NHRA*vs*Street Outlaws: what should Mopar do?by*Daniel Bennett*• Posted on*February 18, 2015
Analysis.**On February 13th, the NHRA sent a now-controversial letter to most of the participants of the popular TV show*Street Outlaws, which is shown on the Discovery Channel. In the letter, the NHRA states that it cannot condone street racing, which the show appears to depict, and then goes on to threaten the participants in the show with removal of their NHRA competition licenses, which would prevent those affected from competing in NHRA sanctioned events.
In reality, the “racing” shown on the TV*is done on the street, but with the full permission and presence of local law enforcement, and first*aid staff on site in case of any accidents. The road is fully closed down, monitored, and accessible only by the participants and actors in the series.
So, has the NHRA gone too far? According toDragzine, Street Outlaws has approximately 6times*(2.2 million vs 400,000) the number of weekly TV*viewers that the NHRA does, some could say it is more*a case of sour grapes than a valid complaint.* Additionally, the rule the NHRA is using is techically only valid while at a NHRA member track or during a NHRA member event, so technically they are stretching the rule by attempting to use this as ammunition.
How does this affect Mopar? Well, Mopar has sunk almost all of its motorsports eggs into the NHRA basket. NHRA has proven to be a shrinking market, much as many of the other national series (NASCAR, etc), and Mopar has already fled the pricey NASCAR market. Is NHRA next? Will the big money teams such as Force and the Mopar sponsored Don Schumacher Racing be the death of the NHRA?
NHRA’s main participants are the grass roots stock, super stock, and even weekend racers that participate*in Sportsman across the country. Top Fuel and Pro Stock are a big draw to the NHRA national events, but it is the grassroots guys that*buy the tickets and go to those events.
Would it possibly benefit Mopar more to explore putting a Mopar of some sort on the*Street Outlawshow? Not just placing a*car*in the show, but putting a competitive combination together for the show? That kind of street cred goes a long way — as the SRT4*Neon*opened the floodgates to modern Mopar performance appeal and draw.
If*the NHRA is turning its back on its roots in the grassroots racers, and if*Street Outlaws*is embracing and if anything encouraging that same grassroots efforts, it would appear that Mopar*could be better off spending money in an area that not only reaches into the grassroots more, but also could weekly touch many more people through TV and online than the NHRA currently does.
Many of the participants on the show, and in other non-NHRA series throughout the country, do so because the NHRA rules and car classifications have not been updated to keep up with the advancement of car technology. However, NHRA has ignored exactly what makes Outlaw 10.5 and other “series” so popular. Many of these ultra fast “street”*cars*are not legal within the common NHRA competition classification.
It may all boil down to demographics. NHRA is followed by typically an older, more affluent group of people. People that have more disposable income, and people that do*buy cars*and trucks.Street Outlaws*is followed mostly by younger folk, who may, for the most part, not be able to afford anything but the entry level of new cars. Taking this into account, it would seem that staying active in NHRA would be the correct thing to do, as it more directly connects*Mopar and Dodge*to their*customers… although the*Street Outlaw*guys seem to be able and willing to throw seemingly unlimited amount of money at their cars.
Outlaw class racing via the ADRL and NMCA, and others, has been frowned upon by the NHRA for years. The NHRA has even gone so far as to threaten the removal of NHRA national events from certain tracks if they allow outlaw style series.
Time will tell which way is the correct way for Mopar*to go, but*drag racing*is a mine field, and as of now, NHRA has not done itself any favors.
Written with the help of Mike Volkmann. Image courtesy of*Mike Murillo.*
plu doesn't hurt to have a 100 hp old farm truck lmao Miss his dog though
