Not all is bad with the NHRA. The Professional Racer Owners organization (PRO) -- which encompasses team owners in only the Top Fuel and Funny Car nitro classes (31 Top Fuel and Funny Car team owners, covering 34 drivers/cars) -- has a new, reinvigorated spirit about where the sanctioning body is going in the next century.

Speedvision.com had a chance to sit down recently with Mike Lewis, PRO's Executive Director, and discuss PRO's take on where the NHRA has been, where it is now and where it is going in the future.

PRO's relationship with and belief in the NHRA has not exactly been rock-solid the past couple of years, particularly in 1999 when NHRA dropped the ball in a number of areas, most notably in television coverage. But new corporate liaisons announced in recent months, including hiring the prestigious Hill & Knowlton public relations firm and the SFX Entertainment Group to handle television contract negotiations for the 2000 season and beyond, as well as the placement of a new race in Las Vegas in 2000 have given PRO a renewed confidence in the NHRA and the sanctioning body's future.

Whether that renewed confidence bears fruit remains to be seen. Here are some excerpts of that interview with Lewis:

JB: When was PRO first formed?

Lewis: "The predecessor to the current PRO was formed in 1972 and it was first called PRA (Pro Racers Association). It became PRO in 1973 or 1974. Don Garlits was the founder and organized events in Tulsa; Lakeland, Florida; and the New York National Speedway in Long Island during the years 1972 through 1974."

JB: Was it very adversarial to the NHRA in those days?

Lewis: "It was adversarial in those days. After 1974, the organization really disbanded. It came back in another format around 1989 or 1990, somewhere in that vicinity. (Team owner and driver of the Budweiser King Top Fuel dragster) Kenny Bernstein really brought it back. It was not intended then and is not today intended to be adversarial with the NHRA."

JB: Who is the current president of PRO right now?

Lewis: "Kenny Bernstein was the first president for a period of time, followed by Bill Schultz, and then again Kenny Bernstein for another period of time. Today, our current president is Bob Vandergriff, Sr. He's been president since 1997."

JB: Is it fair to call PRO an unofficial drivers' union?

Lewis: "It's an owners organization. The dues-paying members are the owners. We provide benefits to the drivers in the way of insurance and so forth, but it is the owners who pay the bills. Drivers cannot be official members unless they're car owners."

JB: In the last year or two, PRO seemed to be not very happy with the direction the NHRA was going, its TV package and a few other situations along the way that raised some concerns. Now it seems like PRO has a reinvigorated spirit and is definitely behind NHRA 100 percent. Can you backtrack to where there was some disagreement and then bring us up to speed on where PRO is today?

Lewis: "The television package is very, very important to our teams. It is one of the greatest and most substantial pieces of value that we offer to sponsors. The package in 1999 didn't offer as many hours of live television or same-day coverage, and it was a little bit more difficult to find. We're pleased, though, that that has been addressed and we're also very pleased that (NHRA Executive Vice President/General Manager) Tom Compton and his new team have not only made promises about the future, but they've also written a strategic three-year plan which, every day that goes by, we're more convinced that they believe in that plan and are following the steps of that plan with hiring their ad agency, they've contracted with (the SFX Entertainment Group) to negotiate their television package for next year and beyond, and working with Hill and Knowlton on public relations. So, they have a very strong view of where the NHRA is going and they're taking the right steps. So, yes, we support that."

JB: But had there been a point where there was some serious concern on PRO's part about where the NHRA was at?

Lewis: "Not officially. I mean, there wasn't an official action or reaction on the part of PRO. Some of our members have voiced their opinions, and that's a matter of record. But it's our position that if we're not in total agreement on something, or if we don't understand something or just don't know -- for example, we don't know the 2000 schedule yet -- we don't speculate. We go right to (NHRA president) Dallas Gardner or Tom Compton, we voice our questions, and they've been very candid in giving us answers, even if their answer is 'We don't know yet.' So, they've been very candid with us. The relationship we have is one of mutual cooperation and understanding. They have a tough job to do. They're in a very competitive position in American sports and specifically in motorsports, but we're really involved moreso in the great American entertainment picture.

"And to that extent, it's very competitive and very sophisticated and the efforts to make people into everything from motion pictures to racing events is becoming more sophisticated. So we're pleased that the NHRA is reaching out for the expertise that their three agencies (advertising, TV and public relations) offer."

