Can We Start Racing Already?

3/8/05

Jeff Burk Photo

ou know what’s wrong with nostalgia racing? You don’t? Well, I’ll tell you what it is. The damn off season is too long. The big show already has 2 races in the books and we nostalgia folks are still hunting around the various internet message boards desperately seeking information on our favorite teams. Now, it is true that I gave you kids lots to chew on with my last two columns, but we want more. So I’ve done some digging and come up with some more stuff that’s new this year. And the stuff I couldn’t come up with, I made up.

…But that’s later. First up, the jungle drums are beating about the pro qualifying at this year's March Meet. In years past, the pros would get one hit on Friday and two on Saturday with eliminations on Sunday. The last couple of years, Top Fuel ran a 16-car show; so, with the thrashing between rounds, it made Sunday a long day of racing for these part-time pros.

I know, “Call the waah-mbulance!” but wait! This year, we’ve got the pros getting one hit on Friday and one hit on Saturday with round one of Top Fuel on Saturday evening. That doesn’t sound too bad, right? Well, some of the fuel guys are not happy with Goodguys doing this. They want their three qualifying runs back for the March Meet.

ADVERTISEMENT

What brought about all this mess? Why the mess that was the Goodguys Fuel and Gas Finals last November. Now, since that race, the finals have been made a three-day event to try to alleviate the schedule problems - that is the fact that some of the Sportsman classes didn’t get to go rounds because the schedule was so tight for that two-day race.

By all accounts, we had lots of problems from most of the classes adding to those delays; I know there was enough oil during top fuel to sink a sheik and boy, don’t I know that a Funny Car broke its dry sump tank at 800’ in the semis.

Not to pick on any class in particular, but the starting line crew is now looking for ways to speed up the start up and burnout rituals for ALL the classes… with emphasis on nostalgia eliminator one. Sorry to single out NE1, but I heard from an official who was timing the classes that from the “fire in the hole” command until they left the starting line that NE1 is the slowest of all the classes. They’re even slower than Jr. Fuel, and Jr. Fuel should be the slowest because they’re injected alcohol and they need time to build heat in their motors.

Because of this time crunch, the Goodguys almost had a mutiny on their hands by the gas class people. They were justifiably upset that some cars got no runs at all for qualifying. That’s right, ZERO! From what I understand, the gassers wanted to tow up on Sunday morning and block the pro pits so no one could come out for round one! That would have been a party!

Anywho, all this rambling is my way of saying the Goodguys are trying to please the Sportsman racers with this move of two hits for the pros at a three-day event. So I’m kissing a little Goodguys behind in saying that I’m glad the Sportsmen will be guaranteed their qualifying runs in the future.