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12/3/03
The ladder:
A step in the right direction
et's face the facts. 1. Like it or not the nitro-burning classes
of Top Fuel, Fuel Funny Car and even Top Fuel Bikes are the
classes that bring fans to the racetracks, viewers to the
television and corporate sponsors to the sport. 2. Very often
the first round of eliminations in those premier classes offers
little in the way of entertainment value.
In my opinion the reason for that problem is that too often the racing in
the first round is just lame. The cars that have qualified in the second half
of the 16-car field are generally overmatched and in order to have any
real chance to win they either have to really step up their tune-up or just
make a half-hearted pass with no real intention of trying to win. The
results usually are that the underdog smokes the tires, explodes the
engine, oils the track, or all three. Consequently, the first round for those
classes sometimes drag on for hours, occasionally screw-up the live
broadcasts, and offer the fans little in the way of competitive racing.
Both NHRA and IHRA's solution for the problem has been to fine teams
money and points for oil downs. In my opinion that program has been an
abject failure. Don't think so? Take a look at the first round elimination
stats as I have.
I think I might have a clue why there is a problem and a simple solution
that, while it might not completely fix the problem, could at least improve
it.
I believe the biggest culprit is the way NHRA and IHRA pair up the
qualifiers for the first round of eliminations. Currently, the number one
qualifier squares off against the number sixteen qualifier, the second
qualifier takes on the fifteenth qualifier and so on. Perhaps the worst is
the 1 vs. 16 ladder that NHRA uses. That ladder is designed to ensure
that the top half of the field will advance to the second round. The only
ways the qualifiers in the bottom half of the field have a chance to
advance is either hope that their opponent screws up or they have to get
really aggressive with the tune-up. Can you say tire smoke and exploding
engines?
The first round of Top Fuel or Funny Car, in my opinion, is more of a
contest for lane choice by the top qualifiers than a race. You can blame
some of this on the legendary Funny Car driver/owner Raymond Beadle.
Back in the eighties when only a few NHRA teams, including Beadle's Blue
Max team, had corporate sponsorship, Beadle had a bad stretch of
qualifying. At that time the NHRA ladder pitted the number one qualifier
against the number nine and so on. Beadle got put out in the first round a
couple of times. In those days NHRA didn't have the comprehensive
television package they enjoy today and there was a lot less coverage.
Generally the show was about an hour long so the first round was usually
not telecast at all.
Back then if a sponsored team like Beadles' went out in the first round
chances were good they wouldn't get the TV time their corporate
sponsors wanted in return for their investment. So Beadle and some of
the other team owners convinced NHRA to change the ladder to give the
top half of the field a better chance to advance to the second round and
better television exposure.
To be honest, that probably was the right thing to do at that time -- but
not today. Now, in the professional classes of NHRA and to a lesser
extent in IHRA, almost every car in the field has some corporate
sponsorship and gets television exposure, especially with NHRA's current
television package. Over a two-day period almost every team will get their
share of time.
I think that the current qualifying system actually has contributed to the
decreasing car counts in the fuel classes. I believe one big reason fewer
fuel cars seem to show up each year and both NHRA and IHRA
occasionally have problems delivering a 16-car field -- which, by the way,
makes qualifying much less entertaining -- is that racers who put forth
the time, effort and especially the money required to field a nitro-burning
car won't hang around for long if the best they can reasonably expect as
a return for their effort is only to qualify and then become first-round
cannon fodder.
Is there a doubt in anyone's mind that a return to the old ladder system is
the answer?
I suggest that if NHRA and IHRA take the step of going back to the old
ladder they will improve their entertainment package for the fans and give
the racers a break. Doing so also might actually cut down the explosions
and oil-downs on race day. If the No. 16 qualifier is running the No. 8
qualifier, chances are good that the qualifying spread is going to be two-
tenths, so each team is more likely to put in a realistic tune-up and try to
get to the finish line under power than put in a "banzai" tune-up that will
either "go or blow."
This is one change that the sanctioning bodies could make that wouldn't
cost them or the racers one thin dime. It might benefit everyone from the
racers to the clean-up crews and, especially, it would do the fans a favor.
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