Is It All Right If I Say It?

8/8/05

was out at the Irwindale 1/8 mile drag strip on a recent Thursday night to ask a few questions of spectators in order for them to win some tickets and posters for the Goodguys Nitro Nationals at Pomona. I know back at the old Irwindale quarter mile if somebody was offering free anything--a logo key chain, sticker, or a t-shirt--there’d be a mob.

Now last year when I handed out tickets to the same event the drag strip’s manager allowed Jeff Gaynor’s nitro 'Cuda, Dan Horan’s nitro Mustang and the Estrus nitro Vega Funny Car to make some test laps. At that event Horan set the track speed record at 176 miles per hour. This year, because of mandated noise abatement there would be no nitro, but the tickets and swag were still there.

I’d also been trying to get some NHRA Communications people out to see the local NHRA crowd at an NHRA sanctioned strip, hell you can almost see Irwindale Raceway from 2035 Financial Way in Glendora. Once again a personal appointment came up, which I certainly understand, but this particular evening would have been a good one to witness from an NHRA marketing standpoint.

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I’d thought of a few questions with obvious answers any regular drag fan could answer. “What kind of car holds the speed record here at Irwindale and set it one year ago,” I asked and got a lot of blank stares from the under 30 crowd. Breathlessly a grey haired, bearded guy came over from the nearby staging lanes to say, “Dan Horan’s Mustang Funny Car, I was here that night,” he yelled. That got him a pair of tickets.

Next I thought of a more universal drag racing question, “Who is the woman who won the NHRA Top Fuel championship three times?” Another batch of blank stares were on the other side of the fence, then one guy yelled out, “Lisa Kubo, Lisa Kubo!” Out of the crowd stepped another 50-something guy who knew it was Shirley and strip announcer John Partridge asked as a bonus, “What is her nickname?” He didn’t want to say Cha-Cha, “Is it all right if I say it?” OK, we all know how much Muldowney despised that nickname at one point of her career, but we have another winner!

Question three, another obvious one for just about everyone I know. Who is the 13-time NHRA Funny Car champion who lives here in Southern California? Another bunch of blank stares as another 40-something guy comes down from the grandstand saying it was John Force, although he wasn’t sure of the city, but it was clear that we’d better get off of the drag racing questions for this bunch of spectators. Wait, how about a sport compact question… nope, time to move on.

Announcer Partridge suggested the “Runn-nnnn-nnnn-Runn-nnnn-nnnn-Runn-nnnn-ahh” game where spectators would imitate an uncorked, four-banger revving up on the starting line, something they’ve heard often. All of a sudden there were five or six enthusiastic volunteers, every one of them under 22 years of age. There were a couple of innovative sound effects, truly worthy of a free ticket, but is this what today’s drag fan has come to?