I have to agree with you that watching TV Coverage has become predictable and almost boring - almost as bad as Pro Golf! The usual routine of skipping all the action at the track and instead concentrating on the Pro Categories is understandable but routine. Yes, Top Fuel and Funny Cars are the draw but there is more to an event than John Force and Kenny Bernstein. We have all seen it, starting with burnouts and sound bites from owners while the announcer continues his mindless chatter. Then the run and replay followed by the inevitable interview with the winners - where instead about talking about the race they try to get in as many plugs for their sponsors as possible.

I don't believe that the fans want this format. I believe that commercial promotion and the almighty dollar control the format. It's all about getting as much advertising dollar both for the network and NHRA and the racer's constant need to hype their sponsors.

I personally like all the door slammers, especially those wheelstanding stockers. How about a little coverage of the Sportsmen final rounds and winners instead of the endless bellowing of Force?

This behavior has permeated all media coverage, not just drag racing. How about all the stickers mounted in the NASCAR cockpit so that onboard cameras catch them. I understand that the Madison Avenue boys sit in front of their monitors with hand counters tabulating each time their client's name is seen. Tennis. College Football. How many stadiums have Corporate logos? All have been bribed with the lure of money for pimping for a sponsor.

Yes, this might be a little extreme. I have no problem with sponsorship when its excesses are controlled. I even use some of the products. Crass commercialism has unfortunately turned off many viewers. I just that I think that the sport is suffering from a lack of media coverage, and the little coverage that is available is a dull format full of promos. The fact that the ratings are low is not an indictment of the sport but rather of the lackluster boring format.

JD Moore
Los Angeles, CA

P.S. As a longtime fan I am also highly amused that even the most obnoxious racers that wouldn't give me the time of day when I was a kid, who would yell "Hey get out of there kid!" are now forced to be fan friendly. I won't name them but those of you that have been around for awhile know who I'm talking about. This is one good side effect of the big sponsorships the pros have.

Jok, glad to read that you enjoyed yourself at the Jeg's event.

I like your ideas about what you would change on the television coverage. If ESPN would have interviewed me last year right after I won my first national event they sure would not have got the same old "I'd like to thank bla bla bla bla...", heck I couldn't remember my own name! They would have recorded possibly the loudest "whohooooo" in history and caught on tape a person actually floating 2" off the ground!

Here in Colorado we have a "quick" style program at both Pueblo and Bandimere. I attended the opening Top Comp race at Pueblo two weeks ago and, like you, found it to be a refreshing change from S/G style racing. While I did have my weather station on, I never took my lap-top out of its case and never turned on my pager. I dialed based on the 'seat of my pants' feelings. I was relaxed, loose and happy. After three NHRA S/G races so far this year in Arizona I was already feeling burned out, but this race refreshed me!

Finally, if I were calling the shots on NHRA television coverage one thing I would do is change the sequence of events. Currently they show the first round of T/F & F/C, then come back for second round of T/F, then F/C, then P/S and so on until the finals. That is a lot of jumping around from class to class. What I would do is show first round, second round and thirrd round of T/F all together. Then I would do the same for F/C and then P/S. This way there is continuity within each class. Finally, I would lump all of the finals of all classes together to give the show a decisive conclusion. I would also cut out most of the cutesy segments and show ALL of the races, not just selected matchups in the first round like now.

Well Jok, thanks for listening to my thoughts. Good luck this year. Keep on putting into words all of the things we sportsman racers feel yet for some reason cannot emote with the razor sharp point that you can!

John Steffen