Spring Fever Springs Eternal

4/7/03

I don't know about you, but I'm always glad when spring arrives. I hate cold weather more each year. I think it's all those aches and pains I have accumulated over the years -- any temperature below 60 degrees tends to bring those to the forefront. And the resumption of drag racing seems almost an impossibility in the middle of January. Now I know there are a sizable number of you out there that have already traveled to a national event or two, and have consequently put your "winter malaise" in the closet until next November. For me, that time came March 30.

You see, my local drag strip came back from the dead -- almost literally! Good old Kansas City International Raceway, after a winter of lawsuits, legal wrangling over noise abatement, zoning disputes and hand wringing from local media and drag racing industry types, has ultimately survived to race another day. At one point, I wouldn't have given you a bad dime for the yes side of that proposition. Despite having at least as many reasons not to go forward, track owners Rob Park and Jeff Martin threw down the Benjamin's and resurfaced the track, put in a new 330-foot concrete starting pad, put up concrete retaining walls, and did extensive paving in the pit area. No BS, it's the best the old girl has looked in a long time. As many things as they improved, Martin and Park would like to do even more. Said Martin, "We'd like to have all the amenities of a Kansas Speedway in a small racetrack, with some brand new bleachers, restrooms, concessions and parking." Park added, "...I doubt that we will ever be completely satisfied. We are constantly striving to improve our track."

Now officially resurrected, KCIR has booked a full schedule highlighted by the new Gomotorsports.com $50,000 Dead On Challenge. The first racer to put together a perfect reaction time and a dead-on-the-dial time slip gets the big payoff. Full details are available through the track. If any of you Midwest racers have been avoiding KCIR because of the track surface, go take a look at the new deal. I think you will like what you see. Heck, I'm just glad the place stayed open, in any condition! Now that I've seen all the "new" that's in place at KCIR, I can even be proud of my personal, favorite drag strip!

Now, just in, this headline from the national desk: PRO MOD GLUT HITS 1320 NATIONAL EVENT SCENE. And it didn't take all that long to happen! What, two years after getting in on the NHRA pie, far more Pro Mod hopefuls wish to run than NHRA can responsibly invite. If IHRA and NHRA run on the same weekend, there are a sum total of 24 open qualified spots available for Pro Mods in a nationals event style venue.

By rough estimate, there are about 100 Pro Mods lurking about out there, with another two dozen or so in various stages of readiness. Hey, sounds like a "Super" class to me! Sorry, I didn't really mean that. Maybe Pro Mods are the '70's funny cars, come back to life. Nope, not that either. Truth be told, the Match Race Madness days are a fond memory, never to be adequately reconstituted.

So what is Pro Mod, besides a class looking for more meaningful places to run? That is exactly what it is -- a class looking for more meaningful places to run! I know the Pro Mod guys just thrill at the prospect of racing in the shadow of the Snake and King Kenny and all that. And they like the big crowds that are the norm in NHRA-land. All well and good, but where's the future in all of that? Is it to forever beg for Pro status, while being regarded as the fourth best option by the Corporation? Is it to put on music events just outside the "promised land," replete with images of Confederate flags, bad teeth, and fat men in togas? God, I hope not! I think those who steer Pro Mod's future, whoever they are, need to think about spinning Pro Mod off into its own universe.

I mean, get serious! NHRA is never going to give the Pro Mod set its due. They don't need to, or they would have already done it. And the true bottom line is, eight spots is not enough -- for anybody involved! And NHRA has already tipped their hand on what they believe the future of drag racing is. Imports, God save us, is the message from Glendora, vis a vis the future of our sport. Maybe they even mean it! But I digress.

I think Pro Mod looks like an exciting version of the Indy Racing League. Don't shoot me just yet. After all, IRL is on NETWORK television, Pro Mod isn't. IRL attracts some non-automotive sponsor dollars, Pro Mod doesn't. IRL is a hot topic on ESPN and SpeedChannel racing news shows, Pro Mod isn't. Maybe IRL is a model for Pro Mod to model itself after. If the Pro Mod world started working on it right now, I bet they could land a good spot on SpeedChannel by the 2004 season-2005 at worst. I know that's not network TV, but at least they would have their own home, not whatever spot someone allows them to have. I do know one thing about the Pro Mod Glut. If all those guys don't eventually find some place to race, they will eventually find something else to do. And drag racing will be the poorer for it.

Let me wrap this up with a shameless DRO self-promotion exercise. May 8-10, Cordova Dragway Park will put on the ACDelco U.S. Open of Drag Racing, presented by RM Distributing. Some of us at DRO are helping to promote the event, which is essentially an open competition Top Fuel / Pro Mod / Pro Stock show coupled with an IHRA sportsman points race. Open Comp shows are, or have been pretty much a dying breed of drag racing event. Track owner Scott Gardner is to be commended for fighting the good fight, taking a risk and putting on a show that most promoters, to their everlasting discredit, run from like a plague unleashed! If you happen to be in the Quad Cities area May 8-10, or can persuade your significant other to travel to that garden spot by the Mississippi, consider taking in this year's U.S. Open of Drag Racing. It will be a good show (they even booked jet cars!) so stop by. You won't regret it, and we'll be there, too! What's not to like?

Later!!

racer4339@aol.com

< MORE STORIES >