Troxel here again
Discussion
tHaving watched her in the past and thinking nothing of her, when we saw her and met her in Gainesville, believe me when I say she can drive, and I don’t mean steer the car, I mean she can REALLY drive, very impressive racer. She drove both the Nitro funny car and the pro mod when we were out there and handled them both brilliantly. Really changed our opinion of her. Cracking driver.
So I hope she does as well as she is able to, she has the car, we all know that and she definitely has the talent.
So I hope she does as well as she is able to, she has the car, we all know that and she definitely has the talent.
This is an interesting point. “What has Melanie Troxel’s appearances done for European Drag Racing?”
Without doubt for established drag racing fans/racers the arrival of the R2B2 team has been absolutely fantastic, the buzz surrounding their arrival and the performances of the car have entertained everyone in one way or another. However the excitement is probably limited to the drag racing community and for the growth we all want to see, drag racing needs to appeal outside of the current drag racing circles and draw new people into the sport, I do not feel that the buzz generated by the arrival of even “Family Force” would draw in non-drag racers like we would like to think it would.
A good example of this was the increase in new faces I saw at the Easter Thunderball due to Peter Andre, certainly more new faces through the gate for him than there was for Melanie. Sometimes I think the passion we have for drag racing clouds our vision to how the sport is viewed by non drag racing fans.
If you are introducing people to drag racing I think it is essential that you encourage them to visit an FIA round and make sure they only come if the weather is going to be good, if that can’t get someone hooked, nothing can.
I think its important to remember Melanie is only really a celebrity to us, if she can make it into Hello/Closer/FHM or Nuts we might be in business!!!!
Without doubt for established drag racing fans/racers the arrival of the R2B2 team has been absolutely fantastic, the buzz surrounding their arrival and the performances of the car have entertained everyone in one way or another. However the excitement is probably limited to the drag racing community and for the growth we all want to see, drag racing needs to appeal outside of the current drag racing circles and draw new people into the sport, I do not feel that the buzz generated by the arrival of even “Family Force” would draw in non-drag racers like we would like to think it would.
A good example of this was the increase in new faces I saw at the Easter Thunderball due to Peter Andre, certainly more new faces through the gate for him than there was for Melanie. Sometimes I think the passion we have for drag racing clouds our vision to how the sport is viewed by non drag racing fans.
If you are introducing people to drag racing I think it is essential that you encourage them to visit an FIA round and make sure they only come if the weather is going to be good, if that can’t get someone hooked, nothing can.
I think its important to remember Melanie is only really a celebrity to us, if she can make it into Hello/Closer/FHM or Nuts we might be in business!!!!
Burndown said:
This is an interesting point. “What has Melanie Troxel’s appearances done for European Drag Racing?”
Without doubt for established drag racing fans/racers the arrival of the R2B2 team has been absolutely fantastic, the buzz surrounding their arrival and the performances of the car have entertained everyone in one way or another. However the excitement is probably limited to the drag racing community and for the growth we all want to see, drag racing needs to appeal outside of the current drag racing circles and draw new people into the sport, I do not feel that the buzz generated by the arrival of even “Family Force” would draw in non-drag racers like we would like to think it would.
A good example of this was the increase in new faces I saw at the Easter Thunderball due to Peter Andre, certainly more new faces through the gate for him than there was for Melanie. Sometimes I think the passion we have for drag racing clouds our vision to how the sport is viewed by non drag racing fans.
If you are introducing people to drag racing I think it is essential that you encourage them to visit an FIA round and make sure they only come if the weather is going to be good, if that can’t get someone hooked, nothing can.
I think its important to remember Melanie is only really a celebrity to us, if she can make it into Hello/Closer/FHM or Nuts we might be in business!!!!
I meant what it’s doing USA wise. Will be getting a lot of interest, from racers over there and of course USA parts/sponsors.Without doubt for established drag racing fans/racers the arrival of the R2B2 team has been absolutely fantastic, the buzz surrounding their arrival and the performances of the car have entertained everyone in one way or another. However the excitement is probably limited to the drag racing community and for the growth we all want to see, drag racing needs to appeal outside of the current drag racing circles and draw new people into the sport, I do not feel that the buzz generated by the arrival of even “Family Force” would draw in non-drag racers like we would like to think it would.
