DRO: WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF DIAMOND P’S TELEVISION COVERAGE?

DGP: My opinion is of no consequence. How about I give you an objective professional assessment? Drag TV shows are technically polished and formulaic which leads to redundancy. I respect Diamond P or any company that must put on a "same day" race. It is a Herculean task just to get it all. Then you must translate it to the small screen. This is tough stuff.

But the shows have steadily lost ratings as they change constantly in search of the right look. In the meantime, some have referred to them as boring, unimaginative, and dull. Hence, low ratings and viewership. This has led to sponsors leaving in droves.

A TV show which combines sportsmen and Pro Stock with the fuel classes loses viewers in the same way the stands empty when the nitro rounds end. The ratings drop because viewers click away after the fuel show.

Television production companies that have covered NHRA and IHRA races are basically passionless and just do their jobs. So, they miss the heart, the essence of this sport and they are not even pursuing that avenue.

Drag racing has the most powerful racing machines on the planet, and these TV producers turn down the volume of the cars and turn up the chatter of the announcers. Now, which do you think the viewers want to hear? Click!

Gary Ormsby at Firebird’s Super Bowl of Drag Racing, 1988. "Diamond P started copying my shots right after ‘Nitro Warriors.’"

My "Nitro Warriors" was the result of eight years of ideas. That video of the Super Bowl of Drag Racing, made in 1987, still holds up pretty well. The award-winning, gound-breaking tape includes many innovations from "live" trackside announcing by Don Garlits to nitro cackling sound in stereo; dry hops; full burnout; in-your-face swoopy camerawork; crew chiefs profiled; and a half-dozen other advances.

It was the first video/television show that translated fuel racing to the little TV screen almost as good as being there—something that still hasn’t occurred in the current state of TV.

DRO: DO YOU THINK THERE WILL EVER BE A DIRECTOR WHO CAN DO IT RIGHT?

DGP: Well, nobody’s done it yet. You think there’s a guy out there lurking somewhere? Waiting for the call? This sport is unlike any other; you must know it to produce it. You must be in tune with it. You must feel it; be one with it. Oh, wow, man.

Anybody can sling a camera. That doesn’t make you a cameraman. You gotta know where, what, and when. Timing is essential and crucial.

TV people have stated that drag racing is not a television sport and that you can’t capture that nitro cackling sound. Hey, that’s news to me! "Nitro Warriors" shattered those myths 12 years ago. It got rave reviews from National Dragster to People magazine. It set the standard for Digs TV. And it still holds up. It won top honors at the HBO Film and Video Festival at the 1998 Atlanta Super Show. Twelve years after it was made, it wins first prize in the toughest category: Live Sports Programming. It beat out football, baseball, hockey, and basketball videos!

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