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 LET'S
GET READY TO RUMBLE!!
Hey! It's finally time to start the 2002 drag racing season. And not
a second too soon for those of us here in the Midwest. Lenny's home
base just to the east of Kansas City has been iced in the last few days,
so a dose of hot 1320 action will be a welcome respite from the ravages
of winter. Pomona is upon us, and with it the start of the "new era"
of NHRA national event drag racing. With the new POWERade strength on
tap, the Cal-Guys look poised to storm ahead to the next level of drag
racing professionalism, whatever that may be.
Lest ya think we've all gone soft on NHRA at old DRO, let me drop a
gripe into the mix right here. It's an old one, and not a few have already
beat me to the punch, but I like to pile on as much as the next naysayer.
It's about the round money guys. Do you ever get the idea that NHRA
(or any promoter type, for that matter), can never see beyond the first
half-dozen cars at the top of a given eliminator? The POWERade dollar
distribution would hint that, no they can't. The hitters will be better
off under the new deal, but the rest of the Pro fields are pretty much
swallowing the same load as in the past. You could make the argument
that a national event will only support so many "star acts," and you
probably wouldn't be too far towards wrong, but the current round money
amounts almost assure constant turnover from spots nine and down on
the Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car charts.
Think of it like this. Picture the upcoming baseball season. The Yankee's
lead the East Division AL race after a few weeks, with the next series
slated for good old Kansas City. Right before departure time, Boss George
gets a call on the Red Phone. "Fugeddaboudit," a voice on the other
end mumbles. "Da Royals are outta ammo, and dose guys are off the tour.
Ya gotta go to Peoria, capice?" Actually, that scenario is all too possible,
given the contraction talk going around. But I digress.
It's kind of a stretch, but when the "Pro" lineup keeps changing, the
sport is just that much harder to promote to prospective new fans. It
has always seemed to me that anybody who goes to the effort to launch
a pro 1320 team should get the support of the organizers, in terms of
prize money. And in some respects, promoters are almost enlightened
these days, when you consider the old days when most of that lot truly
believed they were doing racers a favor by providing a "safe" place
to race. Ah, progress!!
And hey, how about those NHRA Pro Mod Shows? I love tape delay, don't
you? It ain't a surprise it came down to that, what with the time crunch
always extant on drag racing TV shows. I just hope NHRA doesn't use
the sure-to-be-weak ratings that are the outcome of tape-delay to make
a case against Pro Mod expansion. Nothing like being a step-child before
you even show up, eh?
And speaking of IHRA, congrats on landing back on TNN for the upcoming
season. And apparently, the shows will be done in real-time, not months
after the fact. Say, I wonder whatever became of the TNN exec who got
rid of all the motorsports and country lifestyle programming a while
back. Probably got a raise, and a ticket to the dead letter department
(away from the decision button, if you will!).
And how we are looking forward to Bob Glidden returning to Pro Stock
action. No kidding, with Bob, ya always got an honest reaction. Maybe
even a knuckle sammich, if ya didn't unnerstand the spoken version!
All joking aside, Glidden is all racer, all the time, and drag racing
can always use some more of that! And do you think Hoosier Bob won't
be jacked at the prospect of getting back on top of the career wins
heap. Unless he's totally lost it, I lay 5 to 2 odds this turns into
the story angle of the 2002 tour.
Lastly, the thing I want to know is this. With the economy in the toilet,
the market in a tizzy, Enron on the congressional hot seat, and everything
but Kenny Bernstein's T-shirt sales in doubt, how much is the current
national mood going to affect you, the average DRO viewer in how you
will be enjoying our sport? Going to fewer races, buying cheaper parts,
leaving it in the trailer? We at DRO would like to know. Feel free to
e-mail us with your thoughts, plans, lack thereof -- whatever the case
may be. If we get a volume of stuff, it might even morph into a feature
story. I can hardly go to fewer races this year than I've been going
to the last couple of years, but ya never know!
So for now, it's Later!!
racer4339@aol.com
photo by Jeff Burk
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