Drag racing has burned up tracks for more than a half-century, with legendary figures such as Kenny Bernstein fearlessly driving dragsters more than 300 miles an hour – and often walking away from impossible, fiery crashes.
But as with other motorsports these days, drag racing has been buffeted by declining ticket sales and sponsorship dollars, which has forced the sport’s leading sanctioning body, the National Hot Rod Association, to downshift.
Earlier this year, the Glendora-based body took its biggest skid yet when one of its leading sponsors, Anheuser-Busch Cos., walked away after three decades.
But the hot rod organization is not out of the race yet.
It has responded with a host of measures, including seeking new sponsors, ramping up marketing and discounting tickets.
Earlier this month, it announced a new sponsorship with Sprint’s Boost Mobile, a no-contact cellular network that is popular among youth. And it’s counting on its first-ever partnership with a marketing firm to expand its fan base beyond the racing enthusiasts who have always been its core audience.
“We didn’t really see much of the downturn touch us in 2008 when it was hitting other industries,” said President Tom Compton, who has run the NHRA since 2000. “(But) 2009 … has been the most challenging as we can’t control much of what’s going on. But we are working our best through it.”
Race attendance and sponsorship dollars are both down about 10 percent this year, the NHRA acknowledged, which forced the non-profit to lay off 15 employees this month – a last resort after it froze matching contributions to staffers’ 401(k)s and instituted a 10 percent, across-the-board pay cut.
In May, the sport’s big Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, N.H., was conducted without a corporate sponsor. And for a while this year, Bernstein, who no longer races but runs a prominent racing team, didn’t have a sponsor lined up for next year until recently.
Lack of sponsorship dollars has meant smaller fields. At least two races this season in the NHRA’s Top Fuel division – the long, skinny dragsters that exceed 300 mph – didn’t have full 16-racer fields. Other divisions also saw fewer cars.
Jeff Burk, editor and publisher of DragRacingOnline.com, believes that sponsorship dollars are probably off at least 50 percent to 60 percent, far more than the NHRA is willing to admit. But he’s cautiously optimistic given the track record of Compton, a former marketing executive at candy and pet food maker Mars Inc.
“Although he doesn’t come from a racing background, he’s helped establish the sport as a serious player in the motorsports world and boosted its sponsorships,” Burk said. “But he certainly will have his challenges helping pull through what is the worst year ever in the sport financially.”
Steady growth
Los Angeles and drag racing go way back. The sport was first developed in the 1930 by amateurs in souped-up Model-Ts and Chevys racing in the Mojave Desert. And drag racing’s most influential driving force has been the NHRA, founded in 1951 to get racing off the streets.
While the organization continues to cultivate amateurs, it dramatically developed its professional racing series in recent decades, making such terms as Funny Cars – the class of drag racers that approximate the look of passenger cars – part of popular culture.
The NHRA’s 24-race professional series runs from February to November, bookended with races at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Ticket sales are the main source of revenue for the organization, which in 2007 brought in $121 million in gross receipts, according to the latest available tax records. Then came the housing bust, financial crisis and recession in quick succession.
The most dramatic blow came when Budweiser pulled out after sponsoring the NHRA since the early 1980s. It also was the primary sponsor for 30 years of Kenny Bernstein Racing – the longest-running sponsorship relation in motor sports history. The decision followed the $49.9 billion purchase of the St. Louis brewer by InBev, a Belgian brewer.
But the NHRA has fought back, seeking to take advantage of a deal it signed last year with IMG Sports & Entertainment, its first marketing firm.
Tom Knox, IMG’s vice president of business development, said he believes that NHRA has some major advantages over other motor sports, which are also hurting financially.
“The NHRA has tremendous potential because it offers a unique sensory overload experience and prides itself on being accessible to its fans,” said Knox, who is based in Charlotte, N.C.
He noted that there is a tradition in drag racing to allow spectators into the pit area before races, which gives sponsors a unique opportunity to get their products before fans.
In addition, sponsoring even the priciest Top Fuel teams costs only $3 million to $4 million annually, a fraction of the costs of NASCAR sponsorships that, he said, can top $20 million.
“It’s all about exposure and getting people to see NHRA as a great value, and right now that may work to our advantage coming out of this economic crisis,” he said.
In that vein, the NHRA offered a limited supply of $20 adult tickets to a number of races this year.
Revving up
Despite the loss of Budweiser, the NHRA still has a roster of steady sponsors. Among them are Caterpillar Inc., and automotive parts-related companies such as Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
But Knox and Compton said that the NHRA is looking beyond traditional sponsors such as beer or automotive companies toward telecommunications, packaged foods and hospitality.
For example, the partnership announced this month with Boost Mobile includes a new phone application that includes live race information and related news updates.
While the series has had a long relationship with Coca-Cola, the new focus of the sponsorship through 2013 is its energy drink brand, Full Throttle.
Knox also said that the NHRA has a unique opportunity compared to other sports to market itself to a nation whose demographics are rapidly changing.
Some of the most high-profile professional drivers are women and minorities such as Ashley Force Hood, a contender this year to win a Funny Car title. Tony and Cruz Pedregon, two Latino brothers from Los Angeles, also have won Funny Car championships and actively compete.
“I think companies will take into account that this is a sport that on its face is more accessible to more than just one demographic,” Knox said.
Bernstein, the drag racing champion whose racing team lost its Budweiser sponsorship, is confident of the sport’s future. After six months of searching, he locked in a one-year deal for 2010 with a new major sponsor, Copart Inc., a Fairfield, Calif.-based vehicle resale Web site – an online company that certainly represents changing times.
Bernstein’s cars have been red for Budweiser for 30 years, but Copart’s primary color is blue.
“So next year our dragsters will be blue, and I think it’s good, like a rebirth,” said Bernstein, 65. “I think much is changing now in the sport when it comes to how we look at the business side. But we have too loyal of a base that will help us keep the engines going.”
