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6/7/04
“If I can
criticize NHRA I can also compliment them”
 his
time they deserve some kudos from yours truly.
I was sitting around a couple of weeks ago and
doing some channel hopping looking for some
racing. I came across some NHRA sportsman coverage;
I think it was from Atlanta. Normally I would
have kept going because all they usually show
are the alcohol cars. But to my surprise they
showed the final rounds of all the sportsman
classes and did give some information about
the drivers. THANK YOU NHRA and the broadcast
team. To tell you the truth it is the first
time I have ever seen that added to the coverage.
I wonder if they listened to the e-mails they
have been getting? We may never get an answer
to that question but who cares, they covered
some sportsman final rounds.
I hope NHRA gets some response to that and they continue to do it. A couple of final round interviews would be really great as well. Lucas Oil has to like it, as it is the sportsman racers who will actually purchase Lucas Oil products for their racecars, streetcars and possibly their work vehicles. I know that Lucas Oil is the best sportsman sponsor I have seen lately. The Lucas family are real racers and run in the sportsman categories. I hope Lucas Oil will keep the pressure on NHRA to improve the sportsman coverage at national events. It is getting better in my opinion and as the saying goes “you have to learn to walk before you can run”.
The weather around here has hurt almost every type of racing event scheduled. I have been out five times and if it didn’t rain it was because it was cold and looked like it was going to. I did enjoy a nice diversion at the last event I attended. We were at Byron Dragway for their Memorial Day Big Bucks event. Of course it rained out the Saturday race with about 17 cars left and they split the purse. Then on Sunday they went with no time trials to try to beat the weather, but only got two rounds finished before it rained. Monday they dried the track a couple of times and everyone left in from Sunday got in line and it washed it out again, so they split with the remaining 60 or 70 racers. The only race completed that weekend was a Saturday evening Golf Cart Challenge. It was a lot of fun. I think there were 43 golf carts and ATVs entered. Everyone got a time trial (330’) and then it was race time. Six rounds (and $5 buybacks) later the winner collected $250, runner-up was $150 and they paid round money with third round losers! It has been a long time since I watched so many people laughing at the drag strip and having a great time. Rumor has it that large quantities of “adult beverages” were being consumed and the “side bets” were all paid in cash!
We are getting into the busy part of our schedule and we have a lot of work
to do this week. We did a little damage to the
572” Mopar in the dragster so the engine needs
to come out to be repaired. We spun a rod bearing
but I think Andy got it shut off quick enough.
All we need to do is clean up everything, polish
the crank and put some new bearing in. I am
sure that when we blew the oil filter o-ring
we did some damage even though we had great
oil pressure and the car ran fine the next day.
I should have taken the pan off and checked
it and now we are paying the price for little
bit of laziness.
I hope your racing season is off to a good
start and if you aren’t a regular racer, WHY
NOT BECOME ONE? Take the street car out to the
Street Legal Drags, Treaded Tire Tuesdays or
whatever type event your local track is having.
I have my oldest son “freshening up” the wife’s
’95 Neon and she just knows it will be at the
next “All Night Drags” at Cedar Falls Raceway.
(She’s right, it will be!) I don’t have the
big stereo, under car lighting or billet wheels
but … I am going to have some fun because we
can race with a passenger and I am taking someone
out there every time. Racing is racing and I
enjoy it. Besides it will be nice, in a different
sort of way, to listen to the announcer on the
car radio while I am making a quarter mile run!
Speaking of NHRA Pro Stock … OK, maybe we weren’t
but I am. Can you believe the dominance of Greg
Anderson and his team? Jason Line used to drag
his big old Buick stockers down from northern
Minnesota to race at our Stock–Super/Stock Combo
races. Man, he has come a long way from Stock
Champion to national event-winning Pro Stock
driver. The Pro Stock racing is so close that
it really reminds me of bracket racing. Reaction
times flat-out win races because the cars all
run so close. I know, they can’t breakout. They're
lucky as that is just another way to not win
that we all deal with every round.
Speaking of Scotty Richardson, OK, maybe we
weren’t but I am. I tried to call him for a
quick interview but couldn’t reach him. The
best place to find him this year is in the winner’s
circle at about every Big Bucks race in the
country. I am not sure how many he has won,
but I think I am safe in saying he is well over
$70,000 in winnings so far and we just started
in June! The only guy staying close to him so
far is Luke Bogaki from the Huntsville Engine
Team. Bogaki beat Richardson in both $10,000
finals at the first Tenn-Tuck race in Bowling
Green, Ky. These guys and a lot more of them
who race like them have such a “feel” about
each run and “drive the finish line” like few
racers can. Of course they can be beat, everyone
can, but you have to go out and beat these guys
as they don’t often beat themselves. That is
the best theory for bracket racing but it is
also one of the hardest to consistently accomplish.
Tip of the DRO cap to those two guys and the
tremendous starts they have made this season.
That’s it for this month. Hope you get to do
some racing this month or at least get out and
watch some … 
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Dead-On
— 5/7/04
A busy month for a lot of racers
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