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What Happened to Drag Racing on Television?

3/9/04

can remember back to the times when there was so little drag racing coverage in any newspaper or on TV that when ABC's Wide World of Sports would cover the U.S. Nationals, it was an event to plan a party around. Nobody cared if we already knew who'd won, we could read it in Drag News or National Dragster, but we needed to see the cars racing down the quarter mile, the drivers talking, Garlits shaving, the crowd cheering, we needed to be part of the U.S. Nationals if we couldn't attend for one reason or another.

Later, I remember the classic TV camera shot where we'd see a snow covered peak at the top of the hour and know the delayed-for-TV Winternationals coverage was coming on with the enthusiasm and knowledge of Steve Evans and Dave McClelland. Just to refresh my memory over the Winternationals rainout weekend, I popped in my Diamond P Drag Racing '93 videotape.

If you have one of those old Diamond P give-a-way videos sitting on the shelf, dust it off and take a look at it, you'll notice a seemingly simpler time in drag racing. At that time the coverage was about racing, not about the announcers. By the way, is there no resolution to the Diamond P -vs- NHRA dispute that would allow us to regain the video history of NHRA Drag Racing? Are the egos involved just that big?

Today with ESPN2 we get same-day coverage of what should be an exciting, compelling show, however when comparing the coverage of 2004 to those simpler days it just doesn't hold up. I now understand why the ESPN2 shows are not repeated on the network or a video copy of highlights given away as an NHRA membership benefit any longer.

After watching all of the ESPN2 broadcasts so far in this short season I want to make some observations on NHRA televised drag racing, 2004 style. I don't think I could do it better, I know I could make a better TV show.

First, nobody attends a drag race to sit in the stands and listen to the announcer. There's got to be a new way to look at televised drag racing coverage since Diamond P set the standard so long ago. I know we'll never have an announcer with the depth, humanity and pure talent of the late Steve Evans. There was a guy who ran drag strips, really knew racers and their personalities, understood the history of our sport and how to bring the fan into that inner circle. The same can be said of Dave McClelland, a guy who's down to earth, knows all the players and feels like the guy next door with whom we could have a beer.

Instead, we have cliché-ridden jokesters as announcer/commentators who could interchangeably cover bobsledding, ice skating or drag racing with the same level of sincerity and accuracy. During the Phoenix coverage Parker Johnstone characterized Larry Dixon as an "underdog" with a "pedigree" and looking for a "best in show"; it's time to revoke his metaphor license. The rigidity of NHRA's nitro oil down policy should be adapted to announcers too. An abundance of puns will get you bounced from the following week's event coverage and reduce your participation to winding up video cables once the show has been completed, along with a fine.

Dear Marty Reid, whether David Baca won or lost in the past against Clay Millican is a pointless statistic, no matter if they met only once or one hundred times. Listen to the interviewed drivers we hear on your show, the drivers say they are racing the track. One driver and team may have a statistical advantage on elapsed times based upon that weekend's performance, but if a driver lost in their last meeting over a year ago are you saying something important or just blabbing to fill dead air? Take a moment to remember the driver's phrase, "we are just trying to go from A to B." So many drivers repeat that axiom since drag racing has no corners, we have no high side or low side and we have no spotters ... its truly man and machine in the simplest form. The crew chief has either set the motor on kill or softened up the combination in anticipation of a slick, slippery track.

Bill Stevens, keep your questions short. Questions are posed to elicit answers, clear the air and a ascertain a point of view - not to prove how smart or clever the interviewer is. David Reiff, it is apparent that you know very little of the subject you cover. Have you ever read an NHRA rulebook? Did you know that the minimum weight of an NHRA Funny Car is 2,400 pounds including the driver? You, of all the ESPN announcers, seem to skate through situations knowing very little about drag racing.

Mike Dunn, God bless you for the knowledge you possess. You have street smarts with the ability to articulate on-track action for the novice or veteran viewer without repeating yourself or spouting useless facts. I would ask that you put down the video pen more often since most of us understand very clearly what you are illustrating. Please share with us some of the oddities of various competitors you raced against, their quirks and shut down area conversations over your years as a driver. I know you'd rather be sitting inside a nitro cockpit instead of standing in front of a monitor wearing a suit and tie, completely detached from the staging lanes and pits. Your days of running 330 mph will hopefully come back soon.

