LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

It's great to be underway in Y2K! Yes, I know it's February, I'm talking about the Winternationals! I decided to miss my usual deadline so I could pass along my take on the year's first BIG GO. In truth, I was being my usual unproductive self and /or obsessing on the horse racing channel. At any rate, it's always good to get the new season started.

The BIG GO WEST always contains a good sized portion of intrigue and this edition was no exception. Let's start with Warren Johnson. He made news in the off season by switching to Hoosier tires, forsaking the tried and true Goodyear brand. During early qualifying action, da Professor wasn't exactly runnin' with the big dogs, as they say. "Electrical problems" was the official word from the official sources. "OK, so how come those guys are cutting the Goodyear letters off those tires ," some insensitive type may or may not have said. Whatever! By now you know WJ made the cut and ended up second best to the Jeg clan. This isn't exactly a Balkan crisis in the making, but it WOULD be best for all parties if the Indiana rubber works better next time around!

Nice debut for the Bruce Sarver-driven, Alan Johnson-tuned Nitro Funny Car team. The new combo made the semis, but went out with clutch problems. The team's sponsor, emoola.com is a new player on the scene, offering an interesting mix of Internet services. For the racer's sake, we hope this is a "real money" deal and emoola is in for the long haul.

And how about the gold lion on the side of Doug Kallitta's ride. I don't have any reliable info on this deal, but again we hope it isn't a short-term arrangement (like through Las Vegas, for instance).

I guess it's "so far, so good" on the new anti-oildown rules for the nitro classes. I'll bet you could get an argument from the ten teams who had their wallets lightened a collective $5,500.00 in qualifying, though. I know, I know, NHRA had to do something. But most people I've talked to (all of whom have run or are currently running nitro cars) feel a reduction in fuel pump volume would be a much better way to attack the problem. But for now, NHRA is getting what they want: fewer oildowns, a more compact event time-wise (by a whopping 1/2 hour), and a verifiable gesture to the liability insurance industry.

And surprises of surprises! The new TV show looks just like it did in 1999! Same interviews, same managed to miss the burnouts timing, same voices saying the same things. The only noticeable change was Shelley Anderson's wardrobe. Nice businesslike look!

I have to stand by my earlier comments regarding NHRA's television presence. The show HAS to become more visually compelling. You can have all the properly placed advertising, all the "new look" commercials, all the press releases you want, but if it isn't interesting looking, new viewers will most likely be one-time viewers. I wish it weren't so, but my gut says it is!

That's enough for now. Don't forget to e-mail with any and all rants.

photo by Jeff Burk

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