Overall, it's a great article. I enjoyed reading it and sharing it with my racing buddies in Miami, Florida.

Sincerely yours,
Eric Williams

Norman Hechtkoff

P.S. Just wait 'till Druid history week….

While Rodney Flournoy isn't as well known as many of the folks featured in your tribute, I believe he deserves a mention. The few times I saw Rodney and family in action, he never failed to give it his best, on quite obviously a minimal budget. I believe his father was involved in the sport in the '60s as well.

Anyway…here's a pic from Firebird in the '80s.

Thanks, and keep up the GREAT work.
Chris Stinson

Thanks for the kind words, Chris. We agree with you about Rodney and his dad Eddie and that's why they were mentioned in the second paragraph of the article. Thanks for the photo of Rodney. -JB

Leigh Vail
Super Pro A516

SPOT ON NICHOLSON!
Jok Nicholson's recent column on bracket and general racing problems was spot on. I raced Super Comp and Super Eliminator dragsters for several years. I have also raced motorcycles, off road cars, shifter karts, speedway karts, and road race cars for almost 30 years. I quickly tired on the electronics issues in drag racing - it just makes racing less fun. I am now being drawn to a Stock or Super Stock Eliminator car because of that very thing in spite of the increased cost of these classes.

The rapid increase in the dollars needed to race competitively (and the multiple entry issue) is short sighted and will continue to diminish the number of entries as people get priced out of the market or tire of the hassle.

There need to be classes where rampant spending is allowed, but at the same time there need to be classes where the rules should be crafted to deter simply spending one's way to victory circle. Someone with more resources in racing will always have a better shot than someone with no resources, but an appropriate class structure with rules designed to minimize the effect of cubic dollars (only if coupled with a good tech procedure and serious penalties) will go a long way to reducing the barriers to initial entry and later remaining in the sport. There are also people with the dollars to play the game who are without the time to play with all of the stuff needed to be successful - they just want to race with the least hassle possible to have the maximum amount of fun. Look at the tremendous success of spec classes in other forms of racing. There are a large number of people who do not have the money (and people with the money but not the time to find the trick of the week) who really want to compete but who cannot or will not without appropriate classes.

Nicholson's ideas in his follow-up column are well worth a try. Example: There is no reason to make the first red light the loser when the first breakout is not. This does nothing but drive people to faster, more expensive cars without any good reason. If the slower car is significantly handicapped needlessly, the driver thereof will soon tire of the fight and just quit.

Walter Nash

DEAR JOK:
I am a racer from N.J. and I just wanted to let you know I enjoyed reading your first two columns and agree with you 100 percent. You have been both a racer and track operator and know both sides well. I have been a racer for over 30 years and have run brackets and NHRA, so I also have seen it all. Your ideas and input are all on target and both NHRA and local tracks should make changes to improve the sport. Trouble is, NHRA is like a snail when it comes to doing things and they only want to protray the "everything is great" image and local tracks are trying to make a profit (as they should).

Maybe your column will be read by some of the right people and some of your ideas will be adopted. I am new to the internet, but think it is great for the exchange of knowledge and ideas. I will be looking forward to your future columns.

Rich Biebel

AND BE SURE TO TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS, MIKE
This is the best damn drag racing coverage I've ever seen - don't stop. I'm an avid bracket racer; Jok is right on the money with his opinions. Wish I had found you sooner.

Thanks
Mike Cooper

BRADEN, OTHER FORMS OF MEDIA DON'T HAVE OUR DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
Excellent!!! My goodness, I like your articles. You really hit home with us at Peak Motorsports. I think you should get your articles out to other forms of media, too! Thanks for the good reading.

Braden Peak

Copyright 1999-2001, Drag Racing Online and Racing Net Source