Drag Racing Needs to Get into the Lemonade Business

Drag Racing Needs to Get into the Lemonade Business

This last week the NHRA and professional drag racing felt the blow when out of the blue, Ford decided that it would terminate their contract with the NHRA as the provider of service vehicles and stop the support of professional drag racers in the Funny Car and Pro Stock Classes. However, Ford is not getting out of drag racing completely.

In a statement released by the Dearborn, Michigan-based company stated, “Ford is not getting out of drag racing. We are fully committed to continue our support of grassroots sportsman drag racing with our Mustang Cobra Jet, parts support and contingency programs.”

It can be analyzed that Ford was not seeing a Return on Investment with the professional side of the NHRA.

 Ford is aligned with John Force Racing arguably the most powerful team in NHRA racing; Bob Tasca Racing, a mega-Ford dealer in New England, and Tim Wilkerson, and unofficial teammate  to Tasca.

These teams have won races over the past five years and garner  a good deal of airtime on the ESPN coverage, especially Force, who gets a lion’s share of it.

So why would Ford pull these deals from the funny car team?  From this perspective, the bodies on the funny cars don’t look like Mustangs.  They do not resemble the Mustang setting in the show room of the local  Ford dealership.  Why do these companies get into racing? “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday”. 

Therefore, if Tasca’s “Mustang” wins at Seattle, a fan cannot go to Kendall Ford and buy one that looks like Tasca’s. There seems to be a lack of product identity with the funny cars.  But fans can buy a Mustang which is just like the stock or super stock  on Monday morning.

Sound familiar from another major motorsport a couple of years ago.

Here the lemonade comes into play.  This is a terrible situation for these teams; however, they have time to react and as my mother is fond of saying, “when you get handed lemons, make lemonade “.

There are two suggestions for the Gang from Glendora and for team of JFR and BTR/TWR to turn this situation from a negative into a positive.

x One, the NHRA needs to look at this as NASCAR did a few years ago, make a bold change. In 2015, all funny car bodies will have to resemble the streetcars the bodies are based on.  This will accomplish two things. A) This will give product identity back to the cars for those manufactures still supporting the teams and possible bring other including Ford back to drag racing.

 B) This would slow the cars down and make them safer because of the the lack of aerodynamic enhancements allowed on present-day funny car bodies. Eliminate the shovelnoses and reduce the size of those dump truck style rear deck spoilers.

Suggestion Two: The NHRA and the teams need to start getting serious and propose working with other manufactures such as Honda/Acura and Hyundai.

 Why you ask?  Simple. These companies build cars here in America. These cars are what the younger generation is driving, and this will start to bring new younger fans to the sport.  Both Honda/Acura and Hyundai are progressive, forward thinking companies.

Hyundai has the Genesis Coupe and Acura is getting set to rerelease the vaunted NSX. 

Both of these cars would make excellent flopper bodies.  The cars are already swoopy without making it look like a giant bubble. 

Making the bodies more stock appearing would help Toyota, and Dodge as well, in getting product identity back into the funny car class.

From this perspective, this could be the best thing to happen to the NHRA if they handle it correctly.

 This is an excellent opportunity for the sport, if the NHRA and these professional team leaders and managers would take a few moments and read John Kotter’s book “A Sense of Urgency.” Then apply the principals involved.

From behind the lens

Brian Losness