FOX SPORTS & NHRA
series to another than others.
“There is a lot of respect between the participants of NHRA, NASCAR, Supercross, and some
of the others where you see them at each other’s
events,” explains Arneson. “You see some of them
sharing sponsors since obviously, some of the
sponsors are in different series. I think right now,
FOX Sports has a great blend of complimentary
motorsports partners.”
And complimentary drivers as well. Robert
Hight, the 2009 NHRA Funny Car champion was
at the Daytona 500 and the recent MLB All-Star
game. Two-time and defending Top Fuel champion Antron Brown and Alexis DeJoria have gone
to Supercross races while Ron Capps has been
to NASCAR races cheering on his NAPA teammate Chase Elliott. The cross-promotion between
NHRA and the other motorsports properties
has been welcomed by fans and racers who have
felt they’ve taken a backseat to other networks’
bigger shows.
“I think the universal
response is that there
is an immense amount
of respect and a total
disbelief in what they
do,” Arneson says with
a laugh. “It’s the one car
you don’t see everyone
say, ‘Yeah, I want to get
in there and do that.’ It
kinda crosses a threshold
with these guys that, they
are already rock stars in
their own sport, and when they get asked if they
want to get into a Nitro Funny Car or Top Fuel car,
there’s a true respect for that car and what these
guys do every day in the NHRA. It’s totally respected and totally beyond their comfort zone and
you can see that when those audiences collide.”
Now having said all that, of course there’s controversy because there has to be. It came when
Mike Dunn, a former NHRA Nationals winner
in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, wasn’t given
the invite to make the move. While Dunn landed
on his feet as the president of the IHRA, fans on
social media voiced their displeasure from the
moment the announcement was made.
That, too, has begun to fade as Dunn’s replace-
FOX Sports’ Vice
President of
Media Relations
Erik Arneson
ment, two-time Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon, has increased both his confidence and
television persona as the season has crossed the
halfway point.
“Tony is just getting better
and better and more comfortable every week,” Blount says.
“If you went back and looked
at the telecast from Pomona
and then looked at the telecast
from Topeka, the difference is
unbelievable. He’s so much
more comfortable now.”
Arneson agrees.
“I’m not surprised at the
quick support for Tony,” he says.
“I think people respect people
who are obviously working
hard to do something. If he
had come in and just kind of
lived off of ‘Here’s how I used
to do it, here’s stories from my
past’ and did a broadcast reliving his own history, that would
be one thing. It’s been obvious
from the beginning that Tony
has been working very
hard to be a very good
broadcaster.”
With success coming
far quicker than anticipated, both FOX and
NHRA can now begin
the fine-tuning process
that started with NHRA
controlling the production and the direction
of the telecasts. It also
provides FOX’s staff with
the education needed to
provide the kind of show longtime NHRA fans
can appreciate.
“I think it’s a huge opportunity to do the Western Swing and the U.S. Nationals on broadcast
television and introduce the sport to a new audience,” Arneson says. “I think obviously there have
been some fantastic storylines to follow this year
and we’re not even at the point of the season
where we’re setting up the playoffs. Right now,
it’s getting everything how we like it and next
year will be a fine tuning. I think it’s obvious the
success is there.
“We are certainly benefitting from making it a
priority on the network where it wasn’t a priority
at the previous network.”
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PHOTOS: NHRA / NATIONAL DRAGSTER
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