NHRA Revokes licenses

[LTb1ow]

Apparently, the NHRA sent letters to some or all of the cast of street outlaws, and basically revoked their licenses to race NHRA tracks/events.

https://fbcdn-photos-b-a.akamaihd.ne...66a5bf300b3953

IMO this is a terribly poor choice on their part and I am sure the backlash has already started to hit them. Everyone knows the show is staged, except the NHRA apparently.

Cut off your nose to spite your face it seems.

[coolmanvette75]

They haven't banned anyone yet, just warning them that they will be banned in the future. I would like to see the NHRA actually go through with it, because I don't think they will. If they didn't screw themselves my writing the letter already, they really will if they follow through with it. Seems to me like they are quite mad that this little 1 hour Monday night show gets more views than an entire weekends worth of NHRA coverage on ESPN. Lol

In reality, there are only really two people that would seriously be affected by this if it were to go through, and they would be Jeff Lutz and Mike Murillo, because they actively compete in NHRA sanctioned series throughout the year. The rest of the people either strictly street race or grudge race where NHRA rules really don't matter anyway...

Technically something like this would never really hold up in court because what they are doing for television isn't illegal at all. All the roads have filming permits, etc.

[BonzoHansen]

I'm not sure what is dumber, that show or the NHRA's letters

[LTb1ow]

All about the money IMO.

"Getting to those numbers, the NHRA’s qualifying and eliminations broadcasts have averaged a .02 rating and little more than 300,000 viewers and a .03 rating and just under 400,000 viewers, respectively. Likewise, Street Outlaws, which airs on Monday nights on Discovery, has averaged in the neighborhood of 1.5 million viewers and a 0.6 rating. That’s more than four times the number of Americans tuned in to watch the one-hour program on Discovery versus those watching NHRA drag racing."

http://www.dragzine.com/project-silv...ra-broadcasts/

I would say the NHRA is wanting a piece of the pie and if one is to believe cast member posts on YB, it seems they asked to get involved with the show and were told to F off early on.

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

I'm not sure what is dumber, that show or the NHRA's letters

But unlike horrbilby boring drag racing on late night ESPN, what other show show cases high HP drag cars to such success? While it pretends to be something illegal, its drawing a ton of attention to the car aspect of things. I appericate that. Much better than another housewives of kazxaskstan.

[coolmanvette75]

Originally Posted by LTb1ow

All about the money IMO.

"Getting to those numbers, the NHRA’s qualifying and eliminations broadcasts have averaged a .02 rating and little more than 300,000 viewers and a .03 rating and just under 400,000 viewers, respectively. Likewise, Street Outlaws, which airs on Monday nights on Discovery, has averaged in the neighborhood of 1.5 million viewers and a 0.6 rating. That’s more than four times the number of Americans tuned in to watch the one-hour program on Discovery versus those watching NHRA drag racing."

http://www.dragzine.com/project-silv...ra-broadcasts/

I would say the NHRA is wanting a piece of the pie and if one is to believe cast member posts on YB, it seems they asked to get involved with the show and were told to F off early on.



But unlike horrbilby boring drag racing on late night ESPN, what other show show cases high HP drag cars to such success? While it pretends to be something illegal, its drawing a ton of attention to the car aspect of things. I appericate that. Much better than another housewives of kazxaskstan.

Those numbers in the Dragzine article are a little old. The highest watched episode this season reached like 2.5 million viewers I believe, which is nuts. You really just need to take the show for what it is. It has opened up the car and racing community for everyone. Little kids have something to watch every week and grow up wanting to build an old car. The show has drug numerous old timers out from the bushes and has them building cars to race again. I have noticed a crazy turnaround in the racing and car scene where I live now in the last year and a half when the show really took off.

