|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I’ll bet you’re
wondering too..
6/2/06
Just Wondering… Does the NHRA actually care whom ESPN has anchor its TV race broadcasts? I’ve stayed away from this issue but the broadcast from Topeka on the Memorial Day weekend was the last straw for me. NHRA hires and pays ESPN to report and broadcast their races, so why haven’t they insisted that part-time anchor for their TV coverage, Paul Page, be replaced. He is doing his best but it is painfully obvious that he still hasn’t got a real knowledge of the sport or a passion for it and it comes across on the screen.
Just Wondering… Isn’t there anyone on the NHRA staff that can school Mr. Page at least on the correct pronunciation of the racers' names? After almost a half season of working the NHRA broadcast during most of the Topeka coverage Mr. Page was still pronouncing Erica Enders' last name wrong. As a person who once made his living as a motorsports announcer, the first thing I was taught was to learn how to pronounce the stars' names. To not do so is an inexcusable mistake especially after a half season of being on the job.
Just Wondering… Am I alone in the belief that Paul Page acted as if he would rather have been anywhere other than covering a drag race on the same weekend as the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s 600 mile race were being contested?
Just Wondering… Does anyone really care what “Selzi Says” anymore? Gary Scelzi is one of the great drivers in the NHRA’s history but he is not, repeat not, a good stand-up comedian.
Just Wondering… Is there any driver in drag racing that wants to win more badly than Whit Bazemore?
Just Wondering… With no other “beer wagon” or brewery to compete with on the NHRA circuit will Budweiser’s interest in drag racing remain as high as it has been for the past 25 years?
Just Wondering… Why would any reasonable person still cling to the belief that having a Nostalgia racing circuit is feasible after everyone that has attempted to have a circuit up to and including the Goodguys have found out the hard way that there simply aren’t enough cars, fans or sponsors to support a stand alone, nostalgia series and not lose money?
Just Wondering… For the hardcore drag racing fan is there a better bang for the buck than the Friday afternoon NHRA or IHRA national event qualifying sessions where they usually can see all of those sanctioning body’s professional cars and stars make a couple of laps for under $30.00?
Just Wondering… Whatever happened to Henry Phillips?
Just Wondering… Would fans actually like Pro Stockers better if they had EFI and a flat hood? I dunno, maybe Pro Stocks ought to look more like race cars than street cars.
Just Wondering… Is anyone else confused by the fact that many so-called “Ten-wide” cars actually are running on 12-inch wide tires? They’re either Ten-wides or they aren’t; they can’t be both, can they?
Just Wondering… Was I the only one who thought that when my peer Jon Asher called for the resignation of Graham Light, for whatever reason, it was kind of like shooting the messenger for bringing bad news? I think Mr. Light just follows the orders he gets from the president. Sort of like Rumsfield and Cheney, eh?
Just Wondering… Will NHRA ever have another leader that isn’t a “bean counter” at heart or by profession? The answer is no! As in most big businesses, the bosses almost never come from the rank and file of the sport but from the sales and accounting departments. Tony George and the France family are the exceptions to that. Until a racer or racers assume a position of power on the NHRA board the most important issue for the sanctioning body will be the profit and profit margin. Spending money on the organization that won’t translate to instant profit will always be a low priority!
Just Wondering… I wonder how many fuel cars will show up at the IHRA’s Canadian races. I keep getting reports from IHRA racers of more and more hassles involving crossing the Canadian border in both directions. At some point the IHRA may have to start looking at abandoning those races simply because U.S. racers will decide it isn’t worth the grief and expense.
Just Wondering… How many Fuel Funny Cars will be at Norwalk’s famous John Force-based extravaganza? They seem to have fewer cars each year.
Just Wondering… How long it will be before the NHRA admits they were wrong and end the Sport Compact experiment? I saw the NHRA “power point” presentation they send out to potential sponsors and there wasn’t a single word in the presentation about their Sport Compact series. My guess is that unless the series has a big sponsor that will pay the NHRA to keep it going, it soon will be gone.
|
||||
|
Just Wondering…If indeed, as NHRA prez Tom Compton says, they are looking to expand their schedule, where in the U.S. would they go that there isn’t already a race nearby? Could NHRA take a page out of NASCAR’s playbook and put a race in Mexico? There are tracks that would be glad to host the event and we all know it’s sure easier to get into Mexico and we all know that getting back across the border isn’t an issue. 
