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4/1/04
And Now For Something Totally
Different
I'm tired of blasting the major sanctioning bodies that
control drag racing, but unfortunately they continue to
provide me with so many reasons to write about and question
their decisions. And the fact that they seem to want to
control the press makes turning a journalistic light on
them all that more important. They continually make business
and racing decisions that-at least from the outside-appear
to be made solely for their benefit and they almost never
explain themselves publicly unless forced to. Apparently
the NHRA/IHRA don't feel that the some 100,000-odd members
of the NHRA/IHRA have any need to know what the sanctioning
body is doing.
But as I said, I'm tired of turning over rocks and I've
wanted to write a positive column about the sport I love
for some time. I agonized over my predicament with my friend,
fellow nitro junkie and editor of Drag Racer magazine, Scott
Cochran, and he solved my problem with just one sentence.
Scott looked at me, bald head gleaming, eyes hid behind
his trick Oakley shades, arms crossed and said, "It just
drag racin' man." (For the best mental image imagine a combination
of former wrestler Jesse Ventura's face and Jack Nicholson's
unique voice looking into the camera and saying, "It's just
drag racing, man.")
Suddenly I realized he was exactly right. It is just drag
racing, and we're all supposed to be having fun at the drags.
What the sanctioning body management does really isn't all
that important. What happens in regards to rules, regulations,
classes, purses and entry fees is important to and affects
maybe a couple of thousand hardcore national event racers
and professional teams. As a spectator I'm happy as long
as they don't decide to ban nitro, again, or make the grandstands
an alcohol and porkbutt-on-a-stick free zone.
So, with that new attitude I went to a couple of races to just be at the drags and I found out that not only did I still love it, but I noted that despite some glitches the sanctioning bodies have done some very good things for the sport. So here's what I observed and saw about the bright side of NHRA/IHRA drag racing.
There may be fewer nitro cars than there were in the "good
old days", but I think that overall there has never been
as many quality, bad-fast nitro cars in both classes as
there are today. The car count isn't always great, but nearly
every car that qualifies for a 16-car field has legit shot
at winning the race. Whoever at NHRA that actually came
up with the idea of a 75-minute turn-around rule should
have some kind of statue, plaque or immediate enshrinement
in drag racing's Hall of Fame. I would go as far as to say
that the 75-minute rule probably saved drag racing as a
mainstream spectator sport. A Saturday ticket at an NHRA
event will let you watch two intense qualifying laps from
all of the professional classes including Pro Mod in four
or five hours. It is great drag racing theater and worth
the price of an expensive ticket.
IHRA races also offer their fans a good bang for the buck. They have only one fuel class and outside of Clay Millican the drivers and teams aren't well known, but for $25 a ticket, a drag racing fan on a Saturday gets a couple of rounds of Top Fuel, Mountain Motor Pro Stocks, 50 Pro Mods, 225 mph Jet Trucks and fireworks. It takes longer than an NHRA Saturday show but is worth the time and money if you're into drag racing.
There are now more really good racetracks for staging national events than in any other time in the sport's history. Vegas, Dallas, Houston, Bristol, Rockingham, Norwalk, and Englishtown just to name a few are all great venues for fans and racers.
All tracks and racecars are safer now than at anytime in
the sport's history thanks to sanctioning bodies and track
owners re-investing profits back into the tracks and the
enforcement of stricter safety programs. Current safety
rules have made the cars safer and as a result the drivers
are safer. I witnessed Bruce Litton's 302 mph crash at San
Antonio. A combination of concrete guard walls, a great
roll cage, and a well-designed car allowed a driver to escape
from a horrible crash with nothing more than a bad headache!
Think about what might have occurred if that track had the
old steel guardrails instead of concrete. Racer and fan
safety remains a priority with the NHRA and the IHRA. There
are now fully certified trauma doctor/surgeons at every
NHRA and IHRA national event. And just recently IHRA started
requiring full-face helmets in some of their professional
classes.
More and more quarter mile tracks are putting in grandstands on the finish line. I think they are the best seats in drag racing. I see more paved pitting at tracks than ever before. Progress is slow and racers seemingly won't be satisfied until every racer has a concrete slab for the motor home with electrical and plumbing, but the fact is fewer and fewer sportsman racers are pitting on the grass and dirt.
There were 255 entries for the first of the weekly "Treaded-tire Tuesdays" at Gateway International Raceway, my home track at St. Louis. Drag racing is alive and well ... you just have to know where to look for it.
Heads-up racing is making a strong return at local tracks. Bracket racing remains healthy but more and more heads-up street legal style circuits are forming everywhere and crowds are showing up to watch, especially at eighth mile tracks in the Southeast.
All of the things I've mentioned above I made note of after attending just a couple of drag races as a fan and not as a journalist. The fact is drag racing indeed is "just drag racing", not a life and death struggle. It's just a sport for Pete's sake and it is supposed to be a sanctuary away from the craziness and bull that permeates our world today. I found it to be just that when I eased back on the throttle a little and let myself enjoy.
My great-granddad E.T. Burk once told me a story when I was complaining about something (imagine me complaining if you can.) He said that during the Great Depression everyone bitched about how the hole in the donut kept getting bigger but the donut itself didn't. He said, "I was always just glad to have a donut." I guess you could say the same about drag racing. I'd rather have a little than none at all!
So I've come to the conclusion that if I lock journalist
Burkster in the trunk at the races and just allow Burkster
the fan to attend, a day at the drags is still way up on
my list of good and fun things to do. In many ways it's
thanks to the sanctioning bodies and their &^#%^ #** rules
and decisions. See ya at the drags! 
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