Open your newspaper
tomorrow morning, flip to the Business or Financial sections, and you’re going
to read a lot of very bad news. Two days
ago, for example, the opening spread of USA Today’s Business section featured
something like 10 news articles. Seven
of them referenced decreased sales and employee layoffs.
We have already reported
on how the economy is impacting drag racing, and we aren’t trying to
overemphasize this negative, but are merely reporting on it. You – everyone – needs to understand that
you’re not alone in your concerns about next month’s house payment, that trip to
the dentist for the kids that can’t be put off and your dwindling savings. Despite the appearance of plenty that you’ll
see when you walk through the pits at any NHRA Full Throttle Series national
event, including this weekend’s Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals, things are
becoming just as tough for the competitors as they are for the average man on
the street.
Take, for but one
example of how critical every dollar is, how this weekend’s adverse weather is
going to impact the NHRA. The spectator
turnout for Saturday’s abbreviated pro qualifying, to say nothing of the fact
that there was no racing at all on Thursday or Friday, will really hurt the
organization’s cash flow, and that needs to be considered right along with the
financial problems facing the fans.
We’re certainly not privy to NHRA’s financial statements, but it doesn’t
take an economics major to realize that the thousands of dollars the NHRA
didn’t take in this weekend is
going to hinder their ability to operate without even more belt-tightening.