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11/26/03
A Thanksgiving turkey from the
Burkster
ust Wondering...Has the drag racing community made being inducted
into a Hall of Fame nothing special? Just what are the criteria
for being inducted into Drag Racing's International Hall of
Fame? The sport of drag racing is just over 50 years old yet
more than 150 individuals have been inducted. Some of whom
I've never heard of or read about.
In comparison, organized baseball is almost 170 years old yet only 256
players have made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. Auto
racing itself is just over 100 years old and yet the International
Motorsports Hall of fame that honors men and women from all disciplines
of auto racing has inducted just 87 people into its hall.
I totally support and attend drag racing's International Hall of Fame
but am I the only one that thinks perhaps the inductees should be held
to a little higher standard in order to maintain the integrity of drag
racing's highest honor?
Just Wondering...Is it time that drag racing's HOF had a selection
committee that included a wide selection of media representatives from
both the print and electronic fields, racers, and historians of the
sport that would both nominate and vote on the inductees instead of the
five person board currently in place?
Just Wondering...What's NHRA going to do with all those wallet size
2004 season schedules they were handing out prior to changing Billy
Meyer's Texas Motorplex date? Bruton Smith and Billy Meyer have been at
"war" since the Texas Motor Speedway was built with both men stubbornly
refusing to change their date. Billy blinked first.
Just Wondering...Was the only reason that most of the Dallas/Ft Worth
media decided to make covering the IRL race a priority over NHRA's
event on the same weekend the fact that the IRL Championship was on the
line? Weren't there possible NHRA Championships also on the line at the
Motorplex? Maybe it is just the treatment the press gets from the IRL
and Bruton Smith's staff or the really great buffet they're served.
Just Wondering...Why not make a bigger deal out of the class winners in
Stock and Super Stock at NHRA national events? Isn't winning against
your peers in the same class the purest form of NHRA drag racing and
the one thing that links current day racers to the very beginnings of
the sport?
Just Wondering...How come you need a pair of tweezers to get that paper
receipt out of the slot at the gas pump when you pay with a credit
card? Whoever designed that system must have been frightened by a
viewing of the movie "Edward Scissorhands."
Just Wondering...When are bracket racing promoters going to figure out
that giving the winner the biggest share of the purse really doesn't
help the racers? Most of the really big purses are split up way before
the final round by the racers anyway and big prize money has never,
repeat never, brought spectators to bracket racing.
Just Wondering... Doesn't the term "Professional Sportsman" rank right
up there with oxymorons like Jumbo Shrimp and Military Intelligence?
Just Wondering... If the finish line at a drag strip is the "back door"
does that make the starting line the "front door"? And while I'm on the
subject, who ever drove anything out of a back door?
Just Wondering... Wouldn't it be interesting if just once during the
season NHRA or IHRA charged professional classes an entry fee and then
allowed them a buyback?
Just Wondering...Haven't racers seeking sponsorship yet learned that
any deal that seems too good to be true . . . is?
Just Wondering...Wasn't bracket racing supposed to make drag racing
affordable and hasn't that experiment failed miserably?
Just Wondering... Why not allow automatic buybacks at big bucks bracket
races based on entry fees? If you pay two times the original entry fee
you get to come in for the second round, pay triple the entry fee and
come in for the third, pay four entry fees and don't race until the
fourth round. Then you get one shot to advance.
Yeah, yeah, I know . . . you're saying to yourself, the Burkster must
have been drinking the cooking sherry to come up with an idea like this
one. But, hey, it's Thanksgiving and perhaps I'm getting an early
start on the festivities. Besides, if you tried to come up with
questions for this column all the time, you'd get a little bonkers too!
Nurse! More plasma for table three! Carve that turkey; burn more
rubber.
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