Photo by Jeff Burk

8/8/03

Seattle sucks...
and some summer plans

efore I write anything currently, I must digress to a column I wrote six weeks ago. That being "This God Business." To say the very least, I was utterfly flattered by the response. Never in my free- lancing career have I gotten such reader response and I must say it was gratifying. I am not going to wax on about this subject as the name of the book is "Dragracingonline.com". However, I am a believer, contrary to popular opinion, that the only two things really worth talking about are religion and politics and the response to this column re-inforced that for me. All the other subjects are mere preliminaries.

I will say that I felt that most of the disagreements with my position came from failure to really read and grasp what I was saying ala 1950s McCarthyite holdover Burdick (I'm kidding Rich - sort of) in that column. Some just flat missed the point and assumed that I was making a pitch for atheism or some such thing. I am an atheist, but that was not what that column was addressing. Plain and simple to the religious amongst us, I said "back it up a tad," don't smear your beliefs all over us as soon as a mic pops up in front of you. I am extremely anti-conservative (both democratic and republican) and you don't see ole C. Bley Motorsports Au Go Go pour that all over you. Do you!? Huh? Do you!? Well, okay, maybe just one time, but that was in rebuttal to the free pass that the ultra-religious get in drag racing and, quite frankly, all of the major sports. Anyway that was the point.

However, all that aside, should you care to continue any dialogue on this subject, you may contact me through the magazine and I will gladly address your concerns personally. To quote the great John L. Sullivan, "I can whip any S.O.B." in the house" when it comes to debating religion. There is nothing and I repeat NOTHING that turns me on more than political or religious debate. And with that out of the way, happy motoring, and on to Drag Racing.

Seattle Sucks ...

God, was the second stop on the NHRA Western Swing, the Car Quest Auto Parts Nationals at Seattle International Raceway, a crummy race or what? NHRA has had some dandies this year, but when low qualifying e.t. for Top Fuel is a 4.67 and only five Funny Cars run in the fours ... "Ref, Stop the Fight." Somebody fix that slapnuts old track. I, for the most part, agree totally with Joe Amato crewchief Wayne Dupuy's summation of the left lane after a second-round Top Fuel loss. I don't know if I'd lay all the blame on NHRA's track preparation, but I certainly would lean on Seattle management for the sorry ass shape state that course was in.

And on the subject of Seattle. I think even NHRA was leery about the crappy performances in the pine trees. There are times when I can't watch the ESPN telecasts and have to count on the coverage in the L.A. Times the next morning. I turn to the back pages of the paper and in agate type there is a round-by-round/complete with winner and loser times breakdown of the three (or four in case of Pro Stock Bike). Good deal, if I see that Larry Don ran a .. oh say 4.71, 314.46 to beat Cory McClenathan's 5.99, 120.00, I can A.) see who won and B.) Make a fairly educated guess as to what happened, i.e.in this example McClenathan likely smoked the tires against Dixon, who made a somewhat subpar pass. Fairly easy stuff, but not anymore.

This morning, the Monday after the Car Quest Nationals, I go to the stats on the back page and find the following:

At SEATTLE Top Fuel-1.) Larry Dixon. 2.) Doug Kalitta. 3.) Kenny Bernstein. 4.) Tony Schumacher. 5.) David Baca. 6.) Scott Weis. 7.) Darrell Russell. 8.) David Grubnic. 9.) Cory McClenathan. 10.) Paul Romine. 11.) Mike Strasburg. 12.) Doug Herbert. 13.) Don Sosenka. 14.) Rhona Hartman-Smith. 15.) John Smith. 16.) Ron Smith.

Now remember these are the race results.