When I saw this, I thought, "What the hell is going on?" Where is the round-by- round, the times? This sucks. I mean it looks like the results of a roundy-round race. Now, NHRA's press room may have done this before. I don't know. However, it's an idea whose time has come and ... gone.

I am guessing that in the interests of saving time after the race or personnel cutbacks, NHRA decided to butcher the coverage of this race. I assume that Dixon won and likely beat Kalitta in the final. I further guess that Bernstein and Schumacher were the semifinalists and that when you work it all out that the "order" of finish represents the rounds in which a particular racer went out.

Mama mia, you talk about sloppy journalism. That set-up tells me next to nothing about the race. In addition, right below this type of listing the finish, NHRA further scrambles the eggs by listing the POWERade top 10. So you have six sets of numbers: the first three sets the finish of the individual race; amd the second set of three being the top 10 pro standings. It could be confused by the uninitiated that two races were held if a reader wasn't paying attention.

BOOOOOO!!!!!

NHRA is always concerned with attracting new fans and this does nothing to accomplish that. There may be a good excuse for this "new" style of reportage but words like "booze," "drugs," "police raid," better be included in the explanation.

NHRA. This is a warning. I don't want to see a repeat of this. Got it.

MY PERSONAL CALENDAR

This coming weekend I'll be heading to my fifth race this year, the FRAM Nationals at Sonoma, California. The old Sears Point facility was completely made over last year, and for my veteran race watching companions, Johnny Brown, Terry Lee, "Gumbo", Bobby Wong and the rest of the pirates did not like it. We were among the denizens who parked on that mobile home, trailer ridge to the West that overlooked the track. In the "old" days (two years ago, you could see the track or most of it and it was one of the really great viewing spots on the NHRA trail. Apparently not, anymore. The brand new super bleacher sits right in the middle of our plain of view. Sort of like having a 600-lb couple sitting in front of you. The name of the new joint is Interferon (????) Raceway. Judging from what I heard last year, it should be called "Interference Raceway." Anyway, there were other changes at the old "Point" and I'll be here to record them for you, especially the fans to the East, who haven't been to this seaside resort of sorts.

On the subject of new tracks, the Burkster and I will be making our annual Midwestern Swing, the 50th Annual Cordova (Ill.) World Series of Drag Racing followed by the U.S. Nationals. Now over the past 10 years, my attitude towards being assigned to covering Indy has been like having my grapes pressed. Not all that happy with it. The race is overhyped and overlong. When I leave, my eyes have frozen over and that I'm permanently slack-jawed. This year, there have been many physical changes to the old Clermont plant and I must say that, based on the drawings and photos, I'm more than a little curious to see what has happened.

Hopefully, it won't be like what I hope is not their new way of sending race coverage to the nation's dailies.