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Millions, Mad Dog, Meatheads and the “Mater”
2/20/06
 Art by Star Pixel Graphics |
The NHRA is a company that grosses more than 100 million dollars annually. It is the largest (by the number of its members who actually race) racing organization in the world. It is the premier drag racing series and its races are televised on ESPN2. The professional series is sponsored by a Coca-Cola company product. The NHRA’s top professional teams are sponsored by some of the world’s largest and most successful companies. Among those companies involved are United Parcel Service, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, both the Budweiser and Miller beer companies, the U.S. Army and, arguably one of the largest and most successful eyewear companies in the world, Oakley.
The NHRA’s president Tom Compton and his management team have, over the past six or seven years, labored mightily to increase the popularity and stature of drag racing to the same levels that Corporate America, the mainstream media, and racing fans have for NASCAR’S Nextel Cup series.
So, you would have to think that the NHRA would function as a slick, savvy, politically correct organization, wouldn't you? Well, in my opinion at least, you’d be partially correct. Judging by the actions of some of NHRA’s most famous racers and the NHRA management, I think we can all be safe in the knowledge that NHRA drag racing is still a long way from being the slick, corporately correct, made-for-TV race series that Nextel Cup racing appears to have become. . .thank God!
Let me give you just a couple of examples of what got me on this subject and, as always, a couple of my own observations to go along with them.
First, there was Don Schumacher’s Pro Stock team manager and engine builder Bob Glidden’s on-camera interview during the recent broadcast of the NHRA Winternationals from Pomona. Glidden is arguably the most famous and successful doorslammer racer in the history of the sport and a genuine drag racing icon. In this interview he showed once again why his peers sometimes call him “Mad Dog” and solidified his well-earned reputation of speaking his mind! During the interview he basically threw Mopar team rookie driver Shaun Carlson “under the bus,” intimating that he felt Carlson didn’t have the necessary experience to drive, the team didn’t have a chance to win a World Championship with him, and that Bob was wasting his time. I have read and re-read the transcript of the ESPN interview with Glidden and his meaning and opinion in that interview is crystal clear.
In a way, Glidden's interview reminded me of another racing icon who always speaks his mind, Texan A.J. Foyt. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Foyt several times over many years and he always speaks his mind. You never know when he is going to "go off" on someone.
I’m guessing that Kevin Miller from Mopar, team owner Don Schumacher and the always politically correct NHRA PR department were shocked and none too happy with Glidden's comments. I have to admit that I wasn’t too crazy about him undressing his driver like that on national TV, but I also have to admit that after I thought about it for a week or so I found myself being glad that drag racing still has personalities like Glidden who aren’t afraid to speak their mind on or off camera. I hope that the suddenly PC conscious John Force remembers what helped make him as popular as he is.
OK, now let's talk about meatheads for a moment. Did somebody at the NHRA just forget about the long-term agreement that the sanctioning body and Oakley have had, not to mention the tens of millions of dollars Oakley owner Jim Jannard has invested in NHRA drag racing as a sponsor and team owner? Didn’t anybody at NHRA notice how protective of his brand and competitive Mr. Jannard has always been?
I’ve occasionally supplemented my meager journalist income over the years by assisting racers with acquiring sponsors. During the past five years or so I’ve twice been involved with professional teams that were approached by the Spy Wear people about sponsorship. In both cases sale of the company’s product on the midway was part of the program and in both cases the teams were told by the NHRA -- in no uncertain terms -- that the NHRA had an exclusive arraignment with Oakley to sell eyewear on the midway. So, I’d like to know what person from the NHRA management team told Don Prudhomme’s team management that since they’d signed Spy wear as an associate sponsor they could then sell their product on the Midway.
Let’s see now. Jim Jannard has spent tens of millions of dollars of his own money sponsoring NHRA Fuel Funny Car teams. He supports many other teams in smaller ways and has one of the most popular and profitable stores on the midway, which presumably pays NHRA their percentage after each event. How could anyone on the NHRA management team authorize the Prudhomme team to sell one of Oakley’s competitor’s products from their midway trailer? Especially a company that wasn’t even a major sponsor? Don’t blame Prudhomme or anyone who works for him for this gaff. Nobody sells anything on the NHRA Midway without negotiating with and paying NHRA for the privilege.
Evidently everything is now resolved, but it may be too little and too late. I think that right now the odds of Jim Jannard and Oakley coming back to NHRA next year aren't good. I hope I'm wrong, but after all, he has accomplished what he came to do, win a Fuel Funny Car Championship. There is nothing to win above the championship. I sincerely believe that Oakley is involved in drag racing because Jim Jannard loves drag racing, not because they sell enough Oakley products to make a big difference in Oakley’s profits at the end of the year. If Mr. Jannard and his company do leave the sport over this I think whoever is responsible for creating this incident should be fired immediately. NHRA drag racing can’t afford to lose Jim Jannard and Oakley or any more major sponsors due to more unexplainable, unfortunate management decisions.
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Finally, while the NHRA and many of their sponsors and teams are generally highly secretive about their dealings with each other that craving for privacy evidently doesn’t extend to multi-millionaire sponsor Jim Jannard or millionaire team owner Don Prudhomme. These two gentlemen and their employees decided use a chat room backed by Mr. Jannard to air their differences. Prudhomme’s team manager and one of his drivers and Mr. Jannard carried on an e-mail argument on the Nitro Mater chat room for public viewing.
I doubt that major team owners in series like F-1 or NASCAR would debate their business differences on a chat room. While speaking out on a public forum may make some fans, sponsors and PR types very nervous, for me it’s a sign that NHRA drag racing and those who participate in it are still more racers and competitors than business men and their passions rule their actions. It's still a "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" kind of sport. And I think that is a good thing. 
