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Jeff Burk Photo |
Wouldn't It Be
Nice?
8/9/04
I am not the big U.S. Nationals
fan that a lot of my compatriots are. I've been
to many of them, but in recent years they've
just become too homogenized and corporate for
my taste.
Nothing personal. Look at everything else. Baseball and football with its corporately named stadiums. The blandest kind of pop in the world winning "Album of the Year" accolades. It seems like everything in entertainment has become nothing more than a rolling billboard for the billionaires.
And sadly, but predictably, this karma has tattooed our little corner of the world. You either have the money to race professionally (even in most of the Sportsman eliminators) or you hang out at the grudge races.
The U.S. Nationals is easily the most hyped drag race in the world, and well it should be. National DRAGSTER has filled you in with probably more details than you want, and that lathering has been going on before the days that I toiled there.
One of the bright spots at a show that is, for the most part, the long version of a typical NHRA event, has been the SS/AA eliminations that precede the finals. I love it. Drag racers from all over the country show up with the car that gave drag racing "doorslammers" muscle -- the 426 Mopar Hemi. Sure, it's primarily nostalgia for the veteran fans, but, what the hey, there aren't any more big guns from Detroit.
With gas as high as $2.60 a gallon can you imagine feeding the habit of a 426 SS/AA '69 Plymouth Barracuda. It would be like keeping Courtney Love with a medicine cabinet full of pharmaceuticals.
That class eliminator does more for me to capture the spirit of the way Indy used to be than any other NHRA production.
Indy was truly national in scope 20 years ago. Everyone who was remotely competitive would save their aluminum cans so they could get the scratch to get to Indianapolis.
Today, you look at national events that have class eliminations and 80-percent of them are single runs and a good deal of the winners are sponsored to some degree. There are not a flood of cars making this event national.
Let me show you what I mean.
I have in front of me coverage of the 1966 NHRA Nationals and am looking at the list of class finals: There were 90 of them and out of that group, there were just three bye runs for the trophy.
These were really excellent races, some of these classes sporting as many as two dozen cars, maybe more. Lemme give you an example of what I mean.
In B/XS (B/Experiental stock -- sort of junior funny cars), Cordova World Series winner Lee Smith came in second to Vernon Rowley in the ex-Sox & Martin Plymouth, 10.11 to 10.44. That's Towson, Maryland versus Moline, Illinois. How about B/S (B/Stock) In the final there, Tom Kerr's '66 Chevy out of East Palestine, Ohio took a 12.3 to 12.31 win over Dick Arons, the same Dick Arons that was then teamed with Pro Stock great Wally Booth. In C/SA, Californian Dave Kempton beat Bob Dodds' Grove City, Ohio entry in a battle of Plymouths. C/SX class honors went to Detroiter Tom Tignanelli over Portland, Oregon heavyweight Bill Ireland -- and on it goes.
The point of all this?
I forgot.
No. I think that at future U.S. Nationals events that if it's financially possible, NHRA should really make this "granddaddy" its biggest event. Not in terms of hype. Not in terms of most times the national anthem is played. Not in terms of one special pairing in qualifying between legends like Don Garlits or Chris Karamesines (although that sets well with me).
Why not make a special deal with some of the Sportsman sponsors that would get a lot of those great racers that compete in their divisional points events to come out to Indy. Admittedly, I don't know how much money is out there to maybe pay tow money or hotel bills or whatever. But, what would be wrong with really making Indy a real national event? Five days, run classes, who's got the best A/Dragster or C/Stock Automatic or P/S car in the country. To me, it would be fantastic to see this kind of competition again.
In addition, maybe they could throw in some match races in the nitro or Pro Modified ranks to spice the show up. Whatever. As for me, I'd much prefer the second Chicago race or Maple Grove or even the hometown Pomona over the grueling self-congratulatory dance in Indianapolis.
This is not just mere nostalgic whining. Indy needs to stand out more. Sure, there's the bikes and the Shootout, and recently Pro Modified. However, it's just not the same. In terms of raw competition determining a real U.S. National champion, the old boy is really sucking wind. The Nationals is just another race on the calendar for a number of people.
I think imagination SHOULD run wild in Glendora. Maybe, NHRA is as bankrupt
as Enron, but if it isn't. . . .
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