If you've recently attended a drag race at any of the venues of the long NHRA or IHRA season, you know how nitro racing sounds, smells and feels; standing on the starting line is one of the coveted privileges afforded to only a few. I've noticed in the TV coverage FOX Sports provides for NASCAR that it's OK to shut the announcers up for as long as two or three minutes so the fan on the couch can absorb the sound and power of 43 racecars as they pass by the multi-camera and microphone locations. NASCAR has very little of the raw power we enjoy in nitro drag racing, yet during seemingly important drag racing match-ups the ESPN2 director keeps Marty Reid babbling meaningless won-loss stats rather than letting the power and fury that is nitro speak for itself.

A note to NHRA. Since you are paying for the production of the TV show are you proud of the show we watch on ESPN2? It's often a bore. Cut your losses, change the production crew, fire the director, shake it up, stop wasting the precious air time with your endless qualifying show repeatedly covering burnout, staging, run down the quarter mile, then turn off the strip with the chutes trailing. I understand the sponsor commitments at hand to fill two hours, but change the qualifying and elimination shows to one of action, highlights, personalities, innovation, run and gun, guerilla coverage, make us want to see more. Stuffed shirt, tight ass reporting isn't what you'll see in any drag strip pit area. Get down out of the corporate luxury suites to view what today's drag racing fan is following, you are solidly missing it with your coverage. Each rabid fan in attendance creates their own show following the drivers and teams, not just Brandon, Scelzi, Dixon, Force and Coil. Get someone over to interview Connie Kalitta, Ray Alley or The Greek for their perspective on today. Since we have lost access to our video history start chronicling what we still have left of the barnstormers and why they are still in drag racing.

Stop the cutesy-pie Scelzi Sez; it's staged, phony and tells us nothing of Scelzi or the other participants. Drag racing is not about gimmicks. Inform your fans of the up-and-comers, the future stars of the NHRA like Dave Connelly, Brady Kalivoda, Stephen Neese, David Grubnic, Mike Strasburg or Cory Lee. How did veteran Glenn Mikres show up in one of Virgil Hartman's dragsters at Phoenix? What else does Mikres do? Why aren't there enough Top Fuel dragsters to fill a field? Where's our Robin Miller who opines on CART or our equivalent of Andy Rooney, this show is bland and way too far out of touch.

We know the stars of NHRA drag racing, the fans who are watching the TV show know a lot of stuff about their sport, they are intelligent on a lot of issues, yet your TV announcers continuously talk down to the fan base. Is it a news story when a Funny Car team changes their computerized exterior graphics scheme? Is there nothing new in NHRA drag racing or has your product become so emasculated and so politically correct that I don't feel anything when I watch it? Your show doesn't move me anymore.

There's a wealth of very sincere talent waiting in the wings, among them are Bob Frey, Allen Reinhart and Lewis Bloom. These guys truly love drag racing and I see how many in the Media, PR and NHRA Staffers rely on Frey's photographic memory for stats and color on the Pros or Sportsman racer. Reinhart shines when he's given the opportunity in front of the camera. Allen is genuine in his top-end interviews; he cares about the drivers and knows the right questions to ask. Louis Bloom is a gem and a fine tower announcer when he's allowed on the microphone. Bloom's off screen abilities and quick memory usually makes Marty Reid look smart. Whether it's political or these guys know too much compared to the puppet-headed babblers of ESPN2, you (NHRA) need to work these guys into your TV Show.

TV is not a mystery; since the fans are knowledgeable, the show needs to be as intelligent as the fan. Your announcer/commentators on the whole, treat drag racing as a carnival sideshow. Yes it's the toy department of the sports section, but the personalities of NHRA drag racing are vivid, deep and on the most part they are the show. The racing machines are marvels of ingenuity and triumph. NHRA, take the time to analyze and fix your TV show! Call me, we'll do lunch.

hawthorne@dragracingonline.com