What am I bitching about? I think the IHRA should run the ET Finals. Whether they lease the track or whatever it should be a race to reward the team members that spend the money to attend a race that in some cases is eight hours away from their home track. The gambler races should be optional and the racers should be able to make time runs during the gambler race. The track shouldn't have the opportunity to make huge profits off this in my opinion. The profits should go to either prizes for racers or into the purse the following year or better yet, to reduce the entry fees the following year. I think it would be great to qualify for the ET Finals and then have NO ENTRY FEE required on your tech card. Now there is a reward for being a team member.

Here is what the ET Finals should be in my opinion:

1. This race should reward the racers who qualified to be a part of their team, not a race that cuts off time runs and just about forces you to enter a gambler race with a payout that is terrible in comparison to entry fees collected.
2. Profits from the ET Finals should go into a fund that either lowers the entry fees for the teams next year, pays some tow money to team members who travel the farthest to get there or is added to the purse so the payouts are increased in the early rounds.
3. It should be time for racers from the same track to be able to sit around and do some socializing that may or may not get done at a regular event at their home track. There should be some more emphasis on the Race of Champions; make it a bigger part of the event. These guys worked all year for this and they try to jam it in on Friday afternoon to make sure they have time for a gambler race.

I may be wrong on my opinion on this but this is how I see it. I don't have a problem with gambler races that have a weak payout. If a racer wants to enter them that's great but it shouldn't be set up so that is the only option to making some runs at a new track. Maybe I am getting too picky and worrying about things that don't matter to a lot of racers. I see this as a trend in bracket racing that I am getting pretty fed up with. Rather than the sport becoming something fun for the new racers it is set up to be a miniature casino for the racers who have their combinations all sorted out and never change a thing on their cars. I am beginning to see why the "new racers" stick to their test and tune nights and race in the "street legal drags" rather than get involved in the grind that bracket racing has become.

I still love the sport and have no intentions of quitting, though some of you probably think I should. As a matter of fact I feel a little more enthused to just focus on the bracket racing program at the local track and bypass the gambler races all together. It would be a change for me as I have always entered everything I could but as the payouts keep getting worse and worse the expense of entering them is just not as enticing as it once was.

I want to close by clarifying one thing. I do NOT hold Cordova Dragway responsible for what the ET Finals has turned into. I think it is entirely the fault of IHRA for letting it happen. IHRA and Summit could do a heck of a lot better and I hope they will rethink things for 2004. I know I will. Got an opinion on my opinion? Don't just sit there and mumble, let's hear what you think. E-mail me at nicholson@dragracingonline.com.

nicholson@dragracingonline.com