Are “traditions” important to you as a drag racer?
9/8/06
his is a question that a lot of us racers are aware of but probably never really speak about too much. By “traditions” I am talking about going to certain events year after year and possibly turning those events into mini-vacations. By attending great race events year after year we create our own traditions. The other way to look at traditions is when an event is scheduled year after year and has a reputation for being both a fun event to go to and race with a huge cash purse. Nothing beats a lot of prize money to add to a “tradition,” right?
This month I am going to talk about a certain event that I tried my best to make a tradition as long as I could. The Moroso 5-Day Bracket Championships in West Palm Beach, Florida. This event was the brainchild of Dick Moroso. Dick Moroso not only came up with a great bracket race but his company, Moroso Performance, was founded to supply great parts to the sportsman racers at affordable prices. He was always concerned with the bracket racer not only as a customer but also as the backbone to the sport of drag racing. His 5-Day Bracket Championships was one of the original multi-day big bucks races in the country.
I can remember pulling in the gate with my tired old motor home and seeing Dick Moroso standing there at the entrance gate welcoming the racers. It is rare to see that, and I felt he did it because he genuinely cared about each and every customer. I know I was proud to be one of the racers.
My first Moroso 5-Day race was in 1983. I had my ’63 Plymouth wagon. A friend towed it down for me and I actually flew in to drive (THAT doesn’t happen anymore, by the way!). No delay boxes, no air shifters and almost no dragsters. What I learned at my first Moroso race was that bracket racing was everything I thought it could be, and some of the things I learned helped me become a much better racer. Some guys were blocking the next to the last amber, changing staging RPMs, changing front tires to get different roll-outs in search of more consistent reaction times. I took a lot of those ideas and used them when I returned to Iowa and really had success with the “windshield tape” to block the middle amber when I ran Stock Eliminator for Gene Mosbeck for a couple seasons almost 10 years later.
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Did the Moroso 5-Day have a lasting effect on me? Absolutely! Have I ever won a race there? Not yet, but I am not done trying, that is for sure. I am planning on making the 3,000 mile tow to the event this November 13-17 and give it another shot. This time I am taking my son, Andy, along so he can experience the event. What makes it special to me are some of the “event traditions” such as no buy-backs, one time trial (just shut-up and let’s
race), guaranteed payouts, Casino Party and sitting in the bleachers drinking a couple of adult beverages with racing friends I may only see once every year or two.The one time trial thing was a shock to me over a decade ago, but now I think it was an idea way ahead of its time. I wish more tracks would do it now to shorten the event time and possibly return it to at least a slightly interesting spectator-friendly sport. Right now a 12-hour race day is fairly common, I know of no spectator willing to endure that.