Foley... Right to the point... AND killing the payouts. Whats left... Not much.... AKA Corporate Greed. They brought upon them selves.

https://www.autoweek.com/racin...about-series-future/

Get real LMAO nhra has never paid a purse commiserate with the cost of any class . Pro,s payout and cost are my least concern in life .

It's a catch 22.

The Fed needs to raise the rates 7%, if they do that, the over valued market crashes TOMORROW.

If the NHRA doesn't lower the purse, they couldn't cover the purse NEXT RACE.

NHRA doesn't wanna lower the purse. NHRA has to.

Reading some of these posts, I'm wondering if there's another planet, or dimension I'm unaware of.

I dunno. Seems like the prize money is a drop in the bucket of total cost to run a team. Those expensive cars and teams and equipment are worth diddly squat without a playground that stays operating to play with them on. Things weren't good for NHRA before Corona. And corona has been devastating to the entertainment industry. I'm generally the last to defend that group. They make some weird decisions at times and take for granted sportsman racers IMO. But to think they can go on like nothing is happening during a time when they are limited for crowds and venues is kinda silly.

Terry McMillan speaks out about the pay cuts. Looks like NHRA presented this to PRO and PRO rejected it and NHRA did it anyways. Boycott being discussed among the teams

https://www.dragzine.com/news/...hra-payout-decrease/

Why is everyone acting so surprised? NHRA has been headed down this road for over 15 years. The NHRA has been using the same business model for years with no regard to changing demographics or economic trends. I've said for many years that if the NHRA does not get their heads out of their arses failure is inevitable. The sportsman racers have been treated like a red headed step child, the NHRA has kissed the arse of a few pro racers to an alarming degree. The NHRA has also priced their product so high that the average spectator will and cannot attend most of the national events. The much anticipated TV revenue has not materialized. The TV production sucks, same old s--- different date. The cost of fielding a competitive race car is ridiculous. And as has been mentioned by a previous poster, sponsors are not going to invest the $$$$ if no one is in the stands or watching the TV. Its my opinion that John Force saw this coming and made a tough business decision to pull the plug on this year and maybe forever. He has a very good reputation with his fans and sponsors. He is the product image to uphold. Rant over.

I agree things were not good for NHRA before this but they created the Monster and now they can not feed it. We always suspected NHRA was only out for themselves and now we know that to be true.

Look at it from a Sponsors point of view. Say they pay 5 Million dollars a year to have their guy go out there and compete for Win every week and Championship at end of the year.
The Season is typically 24 weeks, this year maybe 12? That right there cuts the VALUE of the Sponsorship in half right there. Then the stands are almost empty instead of packed that cuts the value even more. What happens if you get small car count like 4 cars? Then they are getting even less exposure for their hard earned money.
So in a typical season the Sponsor may get 25 Million exposures for their 5 million dollars which already is not a smart investment. Now it gets cut to maybe 5 million exposures and that is throwing money away.

I suspect this is the real reason for John Force team absence. The Sponsors did not want to pay full price and get 25% of what they paid for. Especially when it was not a good value in the first place.

What needs to be done? We all know 1. NHRA needs to increase payout to Racers from top to bottom. NHRA is racing and with out racers....... 2. They need to be ran by RACERS not investors who only care about a huge return on their investment. 3. They need to cut cost of racing in particular in the fuel classes and Pro Stock. How to cut costs? (Well I would leave that decision to the Racers what would work best to cut costs and keep it competitive.)Maybe 1 mag and 50% Nitro? Who knows but something needs to be done.
4. In addition to the things to cut cost I would also bring back 1/4 mile racing. Cost cutting measures would probably hurt performance some and to that I say bring back 1/4 mile.

How many commenting here have ever competed at NHRA National events? Answer... Few and fewer yet have in the past few yews.

There was nearly 900 cars/racers at the US Nationals last weekend. The NHRA isn't going out of business anytime soon, nor are they going to change their business model, nor are they going to increase the payouts to sportsman racers, nor are they going to bring back 1/4 mile racing for the fuel cars and nearly 900 cars/racers will be at the US Nationals again next year.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 1320racer,

Ed, how many were pro's and how many were sportsman? The US Nationals has always been a destination race, god knows I spent a small fortune racing there for many years. While I agree with you that the NHRA will not go out of business, its going to change drastically, it has to. The NHRA cannot survive in its current state.

I disagree. Further, NO ONE competing at an NHRA National event in any class is doing it for the $.

Ed, we just have to disagree. Not one sportsman racer runs for the $$$ agreed. The pro's are a different animal with different motivations. Read Terry McMillens comments in Dragzine. I know a few pro racers and they will tell you that the $$$ is important, maybe not the end all but a necessary component in their operation. The exceptions are the mega rich guys who will spend what ever it takes to compete. They are few and far between.

YEP Ed ^^ ... Nhra is making tons of money off the sportsman classes and they ain,t going nowhere . The pro,s draw the crowd and sportsmen racers foot the bills . Whatever the pros get paid is like pizzin in the ocean .

There is no pro that isn't "rich" and that can also be said for TAD, TAFC and many in the rest of the sportsman classes.

This sport costs $ to play at this level and always did and always will.

Last year the NHRA probably paid out 5 million to the Pro racers out of a 100 million dollar annual budget. Looks like payout to the Pros this year will be less than half that.

If they paid out 20 million of that there probably would not be any problems.

Where does all the rest of the money go? I have long felt they are pricing themselves out of their own market.

And how about some of you Sportsman class racers talk about entry and payout? 200 racers at $200 entry for a total of $40,000 in one class and they pay out what $1800 to win? (Those are just guesses)Where does the rest of the money go?
I hope someone posts more accurate entry and car count and payout in Sportsman classes. Also the cost and payout of the Sportsman classes are not the problem for NHRA because they bring in WAY more money from the racers than they pay out to racers.

You all seem concerned about what people are making so just for the record, the powers to be at NHRA have taken a pay cut

NHRA is servicing a lot of debt!

How many facilities does the NHRA own and operate?

Four I know of

NHRA has a big nut to crack every month just in maintenance, upkeep.

Gainesville

Atlanta

Indy

Pomona

They don’t own Pomona

quote:

Originally posted by I.P. Dailey:
They don’t own Pomona

10 4 roger that... Thanks. I wasn't sure with Pomona.

Very few racers in any class are doing it for the money still you take away the payout at ANY race and see what happens. Even down to our level, take away the purse and watch the car count go down. Quickly.

I know what I would do if they said my race no longer pays. I feel that the race should at least pay enough to cover the costs to race for the winner and any sponsor / contingency money is a bonus. The Pro teams may be different than us in that they probably rely on Sponsor money for day to day operations and the purse is a bonus. Still try taking it away.

I know that I am not doing it for the money yet to date I have cashed and spent each and every check that I have won. I am blessed I win more money than it costs me to race but that does not cover my initial investment.

So Yes, you may be right that we do not do it for the money but like I said take that money away and see what happens.

My opinion is still the same I think NHRA is making a mistake and have been for years. I feel NHRA is Racing and they should support RACERS better. With out RACERS, there is no Spectators or Sponsors.

Someone said something about the cost of all the tracks the NHRA owns. That really does not matter, all of them are making money on their own just like most all other tracks and businesses. In fact NHRA would have never bought them if they were not going to make money with it. NHRA is the greediest, most money hungry "Non-Profit Business" I have ever seen.

I firmly believe that NHRA cutting the purses is a huge mistake and will cost them dearly. I bet many teams right now are talking to their Sponsors and deciding what to do. I still believe that is why John Force Racing is sitting it out because the value is not there this year for his Sponsors. It comes down to money.