Here We Go Again
Written by David Lamm · March 25, 2005
Every few years there always seems to be discussion about the possible sale of the NHRA. Not a race team competing in the NHRA, but the entire sanctioning body. This time it is Bruton Smith, owner of Speedway Motorsports, Incorporated that is making noises about possibly buying the world’s largest motorsports sanctioning body. The conversation always seems to surface every couple of years. When this story broke I asked myself, “Is it 2005 already?”.
Competitionplus.com: To Sell? Or Not To Sell? The Latest On The Rumored Sale Of NHRA
Rumors swirl and motorsports journalists always jump on this one in particular. I worked for the NHRA from 1999 to 2003 in the media department. We heard all the latest rumors that came down the pipe. I honestly cannot remember how many times we were asked if the NHRA was up for sale. Some were valid others were complete junk. Every time we were asked if the NHRA was for sale we would scurry around and try to find out if this time the rumor had some validity. Each and every time we would find out that someone had whispered in the pits that they think someone would run the NHRA better than the current administration. Once that made the rounds the rumors would fly that said person is making an offer and that Wally Parks, the founder of NHRA, was getting ready to accept a big, fat check. Nothing could be further from the truth. And Wally Parks’ remarks seem to verify that belief.
This time around it looks like there is genuine interest on the part of Bruton Smith. However this time it ends with just exploring the idea of buying the NHRA. The major aspect that most casual observers seem to forget is that the NHRA is a nonprofit organization. (I can debate the idiosyncrasies of the NHRA being a truly nonprofit organization and turning zero profit at the end of the year but that is reserved for another day.) You just can’t come in a throw a bunch of money down on the table and hope the owner wants to sell. Problem is, with the NHRA there is not a single owner. There is a board of directors at the NHRA that would need to approve such a sale. And this idea begs the question, why would anyone want to buy a nonprofit organization? (See? There I go again.) Bruton Smith is all about making money. The man is estimated to be worth close to $1.2 billion and one of the top 450 wealthiest Americans. He has proven that taking on charity cases or money-losing ventures is not in his best interest. Smith would definitely have to make an ultra-attractive offer to the brass in Glendora, Calif. to have them consider bringing it in front of the board. Stay tuned on this one. Unless there are actual dollar figures being thrown about, this rumor is just that. A rumor.
Dave, your point about the NHRA being a non-profit hit me like a lightening bolt. There is constant talk about how to increase the popularity of the NHRA…get more fans…why is NASCAR so huge and we aren’t…etc. Maybe the whole non-profit issue is part of the problem. The France family who own and run NASCAR are FOR PROFIT…A LOT OF IT. And maybe that is the missing motivator for the Board of Directors that run the NHRA. Perhaps the business structure does not motivate the right capitalists to invest correctly in the sport in order to get the right return from it. Just a thought…I could be way off. Could Smith buy the organization and turn it into a FOR-profit venture?
-jk