A good example of this was the increase in new faces I saw at the Easter Thunderball due to Peter Andre, certainly more new faces through the gate for him than there was for Melanie. Sometimes I think the passion we have for drag racing clouds our vision to how the sport is viewed by non drag racing fans.
If you are introducing people to drag racing I think it is essential that you encourage them to visit an FIA round and make sure they only come if the weather is going to be good, if that can’t get someone hooked, nothing can.
I think its important to remember Melanie is only really a celebrity to us, if she can make it into Hello/Closer/FHM or Nuts we might be in business!!!!
We were talking to a guy out there and he genuinely didn’t even know that Europe had drag racing, told him a fuel car has run 4.64 and he was so surprised. And believe me when I say he was no novice...
Anything that helps the European drag racing scene is great; she and the team are certainly doing that.
But having said that, your right, fans make this sport, without people coming through the gates it would be a very different sport.
People flocking to see Peter Andre sort of makes me gag but having said that, the people that brought him to the pod are no fools as it got busier, I'd just rather see someone that is actually interesting!
The thing is non of the current generation of yanks has run at the Pod until Ms Troxel and these days they are professional drivers not enthusiasts. When I went around the DSR pit at Gainesville in 2009 the only one of their drivers who had heard of Santa Pod was Jack Beckman , I remember saying to the others that Don S himself plus Garlitis, Beadle, Prudhomme etc had all raced there in the 70s and 80s and Matt Hagan had not even heard of any of them apart from his boss !
I don't think though Melanie will bring in many new non fans and I'm not sure if any of the current generation would {maybe John Force and Tony Schummacher} though it probably encourages more existing fans to actually go. I do try to bring new people along from the village where I live as I love the shocked look on their face the first time they see a full bore TF car. Some come again some do not. The nitro fumes and noise {which is what I go for} puts some off plus the regular jumbo down times caused by rain or accidents and some don't like the mud etc. I can see why SPR get z listers in the hope of creating new fans but I can't help feeling that they would need to be mega famous to drag many to the Pod especially as they are not actually performing.
I go to 2 or 3 meets a year now after going regularly in the 70s and 80s then not at all for about 15 years. My biggest problem is that there are now only the 2 FIA meetings plus Easter where you get anything like a full field in the big classes. This year the dodgy weather forecast put me off Easter, I went in May on the Sunday to watch hours of down time, and in September I'm on a classic car tour so can't go at all. I did toy with going to Hockenhiem to get my nitro fix for 2010 but in the end couldn't make it.
Bill
I don't think though Melanie will bring in many new non fans and I'm not sure if any of the current generation would {maybe John Force and Tony Schummacher} though it probably encourages more existing fans to actually go. I do try to bring new people along from the village where I live as I love the shocked look on their face the first time they see a full bore TF car. Some come again some do not. The nitro fumes and noise {which is what I go for} puts some off plus the regular jumbo down times caused by rain or accidents and some don't like the mud etc. I can see why SPR get z listers in the hope of creating new fans but I can't help feeling that they would need to be mega famous to drag many to the Pod especially as they are not actually performing.
I go to 2 or 3 meets a year now after going regularly in the 70s and 80s then not at all for about 15 years. My biggest problem is that there are now only the 2 FIA meetings plus Easter where you get anything like a full field in the big classes. This year the dodgy weather forecast put me off Easter, I went in May on the Sunday to watch hours of down time, and in September I'm on a classic car tour so can't go at all. I did toy with going to Hockenhiem to get my nitro fix for 2010 but in the end couldn't make it.
Bill
It comes as no great suprise that america is a little unsure about SPR or even the UK (except most know now that the B in BP stands for BRITISH), im afraid its a fact that they can be insular cos they have enough of a circuit and market for the sport without boarding a plane or ferry, of course there has been a steady flow of cars and parts this way, so some of them know.......$$$$$$$$
im afraid that the trend towards booking peter andre to increase ticket sales may get worse, jedward and chico are always available......
im afraid that the trend towards booking peter andre to increase ticket sales may get worse, jedward and chico are always available......
veryoldfart said:
It comes as no great suprise that america is a little unsure about SPR or even the UK (except most know now that the B in BP stands for BRITISH), im afraid its a fact that they can be insular cos they have enough of a circuit and market for the sport without boarding a plane or ferry, of course there has been a steady flow of cars and parts this way, so some of them know.......$$$$$$$$
im afraid that the trend towards booking peter andre to increase ticket sales may get worse, jedward and chico are always available......
