Darr, kudos to your article! Maybe that is why it is on tv so late at night that the normal working man can't watch. And I guess NHRA thought ESPNgave them a good deal. Still haven't seen a live portion of drag racing preempt a stick and ball sport or even poker for that matter!

John Marischen

Jeff, I agree with your most recent editorial regarding the quality of the NHRA presentations on ESPN2. One production value I have found lacking in their new format vs the old TNN format is sound quality. I may be wrong, but I believe that the TNN broadcasts had much better sound quality, therefore you had a better sense of the power being generated by the engines.

For the average fan that goes to an NHRA division or national race, half of the race experience is the "noise" being generated from the fuelers and the alcohol cars. We are prime examples of that scenario. My son and I race Super Eleminator in Division 7 and most of the time when we hear the "noise" coming from the track, we stop what we are doing to go to the stands and watch the big cars race. When you are at a national race, the stands are packed when the big cars are qualifying or racing. Not so for the Super Class racers. It's the sounds!

With the proliferation of better sound systems, surround sound, etc., I believe it is something that NHRA really needs to address in order to make it exciting. Unless they do, to the casual fan, its just a bunch of cars going straight for a couple of seconds. "That's even more boring that watching a bunch of cars going around in circles all day!"

Regards,

Ron Koch

It is my considered opinion, and experience, that complaining to the guys who do the work is not too productive. Complaints should be directed to management. When I have poor service from a restaurant worker, complaining to that person seems to do little good. However, when I have taken my complaints upstairs (to management or the corporate level, things get done.

If we expect action on the issue of bad TV coverage of the sport we love, going to the people who are creating and delivering the junk is, at best, not the right place, and at worst going to fall on deaf ears because they think they are doing a wonderful job with all their kitchy doo-dads.

We should be addressing the corporate honchos who have the power to do something about it: at NHRA that would be the President or the Board of Directors; at IHRA it would be the honchos at Clear Channel Communications. Those are the real power behind what gets on the air. Hopefully, they love the sport as much as we do, and they have control of the purse strings to do something about it.

Thanks for listening ... and caring about drag racing.

Dale Tuley

Jeff, I couldn't agree with you more about your thoughts on DRO about ESPN drag racing coverage. In addition to racing in super comp, I am a huge drag racing fan. I find that it rarely bothers me now if I miss a show because they are all the same. I have the same feeling now as I did when Diamond P was near its last days ... the coverage is in a rut & the producers can't think of anything new to show or are lazy and don't want to come up with anything new. I find myself sometimes taping the coverage only to watch the last 10 minutes to catch the finals. Every run, every interview seems just about the same.

One other thing that has bothered me a lot is why the number of spectators seems to be declining at national events. I think ticket pricing, oil down time, cost of food is all adding up to this decline. I see NHRA working on the down time issue, but the other items ought to be addressed. I can remember when you couldn't find a seat to squeeze into at the US Natls, but look at the open holes in the stands the last 5 years. Every time I am at the beautiful Route 66 facility with the huge Chicago population base nearby, I wonder why the stands are not overflowing.

Chuck Walker

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