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Wondering Yet Again
3/9/05
 Just
Wondering . . . If NHRA is going to sell beer in the Pro
pits, how long before NHRA and IHRA take it to the next level and
put beer and hotdog vendors into the grandstands at national events
so their fans don’t have to stand in those concession stand
lines forever?
Just Wondering . . . Instead of
two days of often lame qualifying sessions why don’t the major
drag racing sanctioning bodies follow the lead of the Goodguys and
limit qualifying to Friday night and have Top Fuel, Funny Car and
Pro Stock eliminations on Saturday and Sunday? I’d bet there
would be almost no aborted runs in qualifying if there were only
two shots to get in and it would put some drama back in qualifying.
Just Wondering . . . What’s
next, “claimer” engines in the Pro Stock and nitro classes?
Wonder what the price would be.
Just Wondering . . . Why did NHRA
screw with the injected fuel cars just when they were on the verge
of four-second runs? The class was beginning to generate some real
fan interest in the Sportsman classes for the first time in a long
time. Instead of nurturing a class that could serve as a feeder
class for Top Fuel NHRA made a rule change making most of the nitro
burners non-competitive and effectively removing any chance of seeing
a four-second injected fueler.
Just Wondering . . . Why is NHRA
placing ads on the back page of Street & Smith's SportsBusiness
Journal -- basically a trade journal with no fan circulation --
and can’t seem to find the funds to advertise in America’s
largest daily circulation newspaper USA Today as the IHRA has done
in the past? Just for the record an ad on the back page of Street
and Smith is around $13,000, although NHRA could be getting a discount.
To answer my own question, NHRA is more interested in marketing
the brand than the sport!
Just Wondering . . . Why doesn’t
the IHRA management admit they made a big mistake and reinstate
the Top Fuel Harley class which was not only a huge fan favorite
but also gave the IHRA fans something they couldn’t see anywhere
else.
Just Wondering . . . When is the
IHRA going to figure out that they need a national event on the
schedule before the first of April? Not having some sort of national
event race early in the year gives the NHRA a serious advantage
over IHRA in the print and electronic media. All the casual motorsports
fan sees or reads in the first quarter of the year is about NHRA
racing and stars.
Just Wondering . . . Did you know that nitro-burning, outlaw
doorslammers are legal for competition in the ADRL series for Outlaw
doorslammers? In the Extreme division a 30-percent nitro fuel mixture
is legal. Eighth-mile racing, no entry fee, $10,000 to win! Now
that’s old school drag racing!
Just Wondering . . . Is it just
a matter of time before NHRA and IHRA announce that they are going
to split up their Pro and Sportsman divisions like NASCAR has with
their Nextel Cup and Busch Series? I can see the day coming when
Sportsman racers will be relegated to being a support series at
three or four national events. The current owners of the NHRA and
the IHRA are headed in that direction I think.
Just Wondering . . . Remember when
almost every executive involved in the day-to-day operation of the
NHRA and the IHRA had a drag racing background? Now, if an executive
can trace his career to drag racing it is news.
Just Wondering . . . Why can’t
NHRA realize that there is just no such thing as too many journalists
covering a race? Too many photographers on the starting line, yes,
but too many writers looking for stories, I don’t think so.
Did I miss something, is drag racing getting too much media coverage?
Aren't we trying to get drag racing as much coverage as possible?
Will issuing all of those media passes actually mean the difference
between the event making a profit and a loss?
Just Wondering . . . Did you know
that professional class cars can’t set a national record in
NHRA competition on the eighth mile? They only recognize quarter-mile
records. What's the deal, eighth-mile racing is just a popular as
quarter-mile.
Just Wondering . . . With all of
the horsepower wars going on between the major auto builders, wouldn’t
it make sense for the sanctioning bodies to bring back the factory
experimental classes? I think the factories and certainly the fans
would have more interest and see more value in a Factory Experimental
class than Pro Stock.
Just Wondering . . . Is there
really any drag race that offers enough entertainment to justify
paying more than $25 for a ticket?
Just Wondering . . . Why don’t
the pit planners at IHRA and NHRA events lay out the Pro pits so
that there is an alley behind the transporters? If they did, the
Pro cars wouldn’t have to fight their way into and out of
their pits before and after each round.
Just Wondering . . . Am I the only
one who would much rather pay 50-60 dollars for a ticket to watch
racecars with a Pro Mod-style body and 100 percent in the tank race
than buy the same ticket and watch Fuel Coupes with body styles
that are basically unidentifiable and have 85 percent in the tank?
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