Like an addict, drag racing is becoming hooked to the small screen --- but at a cost.

Television and drag racing would seem to go together. Of all motorsports drag racing seems to be almost designed for the small screen. The start and finish are all there in a short space, the crowd is condensed into a smaller area creating atmosphere, there is a whole range of visual and sound impacts not to be found in other motor racing and the pace of competition is quick and brief, ensuring the viewer need never be bored. Consequently, drag racing has been chasing regular television exposure since the boom began in the early 90's. Yet television may be a double edged sword that cuts both ways.

Television never took drag racing seriously before the 1990's. There was the occasional exposure, more on the theme of novelty than any serious attempt at reportage, but as the sport began to boom, so too did the media profile. Once we were considered oddball, now we began to edge into the arena of the mainstream.

As drag racing's self-awareness developed, and its appetite for market-driven "luxuries" expanded, so too did its need for outside support from sponsors. But sponsors demand exposure in exchange for dollars, and if there was to be any chance of success with major corporate players, that exposure had to include television.

Different tracks approached it in different ways. Eastern Creek, under Kevin Prendergast's management, simply began by paying for a small video team to be present at each meeting, and when the excuse (major accidents, dramatic race wins, etc.) arose there was footage available for that night's news and sports programs. That small scale exposure grew to a club-based satellite TV channel, to regular time on major networks and then trailed off as the track lost impetus in the late 90's.

RPS Promotions introduced television on what is unarguably the most professional level seen in this country, when it took on the running of the ANDRA Group One brackets, under the banner of the Winfield Pro Series, in 1994. With major budgets -- usually approaching $60,000 per event -- they were quality productions paid for by the major sponsor, Winfield. However, at the end of 1995 tobacco sponsorships were forced out of the sporting scene, but RPS had set a standard that was out of the reach of any of the tracks, most of which have set budgets of around $20,000 per event.

Willowbank began in 1996 by paying for television coverage of its major events to be screened on purely local television. Ravenswood began about the same time, again on a similar local level. Both worked so well locally that a similar proposal was put into place for racing in Adelaide in the past season.

Such exposure works well for race tracks, attracting potential new spectators, and most especially sponsors, for both racers and the race tracks. It helps shore up budgets in several areas, but it appears to come at a price.

Despite increasingly professional racing shows, crowds in the past couple of years have, in many cases, begun to shrink. One of the most surprising figures to emerge from the Ipswich City Council's Economic Development Department's survey of the 1998 Konica Winternationals, was that 27 percent of the spectators attending the event were at Willowbank for the first time.

The event drew a total attendance of 35,801, up 2301 from last year, largely on the Friday and Saturday, with Sunday's crowd for eliminations being almost the same. Yet over a quarter of those attending had not been before, which can also be read as a quarter of those who came to the 1997 Winternationals did not return. It would be difficult to imagine a better drag racing show than that experienced at the 97 Winternationals, so what kept those people away?

Willowbank has some specific problems that are beyond management's control. The parking area exit onto the Cunningham Highway is a major problem, and delays of up to two hours can be experienced at major events, so fans become frustrated at such lengthy hold-ups. Parking is also at a premium because of space restrictions applying to the 37 hectare property. And if you can't get people in and out, why increase capacity internally, so crowding can be seen as an issue, as it was at the 1997 event.

All these are factors which need to be taken into account, yet the Willowbank management sees another factor.

"By our reckoning crowds are down in relation to our television exposure," said Willowbank track manager Dennis Syrmis. "We've had even long time regular fans, who closely follow the sport decide that if the weather looks suspect or there's anything else on which may clash with the races they'll choose to stay home and watch it on television a week or so later. We've had a lot of anecdotal evidence along those lines.

"You'll note that football doesn't go live to TV unless the game is sold out, and major one-day cricket matches are not screened live in their city of origin, even if sold out.

"And it's the smaller meetings which appear to be suffering more than the big ones, which is tending to make some of them more marginal. We can't turn the clock back on it, and go back to no television, because we now depend on it for exposure for so many sponsors, but we have to look at the options and come up with some solutions."

Perth's Ravenswood track has experienced similar problems. "We initially went into the television deal to enable racers, especially those in the personal index brackets that we run over here, to go out and seek sponsorships," explained Ravenswood manager Gary Miocevich. "The effort has given our existing sponsors more comfort, but I doubt that it's brought more to us.

"We've put a lot of effort into marketing for sponsors, and while I don't think the television has hurt, and may have helped marginally, I honestly can't point to anywhere it's been instrumental in sealing the deal. And the problem is I don't think too many of the racers have followed up the pursuit of sponsors.

"We keep getting these reports that it's easier and cheaper for a bunch of fans in Perth to buy in a pizza and a slab of beer and watch the racing on TV in the comfort of their own home. Our fundamental problem is that Ravenswood is too far from the city.

"We're putting a lot of analysis into the content of our coverage in the future. Do we report on the results of the meeting? Do we feature technical stories, or personality interviews? That sort of thing. We'll be making changes and reviewing the results this season.

"This whole television business is getting harder and harder and harder. It's a bit like the guys with their race cars: The tracks are putting more and more effort into their shows, fine tuning everything all the time to try and extract more from them. The bottom line is that we're probably losing a quarter of a million dollars a year in revenue, and paying for the privilege."