Drag racing has no trouble selling itself
With attendance, TV viewership up, sport continues full-throttle run
Drag racing is a unique sport with a loyal fan base. Spectators love the smell of the nitro-methane fuel, the stench of burning rubber, and the side-by-side racing at speeds of more than 300 mph.
It is sensory overload at its fullest.
It also is a sport that is much more suited for inperson viewing than television, even though the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues to enjoy an increase in TV ratings.
“Sometimes you watch it on television, and it just doesn’t capture it like it does live,” Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon said Thursday. “Our car makes 10,000 horsepower. It literally shakes the ground when we go down the track, and you go from zero to 330 mph in less than four seconds.
“You watch that live, it grabs you. If you get people to come out live just once, I think I can hook them.”
Fans always supportive
Attendance always has been good at Baytown’s Royal Purple Raceway — site of this weekend’s 28th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals.
While NHRA doesn’t announce crowd figures — that is up to the respective tracks on the circuit — track attendance appears to be on the rebound after a downturn during the 2008-10 recession.
“For the most part, I feel like attendance has been up just based on how many autograph cards I go through in a weekend and then looking in the grandstands,” said former Houston resident Erica Enders-Stevens, who last year became the first woman to win the Pro Stock Series championship. “They have been packed.
“And just remembering back to our win here last year, it was a full house and a very loud arena. It was exciting to get that win here and hear the cheers of the hometown crowd.”
While drag racing may not be mainstream, it has a niche in motor sports.
A film crew followed Enders-Stevens last year throughout her championship season. She said the footage is “awesome,” and a documentary on her 2014 season is being put together.
“Hopefully, millions of people who have never been introduced to NHRA drag racing will see it, and it will spark their interest and maybe get them out to a track,” Enders-Stevens said. “What our sport has to offer is so awesome. TV doesn’t do it justice.
“You’ve got to be there. See it, feel it, hear it, smell it. It’s way cool. The atmosphere is incredible.”
People do watch it on television and in person. According to the NHRA,
TV viewership on ESPN/ ESPN2 and 2015 event attendance have improved after an increase of 9 percent in 2014 from 2013.
All numbers are up
The TV audience for the 2015 season-opening Winternationals, the NHRA Nationals and NHRA Gatornationals was up 30 percent overall for Sunday’s eliminations and up 50 percent for Saturday’s qualifying sessions.
“This year, we’re off to a gangbusters start,” said Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president of sales and marketing. “We’ve seen an economic meltdown; now we’ve seen three years of straight-up attendance growth. This year is off to a terrific start. TV ratings viewership was up last year.
“We’ve got great corporate sponsors and partners in the sport. We’ve got tremendous and amazing racing action on the track. We have great personalities and individuals in the sport. From that perspective, we’re in a great place.”
The NHRA also is experimenting with some live TV, which started in 2014, as well as being active on social media. The NHRA has almost 900,000 followers on Facebook, and Twitter followers are just under 80,000. The NHRA also is on Instagram and Google Plus, and there are nearly 100,000 followers on the NHRA’s mobile app, which launched a new version last year.
“Our digital platforms are very strong,” Darcy said. “This allows us to engage our fans and interact on a daily basis. We’re pretty much everywhere across social and digital platforms.”
For this weekend’s Spring Nationals in Baytown, ESPN2 will televise two hours of qualifying on Saturday starting at 4 p.m. and three hours of live eliminations on Sunday starting at 1 p.m.
Courtney Force was born in 1988. That was the year Royal Purple Raceway, then known as Houston Raceway Park, opened. The daughter of John Force has been involved, one way or another, in drag racing her entire life.
“I’ve definitely seen the sport grow since I was out here as a kid watching my dad race,” said Force, who became the first female Funny Car driver to record four wins in a season last year. “Year by year, you see more diverse fans and drivers coming into the sport. It definitely shows the NHRA is growing as a sport, and a lot more people are noticing.
“As for the fans, back when I was little, it was adults I saw at the racetrack. Mostly men. Now when I come out there, I see families and kids. And a lot of young girls are coming out, saying they want to come out and be a race-car driver. It’s cool to see how
the sport has changed.”
Grass-roots support
What separates drag racing from other sports is that a gate ticket at an event includes a pit pass, which allows patrons to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of where the cars are worked on and where the drivers hang out.
Track attendance for the Spring Nationals usually totals 70,000 over three days, with 30,000-35,000 on hand for Sunday eliminations.
“This race fills up,” said Dixon, who has won the Spring Nationals three times and still holds the track record set five years ago. “I credit the racetrack itself. We only come in here for three days, and then we’re gone for another year.
“The racetrack is catering to the people, and the people in Houston know about this place. So when the big dogs come to town like we do this week, they are already in tune. They know about it and will check it out. You have to credit the owners (Angel Brothers) of the racetrack. If the crowd’s here, it’s because of the job they’re doing year round to create that.”