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DRO contacted NHRA for an official comment.
The spokesman acknowledged that they had received
the letter but, he said, per the request of
the PRO board would not comment on the proposal
or any negotiations that were taking place.
According to my sources, it is nearly unanimous
that all of the team owners, including John
Force and Don Schumacher, will support whatever
action the PRO decides to take, no matter what
it is, up to and including a boycott if PRO
doesn't get what they want from NHRA.
It would appear, at least outwardly, that the
possible action by PRO isn't really about money,
but more about the professional team owners
having more control and power over their own
destiny.
For 53 years, all of the power to make rules
and control the direction of NHRA drag racing
and its racer/sub-contractors (and indirectly
all other sanctioning bodies in drag racing
that have nitro classes) has been the sole property
of the president and the board of that
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sanctioning
body.
Labor actions by drivers, and team owners aren't
new to big-time motorsports. There is a long
history of them and an equally long history
of failure. In a way the CART/IRL fiasco is
a prime example of what happens when the sanctioning
bodies and the team owners can't park their
collective egos for the greater good of their
type of racing.
On the other hand, when Bill France Sr. was
faced with a driver's strike early in NASCAR's
life he basically crushed the union and has
ran that sanctioning body as a benevolent dictatorship.
So, now it appears that NHRA is having its
own trial by fire with its team owners and drivers.
Perhaps PRO was emboldened by the rumored settling
of the Pro Stock Truck owners' lawsuit with
the truck owners reportedly winning a settlement.
If NHRA doesn't accede to the wishes of the
PRO board and members, and that results in a
unified work stoppage by the PRO members, and
that results in the racers getting what they
want, a precedent certainly will have been set.
Drag racing—like baseball, football and
basketball before it—will change. It will
truly become a partnership between the two sides
(the owners and the players).
If, on the other hand, NHRA is able to crush
PRO just as NASCAR and the France family did
the NASCAR drivers' union, then drag racing
will continue down the path chosen by the current
management team.
The next few months could be the most important
in the history of professional drag racing.
What do
you think? Send your email to response@dragracingonline.com.
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