The guys with the gold make the rules
The main drag racing subject that came up in conversation while I was on the road for the last 11 days was "What's going on at NHRA with the Pro Mods?" The short answer is "Nothing." As I write this Wednesday, November 10th there still hasn't been any announcement about a signed contract between Tommy Lipar, Dave Wood, and the NHRA for a 2005 Pro Mod program at NHRA. Until that document is signed and an official announcement is made there is no series, no rules, no purse, no nothing! Having said that, my sources tell me that the contract is supposed to be signed, sealed and delivered by Friday the 12th of November. I've heard that before so we'll just wait and see. But, assuming the deal gets done this Friday, it almost certainly will mark the beginning of a new era in Pro Modified or at least NHRA Pro Modified. If everything or even most everything I've heard concerning the rules, promotion and administration of the proposed Tommy Lipar/Dave Wood Pro Mod program turns out to be fact, then what the Pro Mod racers and fans that race with NHRA will have won't be a race series in the classic sense, but instead a circuit somewhat reminiscent of the old Coca-Cola Funny Car Cavalcade (i.e. a booked-in exhibition series for blown and turbocharged door cars and stars). If Kenny Nowling can sell it and the NHRA buys it in all probability the AMS Pro Mod series will be an invitational only exhibition series with its own points program, point fund, contingency, television program, rules, stars and cars. That is exactly what NHRA wants until they rid themselves of the Pro Stock Truck lawsuit, which by the way doesn't even go to court until January 2006. It will be by design and choice an autonomous circuit with its only connection to NHRA being that ten of the races will be held at NHRA national events and a couple of sportsnationals events. The AMS circuit will be totally controlled by Mr. Tommy Lipar, Mr. Dave Wood, and Mr. Kenny Nowling. It should be, since team owners Lipar and Wood are paying all--and I do mean all--of the bills and that includes a licensing fee to NHRA. Those three will consult and then ultimately decide what the rules and purse structure will be and who will and won't be invited. Also, remember one other very important thing--this is an invitational only circuit. You don't get to race unless those three gentlemen want you there and they can "uninvite" you if they want. They are in effect their own sanctioning body. They've got the gold and they'll make the rules. Now there is a lot of hand wringing and gnashing of teeth going on over the proposed new rules, which from all accounts will penalize late model supercharged as well as nitrous oxide-injected cars and will benefit vintage (pre-70's) cars regardless of power plant. There is also every indication that their rules will allow turbos and at least one turbo car (my guess is that it will be Mike Moran's) has been invited. The rules apparently will favor nostalgia-bodied blown cars by giving them a 100-lb weight break and giving all other supercharged cars 29 percent supercharger overdrive. The goal apparently is to develop a five-second doorslammer class because Dave Wood, Tom Lipar and Kenny Nowling deeply believe fans, sponsors and television want that. From the calls and e-mails I've received, many racers are outraged by the proposed rules--the nitrous racers being the most upset. I can't for the life of me understand why. Now, racers, let me explain why before you reach for the phone. First, from everything I know and have heard the proposed AMS rules will affect, at most, 20-24 outlaw doorslammer teams. Second, unless you are one of the 20-24 invited, you can't race anyway. Third, if you don't like the rules you can always race at IHRA. The well-financed teams that raced with NHRA in the past like Mike Ashley, Dave Wood, Troy Coughlin, Tommy Lipar, and a few others don't have a problem because they have the sponsors and funding that not only will allow them to build, buy and race whatever kind of race cars they want but also require them to race with NHRA. They've got the gold so they don't care what the rules are. Others racers such as Rickie Smith, Mike Castellana, Shannon Jenkins, Billy Harper, Harold Martin and Jim Oddy aren't required by their sponsors to race with NHRA and simply will have to decide if they want to invest their money in completely new engine programs or cars that will make them competitive under the proposed new rules, or keep what they have and race for the IHRA. To me, this whole deal boils down to just two simple options for Pro Mod racers: 1) They can either race with the IHRA where the rules are apparently going to stay pretty stable, it's open competition where everyone is invited to race for the IHRA World Championship, and there is an attractive points fund, shootout program, and television package or 2) build a new competitive combination for AMS exhibition series where you race by invitation, NHRA doesn't sanction the championship, but there is a nice points fund and television package. Both series have their own benefits to the racer. No matter which path the Pro Mod racer chooses, the sad fact is that the days of having uniform rules and a semblance of co-operation between the major Pro Mod sanctioning bodies may be a thing of the past. The schedule makers for NHRA evidently decided that racers and fans should have to take a side and have scheduled some of their Pro Mod races on top of IHRA events. The Pro Mod class is more fractured and confused than ever before. Instead of Pro Mod racers having choices and options as they have had for the last few years, now they will have to pick a side. Instead of a consolidated and strengthened Pro Mod class, it is becoming a motorized tower of babble. The days of racers and fans crossing over between the IHRA and the NHRA circuits may be done. Pro Mod records will be confusing because there will be so many completely different engine and car combinations. There may even be two classes of nitrous cars: IHRA-legal and AMS-legal. No one will be quite sure what a "legal" Pro Mod is anymore. The question for fans and racers will be: What is a "legal" Pro Mod? We'll have Pro Mod World Champs for the AMS, the IHRA, Kenny Nowling's
fledgling ADRL and probably some other circuits I haven't even heard
of yet. The old adage, "The guy with the gold makes the rules" has
never been more evident nor, in my opinion, more counter-productive.
The people making the rules have made Pro Mod a generic class without
a strong identity and that is the real shame. And the culprits behind
all of it are either the guys with the gold or the guys wanting the
gold, you dear readers will have to decide that. |
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