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Wondering again
5/5/05
Just wondering . . . Whatever happened
to the brotherhood of drag racing? I received a lot of angry mail
from "Sportsman" racers about my recent column on the
SPORTSnationals, much if it almost elitist in tone. When I started
racing we were all just drag racers, but now it seems the sport
is fractured into a bunch of cliques. That to me is a sad state
of affairs for a sport known for its brotherhood.
Just wondering . . . Why are so
many so-called sportsman racers so angry at alcohol racers. What
did they ever do to the rest of the Sportsman racers?
Just wondering . . . NHRA just
hired several other marketing types with no experience or background
in drag racing. Most other racing organizations try to hire people
that at least have some background or knowledge of the sport. Are
none of the people working at some of the 500 or so drag strips
in the U.S. talented enough or experienced enough to work at NHRA
or IHRA?
Just wondering . . . Where do those
numbers come from? In a recent story in the respected Sports Business
Journal, a writer quoted NHRA sources as saying the average number
of ticket sales at an NHRA event is 100,000. If true, that would
mean at a $50 average for a ticket, the gross from ticket sales
alone at one NHRA national event would be about $5,000,000. No wonder
Bruton Smith is interested in buying the sanctioning body.
Just wondering . . . How do you
sell 100,000 tickets at Atlanta, Memphis or Phoenix in three days?
According to a very reliable source, when the Atlanta track was
built there were only 14,500 seats on the spectator side. You talk
about creative counting.
Just wondering . . . Did you know
that as of November of last year there were nearly 450 combined
NHRA TAD and TAFC licensed drivers? Seems like that would be enough
racers to warrant a little love from the NHRA brass.
Just wondering . . . Do the Alky
Funny and Dragster cars still not have to pay an entry fee at NHRA
national and divisional events? If not, the question is why?
Just wondering . . . Will anyone
ever again invest the kind of money Billy Meyer, the Angel Brothers,
and Bruton Smith did to build another drag racing "super track"?
Just wondering . . . How can a
Sportsman racer with a new car built by Jerry Haas, Jerry Bickel,
or Tim McAmis, or a new bracket dragster with a couple of Reher-Morrison,
Charlie Buck or Jim Oddy motors, riding around in a $250,000 motor
coach or "toter," and racing for a living be called a
"Sportsman racer" with a straight face?
Just wondering . . . Who bitches
more about track conditions, Sportsman racers or professional racers?
My money is on the Sportsman.
Just wondering . . . Does drag
racing really have anything that will sell the average fan a ticket
besides wheelstanding door cars and nitro?
Just wondering . . . Is there a
more entertaining class in drag racing right now than the heads-up,
limited street class? Basically the class is Outlaw ten-wide cars
without wheelie bars. Bret Kepner's favorite class, we'll bet.
Just wondering . . . How many casual
fans at national events actually prefer tire-smoking, guard wall
to guard wall fuel car races over straight as a string, side-by-side
4.40/335 mph Top Fuel cars? Let's hear from you out there.
Just wondering . . . What exactly
is Toyota Racing Division's interest in fuel Funny Car racing?
Just wondering . . . Did the Pro
Stock Truck fiasco end up like a bad divorce where the only people
who benefited were the lawyers?
Just wondering . . . Whatever happened to the drag racing
songs, lyrics and bands that used to be so popular in the middle
to late Sixties? I'd like to hear someone like Lenny Kravitz cover
a version of Little Deuce Coupe or Little Old Lady From Pasadena.
Just wondering . . . What did the
injected nitro racers and Ashley Force ever do to Ray Alley?
Just wondering . . . If NHRA really wants to cut the cost
of nitro racing why don't they just allow the racers two engines
per event, one for qualifying and one for race day, and do away
with the Paul Smith rule that keeps alternates out?
Just wondering . . . What happens
if none of the nitro cylinder head and block manufacturers submit
samples for approval to NHRA? Will the fuel racers be forced to
run a GM DRCE block and head or the new Mopar Hemi heads and blocks?
Say now, there's an idea. 
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