DRAG ILLUSTRATED ROUNDTABLE
As both participants and sponsors,
JEGS and the Coughlin family have
witnessed firsthand the excitement
and energy surrounding bracket
racing and sportsman racing in
general this season.
Seeing the racers come out in droves
this summer, how surprising has that
been? Is there a reason behind it?
Jared Pennington: You would think financially
almost everyone has been affected
in some shape or form by this [coronavirus]
and you would think disposable income
might not be there, but we have seen the
sportsman and bracket races excel this year.
It’s crazy some of the car counts we’ve seen.
We had a record crowd in July and we never
really saw that coming until the pre-entries
started piling in.
Most races I’ve seen have experienced
good car counts and performed really well.
I think people got cooped up and maybe
they were itching to get out there and race.
There’s still certain areas of the country
hampered by it and some tracks still aren’t
open. I know Norwalk [Summit Motorsports
Park] is closed for the year and we had the largest
number of Ohio racers ever. We probably had
25-30 entries from northern Ohio. We also saw
our highest number of first-timers, where nearly
35 percent of our crowd was first-timers.
Kyle Riley: It’s been pretty amazing, actually.
We’ve had three races during the pandemic and
one of them was just put on because we saw an
opportunity. Darlington sold out and the $1.1
Million topped out at 730 entries during a pandemic.
It’s been very fulfilling and we’re seeing
a lot of new guys. That’s a good sign.
When the pandemic started, it kept the racing
from happening and I think it made
the racers even hungrier to race. It kept
them from spending money and getting
out there, so they were ready to go when
racing rolled around.
Scott Woodruff: I think it’s a good sign.
To me, the sportsman racers are what financially
make it all possible. With the
NHRA business model, they need entry
fees, sponsorship and they need fans. If
it’s not a national event, they don’t need
to have fans.
They’re not basing their decisions on
how many fans they can get in the stands.
With all these COVID restrictions, it almost
lends itself to strong division races because
you don’t have to worry about the fans.
Kyle Seipel: From your typical NHRA
event, you have to look at it from a different
perspective, but sportsman and bracket
racing-wise, it’s thriving in my opinion for a lot
of reasons. One of those, people are picking and
choosing to go to closer events, and they’re going
to a facility and having multiple chances to win.
To be able to go to one venue and race three,
four or five times within four days, that’s a big
76 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 159