SCENE TWO: Mike Ashley is outside beside his Gotham City car, soaking in the unique ambience of the National Drags. The waggish mortgage lending guru from Wall Street delivers a short soliloquy about what it means to race at Indianapolis and why NHRA is showcasing Pro Modifieds yet wouldn't grant them pro-class status. ASHLEY [impressed]: We were invited to the Car Craft All-Star Banquet last year (2000). We just came for the weekend. We were wined and dined and put up in the suites to watch the races. You look out those windows from that tower over the top of all this and it's breathtaking. The millions of dollars that are sitting in the lot and the talent. All the talent in motorsports, as far as engine building and racing, is in these pits.

[Changing from wide-eyed to wise] NHRA ain't bringing us in here because they want to make us happy. They're bringing us in here because these cars are going to put people in the seats. . . . I think they're easing into this. They don't want to make a mistake and run a class for a year and cancel it.

ACT II

SCENE: More than one year later. Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Tex., near Dallas, Oct. 10-13, 2002. The room in the tower is attractive and spacious enough, but no one offers any food or beverage. There are too few amenities and too much mention of the phrase "exit strategy" by NHRA representatives. Talk across the table is awkward, as the men gathered around it have to shout to be heard over the noise of race-car engines. Sometimes they have to suspend a thought in mid-sentence until the pair of cars at the starting line takes the commotion downtrack. The 17th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals finishes on a cold day. But those negotiating an agreement with NHRA on behalf of the Pro Modifieds feel warm inside. They have reached a deal. It's just a gentlemen's agreement at this point, but they return to their respective homes, believing the details are mere formalities.

ACT III

SCENE ONE: Glendora, Calif., offices of the National Hot Rod Association. The week of October 14. TOM COMPTON and the NHRA administrative staff have declared the Dallas deal off the table. The group tells the Pro Modified class negotiators Thursday, Oct. 17 that because of unspecified conditions beyond NHRA's control, NHRA has withdrawn its offer.

SCENE TWO: NHRA headquarters in Glendora. October 24. NHRA marketing, sales and operations personnel meet in private. Each faction debates the merits of the tentative deal discussed in Dallas. The group clearly has a difference of opinion regarding various elements of the proposal. From their discussion, they forge a strategy. This new plan will override the one upon which the principals in the negotiations at Dallas thought they had settled.

ACT IV

SCENE ONE: Las Vegas. An elegant restaurant. Friday evening, October 25, 2002. BOB WAGNER, JOHN SIRAGUSA and RICHARD KEARBY dine together and, in Kearby's words, "try to finish up all our details with this."

SCENE TWO: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Noisy engines from the sportsman-class qualifying session pierce the Saturday afternoon desert quiet. MATT CALL is craning his neck to get a look at the cars as he stands behind a barrier at the tower. The goateed young man is wearing a T-shirt bearing the four-letter name of the rock band for which he is the drummer: Slur. DRO approaches Call and asks if he knows anything about the band Slur, which performed at the Hard Rock casino the night before. He agrees to talk and the two of them step inside the tower so they can converse in relative peace. They are joined by RICHARD KEARBY and minutes later KENNY NOWLING. Call is excited about sharing the news of Slur. Kearby appears happy and eager to spread the news of the Pro Mod deal for the 2003 season. Kearby reveals that he and Nowling have concluded a deal with NHRA that will bring to the racetrack a concert series linked to the NHRA's 10-race Pro Modified exhibition series. He indicates the class has a five-year assurance from NHRA that it will be part of the racing program.

DRO: So tell me about these concerts.