Time for the NHRA and IHRA to follow NASCAR. . .again 1/27/06
In the motorsports section of the Jan. 19, 2006, New York Times the headline read "NASCAR Plans to Switch to Unleaded Fuel in 2008." That bit of news got my attention, but below that was yet another headline that really got my attention. It read "Toyota to Join Nextel and Busch Series." That announcement has long been anticipated ever since Toyota joined the NASCAR truck series, but for NASCAR, who for decades has cleaved to the Mom, apple pie and Chevrolet generation, to finally welcome a Japanese car manufacturer into the Nextel Cup series. . .well, it wasn't that long ago the idea was simply unthinkable. But times have changed and the good ol' boys running NASCAR surprisingly have changed also. In addition to Toyota coming to the Nextel Cup, the Times story also speculated that Honda will soon follow. Neither of these announcements will affect the NHRA and IHRA series in any significant way immediately. Both of drag racing's major sanctioning bodies have had a long-standing policy regarding allowing foreign car manufacturers into their Pro Stock class. On the other hand, NHRA has allowed Toyota and Nissan bodies but not in Pro Stock. NASCAR announced their decision to go to unleaded gas in 2008 because studies have shown that people involved in the sport have elevated levels of lead in their systems according to advocacy group Clean Air Watch who pled their case to the Environmental Protection Agency. The result of that action was that NASCAR decided that a non-leaded gas from Sunoco called Sunoco 260 GTX in 2008 will replace the current leaded fuel being used in competition. The question for drag racing is will the largest sanctioning body in all of motorsports be the next target of the clean air group? Consider that over at NASCAR they are limited to one type of leaded fuel and one manufacturer. Wonder what kind of reaction the EPA's instruments would get with the numerous exotic race fuels being used at an NHRA or IHRA national event with 500 or more cars racing and most of them using gasoline? So, perhaps the NHRA and the IHRA could avoid any bad publicity and just make unleaded mandatory for the 2007 season and take the high ground and maybe take a little thunder away from NASCAR. After all, the NHRA management seems hell bent on slowing down the Pro classes and making racing safer for its competitors; switching to no lead would do both for some classes and perhaps save some lives. Now, as to the second action taken by NASCAR, the long rumored allowing of Toyota branded cars to compete on NASCAR's premier Nextel circuit. This magazine has lobbied, unsuccessfully, for the NHRA and the IHRA to bring the Japanese car makers, almost all of whom have factories staffed by American workers, into the mainstream of drag racing. Toyota wanted into NASCAR so badly and NASCAR wanted them in so badly that NASCAR took a page out of drag racing and built what they call their "car of the future" in order to take the issue of body style out of the equation and not subject their fans to watching a Toyota something going head to head with a Petty Mopar or an Earnhardt Chevy. NASCAR, which in the early years survived on the competition between Which brings me back to drag racing. GM and Ford are in big financial trouble. Mopar may follow. Both Ford and GM have announced major budget cutbacks, plant closings, and downsizing. Ford just announced that they are laying off 20,000 workers, both blue and white collar. While Ford doesn't spend much in either NHRA or IHRA drag racing, GM sure has a large presence especially in the NHRA.
Interestingly, you hear none of these financial woes from the Japanese car makers. In fact, those companies are building plants and hiring American workers by the thousands. Those "foreign" cars aren't so foreign any more. So, while I don't advocate NHRA or IHRA always following NASCAR's
lead (remember the Pro Stock Truck fiasco), in this case I think
it would be to major league drag racing's advantage both from a
PR point of view and a financial point of view to immediately adopt
a no-lead fuel policy for 2007 and then change the Pro Stock rules
so that Toyota and Honda can come play. With racing being a global
sport and the world's economies being closely tied together, it
just no longer makes sense for drag racing to remain so insular
in the way they do business. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
