.

I started racing at NHRA sponsored events, national and divisional in 1973 as a novice. I saw politics involved back then by the division Seven director at LACR on the grand reopening day race after it had been shut down for years, I beat his sister twice in the stock super stock race, the first time I beat her they said I had to rerun her because she didn't get a time slip, [ Moparts Family Site - Keep it Friendly ] Mine showed I was good, I was on the brakes at the first timing light and she couldn't cut a light worth a dang. On the rerun they said I broke out and I beat her by more car lengths the second time and I was on the brakes sooner
NHRA was busted by CA state regulators for violating the states non profit rules back a long time ago, they where carrying over millions of dollar from one year to the next so they ended up having to be run as for profit business and pay taxes for several years.
I believe they figure out how to become a non profit again but they have always, as long as I have been racing, chasing the dollar and using volunteers to help put on some of the national events, how professional is that
I have two friends who both worked for division sevens tech team for 5 and 8 yrs back in the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, they where paid $50.00 dollars a day salary and supposed to be reimbursed for travel and living expenses for each race. They had to pay their travel and living expenses out of their own pocket and wait for the check on expenses, NHRA replace the division 7 director the second year they worked and he didn't reimbursed them for 5 races for 8 months
I've seen the 4 President of NHRA starting with Wally Booth, he starter the organization to get street racers off of the streets, which he did a good job on
Once he retired and the directors of NHRA started hiring professional market managers to run NHRA and NHRA started focusing more on profits than running the races in a professional manner for the racers NHRA drag racing started to deteriorate, especially to the racers, mainly to the sportsman racers
Many things have changed over the years, todays youngsters are busy playing computer based games, some kids are interested in drag racing but not as many as before.
Times changes everything, people must change with the times
NASCAR racing attendance is way down also so maybe us and other racer types need to accept the fact that the best is behind us as far as car racing is concerned
If you have a suggestion on how to stop the decay and how to make our sport better please send those suggestions to NHRA

Cab, can't argue with the $$$ aspect and the younger generation's lack of interest. At least I don't see the interest in the sport like it was when I was in my 20s. There may be other factors I don't see either

We ran an invited in "exhibition" class at the Vegas 4 wides and the Sonoma Nationals. I have got nothing but good things to say about the NHRA and how we were treated. No entry fee and that included the driver and 4 crew members. Tech came to our pit to look things over. We always knew when we were up because an official came to us to inform us 2 or 3 times before we were to run. The experiences were two of the best I have ever had on a drag strip.

BOBR … i agree , had the same experience at the 2014 Toyota Nationals at Englishtown we were part of an exhibition also ( 11.50 index) the NHRA officials were great and professional it too was one of the highlights of my racing career … having Roy Johnson come up and ask me about my car made it special also. We ran the Dutch Classic at Maple Grove a few weeks ago again the NHRA division guys were great . I never understood NHRAs seat belt expiration every two years but hey its their game so we/I have to comply.

Wow ..,part of an exhibition ... Was there any compensation given to you guys ?

Heck yaaaa. 100,000.00 a pass

GOOD to see someone is making money like the prez of NHRA does !

Not directly from the NHRA but there was money on the line. We won both races(8 car ladders) and have 2 kind of Wallys. Side note. On Friday in Sonoma we were in the staging lanes when the pro cars were. We were up before they were so the drivers had not suited yet. The attention we got from them was amazing...especially Clay Millican. Even crew chiefs were looking us over. Clay told us that our kind of racing brought him back to his roots. We beat Boddie on that run in a highlighted grudge race. The crowd went crazy. Again...amazing experience.

Wasn't quite that much but it wasn't a drop in the bucket.

I've been screwing with this stuff for 45 years, and in my imperfect opinion, in many ways this is the best time to be involved.

40 years ago, you had bracket racing and class racing, blown alcohol, Pro Stock and fuel cars, period, and it was all run by NHRA and IHRA with a few differences between the two, classes run, etc.

