DRO: Don, moving away from your operation specifically, how do you see the state of the sport generally?

DP: It's no secret that in the last three to four years the sanctioning body has not done as good of a job as they could've. I think they'd admit that, too. The truth of the matter is that NASCAR stunned the country, not to mention all of auto racing, with their incredible growth and NHRA, IRL, you name it, wasn't quite ready for something like that. In the case of NHRA and drag racing, I don't think we had our finger on the button. I don't think we are up on how fast things were happening and changing. Television, promotions stuff like that.

DRO: In particular, how about the changes at NHRA? Tom Compton is the president now, how do you sum up his efforts?

DP: I think Tom Compton's done a great job and that NHRA has made some big strides. Just look at the new rules as one example. The 90-percent nitro deal was a good call, but what impressed a lot of racers was that Compton and NHRA took a stand and said, "This is the way it's gonna be," and didn't back off. How long's it been since someone in drag racing's done that?

Now on the other hand, I think the TV package got away from them and hasn't been what it could be. But look at it like this. As with myself, not every year I raced was a good one; I had down periods. Sometimes, things don't come together. However, from what I've heard, NHRA's new TV package and its dealing with sponsors is going to change, and from what I've heard, improve greatly as well.

DRO: Currently, while the 90-percent rule has been a possible boon, one has to admit that the fields, especially Top Fuel, have been down. Could we go back to the days like with AHRA and a few NHRA meets where we'll only see 8-car fields instead of 16 in the nitro ranks?

DP: It's possible, but I don't think things will get down to that level. Right now, Top Fuel's down a little, but it'll get back up. Look back a few years. [The '84 NHRA Summernationals] drew something like 11 cars for a 16-car field and people said it was all over for Top Fuel. Even [IHRA] dropped the class that year and what happened? They came back. For awhile when Force was really dominating in the early 1990s, the fields were barely being filled and now look at Funny Car.

Besides, there's more to drag racing than nitro cars. The fans also come to see Pro Stock, Pro Stock Truck and Bike.

DRO: Drag race fans would agree that the sport's technology has greatly outstripped our ability to pay for it. How big a threat is the cost of the sport, how does it portend for the future?

DP: That's a tricky question. I mean some racers can race cheaper than others, but today if you really want to win the Winston title, it's gonna cost around $3 million. That's cheap compared to NASCAR; that costs about $12-15 million a year to have a serious Winston Cup car.

Overall, drag racing has a lot of play left. Just as soon we get together on the television deal, and as soon as we bring in a few more major sponsors in the deal, the sport'll be fine. In all of American auto racing, drag racing is the ultimate. These are the most powerful cars in auto racing and are truly incredible. That's a fact and all we got to do is let the people know it.

page 3 of 3