Drag Racing: Post Election and Post Covid...Where do we go from here?
/Obviously, the most difficult thing to figure out and to even discuss is the future. The future of drag racing, and the motorsports industry after everything that has happened in 2020. So the glaring question becomes “where do we go from here?”
During the 2020 season we have seen an enormous amount of things that we thought were never going to be possible, and yet, time after time the hits just keep coming. Now we have an election that appears to be over and the uncertainty of what they bring our entire industry is a complete unknown. Add to that the fact that the government continues to keep the economy as shut down as possible, it’s tough to imagine what 2021 will present to us.
I honestly didn’t think that I would see drag racing events that didn’t allow spectators, so that was a first for me. We saw numerous events canceled, postponed, restricted, rained out, etc. Now obviously there isn’t anything that you can do about the rain, and we are used to having a few of those each year, but when you add all the other disasters to that, and what you have is a recipe to decimate industries, communities, businesses, and more.
Some of the things that a lot of people don’t consider are the effect that canceling events have on a large scale. First and foremost is the effect it has on the track. Just because you are either forced to close or unable to allow spectators, you as the track owner still owe just as much in property tax each season. You still have a lot of the same bills, but you have no revenue to pay out on those. Next, look at all the manufactures that rely on supplying parts for the racers that race. All that potential revenue is lost. Then you must look at the communities that lose all the incoming money spent from having racers and spectators. The gas stations, hotels, restaurants, etc. All of them now must figure out how to many that money up. Typically a business forecasts sales based on the previous year, and they lost all of that this season.
2021 is just around the corner and I won’t say that I am worried, but I will say that I don’t think when we hit January 1st, 2021 that everything will just change. The thing that still has me concerned is the government’s “need” to continue lockdowns. It doesn’t matter what side of the political aisle you are on, this is something that will continue to affect all of us. If you were to ask my opinion, I think that national/worldwide sporting events are going to get screwed again in 2021. Series like NHRA, NASCAR, NBA, NFL, etc. are all going to continue to be a hard sell for people.
With that said, I believe that the “smaller” series like MWDRS, PDRA, NMCA, NMRA, will all be just fine. Those series aren’t trying to pack 30k people in the stands, though it would be nice. I also believe that most events not held on the east coast or the far west coast will be ok as well. I think that the political environment on the upper east coast and the far west coast is not at all conducive to having great events, at least right now that is.
What can be done to make sure that 2021 isn’t a complete disaster? The first thing is that you need to make sure that if you are feeling ok with being around people, get your ass to the race track! If your local track is open, you should be there. Next, and this is directed at businesses within drag racing. I don’t know who the hell is making your marketing and branding decisions, but a great majority of you are epically failing this year. It is always easy to market yourself when everything is flowing great, but the true strength and ability to run a business is to do it when the times aren’t great. Apparently, a lot of you forgot how easily you are forgotten about in this industry when you don’t stay in front of people on a regular basis. Don’t be all pissy when your phone stops ringing or the emails slow down because you dropped the ball.
Track promoters, take a look at your programs and make sure that you are having classes that will bring not only racers but put asses in the seats if that’s an option. Make sure that you are advertising your events in the right manner. Putting out flyers that look like a 1st grader with a box of 128 Crayola’s isn’t the way to look professional! Put some effort into what you are doing, because if you put so little effort into something so simple, we can only imagine that you will do the same to your event.
The next 13 months have the opportunity to be some of the best we have ever seen if we do it right. If we don’t, 2021 will end up worse than the bullshit we saw this year. That’s exactly what we DON’T want to happen. 2020 has started to come to a close with some of the best racing and points championships we have seen in a long time. Let’s try and keep the momentum going into 2021 and have an absolutely banner year for the industry!!