Today we have NHRA still running the legacy classes at Divisionals and Nationals, which is great. But we also have PDRA, NMCA, NMRA, NSCA, IHRA's bracket deal, regional associations running all kinds of stuff, big dollar bracket races being promoted everywhere, radial stuff, no prep stuff, outlaw stuff, etc, etc. Nitrous, turbos, blowers, radials, tube cars, stock cars, heads up, dot 90, fast brackets, index, diesels, motorcycles, snowmobiles, any kind of vehicle or combination you can think of, you have a place to go race. Years ago most of that stuff would have been TnT material with no real place to go race.

It's not that NHRA is dying. It's more like the sport is very popular with a lot of people participating, but it's become diluted with all of the choices to participate available, where there once were only a few. Looked at as a whole, there's a lot of drag racing happening all over.

No compensation , free entry/ passes when other sportsman competitors paid several hundred to enter. Having security stop the flow of fans/ spectators so we could get to the lanes and having the spectators point at and snap pictures of my car was priceless. May seem trivial but it meant a lot to me. NHRA and the whole experience made us feel like we were actually somebody. Race winner got a Wally ( wasn`t us) had a blast and as i said one of the highlights of my racing career.

Financially NHRA has been circling the drain, albeit at the top of the bowl. Your local track buys into NHRA for the opportunity of a divisional meet and the legal shield of being with such a large sanctioning organization. If your not in the NHRA professional or sportsman series, you are happy to have a place to race. There is cache in the NHRA name and tracks have the opportunity to bank on it. Drag racing will never be like Nascar or its prodigy. Since Wally's direct involvement, as was mentioned, promoters tried to copy Nascar and it won't work. After the nitro show spectators leave the stands.And on the local level there's that 10-20-50 lap event(local roundy round) that keeps the spectators connected to the event. That doesn't happen with drag racing. Very few spectators in the stands. But then you can have 2 guys get together for a street race and you can bring out 100 people. Look at all the u Tube street races. Drag racing has not been promoted well since the 80's. The market is alive but fragmented. Its hard as a promoter to get drag racers to an event, excluding those popular events. A dirt track racer will make every event on their circuit but a drag racer struggles, excluding those die hard racers. How does a local guy promote a street race where the start time is after midnight? Lots of racers and spectators show up and last till 3 AM. Drag racing is an interesting sport it just needs some better promotion.

The ADRL was going to bury the NHRA what, 6 years ago? How they doing now?

Totally over looked that point. Racers and spectators have far more options than what there was 20 years ago.
As a spectator, I found the OSCR at Bowling Green to be well worth the money this year. $20 a day to see 10 classes from 7.0 index to Pro Mod.

I agree fully.

GOOD to hear that many racers here are satisfied BUTTT how about the stands at the national events ? .... some are nearly empty on the big end !

More sell outs this year than there have been in many years

Sellouts ? ... according to who and where ?

Out here in div. 5, 6 and 7, our div. events are pretty well spectated and for cities like Salt Lake, it's the biggest drag event they have so the stands there are (were) pretty full. Anyone hear the rumors about Redding? I wish Sacramento would get theirs back. Nationals are off the charts! Most fun you can have with your clothes on! That's all I need to know about NHRA.

Sonoma is getting a double for sure, still on race left to replace the loss of RMR going out of business. I would not be surprised if it goes back to Tucson with Hughes being the owner now. We will find out at SEMA what will happen.

As for NHRA I agree with what's posted, a lot more venues available these days. Everyone should be able to find a place to race or spectate.

According to NHRA, they've had 10 (if I'm correct) Saturday sellouts this year.

NHRA ? .... that announcer Dave Reif ?? .... and they are proud of Saturday sell outs ? When Sunday tix are much more $$ in their pockets ? Fire up your DVR or on demand and LOOK at some of those stands during the BIG BOY rounds ... IIRC races like Chicago, Charlotte, Vegas ... Some of those stands are less than HALF FULL !!

I know at least at Chicago the stands look empty, but they hold like 30,000 and people will be 10 deep by the fence.

I have also seen lots of people stay out in the pits even when the big guys are running.

Chicago IS SURPRISING ! Pull that up for yourself ... ! I'll watch that later and make a note of the time slot of the stands being panned .... BTW - what is the price of a Sunday tix these days ?

GOT some interesting shots at the Jegs Chicago race this year ..... with clips from Bristol and Heartland races that might surprise ya