DRO: Do you think your Nitro and your drag racing program with the VRA is in a growth position?

M: I think it's kind of holding steady at this point, from what I understand in talking to some of our racers, there's guys building cars and there's more guys that are supposedly coming out racing. There's a couple of guys that got hurt, so I think we'll see car counts continue to rise and we'll just have to look at this year and see what happens. It's not all about Nitro though, we get about 400 cars and only 20 of them are Nitro cars and that's what brings the fans. Without the fans, that's where the money's made; that's where you make a profit, that's how you continue to do what we do.

DRO: Do you feel that the rules are under control right now, for instance Allen Johnson cylinder heads, are they still allowed in VRA?

M: Yeah. We went down that road for safety, but performance is another part of it. I guess you can lean on them a little harder without hurting the parts and the performance goes up. NHRA is very closely involved with our rule making, so we're dictated by them what we can run on their tracks because all of our events are on NHRA tracks. This year we've taken a little bit of blower away, added some weight per cubic inch. I think that's kind of it for this year. They've come out with their guidelines so they can hand them out at all their national tracks, every track they sanction. So your average guys can come and test a Top Fuel car and the track tech guys know what to check the car for, as far as fuel pump and tire size and blower overdrive and blower size and that kind of stuff. They've got some guidelines this year that will be on a national basis so that people can run Top Fuel dragsters everywhere.

DRO: Do you think the Top Fuel dragsters are going too fast or too quick?

M: I think they're at about the limit. I think 259 miles an hour is about the safest and as fast as they should be going. That's my personal mile per hour, probably out there on an 11 - 12 inch wide tire and I think that's what NHRA is thinking too. You know it used to be special when a guy would run in the 5's, now if you don't, you don't even qualify. So it would be nice to tame them down a little bit, bring it back a notch.

DRO: Have you seen growth in the other part of VRA racing like the Junior Fuel, Nostalgia Eliminator, or the gas and hot rod classes?

M: We've seen enormous growth in the gasser classes and the Nostalgia Eliminators, those are 32 car fields. In our bracket classes, there are 100 cars that crack into the bracket classes. So the other side of the deal is growing like gang busters.

DRO: How is Nostalgia Funny Car received by the fans and the racers?

M: Well, as far as I can tell, it's going to be a good flavor, a good mix to add another Nitro class. We worked with the guys about our basic rules, on the payout structure, on making it a champion points deal, and on having an east verses west at our Indy race in June. I think that it's going to be the next hot spot at the Goodguys VRA, the Funny Cars.

DRO: Does it look like more Funny Cars are being built?

M: Sounds like it. I don't know first hand, but from what I hear and what I read, guys are interested.

DRO: Is that a class you can run a Hemi 426 in?

M: That is.