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8/20/03
Shut Up and Race
he media is a powerful tool. Depending on what side of the
fence you are on, it can be your best friend or your worst
enemy. As a professional journalist for more years than I
care to remember, I know this better than most.
Over the years I've tried to use my position as a reporter, editor, and now
publisher of magazines to inform and enlighten the public to various and
sundry events, actions, and deeds in the world of drag racing. In other
words, I've used my position in my profession as what Teddy Roosevelt
called a "bully pulpit." I've always believed that was part of the
responsibility and the job of a print journalist.
Which brings me to the subject of this particular blast. I'm more than a little disappointed with some the National Hot Rod Association executives who are using the ESPN television broadcasts of their events to discuss and reveal problems they are having with some teams, owners and, indirectly, sponsors.
What really inspired to write about this was the public flaying and ambush of driver Paul Romine, his team, and his CARQUEST sponsor during the August 17 ESPN broadcast from Brainerd, Minnesota.
Here is the scene: Romine has just lost in the first round in a close race and in the process the rods came out of the engine and he had yet another fire. The team's 11th this season to be exact. Now, I want to make it clear that there is no question that the team has had too many engine explosions this season. NHRA had already informed them prior to this event that they would be fined $4,000 per oil down and lose 10 points. So, the situation had already been addressed by NHRA before that first round oil down. There is probably good reason for NHRA to take further steps but doing it on national television and embarrassing the driver, team and sponsor was a bush league way of handling the situation, I feel.
As I understand it, Romine was informed in the turn-around area immediately after the pass that he was being summoned to the tower to discuss the situation with NHRA officials. Evidently that info was passed on to the TV reporter at the top end, Bill Stephens, who immediately did an interview with Romine about whether he was going to the tower and when, among other things. Couldn't this interview have waited until everyone had a few minutes to gather his or her thoughts? As soon as the interview with Romine was concluded, the show immediately cut to a Dave Rief interview with Graham Light, who made it very clear that the team was in NHRA's "doghouse" and did it no uncertain terms, even questioning the talents of driver Paul Romine, tuner Larry Frazier and the rest of the CARQUEST team. That team and their sponsor had to be feeling a little like Custer at the battle of Little Big Horn.
Unfortunately, this seems to be part of a pattern where NHRA takes their racers to task on national television, basically airing their dirty laundry in front of the public. The same kind of situation occurred earlier this year in an incident involving one of Virgil Hartman's teams.
My question here is, why? Is NHRA just trying to infuriate and embarrass drivers, teams and their sponsors? Maybe they just want to let them know who is the boss. Who knows? Shouldn't drag racing be presenting a professional image of the sport to the television audience instead of airing internal problems that the casual viewer couldn't care less about?
Why not take a page out of NASCAR's playbook and quietly deal with problems like this with just the principals involved and without a TV crew present. The Jimmy Spencer-Kurt Busch is a recent example of how they handled a bad situation without causing a PR problem for either race team's sponsors.
I'm not blaming the TV crews and reporters here. They're fighting for ratings and trying to spice up their broadcasts; that's their job. The culprits here are the principals. The NHRA needs to learn how to deal with their professional teams in a more professional manner, a manner befitting teams and companies with multi-million dollar investments and one befitting the premier sanctioning body in the sport of drag racing.
Unless NHRA is deliberately trying to hike the ratings by fostering the "feud" scenario, they should save the on-air rants and threats for the likes of WWE's Vince McMahon and the New York Yankee's George Steinbrenner.
Consider the long-term damage this kind of public castigation causes. If the CEO of another potential sponsor like CARQUEST happened to be watching the Brainerd broadcast, he or she might be a little reluctant to get involved in a sport where instead of showing the cars and teams, a pretty big part of the broadcast was devoted to a soap opera.
I have just two words for the management and racers of the NHRA that I suggest they learn to use...NO COMMENT. 
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