Drag Illustrated Issue 114, October 2016 | Page 85
D R AG ILLUS TR ATED RO UNDTA BL E
PHOTOS: SEMA, COMP PERFORMANCE GROUP
BIG OPPORTUNITY
Chris Douglas grew up in
the industry and is excited
for the chance to help push
drag racing and motorsports
forward on the SEMA Board
of Directors. He wants
to see his children have
the same opportunities
he did growing up, which
means Douglas, the COMP
Performance Group Vice
President of Marketing,
may have a pivotal role
in helping answer some
of the major questions
surrounding the sport.
trucks per capita at the SEMA show. Some of that
is the West Coast influence. The truck market in
California and Arizona is different from what we
see in the Midwest or on the East Coast, for sure.
I think that [growth] will continue for a while, as
long as gas is cheap and diesel performance is reliable. I think you’ll see a lot of truck performance.
CD: International comes to mind right off the
bat. I made an international trip earlier this year
to Abu Dhabi and that’s the first thing I tell anyone when it comes to growth opportunities is we
barely scratch the surfaces in some of these international markets. I think there is a lot of room
for improvement there. I think there are pockets
within the motorsports industry, whether it be
drag or circle track, that still have great growth
potential. In fact, some people would argue that
as the street performance becomes tougher from
a legislative standpoint that it may actually drive
people to organized motorsports.
Of all the areas that are growing, are there
particular ones that are surprising or interesting to you when it comes to their rate of growth?
CD: I circle back to international. Having very
October 2016
little experience traveling abroad prior to the
trip to Abu Dhabi, seeing the passion was very
similar to what you see here at a motorsports
event. That passion was the same and they love
automobiles. I’m told you start to see that in
other international markets as well. We’ve done
business in Australia for decades now and that’s
a strong market for us, but I really think there
are pockets that are kind of untapped in Asia for
sure, and definitely the Middle East. As long as
“We’re going to
have to be smarter
as an industry. We
certainly have to be
better marketers,”
Douglas says.
those regions are stable from an economy and a
government standpoint I think you’re going to
see a lot of opportunity there.”
KF: From my perspective, we kind of look at
it from two different directions. Typically when
we see growth or a trend, a lot o f times those
are just guys who have evolved from a different
segment. So, if you look hard enough you can say
this group of individuals or demographic shifted
from this to that. We see lots of ex-drag racers at
autocross events, we’re starting to see some street
rod guys at autocross events, so for us within in
the industry to truly grow the pie, the area we’re
focused most is youth, that next generation.
When you go to a drag race and see a young
racer, almost always it’s the second or third-generation drag racer. So, youth is certainly a focal
point for SEMA and Aeromotive.
Obviously a big issue earlier this year was
the proposed legislation with the RPM Act that
would prohibit street vehicles being turned
into race cars. Where do you stand on the
progress that has taken place in relation to
this issue?
DragIllustrated.com
| D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | 85