Towing to the races
. . .time to think?

4/7/03

don't know about all of you but when I tow to a race event I finally get to really just steer and THINK. I know I should be thinking about driving but since I do that 5 to 7 hours a day I guess the driving sort of takes care of itself. Besides if they can't see the motor home and trailer coming. . .go ahead, pull out!

There are several things that have happened in our sport lately that I was thinking about and I am pretty sure most of them have wandered across your skull of mush as well.

The NHRA Gatornationals:

I won't bother you will a long, drawn out explanation or theory of what I think about what happened, but I do want to mention what it made me think of. I owned and operated two different drag strips for over 15 years. I encountered about every problem a track manager could deal with EXCEPT for this one. I never had more cars enter an event than I could handle. I think the weather and wet grounds presented a problem, but not until AFTER the main problem had already occurred: too many entries were accepted and too much space allowed for each entry.

There are as many theories on why the sportsman had to end up racing at Orlando, as there are sportsman racers out there. The reality is there was not ample parking space for everyone so that created the problem. Who could they park and who had to be left out? Tough question, right? They worked it out the best way in my opinion. Did everyone like it? NO. Could it have been done differently? YES. Would it have been a better solution? NO.

Remember one thing, NHRA is a very big business that must make a profit to survive and a company that grosses millions of dollars over the season. The main source of revenue at a national event is SPECTATORS. Sure, sportsman racers contribute to the profits, but not as much as we all think. Does NHRA "owe" the sportsman racers the "right" to race at Gainesville for the Gatornationals? NO. But rather than canceling and sending everyone home they came up with a unique answer that allowed the race to continue.

I would have been upset if I had been there as a racer. I attend a couple NHRA national events per year and the main reason for going is to watch the Pro cars, socialize with friends, see the local tourist traps if there are any, and do a little bit of racing. Two time trials Thursday and first round racing on Friday is not a lot of racing, so I consider these events something different, entertainment for Barb and myself, nothing more and nothing less. If I win a few rounds or even the event it is a bonus. If I want to do some "serious racing" I would have entered the Tenn-Tuck bracket races or one of the many other Big Bucks Brackets events where you can enter six events in three days and run for winner money of $2000 to $10,000 per race.

How would I have handled their problem if it was my track? That is a question you need to ask yourself if you are complaining about what NHRA did. When you consider the options you had, don't forget to weigh in the required time they need for the Pros and the room for spectator parking that is required for the event to stay viable.

What SHOULD the NHRA do in the future? Well, in my opinion, if they have a facility with limited parking space if rain is a problem they MUST LIMIT THE NUMBER OF RACERS THEY PERMIT TO ENTER. Use a lottery or use prior season points or something. It is nice to have a problem with 500 sportsman racers sending in $200 each for entry fees but it can also lead to major problems. I hope NHRA has learned their lesson and I hope the chronic "whiners" can get over it, because it is OVER!