MAYBE A LITTLE BIT TOO MUCH NITRO THERE, EH KEVIN?

As the NHRA and the IHRA get ready to reach the end of the 2003 season I am a little surprised on how it has gone. I went to my first drag race back in 1972 when I was 4 years

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young. Now at the age of 35 I attend about 5-6 national events a year throughout the USA. It has all changed for the better. But, has it really? It's nothing to see a crew chief let go if not at the end of a race or during Sunday eliminations.

I also LOVE this web-site. Wake up and Smell the Nitro tells it like it is. It does not mix words and it tells the whole story. I have a really good feeling that it has pissed off NHRA.com and National Dragster. Yes, I do get ND every week at my front door step, and NHRA.com is in my favorites on the internet. The only problem with these two publications is they only tell you what they want you to know. This web-site tells it ALL! Plain and simple. I really enjoyed the in-depth info on the race in Seattle, WA. The only real person to voice their opinion was Wayne Dupey crew chief for Darrell Russell. I am surprised it even made it on the air and was not edited out. The situation with Whit Bazemore and Gary Scelzi is like a circus. I have a feeling that it is far from over. We have not heard the last of this. Also, the story about Gary Densham is nothing new. I remember talking with people in Joliet last fall during the NHRA national event that he was tired of "laying down" for Team Force. I am glad this web-site is telling the story. I am very anxious to see how the schedule is going to go for the NHRA 2004 season. I have a feeling that if there was a vote taken by all the drivers there would not even be a national event in Seattle, WA next year.

I could go on, but I won't. I must admit I love drag racing and I always will. I have been reading and hearing that things in NASCAR are not going well at all. Ever since Winston pulled out the fans are really pissed off. They are going to have to learn to deal with it just like the NHRA did. I can honestly say I would not walk across the street to see a NASCAR race. Simple reason; not fan friendly. In drag racing my ticket is a PIT PASS!! Nothing more needs to be said.

Keep up the great work. Thank you.

Mr. Kevin A. Bennett:-)

FAIR VS FUEL

[This is a copy of a letter sent several months ago to National Dragster, but so far not published. Guess they are waiting for the double-dog dare.]

Welcome to the National, OOPS, the Nitro Hot Rod Association. Let's take a look at who's really running the show at N.H.R.A. Larry Morgan gets fined $2,500.00 for making an "unsportsman" like comment, Re: N.H.R.A.'s track preparations being unsafe. (Forget the fact that he's 100% correct; my partner and I slide our Comp car down N.H.R.A.'s stellar racing surfaces on a monthly basis, too.) Yet the Top Fuel round one boxing match between Doug Herbert's and Clay Millican's Top Fuel teams not only managed to avoid any unsportsman like fines, it was glorified by being shown time after time on Nationwide TV. Maybe Herbert's right hook is what N.H.R.A. means by finally having real power! Two Fuel Cars in a staging "burn down", obviously creates an unsafe racing condition, risking running out of fuel and self-destructing, hence causing a massive oil down. If Herbert wanted to force Millican to stage his car, all he had to do was go in first, forcing Clay to be in within 7 seconds. Snap-0n must have loved this type of TV exposure.

Then all of N.H.R.A.'s other "fair haired son's" got up in arms about making those two re-fuel and run first. Their qualifying order gives them the right to run after the first pair, thus enabling the remaining teams to make tuning changes. That's true; at least in Fuel. What happened when Larry Nance and Gene Wilson got under each other's skin opening pair of round one in Seattle. They went to the back of the pack forcing all other teams to run ahead of them.

Do the Fuel Cars refer to the same rule book we use? The power that Fuel Teams have politically within N.H.R.A. is staggering. They were very instrumental in the demise of Pro-Stock Truck. I mean who wants to watch 40 or 45 Pro-Stock Truck teams fight it out for final elimination fields, typically separated by 3 or 4 hundredths, when we can watch in "awe" as the 18 or 20 Fuel Cars, per class fight it out for one of the "coveted" spots in the 3 tenths top to bottom, tire smoking, belt tossing, cylinder dropping, train length close contests of N.H.R.A.'s most exciting classes.

Signed...

Another Red Headed Step Child Comp Racer

Jack Maddock

P.S. I double dare you to print this "As Is."