ANSWER ME THIS, WILL YA?
6/8/06
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Maybe I'm just a dummy, but there are a lot of things that go on in drag racing that I just don't understand. This runs the gamut of rules (or the lack of same), the decision making process of the ruling class, even people's reaction to what they see and hear in the media and in person at the race track. I don't expect a flood of enlightening emails answering the questions that will make up this column, as I am sure you all are just as confused as I am -- even if you don't realize it! No, I'll just pose the question and give you my take on how things really are. This ought to be good for a threatening communiqué or two!
WHY HAVE SO MANY MISSED THE BOAT ON THE CAPPS / BAZEMORE DUSTUP?
The vote is in, and most folks out there seem to think it's nobody's biz but the puncher and the punchee. The fine was in order and here's why. It's a matter of liability. If NHRA lets guys duke it out at a venue they are in charge of, the lawsuits will follow, posthaste. What if Bazemore had gone down and stayed down? Do you honestly think his family wouldn't come looking for civil and criminal charges? Think again. And do we, as a sport, really want to go back to the "Glory Years," when you had to win in the parking lot and on the race track. If you think drag racing is a hard sell to Madison Avenue, let things regress to how it used to be, pugilistically speaking. The NBA has to relearn this lesson, from time to time -- surely drag racing is smarter than that.
WHY HAS NHRA DUG THEIR HEELS IN ON THE NEW TIRE?
If anything, the new tire is no better than the old one, from a chunking standpoint. And they don't last as long either, making it more expensive to boot. Don't try to hand me the stuff about Goodyear and how unprofitable the nitro tire business is either. If they don't like the money, they can leave. Why shouldn't the guys who are risking their butts have a choice on which tire they can run? Failing a major overhaul of the Top Fuel dragster as it is currently configured, having a choice of rear tire doesn't seem unreasonable to me. I guess that's what happens when a monopoly is in place.
WHAT WAS IHRA THINKING?
I mean when they decided to adjust their schedule to allow the cars and stars from the NHRA Funny Car ranks to race at IHRA shows. Have they no recollection of how NHRA
WHY IS THE REV LIMITER STILL IN PLAY?
Consider this: Don Garlits is the Number One Drag racer Of All Time. That's his official title. Even NHRA considers him to be so. Now consider this-he says rev limiters won't work. You can look it up in his book. Now I'm just a guy who "helps" on race cars every once in a while. No mechanic am I. So, if Don Garlits tells me something won't work, I'm inclined to think it won't work!
Seems to me that NHRA could have saved everyone a lot of time, money and stress had they just said no to rev limiters. I really don't think rev limiters have slowed cars down that much. And then there's the drivability issue. Several Funny Car drivers have stated things get "interesting" when the limiter kicks in. Let's just hope interesting is as bad as it gets. Can you guess how many lawsuits would be filed in the wake of a worst-case scenario, allegedly brought about by a device NHRA mandated for safety reasons? Neither can I!