JB: What has PRO done or can you do as an organization of owners to enhance the picture for NHRA in the near future? Is there anything your group can do directly to aid or assist them in any way?

Lewis: "The biggest thing we can do is to keep healthy fields out there in the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes. That takes marketing assistance, and PRO provides assistance to the extent that we can to help our teams provide value to their sponsors, and in turn, to continue in the sport. Those that don't have sponsorship, we work to help them find sponsors. That's a big part of what PRO does. We're racers helping each other; to that extent the organization works. That's the most important thing we can do for the NHRA, to keep full fields of cars and keep the upper echelon categories (Top Fuel and Funny Car) healthy.

"The other things that we can do with the NHRA is to obviously work in cooperation with them. They've given us the freedom to make suggestions, to review some fairly confidential data from time to time so that we understand what they're doing and where they're going. They've been very candid with Bob Vandergriff and myself, and we cherish that. The things we discuss in confidence have to remain in confidence.

"So, we have a strong understanding of each other's point of view. We've given them a complete financial breakdown so that they understand what it takes to run a typical Top Five team, so that they understand the income and the expense side of the balance sheet of running a competitive team. They then can understand when it comes to making decisions to expand the series, to change travel schedules or any other decisions that affect the income or the expense or both sides of the ledger. We've had a very strong imprint on helping to minimize any negative effects on the ledger, and they've been very receptive to those kinds of ideas."

JB: Has this relationship been of late or through the course of the last 10 years, or has it just been in the last couple of years, that the NHRA has been agreeable to open up things to PRO?

Lewis: "I think it's become stronger as time has gone on. Kenny Bernstein deserves a lot of credit. In the early going, when he brought PRO back -- as you know, Kenny is a very skilled and very strong negotiator -- he made it clear to the NHRA that nothing that he would do was intended to harm the association and to jeopardize its good standing. Obviously, Kenny spoke very strongly on behalf of the PRO membership such that at times where Kenny and Dallas would be a little apart on issues, but they worked their way together. I give Kenny a lot of credit for that.

"In more recent years, I think Bob Vandergriff has been very successful, as well. Bob doesn't stand up and beat his chest about what he's accomplished, but he's had a very open door relationship with Dallas, Tom and (NHRA Senior Vice President of Racing Operations) Graham Light. I think, Tom in particular, is a ray of hope only because in the last couple of years it has become apparent that Tom's position with the NHRA was growing stronger and stronger, and if he is the apparent successor when Dallas Gardner retires, we would all stand back and ask if he's good for drag racing and good for PRO. We've gone through that procedure of kind of sizing him up, and we're very happy with what we've seen and Tom's ability and his willingness to get down into the trenches with us and look at hard issues and try to understand him and how his position would affect the overall sport of drag racing.

"To that extent, I compare Tom a little bit to NASCAR's philosophy, where decisions should be made with the interests of all their constituencies in mind, their track owners, their drivers, team owners, spectators and television viewers. NASCAR really balances all of those decisions. Tom has the ability of doing that, and I think that's a real credit to Tom."

JB: PRO currently represents only those owners in the nitro categories, that is, Top Fuel and Funny Car. Is there a reason why team owners from other classes such as Pro Stock, Pro Stock Truck or Pro Stock Motorcycle are not represented, and are there any plans in the works to eventually include them in PRO membership?

Lewis: "There's no immediate plans to expand PRO beyond the nitro categories because there's just such a common link between the issues that face Top Fuel and Funny Car. We work with Pro Stock teams individually because there really isn't a Pro Stock organization. We have a strong respect for the teams individually and the importance of the Pro Stock category into the overall picture of drag racing.

"The Pro Stock Truck and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories are a little different because they don't run all of the (national) events. So, at this point, our members are the nitro owners, and it's my job to represent their interests."

JB: Looking down the road, Mike, this has been a very concerning season for a lot of people, primarily for the team owners and drivers, because the TV package kind of got fumbled, as well as it's been a very concerning season for some of the fans who've expressed their thoughts on whether the NHRA is going downhill or uphill or whatever. From PRO's standpoint, how bullish is the organization on the forthcoming changes within NHRA, if there are going to be any, and how they will be better for the sport and PRO?

