It’s been a tough year for everyone in motorsports, especially those charged with putting on the shows. That would include NHRA president Glen Cromwell.
Shortly after the season began in Pomona, Calif., the pandemic hit, leaving him to decide multiple questions: Do we start again? When? Where? In states that allow spectators? Cromwell is no rookie, but let’s face it—no one saw this coming, and no one knows quite what to do.
The NHRA is winding down at abbreviated 2020 schedule, complicated not just by the coronavirus, but by Coca-Cola. The title sponsor, Mello Yello, the Coca-Cola owned soft drink company, suddenly terminated its participation, charging that the NHRA didn’t hold up its end of the contract during the pandemic.
The NHRA sued, which Cromwell announced in a letter to competitors on September 21 that said in part: “Today, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, we filed a lawsuit against The Coca-Cola Company, Cromwell wrote. We have never filed a lawsuit like this in our history, and we never expected to be forced to take action against such a longstanding partner. We value relationships with our sponsors. We do not take this action lightly. But we are unwavering in our belief that we have no other option to protect our rights and the interests of our racing community, especially the racers whose pursuit was funded in large part by this agreement.”
Mello Yello’s contract ran through 2023.
One day later, a dismal situation suddenly looked up after a tweet from Marcus Lemonis, TV star and CEO of Camping World, a prominent NASCAR sponsor: “Hey @NHRA we at @CampingWorld aren’t scared of our commitment to racing… let’s sit down and talk sponsorship… we’re good for it, just ask your friends at @NASCAR.”
Log on to NHRA.com, and you’ll find no mention of Mello Yello; it has been replaced by the “NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series” in a “multi-year deal.” Well, that was easy.
But perhaps a little bittersweet, given Mello Yello’s constant backing since 2002 “It’s hard to comment,” Cromwell says. “Coca-Cola has been part of our family for nearly 20 years. I am disappointed.”
So to say it’s been a roller coaster year for Cromwell, named NHRA president late in 2017, is an understatement. Yet through it all, with a couple of repairable exceptions, the competition itself has been solid.
“Racing has been spectacular at all levels,” Cromwell said. “The two-day format created some new strategy in sport, added pressure on crew chiefs and drivers who have to step up. We’re seeing some great side by side racing. And we’re seeing some solid car counts.”
Complicating matters is that in some states the NHRA, and fans, are welcomed with open arms. In others, the racing is essentially banned.
“We’re fully aware that we’re in the middle of a pandemic,” Cromwell said. “It’s a challenge with mass gatherings, and we’re doing all in our power to work with state and local governments following their protocols to keep our fans and stakeholders safe.”
Which falls into his lap.
“I just got off the phone with (motorcycle team owner) Terry Vance. He said, ‘Man, I feel sorry for you.’ I said Terry, don’t feel sorry for me. This isn’t anybody’s fault. It isn’t like our leadership team made some crazy financial decision and it affected our sport. Our leadership team and the NHRA membership has really come together to get back to racing.
“I think everything we are doing today is spring-boarding us into a great 2021. I think it has really given us a head start, and the upper hand. So I said don’t feel sorry for me. We just have to be good leaders, and push when we need to, and we’ll be OK. This pandemic will pass, and we’ll be in a better place.”
Part of that springboard is that Fox TV, contracted to show NHRA races through 2021, just signed on for more. “Fox extended our deal through 2026, which is indeed great news. And they’ve pledged to start a new round of benefits in 2021 that ties us into NFL games, making us the lead-in or follow-up to games that should garner larger viewership numbers and bring some new fans to the sport.”
Cromwell did not parachute into the position of NHRA president from some other business or sport – he put in 20 years to make it to the top. “I grew up in a racing family. My dad raced in SCCA—MGA twin-cams, which were fairly rare at the time, and still are. I wanted a career in sports—I played everything from baseball to football to hockey. So after I went to college I got a job over at a company named SRO Motorsports, which has gone through numerous changes, and you’d know it today as Feld Motorsports.
Which is a unique company in itself. Feld started out as part of Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey, and moved to productions like monster trucks, supercross and Disney on Ice.
“Back when it was SRO,” Cromwell said, “it was owned by Madison Square Garden, then it was Pace, Live Nation, Clear Channel—it underwent numerous name changes. It gave me a background in the business side of motorsports, and in 1997, I took a position with the NHRA as Pacific Division director, one of seven divisions laid out geographically. I ran a lot of our grassroots programs for about two and a half years and then moved into the marketing department. I really touched every bit of the business within the NHRA from marketing to promotion. I worked my way through licensing and television. Just touching every piece of it.”
“We have so many different philosophies here at the NHRA—we have numerous stakeholders, and we have our fans, we have our sponsors, our partners, our race teams, our race tracks… you have to be able to work with them towards a common goal and grow the sport.
“That’s one thing I’ve learned that gives me something of a leg up versus bringing someone in from the outside is that I’ve done most all of it—when I was divisional head, I was out there in Bakersfield, Sacramento, all the tracks out there, working with programs like Junior Dragsters, the Federal Modul series, the Jegs All Stars—it has given me the ability to work with a lot of people.
It was arranging a schedule that has given Cromwell and crew the biggest headache.
“I set one in June, then a new one in August, and now it’s determined through state and local officials and whether or not we could hold an event that had the capacity to let some people in.” he said. “In Gainesville, for instance, we were allowed 50 percent capacity.”
“Heart and passion, that’s what he had. And that’s what it takes.”
He has announced the 2021 schedule, starting the season later in the year than usual, in March, and in Gainesville instead of Pomona for the opener.
Cromwell has a model as he navigates professional drag racing through some profoundly rough waters.
“It goes back to our founder, Wally Parks,” Cromwell said. “He had a genuine gift for communication, and an appreciation that ours is a family sport. I strive to be as much like him as I can. I remember once that at our banquet—he was about to go on stage and I said, ‘Wally, where’s your notes? Do you need a teleprompter?’ He said, ‘Listen, kid, I don’t need notes,’ and he talked for 30 minutes, from his heart, remembering name after name. He finally thanked everybody for their hard work and walked off. I shook my head, what am amazing person he was. Heart and passion, that’s what he had. And that’s what it takes.”
With a new sponsor (Camping World), extension of a national TV package with FOX and a schedule in place for 2021, thing are looking up for the NHRA. Or are they? Join in the discussion in the comments section below.
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