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Dear NHRA:

We know that drag racing is breakneck exciting and very accessible to your fans. We know that those who experience it love it. We know that you work hard to grow the fanbase and the brand that the late great Wally Parks created. Yet, still, drag racing pales in comparison to the NASCAR fan storm, and you ask why?

I think there are a plethora of things that the NHRA is missing out on marketing-wise to grow the sport and develop the kind of fan-following that NASCAR enjoys. And it begins with your DRIVERS.

The fans like following personalities. They like cheering on their favorite drivers. NHRA has that, but not in just their star John Force. They need to promote not only the series alone, but each of their drivers. Create friendly rivalries amidst fans for their favorite drivers where each match up, from qualifying through the final round is exciting. PROMOTE your DRIVERS, and help the teams promote themselves too! Here are a few of my ideas:

The Driver Blogs on NHRA.com are great, but they are sporatically updated and lack all the true “blogging” technology. Why do they not take advantage of RSS syndication, which is the biggest growing trend in online readership? Allow a fan to subscribe to their favorite drivers. And where are those drivers selected? Feature your stars, but also leave room for other drivers who have blogs to submit their blog also. Ron Capps has a blog, and its not even listed there. How many NHRA fans would love to know that and subscribe? And allow us to comment! Opening up discussion makes the experience personal.

Driver Profiles: The NHRA series takes advantage of this idea. Give casual fans a way to learn about the drivers they are watching and choose their own favorite. Sure, I like seeing the career and season stats, and the few headlines, but why not make them much more personal? Let me get to know the driver as a PERSON too?

Driver Twitters: I discovered Twitter not long ago, and admittedly, I didn’t “get it” at first. But I’m seeing the advantages that this micro-blogging has to fans and newcomers. The premise: a quick (140 characters or less) glance at what they are doing right now. They can be sent via text message and updated to blogs, websites, etc. During the season, it will be an instant update tool for me to send out instantly at the track to fans and update the race situation as it happens.

Video Podcasts: Wouldn’t it be great to have a free subscribe-able Race Recap you could get on your ipod or mobile phone on Monday after the races? A highlight reel of sorts… throw in some driver interviews (more DRIVER promotion, hint hint!) and some bloopers and you’d have another way to reach fans away from the weekend.

Chat Sessions: Why not host a chat room where you can announce a time and place that a driver will come in and chat online in 1 hour segments. I’ve taken part in these over at ProModSource with various Pro Mod drivers all the time. It only takes an hour of a driver’s time, and with all the drivers, there could be one per week. Have it on a Wednesday to build excitment for the race weekend. Its fun and very popular.

The key in all this, is that NHRA needs to offer these FREE to their subscribers. Media now is geared more toward the reader than traditional media. NHRA doesn’t need to charge for these services (Audio Cast, etc.) their money can be made in advertising from the viewership alone! These are just a few ways that the NHRA could really connect to their audience and build a new fanbase. And the best part, they don’t cost a fraction of what the ESPN coverage does!

Just my marketing outside view! What else do YOU think can be done to help promote drag racing?

It seems that absolutely nothing goes my way in trying to get this car done.

I spent 2 weeks down in Orlando, often staying until late at night trying to get the car done and painted so that my very patient sponsor, BRISK USA, would finally have on display in their booth at the PRI show. They have been very understanding and patient of me dealing with all the unexpected delays as I have fought to get this car out and running.

I chronicled all of my time and work down in Florida. By the time I left, it was as far as I could get it, and all that remained was the exterior to be painted and the final touches applied (Vinyl graphics, lexan bolted in, etc.). With 2 weeks remaining, I figured it would be close, but we’d get it done, and finally have a great looking car that would make BRISK, Harland Sharp, PNN, and the rest of my sponsors proud.

But today, I got a crushing phone call. It was Josue, who is doing all the body work and paint. He had picked up the car on Sunday after I left and took it back to his paint booth in Ocala, where he could work on it in a better, closer environment. He inlisted the help of an expert in fiberglass/ racecar body and paint to help him. What they determined, was that the body would not line up anywhere on the car. The doors had a 1/4″ gap between the edge and the body. The front end had a shocking 1″ gap where it meets the doors. Nothing lined up straight. They would have to go back and reconstruct and add material to the body to make it presentable again.

I am devastated.

What originally was supposed to be an off-season, relatively simple job has taken over a year and cost me TRIPLE what I originally anticipated. I am not far off in expense on this body change than what a newer (than my t-bird) rolling chassis would have cost me off of Racing Junk. It has been so discouraging the amount of hardships and set-backs I’ve encountered, and while I’ve always considered myself one of the most perserverant and determined racers I know, this has at times seemed as though I was fighting a losing battle.

Now, I’m 100% at the mercy of the Paint/Body gurus to help and get me out there at long last. I feel that I’ve significantly let down all the people who have supported me through this, and hope that I will somehow be able to right this and turn such a sour situation around for them all. It is the most frustrating time in my 10 year career for me, just as I felt that momentum had finally begun to pick up.

Its been a roller coaster lately, with the 2 week thrash-fest on the car, the terrible loss, and the far too brief family & friend visits, but I will be headed home to Alabama tomorrow.

With the interior of the car painted, today we decided to go ahead and start putting the interior back together. Normally, I’d wait until the exterior was painted, but since we have only 2 weeks until the PRI show, and since I’ll be going home Sunday, we need to have as much done as possible.

Josue finished off all the cage/engine carriage painting. We’ll be letting it dry overnight and tomorrow while we wait on the powdercoater and the front end to be done at the body shop. Then, we’ll start assembling the interior of the car again while Josue starts prepping the body for paint.

Its getting stressful now. With the tragedy bringing down the entire shop, and the upcoming funeral, I’m just running out of time on the car. Josue will continue on next week without me, but I have to head back to Alabama this Sunday. I feel so helpless, and I don’t like it.

Tomorrow will be a long day, so we’re calling it an early night at the shop (10:30pm) and getting some rest.

Amidst everything going on here in Orlando, we decided to try and get some more accomplished on the racecar while things were in “waiting mode”.

This morning, we arrived and pulled the rear end and 4 link out from the car to get ready to spray the rear clip. Josue (painter), was not able to come until the evening, so we used the time to sand, clean, and prepare the surfaces. Once that was done, we starting cleaning the grime off the parts so everything will be like-new upon reassembly and getting the sheet metal ready for the powder coater tomorrow morning. That plastic they use on sheetmetal is a PAIN to get off!

Its 11pm, and I’m in the office while Josue finishes spraying the interior. I think I’m high on paint fumes, but I’m super excited because its actually starting to look like a decent car again! After the interior dries overnight, they’ll be prepping the exterior for paint. I feel helpless right now, because there’s not much I can do, but it’ll be back at it once the paint dries trying to assemble it for the PRI!