Obviously some of the scenes are scripted, and they are never really dodging the cops, but they need to make the show appeal to a wide range of people, that's just tv. The racing itself though, is 100% real, so it keeps its authenticity there. From the second they line up to the second the cross the finish line, it is all legit. I got invited to go to the episode filming for the race that airs next week, but had other commitments for that weekend already. Everyone involved really are a bunch of good people and a real benefit to the racing world

[NJSPEEDER]

If the NHRA wants rating I think it would help their cause to stop signing TV contracts that replay eliminations several hours after they are completed. The ratings were the highest when they shows eliminations live. By the time most events are broadcast now we have all seen the results, including videos of any pass we want, and moved on to other prime time viewing.

As fast as the letter circulated the internet the NHRA has probably seen more press and personal mentions on social media and enthusiast sites in the last 48 hours than in the last 5 years. So on some scale they got something out of it. Time will tell if that is a good thing or if it will lead to backlash.

[sweetbmxrider]

[LTb1ow]

Interesting cut from YB,

"But here's the final blow they have now set themselves up for.

They've given the SO stars full license to fire back at them to their 2.5 MILLION VIEWERS.

If I were chief I'd be considering a little fireside shop chat at the end of the show along the lines of:

Recently its come to our attention that we're no longer welcome at a well known racing association's facilities.

Its certainly their free right to feel this way about us so we're not going to attend those facilities anymore or watch anymore of their races on TV.

And if we're not welcome there it probably means you guys watching this show aren't welcome there anymore either, so if you guys feel ok staying away from those races and coming to see us when we visit your local tracks we promise we'll treat you like family members.

Because for us its not about the money, its about the racing and fans like you that love it, so we're always going to put you guys first."

Seems like a huge publicity fiasco the NHRA has created for themselves but maybe this will shake things up and get NHRA back to its roots. Not million dollar pro mad or top fuel stuff.

[WildBillyT]

As "fake" as the characters and non-race events on SO may be, it's still more entertaining and maybe even more "real" than an NHRA robot talking about Autolite plugs and Powerade.

[Blackbirdws6]

Interesting move from NHRA and would love to know some of the background the general public do not get to see. The unfortunate fact is I'm sure many of those 2.5M viewers do not know the races, while real, are staged/organized legally. They pepper the potential for consequences from the law but seems folks are getting slaps on the wrist (warning). I wouldn't be surprised if some of the LEO presence wasn't staged as well.

I enjoy the show for the races and hope it sticks around.

[Dudbird113]

its not just the ratings its also because they broadcast that street racing is the new cool thing to do. but the problem with the nhra is they have to many rules. need this and that to run x.xx time = racer has to spend more money to race his car at the track verse the street where it doesnt matter what you have. only thing i hate about people and street racing is they do it in retarded places like a busy/ high traffic area. everyone in nj knows to go down to south jerseys "woods" if you want to run in a barren place.

[wrong generation]

http://www.hotrod.com/news/nhra-resp...utlaws-letter/

http://www.newson6.com/story/2600132...-street-racing

[NastyEllEssWon]

Originally Posted by wrong generation

http://www.hotrod.com/news/nhra-resp...utlaws-letter/

http://www.newson6.com/story/2600132...-street-racing

After reading that I understand NHRA's side of this. I've never seen or heard of the show before but from what that interview states is that this show glorifies street racing and those with NHRA licenses and NHRA stickers/logos on their cars are shown street racing illegally. whether or not its happening legally behind the scenes isnt of concern to them. The fact that their logo is appearing in conjunction with illegal activity makes them, an accredited racing organization, look bad no matter what.

[LTb1ow]

Originally Posted by NastyEllEssWon

After reading that I understand NHRA's side of this. I've never seen or heard of the show before but from what that interview states is that this show glorifies street racing and those with NHRA licenses and NHRA stickers/logos on their cars are shown street racing illegally. whether or not its happening legally behind the scenes isnt of concern to them. The fact that their logo is appearing in conjunction with illegal activity makes them, an accredited racing organization, look bad no matter what.

So anyone who runs NHRA numbers on their car and or a NHRA sticker is now subject to what the NHRA says?

Drag racing is more than NHRA, and they need to wake up to embrace a grass roots less ballerific racing IMO.

[NastyEllEssWon]

Originally Posted by LTb1ow

So anyone who runs NHRA numbers on their car and or a NHRA sticker is now subject to what the NHRA says?

