Recap:  

Thank you to all who responded.

I'm not sure if the results really proved anything, but to me, they are kind of interesting...

All of the names provided are drag racers, 3 professional, and 3 are drag racers from a Discovery Channel series. 

Three names provided are the current points leaders in the 2023 NHRA Drag Racing Standings. 

• Justin Ashley:  Top Fuel
• Matt Hagen:  Funny Car
• Dallas Glenn:  Pro Stock

Three names provided are from the Discovery Channel "racing" series that began as "Street Outlaws" about 10 years ago, but has grown into Street Outlaws OKC, Street Outlaws Memphis, Street Outlaws No Prep Kings, Street Outlaws America's List, Street Outlaws Cash Days, Street Outlaws Farmtruck & AZN, and a few more.  I think they also now have video games, etc.,.

• Big Chief
• JJ Da Boss
• Ryan Martin

The reason for my question is that I hold NHRA in pretty high regard, and while I don't consider myself a diehard NHRA fan, I have followed it for many years, (still enjoy watching today) and have always thought (still do) that the championship winning drivers/teams should be considered at the highest level of that form of racing.  And I also thought that those top NHRA drivers would always have the edge when it came to name recognition/popularity with racing folks, and maybe even the public in general, right?

Inside the #'s:  10 that responded didn't recognize any of the 6 names provided.  (I realize that this is a mostly a round track/short track crowd around here, but I was kind of surprised by that, but honestly, if the question was about F1, I bet I couldn't recognize more than 2 current F1 driver's names, so we all have our silosso I appreciate the honesty!) 

Of the remaining 21 that responded, taking only the first 3 names provided in each of those responses, it looks like this:

1. Matt Hagan: 15 mentions (received 8 #1 "votes")
2. Justin Ashley: 9 mentions (received one #1 "votes")
3. Big Chief:  4  mentions (all 4 were #1 "votes")
4. Dallas Glenn: 5 mentions
5. JJ DaBoss: 4  mentions
6. Ryan Martin: 3 mentions

So... based on the results, I have to say that the NHRA offering is still more popular/recognizable with the crew that posts on 3 Wide's Message Vault, so that's a good thing for the NHRA (quite a few folks know Matt Hagan which is a positive for The NHRA for sure, but from there it gets a little murky.)

What's the conclusion?  What makes something the "highest level", and does today's watching/participating public care?   Does the incumbent (in this case NHRA) need to look at the popularity that the Street Outlaw series has enjoyed and consider making changes to their once tried and true format?  Can the lessons learned here be carried over to other forms of racing, meaning, just because something has always been done a certain way, at what point is that no longer a good enough reason to to keep doing it?

NHRA events are shown on Fox Sports 1, and sometimes Fox's main network, and has pretty much followed the same format for years, with rounds of qualifying setting up the ladders for each of the classes, followed by eliminations until a winner for each catagory is determined. New for 2023, they added the #2Fast2Tasty "Match Races" that has added more interest/importance to the qualifying runs, and has added some drama since the match races involve the participating drivers calling each other out which is a little Street Outlaw'ish, (although I know way back in the day they used to have mid week match races that probably had the same feel.)  More info: https://www.nhra.com/news/2023/mission-%232fast2tasty-nhra-challenge-debut-during-2023-regular-season ),

Just this weekend, I saw a press release that there is now going to be something called the PRO Superstar Shootout Invitational (Drag Racing) in February in Bradenton FL (not a huge venue), that will be offering a very big payout featuring top "Top Fuel", "Funny Car" and "Pro Stock" NHRA drivers but I don't think has any direct tie in to the NHRA.  From what I understand, their will still be qualifying, but then a chip draw will be used to see who squares off against each other (like No Prep Kings for those who follow both Street Outlaws and NHRA.)  More info:  https://www.floracing.com/articles/11170533-13-million-top-fuel-funny-car-pro-stock-drag-race-coming-to-floracing

Nothing scientific here about the question I posed, or about the results received, but it makes me wonder what amount of change is the right amount when it comes to racing in general... Drag Racing.... Cup Racing....  Indycar Racing....  Short Track Racing.....  And have we gotten passed the point where something is, and will always be #1, because that's just how it's always been?

To bring it back to the question asked, is it possible for a less "professional", less "traditional" offering of a form of racing to displace a more traditional offering?  Is NHRA still more popular than "Street Outlaws?"....  How do you measure popularity, and is popularity the same as success?  Are the folks at NHRA and/or those involved at drag racing's highest level looking/learning anything from what the Street Outlaws series is offering/accomplishing, and making changes to their offering? 

Is there something to be learned here when it comes to other forms of racing?  What changes are needed, and how much/how soon?

It's nothing to lose sleep over.... but for those who like thinking about stuff like this, it's kinda of like bubblegum for the mind I guess...  I rarely accomplish anything from it, but I do like thinking about stuff like this, and then seeing how it plays out.....

Thank you again to those who took the time to respond and to read the reason why I asked the question!