Media Watch
6/7/04
  This
has been an incredibly busy month in SoCal,
so rather than dealing with one particular item
I had some random thoughts I scrawled on the
shop wall.
NHRA American Idol
No, it is not a new FOX game show with popularity
voting by telephone, this season’s version
is “B-Squared”, the anointing of
Brandon Bernstein. According to a couple of
sources, NHRA Marketing has assigned a Glendora
employee to work directly with Brandon on his
march back and forth across the country fronting
and pimping the local media with one-on-one
interviews of their heir apparent. Please don’t
get me wrong, I like Brandon and once you get
past the “hats off” speech he’s
a cool guy to talk with; he’s got his
own personality and is currently the POWERade
points leader.
As a professional spectator I wasn’t
a big fan of his father; other fuel coupe drivers
kept my attention like the Ace, Beadle, Snake
and Dale Pulde. I respect Kenny and his longevity
in our sport for his wins, his championships,
his versatility and his incredible relationship
with Budweiser, but to allegedly assign an NHRA
staff person to KB’s son at the expense
of all the other drivers and their worthy stories
is very short-sighted. Other drivers, including
past champions, are starting to question why
Brandon is getting the majority of ink in the
local papers in every city. Does Kenny’s
superior PR machine headed by Susan Arnold really
need this kind of help?
Television Flubs
When Street & Smith’s Sports Business
Journal published the awful truth about TV ratings
for the first five NHRA POWERade events, except
for Vegas, there must have been much gnashing
of teeth now that the information was out of
containment. Despite the “consistent growth”
spin repeatedly coming from a few NHRA marketing
execs to newspaper reporters, the Nielsen numbers
don’t lie.
One more thing. Who the hell cares about “team
orders”? TV interviewers have beaten that
horse to death and it is still very dead. John
Force has made it clear on numerous occasions
that team orders are only something he might
use later in the season when a position in the
points chase is a factor. Television tried to
fabricate a controversy when Eric Medlen had
his starting line clutch weirdness in Chicago
versus the Boss. Medlen made it clear in a Topeka
interview following that incident, with Mike
Dunn, that there was a malfunction in the clutch
system. Medlen said, “It got way too much
throttle, it got way too much ignition, it basically
jumps off the carpet like a cat.”
In an interview with Force and Tony Pedregon
on the Topeka top end after their successful
qualifying runs an interviewer reminded Tony,
“You said last week that you hope John
races his teammate.” In what may have
been one of the most uncomfortable televised
scenes this year Tony looked away, stammered,
changed expressions and averted his eyes. Did
it make the show better when Pedregon, our reining
POWERade Funny Car champion, squirmed uncomfortably?
A lot of sports fans still think that drag racing
is just above monster truck racing and by repeatedly
bringing up the “fix” of team orders
you piss on the hard earned credibility that
NHRA drag racing strives to gain with sports
media and the corporate world.
Congratulations to Marty Reid, he seems to
have listened to the fans and critics and cut
back on some clichés leaving potential
audio spaces for the TV viewer to hear the majesty
of a nitro motor on a burnout or quarter mile
pass. Unfortunately some broadcast partners
see that as a window to insert commentary and
fill up the dead air. I’m sure you guys
will work out the signals; it’s a new
concept. Let us hear the power, don’t
describe it.
By the way, just a little correction to the
Topeka coverage. Roland Leong didn’t give
the Snake his first ride in 1965. Kent Fuller
gave Prudhomme his first ride, first major ride,
with the Greer Black & Prudhomme dragster
long before Roland came on the drag racing scene
with the Hawaiian floppers. I know this may
be akin to picking pepper out of rabbit shit,
but our past drag racing pioneers who brought
us to this point in NHRA history is important
to many people. Please don’t use partial
snippets of our rich history to suit a story.
6000, 7000, 7500, 8000
Would somebody please step forward with a definitive
number for the horsepower attained by a nitro
snorting, supercharged, dual mag, Hemi-based
engine? One driver says 6000, the next crew
chief says 8000 and so on. Could we ask Austin
Coil, Alan Johnson, Dick LaHaie, Tim Richards,
Lee Beard and Ray Alley to get together to concur
on a standardized figure? How about organizing
an informal dinner meeting at El Merendero restaurant,
behind the Pomona tower? I know there is no
precise way to discern that much power, but
if they could all agree on any number, right
or wrong, it would be a simple fix to an odd
problem in drag racing.
 And
finally
Congratulations to Pedregon Racing for taking
a chance by changing their fan apparel with
the Wicked Quick line of clothing. Tony and
Cruz have set a new standard by finding their
own roots in what looks like West Coast graphic
design. So many drivers, owners and teams print
the same old tired Sam Bass NASCAR-style shirts
with a painted car and smiling head, but Team
Pedregon moved in a decidedly different direction
with simple, clean, retro-feeling Hispanic-inspired
style. Where's my checkbook? 
|
