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RACERS NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SAFETY

Why in the world would you blame the sanctioning bodies for not " REQUIRING" full face or neck restraints??? The racer can buy these now... I haven't seen many racers who will step up voluntarily, but that is a shame. I haveseen racers going down Little River Raceway, then complain about the Motorplex.

Get off it, and take responsibility for your own health.

Jill Gottesman

SOME PEOPLE THINK IT'S A LOT OF HOT AIR

I think DragRacingOnline is a breath of fresh air for racers. NHRA is great, but not the only game in town. I get the impression from them that they feel if it is not NHRA it doesn't exist. I would love to see a level playing field where it is not hinged on corporate sponsorships. The pro classes can't fill the field at a lot of races due to the immense costs. The sport has turned into a professional baseball team where it is all about money instead of the love of the game. The future of drag racing depends on whether the younger crowd can afford to race.

OK, I have vented enough about that. Martin's poem on Garlits was right in line in his own twisted way, I liked it.

Think you all are supplying the world with a lot of great racing info, keep up the good work.

Michael Fialho
(frustrated racer)

Oh, okay, a single letter about Martin's poem. - Editor

IF THEY WANTED TO

Just wondering why they call it the NY Yankee dragster if the Steinbrenners are not footing the bill to race a full season? The Steinbrenners have enough money to field a dozen Top Fuelers if they wanted.

Same holds true for Alan Johnson and Toyota. If Toyota wants to go Funny Car racing, why don't they cough up all the money needed??

Just wondering,
John D.

BURK REPLIES

It's all about the Benjamins, John. In the case of the Yankees car, the Steinbrenner family footed the bills for the initial season. According to my sources the plan was that the Yankee name would bring a lot of associate sponsorhip and money to the car and that the team would sell a lot of apparel. In both cases the Yankee baseball team association never did bring the associate sponsorships or sell enough apparel. George Steinbrennner is known to be a bit of a spender when it comes to buying players for the Yankee teams because of the return for the cash outlaw. Drag racing never did that for the family.

About the same thing applies to the Johnson/Toyota project. My sources have told me from that from jump street Toyota (or rather TRD) was just involved in the progam to deliver a couple of bodies and that was it. Apparently that info was right. I think AJ has spent all of his own money or Winston money left over from the 2001 season and isn't going for broke, so to speak, in order to race. After all, he has very little left to prove in this sport.

I guess the bottom line is that to paraphrase a line many professional athletes have heard over the years, "It's just business; nothing personal, you understand."

Hope that explains a little. -- Jeff Burk

IS CANNON PRO MOD DREAMING?

I enjoyed Burk's piece regarding the Pro Modified race to break the 5-second barrier. I can't help thinking that Scotty Cannon must be wishing that he could step away from his funny car duties long enough to attempt to bust open the 5s at the wheel of a P/M. Although the odds of us seeing a "legit" first-in-the 5s may seem like a stretch when we start thinking and doin' the math, let us not forget that when Bob Newberry was the first alky funny in the 5s, he dipped all the way down to 5.95... He went waaay deeper into the 5s than most racin' folks would have guessed the "first in the 5s" for that class would have been... So, hey, ya never know... Somebody might surprise us in Pro Mod sooner than later... And yes, that "somebody" possibly may have become Cannon if he just could have just woke up one morning, looked his flopper in the eye and just have the moxy to "walk away" back to a phat 'n' fast car with doors and "get busy" again with his TRUE rivals.

Diana "The Doc" Thomas
(Celebrity Motorsports Authority & Visionary)

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