Drag racing is more than NHRA, and they need to wake up to embrace a grass roots less ballerific racing IMO.

Not necessarily, but since they own the racing association and make the rules, then yes they can most certainly limit your eligibility in their association. When it comes to TV they can also dictate how they want their logo to be seen, take for example Nike. If you make a movie and someone is doing drugs with a nike shirt on, they have the right to make you reshoot/remove the scene in questions since it disparages the corporations brand and identity.

[LTb1ow]

Originally Posted by NastyEllEssWon

Not necessarily, but since they own the racing association and make the rules, then yes they can most certainly limit your eligibility in their association. When it comes to TV they can also dictate how they want their logo to be seen, take for example Nike. If you make a movie and someone is doing drugs with a nike shirt on, they have the right to make you reshoot/remove the scene in questions since it disparages the corporations brand and identity.

They own one association, and I think this will push a lot of people towards other associations. Again, not debating the fact that the issue is a real one, but it was handled very poorly.

Like what did they expect, these guys to give up and say oops our bad?

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by LTb1ow

They own one association, and I think this will push a lot of people towards other associations. Again, not debating the fact that the issue is a real one, but it was handled very poorly.

Like what did they expect, these guys to give up and say oops our bad?

Or just straight up outlaw tracks.

This was handled very bad IMO, unless there were some other talks that I am not privy to.

[BonzoHansen]

I think it might have been handled poorly, but again we don't know all the details. I wouldn't be surprised if they had already asked those involved to take the nhra stickers off and they refused. That is what I would have done and I'm not sure if the nhra took such a preliminary step.

They are right that this show glorifies street racing to some degree. God there are idiots out there who think this is real. nhra can't be associated with that.

this show is as stupid as the housewives shows and other dumb crap.

[LTb1ow]

http://www.dragzine.com/news/south-g...rk-joins-ihra/

Chips, falling?

[deadtrend1]

Originally Posted by NJSPEEDER

If the NHRA wants rating I think it would help their cause to stop signing TV contracts that replay eliminations several hours after they are completed. The ratings were the highest when they shows eliminations live. By the time most events are broadcast now we have all seen the results, including videos of any pass we want, and moved on to other prime time viewing.

As fast as the letter circulated the internet the NHRA has probably seen more press and personal mentions on social media and enthusiast sites in the last 48 hours than in the last 5 years. So on some scale they got something out of it. Time will tell if that is a good thing or if it will lead to backlash.

I would watch NHRA more if I could, but its rarely on. If it is, its because a basketball, softball or poker game didnt break out suddenly or run late. Or its on at 1:00am on ESPN3. Wtf is ESPN3?

And I dont need a "Dodgeball" joke here

[Mike]

Espn 3 is the internets.

[1320B4U]

Its an entertaining show...I said to my wife earlier in the week I can't seem to commit to any tv shows at all, however I always make the time to watch this..its good fun, a show my wife even doesn't mind watching. I mean, they have an Asian guy named 'azn'. That's reason enough.

[Rob WS6]

Pretty soon, you're only gonna be able to find NHRA on ESPN 8 "The Ocho".

[sweetbmxrider]

I enjoyed the show but haven't watched it in a while. It was mostly guys being guys with their friends and some cool cars making lots of noise. Why can't they just blur the nhra ****?

[BonzoHansen]

http://dragillustrated.com/street-ou...s-nhra-letter/

interesting reply. they seem to 'get it' more than the interwebz folks. i thought this was interesting.

“So many of the Street Outlaws guys are trying to pay their bills and make a living by visiting NHRA tracks, selling merchandise, meeting fans and doing this whole deal because, truth be told, it’s not like the show pays that well,” Shearer continues. “Now, NHRA is going to strip us and several of these track owners the opportunity to take advantage of the buzz and excitement the show has created and pack a place full of people, tracks that have never seen six or seven-thousand people. That’s the fallout; that’s the part that people might not understand.”

The NHRA can't like these guys making money at NHRA events from doing something the NHRA opposes.