I think despite what we think of ourselves we are at best a minority sport,im afraid that the trend towards booking peter andre to increase ticket sales may get worse, jedward and chico are always available......
the tracks are just hanging on by the lifestyle events and booking in the Peter Andre's of this world
Nothing much will ever change that It hasnt in the last 30 years so why should it now,
Visiting drivers are good for a while, but have never made a difference, we had Hawley, Segrini, Gwynn and others i cant be bothered to think of right now in the 80's made no difference at all,
fact is and you have to face it no one outside our small circle has any idea who Melanie is and whats more dont care,
we are kidding ourselves if we think this will ever become a mainstream motorsport in the UK, Sweden maybe but not here if its not Button or Lewis no one cares,
if our small sport survives by bringing celebs to attract the crowds then so be it, Its better than the options, and the options could include companies who promote this sport getting into trouble and tracks closing so bring on jedward jordan and every other distatefull act around if it ensures the survival of our sport
(steps off of soapbox)
veryoldfart said:
lets have a music festival every big meet then, could be fun, the V-festivals caused traffic chaos everywhere so they must have been sell-outs
from what i see the public are far more interested in the monster trucks at the pod than the drag racing,prety easy to work out as the crowds are always looking away from the track when those trucks are doing their stuff,
and they do their stuff in the rain...
The thing that has always struck me regarding motor sport in the UK is that Drag Racing does draw decent crowds despite the lack of coverage wheras apart from F1 {which everybody knows now through the TV and has become a celeb type thing} and to a certain extent classic car racing meets hardly anybody watches live circuit racing anymore. If you go to say an F3 meet at Croft or Donnington with the various support formula {GTs FF etc}there will be a field full of trucks, hospitality units, and teams spending somewhere between £250k and £1m a year {probably 50 teams spending enough to run an FIA TF effort} but watched by about 2,000 spectators.
When I was a boy my Dad was a car racing fan and big meetings at Aintree or Oulton Park we used to go to drew big crowds then but F1 had virtually no TV coverage and the GP results normally did not even make the News. The power of TV though has made F1 into big news and it did the same for example with Rugby Union where club games in the 60s used to be watched by 1 man and his dog, these days they all get 10 or 15,000 and you can't get 6 nations tickets even at £75 a pop.
I can't see drag racing ever being shown live on TV given the unreliability of timings and it's vulnerability to the weather and to be honest although the ESPN coverage in the US is good you don't get anything like the live experience anyway.
I think SPR by using celebs, monster trucks, drifting etc are trying to widen the appeal but it certainly has no impact on whether I go or not. The things that influence me on whether to attend are the the weather forecast and the number of TF, TADs,Pro Mods etc running. These days there are a lot of very impressive cars in Pro ET and the like but if I am going to drive 2 hours or more to visit the Pod I want to see some big fuel cars which as I said earlier restricts me to 3 meets a year these days.
Bill
When I was a boy my Dad was a car racing fan and big meetings at Aintree or Oulton Park we used to go to drew big crowds then but F1 had virtually no TV coverage and the GP results normally did not even make the News. The power of TV though has made F1 into big news and it did the same for example with Rugby Union where club games in the 60s used to be watched by 1 man and his dog, these days they all get 10 or 15,000 and you can't get 6 nations tickets even at £75 a pop.
I can't see drag racing ever being shown live on TV given the unreliability of timings and it's vulnerability to the weather and to be honest although the ESPN coverage in the US is good you don't get anything like the live experience anyway.
I think SPR by using celebs, monster trucks, drifting etc are trying to widen the appeal but it certainly has no impact on whether I go or not. The things that influence me on whether to attend are the the weather forecast and the number of TF, TADs,Pro Mods etc running. These days there are a lot of very impressive cars in Pro ET and the like but if I am going to drive 2 hours or more to visit the Pod I want to see some big fuel cars which as I said earlier restricts me to 3 meets a year these days.
Bill
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