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10/9/04
A Personal Experience
at the ET Finals.
Hello again,
This month I want to touch on something that
has always held a special place in my heart
when it comes to bracket racing. That is the
Team ET Finals. In my case it is the IHRA Division
5 Summit Racing ET Finals. I have always liked
the concept of having teammates made up of guys
you try to eliminate every other week of the
year. Pretty ironic when someone needs a part,
it sends 40 other team members digging through
boxes trying to come up with what they need.
Looks more like family members trying help each
other out. It is so unique to drag racing and
I have always loved that part of it.
The week before this year’s event I was trying to organize my garage … OK, I was stacking all the stuff up in one corner! I came across a batch of decals I had saved off the rear window of the Dodge Dart I had raced for so long. They were the NHRA Firestone / Centerline ET Finals decals. The bottom one was dated 1984 and to tell you the truth I can’t remember if it was the first year or not. I can tell you I had eight of them in that stack I peeled off and I know there are more on tool boxes, trailer doors, etc. So it looks like I have been going to either NHRA or IHRA ET Finals for roughly 20 years. Why? I ask myself that every year.
WHY do I go to an event that only the best of the best racers from each track can attend? I guess THAT is the reason. To see if you are the best that day you have to race the best. The ET Finals is the only place that offers that opportunity. I used to think the big dollar races offered something close but not anymore. It is more like going to a casino where you pay entry fees, use buy-backs, multiple entries, etc. to try to win a race. Usually the same cars are at every race so it is like a local event that travels from track to track.
This year the one thing that I felt really stood out at the event as I cruised the pit area was the number of open trailers. Don’t take this wrong; I think they are the really smart ones. I had been to so many NHRA and IHRA point races that I was thinking 99 percent of racers have bought enclosed trailers. Well, 99 percent of the racers who travel to those races have! The local racer who runs one or two tracks has made a smart decision and opted to save the money and save the gas. At $2.10 per gallon they are saving a lot of money.
The ET Finals was a hoot for me. My racing was OK overall. I ran my fastest run ever in Project 4-Link, 7.485 at 178.55 mph. Not too bad for a 1900 pound dragster on motor only (no spray) MOPAR motor that is! They had the now popular Gambler Races scheduled for Friday Night and then again on Saturday. This is where I am beginning to have a real problem with what has happened at this ET Finals. Maybe it happens at other ones too, but after talking to some of the guys who went to the NHRA Div. 5 ET Finals I don’t think so.
Here is a scenario I brought up. Since we are bracket racers and probably work at least one job if not two to pay for this racing hobby is it fair that if you can’t get to the ET Finals until Friday night or Saturday morning you get just one time trial for the event? The only way to get another run down the track is to enter the Gambler Race. No time runs Sunday morning either, which I think is nothing short of stupid as there are only about 350 cars at the event.
I feel they have turned this event into nothing more than a money maker off the gambler races. I have no problem with a “race within a race” but I also feel if all you want to do is make a couple of time runs each day you should have that option. Not everyone comes ready to drop another $80 into gambler races just to get another “hit” at the tree and track. If I just traveled eight hours to get there and got one time run a day before the “real race” started I probably wouldn’t bother. Some racers had to do that just to get to the race and a couple of them I talked to said, “NOT AGAIN, unless we get two times per day without having to ‘gamble’”.
The local team has great racers, just like all the teams do, but since they have made a couple hundred runs down the track this year it is no wonder they are always at the top of the points when the event is over. It is surely not their fault; it is the event that is at fault.
All I am saying is have the gambler races, but surely you could have a couple of lanes open for the racers who are trying to adjust to the different conditions for time runs. It wouldn’t affect the Gambler Race; just drop the guaranteed payout and have it be 80 percent of entry fees or something. Is that too much to ask?
In the end I will probably still go to the event next year. I hope they change some things and a few procedures to make it a little fairer. Oh yeah, one more thing. Why do Jr. Dragster points count toward a team title? Why not have separate team challenges for the kids? I think it is too much pressure on them and from the conversations in the pit area it would be a popular decision.
I want to personally thank Summit Racing for their support of not only the local ET Racing programs, but the regional races and of course the National Championship program they offer. Nothing has ever come close to it and they should be commended for the efforts. My little story is just my side of how this particular event was handled. Right or wrong it is just the opinion of this racer who also happens to write this column. Trust me, my racing is a lot more important to me than sharing my ideas and thoughts with others. I just hope reading a different opinion will make you think, chuckle or just go nuts!
Whatever, it’s all good here and I hope to see you at the races someday!
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Dead-On
with Jok Nicholson
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9/9/04
How did the summer of ‘04
treat you? |
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