Lewis: "I would say we're extremely bullish about the potential of NHRA drag racing in years to come and we're bullish on the direction that NHRA has taken to develop that potential. Obviously, we, like the media and everybody else, are kind of anxious to see what the television package will be and to get our hands on the schedule and to see all the other things these agencies and the new NHRA people are accomplishing.

"We're very bullish on everything we see looking ahead. We're pretty excited about where we're going and what we're really excited about is the potential of an organization where the team owners and the sanctioning bodies and the sponsors, where we can take all the energies and combine them into one cause. And, if we really do work together for the best interest of the overall structure of the NHRA, then we can reach that ultimate potential. That's the goal of PRO, to be a leading force in the overall developments of drag racing as a 21st century sports entity."

JB: To follow that up, was there ever a point in the last year or two that there was considerable concern among PRO membership about the overall direction of where the NHRA was going, particularly when the TV package was fumbled and so many sponsors have dropped out of the sport in recent years? Was there ever a diminished confidence in the NHRA (from PRO's standpoint)?

Lewis: "Tom (Compton) and some of his people conveyed back to some PRO owners their strategic plan going back to last year's (season-ending) Winston Finals. The people who were privy to those discussions and who really contributed their thoughts before the plan was released internally and kind of signed, sealed and delivered, felt a lot of promise in where the NHRA was going. They knew at the time there were some difficulties with TNN (The Nashville Network, which formerly carried the lion's share of NHRA TV coverage in recent years), but that the TV shows would be placed and that the NHRA was going to make sure that there was television coverage of every single event.

"I guess it's fair to say that not even in a bull stock market, not every day, every week or every month is a bull market. So, yeah, there's a glitch on the screen from time to time. But what we had to remind ourselves, though, is the amount of strength that we have as an organization, and we have both the resolve, the talent and the product to succeed. And, when you look around our sport, there never has been a time where a few sponsors who have achieved their goals, or who have had turnover in management, or have been acquired through consolidation in the retail business, none of those sponsors came into this sport thinking they'd stay in this sport forever.

"There have been new sponsors that have come into this sport and we have to remind ourselves about that. When new sponsors like Exide, Century 21, MBNA and some others came in, we had to remind ourselves that there will always be new companies looking to take an active step in marketing to their customers through drag racing, that there will be new people coming into positions where they make decisions in those companies and those companies will change their corporate philosophy and may reallocate those funds into another sport or another motorsport. It is somewhat cyclical. Our position is that there is a world of opportunity here. As the television package grows in years to come, the value to the sponsors will increase significantly, and we're pretty excited about that."

JB: What reaction does PRO have to the likely expansion of the schedule to 23, 24 or even 25 events next year from this year's 22-event slate? The NHRA has already announced that a new event will be held in Las Vegas next year, and there are rumors of an additional race in Joliet, Illinois, as well as another rumor about the potential for another new race at a new track in the Dallas area. Your thoughts, please.

Lewis: "We are preparing as PRO and we told our teams to prepare financially and logistically to run an expanded season next year. Although we haven't seen the schedule, to my knowledge we're going every place that we were at this year, plus Las Vegas. Whether there is a change that would drop something somewhere, I'm not aware of an event that will be dropped.

"Our members are really excited about Las Vegas. We saw what (NASCAR powerhouse) Bruton Smith did in Bristol (Tennessee, where a new state-of-the-art drag racing complex was built to host this past July's Winston Showdown) and Las Vegas will be a major event for us and a major new entertainment market. Speedway Motorsports (which Smith oversees) is becoming a very strong player and a very strong asset in drag racing. Their strength in the world of motorsports and their confidence in NHRA drag racing, to make the investment they made in Bristol, the investment they're making in Las Vegas and the investment they're planning on making eventually at Sears Point (Sonoma, California), indicates that they have a very strong confidence in the NHRA and professional drag racing. So, there's lots of exciting things happening out there.

"There was also a rumor a couple of months ago, which is categorically incorrect, that the U.S. Nationals would move to Joliet for one year while IRP (Indianapolis Raceway Park, home of the U.S. Nationals) would be rebuilt. None of that is true. There will be improvements made to the IRP facility, and we're excited about that because we think the home of our flagship event should be a flagship facility, and it will be in another year or two. It will be very different."

from Speedvision Online - September 1, 1999 written by Jerry Bonkowski - Contributing Editor © Speedvision 1999