Just Wondering... Is someone going to have to get seriously injured or worse before NHRA and IHRA follow NASCAR’s too little, too late decision to make some form of head and neck restraint mandatory? Does anyone really think that the concrete retaining walls now mandatory at NHRA national event tracks are any more forgiving than those lining the tracks of NASCAR? Drag racing has 2,650-lb doorslammers going over 225 mph, Alky class cars regularly exceed 250 mph, and Fuel cars run over 330 mph. What the hell are drag racing sanctioning bodies waiting for? They have no problem making rule changes costing racers thousands of dollars, but making rules to make the drivers safer seems much harder to do.

Just Wondering... If John Force does get a forth Pro team and his daughter Ashley becomes a regular in NHRA Super Comp, how long will it be before the Force entourage of tractors, trailers, buses, technical centers, sponsor entertainment centers, and support vehicles takes up one complete row in the NHRA pits?  NHRA and Force could get together, name that row  “Forceland” and charge admission to take tours of the place. Whit Bazemore you’ve just won the NHRA World Championship what are you going to do now? “I’m going to Forceland!”

Just Wondering... Was it just an error of omission when Clear Channel, the giant entertainment group that owns IHRA, sent out a press release announcing the name change of the TV network Speedvison (which they also own) to the Speed Channel and listed all of the autoracing events and types of racing they were going to feature on that network except one, IHRA.

Just Wondering... Couldn’t NHRA find a little time in the six hours or so of television that NHRA puts on for each national event to let Bob Frey do a couple of segments on some of the Sportsman racers? Let’s face it, only the most hard-core fan is going to find and see those “Sportsman Only” shows on ESPN and there can be little doubt that a majority of viewers only watch the pro show. I know pros and their sponsors are supposed to be the focus, but why not interview just a couple or even just one of  the sportsman racers and give their sponsors a call instead of doing so many of those inane pit interviews and meaningless first and second round Top End interviews? 

Just Wondering... Will the political problems concerning crossing the U.S. borders as a result of the events of 9-11-01 cause any problems for racers attending either of IHRA’s national events in Canada during  the 2002 season?

Just Wondering... Wouldn’t it make sense both from a PR standpoint and a financial standpoint if both NHRA and IHRA came out and announced a rate freeze both in entry fees for the racers and ticket prices? In view of the state of the nation’s economy, an increase in the cost of racing from both a spectator’s and racer’s point of view would seem unthinkable.

Just Wondering... Am I the only one who noticed that due to the rainout and postponement of the last race of the IHRA season the final two shows of the IHRA season were repeats of races that took place at the first of the year? Maybe it was just a money thing ,but wouldn’t IHRA have been better off with a studio show featuring its 2001 World Champs with clips from the 2001 season? They could have even plugged their new national events for 2002 at Martin, Michigan and the second Canadian race instead of repeating race shows from the beginning of this season… Just a thought.

Just Wondering... What the hell are the NHRA TV announcers talking about when they keep referring to the Pro Stock truck class as being “re-classified” for next year? Did NHRA actually announce that they were making a Comp Eliminator class for the trucks for next season and I missed it?

Just Wondering... In all of the speculation about Pro teams and sponsors I’ve yet to hear anyone say anything about Angelle Seeling returning with or without a sponsor for the 2002 season. Is she or isn’t she? Could we see the reigning Pro Stock Bike champ on a Harley scooter for the 2002 season?

Just Wondering... Was I the only one who thought Scotty Cannon didn’t seem too thrilled in his television interview about returning as teammate of Whit Bazemore for the next season? Wonder why they didn’t interview Whit Bazemore about the deal?

Just Wondering... How can they keep advertising $1,000,000 bracket races and never pay that out even once? Oh well, the $100,000 plus that Steve Earwood’s race at Rockingham Dragway paid the winner this year is still half as much as the NHRA Top Fuel champ got for winning the season championship. Shouldn’t NHRA be just a little embarrassed by that fact?

Just Wondering... Why doesn’t NHRA devise a rule that prevents racers from programming delay/ stutter boxes that Super class racers often use right after the launch, causing the car to coast for 300 feet until after the eighth mile? Then paying customers at national events would think they were seeing a race. Let ‘em coast for the last 300 feet where there aren’t any paying fans to see them. Better yet, bar their use all together and put the driver back in the equation.

Just Wondering... Why don’t some of the Pro drivers who complain so much about the burndowns that are occurring more and more in the fuel ranks just go in and stage? The other guy then has seven seconds or he is gone. Personally, I like the burndowns, but if I were a driver getting burned down and losing or blowing up engines because of it, I would just turn the stage beam on and get ready. Oh well that’s probably why those guys have jobs as Pro drivers and I’m driving a typewriter.

Just Wondering... NHRA ran spots on TV saying that anyone could come to the Winston World Championship awards banquet at the end of the year in Los Angeles. Doesn’t that kind of make the awards look bad when they have to give away tickets to fill the place up? And what would they do if say 15-20,000 people had shown  up at the event?

Just Wondering.

photo by James Drew

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