12/9/03

Do "Professional Sportsmen" really exist? How about the "Real Pros"?

ince I am stuck up here in the snow country in late November and early December my main contact with the racing world is my computer. I follow as many events as I can and look at event flyers for upcoming events. I know Jeff would like to have MORE SPORTSMAN INPUT for the magazine and that is the first thing I want to mention before I get into my "Professional Sportsman" ideas. If you are building something new, know about a new track being built or just have bracket racing news send me an email and I will try to get it in our magazine right away in 1320 Notes or a special Bracket Racing section we are considering putting up. It's up to you to let us know and we can then tell thousands of other people.

Now for my questions, is there really such a thing as a "Professional Sportsman" and what makes a racer a "Real Professional"? In my opinion, and you know I have an opinion on everything, there is only a very thin line between the two. What got me thinking about this was when I read some early results from the Moroso 5 Day Bracket Championship. I have been fortunate enough to race at that event six different years. The competition is super tough and anyone who wins usually has a lot of luck and a lot of skill at the finish line. This brings me to what really impressed me, Jeg Coughlin winning two events of the five and capturing the points title. At first I was sort of disappointed that a "Professional" was taking the cash at a bracket race. Then I was talking to my son, Andy, and he said "who cares, you have to kill the tree and drive the stripe to win and it doesn't matter if you have the most expensive car or trailer or even a full-time crew, YOU have to do the winning." Jeg had to prove himself better than everyone else while using the same equipment anyone else can buy." Then I realized he was right. Maybe this IS why he is in a Professional Class. He can flat-out drive a drag car and he proved it. I read some of his comments about how proud he was to win his second Moroso title and he rates it as high as his Pro Stock National Championships! I'll tell you what, I'm a bigger Jeg fan now, that is for sure. Good Job Jeggie, this is a title you have to earn by being the BEST for five races in five days. If you don't already know, another Pro-Stock racer, Dave Connolly, was third overall in the final points at Moroso. Maybe some other "Pros" could use some bracket racing to improve their starting line skills.

The other 300 plus racers who showed up in Florida for the "Winter Series" are the "who's - who" in sportsman drag racing. From local track champions to guys like Scotty Richardson who are many time National Champions in Sportsman classes. I can say with confidence that there was likely not one guy lined up first round that hadn't won at least a couple events this season. These guys know how to win, what equipment best provides that opportunity and how to be prepared to win it all if things start going their way. I loved the times I got to go down there and race those guys. I never won it all down there but one of my biggest bracket racing thrills was getting to 16 cars at the Moroso 5-Day in my trusty old '68 Dart running 11.20s. Then I got crushed by some "pipe-rack" so I went out and bought one!

Now for the "Professional Sportsmen". I do NOT think they even exist except in their own minds. The prize money cannot support the cost of their operations; there is literally no media exposure to offer a sponsor. Most of these "Super Teams" just take money from the sponsor, hang out at the races and hopefully do some winning so their cars are in the pages of National Dragster and Drag Review. Usually they arrive at the races with two or three vehicles to enter. If they had to pay for the entry fees they would have to be a runner-up in one of the classes just to cover those costs. I can appreciate what they accomplish but I think any good bracket racer who could race full-time on someone else's money could do pretty good if they had two or three cars at every national event.