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Wally left NHRA in good hands
 As
Monty Python used to say, "And now for something completely
different."
It's a brand new season for NHRA POWERade drag racing. Unfortunately, a look at the roster of players from the Thursday night qualifying list at Pomona reveals few new names, new major teams, or new major sponsors. On the other hand, what drag racing fans are now watching from their aluminum seats in the old Pomona County Fairplex is far different, and I think better, than drag racing has ever been in the past.
Depending on your point of view, you can either give the credit or the blame for what you're watching these days to current NHRA prez Tom Compton. Since taking over the reins of the National Hot Rod Association from his predecessor Dallas Gardner, Compton has done more to change the look of drag racing than anyone else, and in my opinion that includes Wally Parks, Larry Carrier, the late Jim Tice or Bill Bader.
Pretty strong statement, I can hear you saying, Burk must need that hard card press credential in the worst way since more often than not he is taking shots at the high sheriffs instead of shoveling out the compliments. Well, I do need that hard card, but I also try to give credit where credit is due and Tom Compton and his crew, in my opinion, are due some credit.
First of all, Compton and crew have managed to put together a television package for drag racing fans that rivals any other motorsport and I include NASCAR. I mean these days I can set in my Burk-a-lounger with a cold Michelob Light in my hands and watch both Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's eliminations. So can a lot of people and sponsors who might never buy a ticket and sit in the stands for eight hours. Drag racing never had this kind of exposure under any other president and it is the envy of almost every other televised motorsport.
Then there is race day itself. There was a lot of hand wringing and gnashing of teeth when the 75-minute rule was instituted for the pros, but no one can argue with the success. Instead of an eight-hour (or sometimes more) stint in the stands to watch two sessions of pro qualifying, the fans now get basically a four hour non-stop pro show, which, in my opinion, is much better entertainment than a four hour NASCAR race or Indy 500 race -- and I've been and spectated at those races. A lot of promoters have talked about streamlining drag racing;
Compton and crew did it and made everybody like it.
Then there is the sport itself. Tom Compton has made some pretty gutsy and remarkable decisions if you look at it objectively. In addition to shortening up the time between rounds, how about his decision to kill the Pro Stock Truck program? He went against the wishes of many manufacturers, Detroit, and influential racers and made a call for the benefit of the spectators and ultimately the sport. He saw the value of Pro Modified and made the decision, again with some resistance from within his own organization, and didn't back down even when the association got sued by the truck owners. This year he has added Nitro Harleys and Sport Compacts as "exhibition" classes with qualified fields at three or four national events. He has allowed his division directors to adopt the very popular Top Sportsman doorslammer classes in three NHRA divisions.
As I see it, Compton and members of his team including Graham Light, Len Imbrogno, and Ray Alley have opened up NHRA drag racing for racers and fans that formerly didn't have a reason to support or attend NHRA drag races.
Compton and his team's accomplishments are really pretty amazing considering that in a space of less than five full years they found a new Fortune 500 company to replace Winston, they brought in three new professional classes and sent one down the road, and they have survived an economy that is in the middle of the three-year recession. I defy anyone to show me another sanctioning body team that has a record even close to this. Hell, NASCAR, supposedly the 500-lb gorilla of motorsports, has only added one new class in 40 years!
Now, don't get the idea that I'm drinking the Kool-aid or POWERade here. There are plenty of things that NHRA does that I have problems with such as ticket prices, traction control, putting the money they fine the racers back in their own pockets, "exhibition" classes, but hey, I'm here to praise Caesar not bury him. I'll save that job for another time and another blast.
In the meantime, I have to think that in his 90th birth year Wally Parks has to be pretty happy with the guy that is taking care of his baby. He's got the Burkster's vote.
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