DragRacingOnline.com - Drag Racing from a different perspective!

The letters about NHRA's television coverage on ESPN keep coming, so here is the second batch. Add your comments at response@dragracingonline.com

Darr, All I can say about your last column is: Hurray!! Clap, Clap, Clap... You get the picture. Great job!! I only get to attend 4-7 events per year and, Ho Hum, Yawn, the rest are on the tube. I go back a few years and have been a avid fan for over 38 of them. Hopefully things will change. Maybe we could start a grass roots movement to change the Boob Tube coverage... Let the readers know where to send suggestions, etc.

Darr, Great article. My fellow racers and I have been saying the same things for a long time. You hit all the nails right on their heads. It's gotten so that we don't care if we watch it or not. And the sportsman shows are just as bad, focusing on all alcohol. They can't even take a few seconds to scan the other sportsman finalists on the starting line to showcase closer the diversity of the cars/drivers and their sponsors, etc.

I'm sure this would have a greater effect on getting someone new, identifying with cars they can or may have, going to a race track to explore for themselves drag racing. As for the announcers, for whatever reason I see this stuff in big business all the time. The idiot at the helm is stupid and tries to baffle them with bull, but every time they need info, they go to the knowledgeable guys in the trenches whose knowledge make the idiot look good. Kind of a form of plagiarism.

Bill Stephens is so cold it's a wonder his lips don't freeze together. He/They have taken NHRA2Day to a lower level as you point out.

Lastly, I can't believe that with all the technology out there they can't capture the noise at a level that will give us the ferocity of the cars and speed without the distortion.

Darr, thanks for the article. I wondered if anyone else was bored with this format. I used to plan my Sunday around NHRA Today with Steve Evans and Bob Frey. It was fun and exciting. Now it is the same old boring no inside info no clowning around I'd rather be at church kind of show. And what about some of these tv air times? The only one awake at my house is the cat.

Jok, I would on some level agree to the mundane reading on the excitement meter, BUT, just a short time ago we had trouble finding any drag racing on t.v. at all. So having it on is at least, great for me cause I am AdDiCtEd. I Truly think, if they had decent announcers and somewhat competitive top fuel

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dragsters, that the IHRA has a pretty snazzy lineup! Mountain Motor Pro stock with the meatball just recently tearing up the strip, Pro Mod, super exciting, for kids it is monster trucks at 240mph, funny car? could be better, but the racing is high horsepower competitive excitement!

If we were to do what your buddy Burk had said recently about #1 qualifer meeting someone else other than #16 in the first round, we may see different faces.

Just remember, NHRA wants to be NASCAR, which they do not need to be because our sport is soooooo much more exciting, so they are focussing on certain drivers to make them the peoples hero like Jeff Gordon, Dale jr. etc.

Critiquing is good, complaining will return us back to where we were, without t.v. coverage at all.

Right there with you Jok! I find myself dozing off during most of those shows.---If they would mix in a little Stock-S/Stock action. They may be surprised at how many would T.V. viewers would enjoy that.---After all those cars ACTUALLY look like cars they own or have owned.

Jok, Amen brother! I dearly love drag racing, but I would rather watch the local yokels at our dinky track, as least the cars are varied. Listen up NHRA.

Some great observations in your recent column, Jok, and I agree 100%. I am so disenchanted with NHRA programming, I have let my wife and daughter watch HGTV instead of my watching NHRA this year. I am sure you will catch a lot of flack over your stand but I am also sure most of the diehard fans will agree with you.

Also some great suggestions about the sportsman inserts. I watch the LODRS stuff just for the glimpse they show of the sportsman stuff. I sure wish someone would show us some more of the real racers.

Can you do better? It seems everyone's an expert. I've seen highlights of NHRA races on TV since the 70's, and have yet to find any formula that captures the adrenaline of being there live. If you don't like it, watch something else!

Darr, Thank you for voicing what we have been thinking for too long! NHRA's tv coverage has gotten even worse this year - now you can't hear the burnouts or the launches of the nitro cars so you can hear the commentators babble. Mike Dunn is the ONLY one we like to listen to. We are sportsman racers and are SICK of the sportsman features on Ashley FORCE and Morgan LUCAS. God bless them and their racing, but what about the rest of us?!?!?!

I have written and complained, but your article (if someone at NHRA pulls their head out of the sands long enough to read it) should give them some starting points to success.

We have written to complain about the content and coverage of the shows to both ESPN and NHRA. Both are really good at pointing fingers at the other and saying "We are not responsible for what is covered, THEY are." ESPN is down to only shooting footage Sat. and Sun at National events. No more Friday. We have also written and complained about the continuous PRE-EMPTING of the NHRA coverage by bass fishing, tennis, and yes - even YACHTING!!! This is ridiculous!!!

Jok, I want to thank you for writing that last article. I consider myself one of the most diehard drag racing fans on this planet. I've stopped going out of my way to watch these races a couple of years ago. I feel that your site should really look at the Outlaw 10.5 races here in the south as the alternative to NHRA and even IHRA races for that matter. I've known about you for years from reading National Dragsters since the 70's so I'm pretty sure you would love the 6.00 class that they run at these events. This class blows off Super Gas class! These are full body cars with no delay boxes or any other electronics that run incredibly close to the index.

I grew up going to Englishtown every single weekend from '71-'92 then moving to Atlanta. I absolutely hated 1/8th mile racing when I got here so I didn't go to many races except the Southern Nationals and maybe a couple of points races. Now I feel like I've been reborn due to the Outlaw races. They have the perfect package which includes Limited Street, 6.00 and 7.00 classes. I truly believe that this type of racing is the future of drag racing as far track owners are concerned since they are still trying to attract paying spectators on a regular basis.

I'm sorry for being long winded but your article really hit it on the head. Thanks.

I, like you, am sick of the meaningless dribble that spews from these simpletons. Parker Johnstone is especially offensive to me, Bitch Boy sums him up. ESPN and Speed lack in covering Drag Racing for a number of reasons. To me the biggest problem with ESPN (is) they treat Drag Racing as any other spectator sport and give the audience the same approach as wrestling, football, and on. They need to take a lesson from the people who do the billiards coverage. Like billiards a lot of fans who watch Drag Racing also "play" so you approach them with a bit of dignity.

Scelzi's bits reduce him to a level of mediocrity he does not deserve, and that time could be used in so many other ways. I would much rather see a two hour NHRA today type show with real interviews and qualifying recaps than same day babblefests.

But I cannot bitch too much; at least they are covering it. I would like to see a Mike Dunn-Cameron Evans announce team with pit interviews from Dean Skuza. At least that might be really funny.

Hey Jok, great article. Nice to know someone else has noticed that Mike Dunn should be working alone or with someone that has a clue as what drag racing is about! This article really hits the nail on the head! Keep up the good work!

Darr, Hey, Damn fine piece of writing in this month's story! I AGREE 100%. I tune into NHRA drag racing because I've been to a race (or two) in my life and there is nothing like it. I turn the sound off on the TV and turn on my home sound system. Then, I turn the volume up to the point it hurts my ears. Now, I put on my hearing protection and watch the races. I want it to be like I am in the stands. Lately, the sound has been like watching a football game. Fix the sounds so we can hear it like it is at the track.

I want to see LESS of the hype (you know, I don't care about Del Worsham's kids. I'm sorry, I just don't care. I'd like to know more about his operation, but his family does not interest me in the least) and more passes down the strip.

Send a copy of your article and my letter to the NHRA and ESPN and see if they can get it right!!

PS. Tell them I am sick to death of stick and ball sports preempting drag racing. If I want to watch that I'll tune to a regular channel.

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