WHERE IS THE DRIVING SKILL?
I have been a drag racer since the early '50s and I am bored
with the current pro races. I think it would be much more
interesting if the sanctioning bodies would take away the
automatic clutch release mechanism and make the driver operate
the clutch with his or her left foot. That would make the
driver responsible for getting the car down the track and
the driver would have the option of pushing in the pedal
slightly and slipping the clutch when the tires go up in
smoke. That would take skill, something that is lacking
in the pro classes when every car is set up by the crew
chief in the pits and the driver stands on the throttle
and hopes he did it right.
Charlie Gilmore
GEEZER SPEAK
Just one thing...I don't think the "World" Finals
have been run in 15 or 20 years. The race at Pomona in November
was the Auto Club Finals, and prior to that, it was the
Winston Finals, and before that...the Winston World Finals.
Just being an ass...sorry.
Mitch Cooper
Tacoma, WA
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BURK'S REPLY
As far as I'm concerned the U.S. Nationals, World Finals,
Winternationals, Gatornationals, et al. will always be known
by those names regardless of who or what is the title rights
sponsor. That was a policy Dave Wallace and I started back
in the 1980s when we worked together at Petersen and I continued
at Super Stock when the NHRA guys started having names of
races in their PR releases that took up a whole paragraph
on their own. --JB
SAME OLD SAME OLD
Jeff, you write frequently about a decline in drag racing's
TV ratings. Recently you cited the lack of side-by-side
racing. I'm not so sure that is the problem. For me, it
is the many years of "sameness". All the cars
are the same, all the engines are the same, all the drivers
and crews are the same (they just move around a lot). Same,
same, same.
Now we have an even BIGGER problem most of the pro teams
are owned by the same 2-3 guys.
So, here is the (near) future...."Sunday-Sunday-Sunday,
It's Team Kallita vs. Team Schumacher!!!!!!! Gates open
at 11:00....eliminations at 3:00."
John Suggs
