On my March vacation I got away from the Canadian winter for a week and visited a friend who lives in Florida (a native Floridian). We took his street Z28 to Orlando Speed World on a Wednesday night. There must have been 300 street cars there making runs. I had a blast. I got to make some 13-second runs and even challenge a Mustang. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. No one whined about sandbagging, dial ins, bye runs or any of that crap. Most people were smiling and having a good time. Sure, most of them were in their twenties but they seemed to be pretty friendly to the old Canadian guy.

Sadly, the closest track to me is 2.5 hours away and they are stuck the Super Pro or you are dirt mind set so I won't likely get a chance to do it again for a while. I guess age and money have, indeed, left me behind.

Don Seamans

KEEP HIM LAUGHING!

Personally, I like ground-pounding, 8000-horsepower, 325-mph Funny Cars to look outlandish and hellacious. Isn't that why they are called Funny Cars?

If I want to see ordinary-looking cars, I'll lean over my front gate and watch the traffic go by.

Robin Jackson

Wellingborough, England

WHERE'S THE NITRO?

Thumbs up on your review of the 2004 NHRA Summit Sport Compact Series opener at California Dragway in Fontana.

I've only attended one of these series races, and you are correct -- it's more about lifestyle than racing -- which is in line with other type of sports like skateboarding and surfing. As I see it, this is a nice shot in the arm for drag racing in general. But until NHRA comes in with a Sport Compact class that burns nitro, I think the lifestyle thing will win out over sitting in the stands.

I'd like to see a class that runs a blown, straight six cylinder on nitro -- front or rear wheel drive.

Mark Beauchamp

Fullerton, CA

P.S. I'm still waiting for the NHRA to make Top Fuel a blown ten cylinder on nitro.

RACERS' APPRECIATION

Re: Dixie Pro Stockers at Phenix City

I just wanted to say thanks for the coverage. It really makes us feel good to see others appreciate what we do. Hope you will continue following us this year. Thanks again.

Rex Kelley and sons

INJECTED QUESTIONS NOBODY ASKED

Kudos to the IHRA for allowing non-supercharged cars in Top Fuel. One of the big attractions of drag racing is that not all the classes are cookie-cutter formulas. However, it's hard to believe they really thought it through with only a 225 pound weight break, a little over 10%. Is that enough? No way! A look at the history of supercharged vs. non-supercharged factors reveals that the performance level changes anywhere from 25% to 40%, depending on the type of fuel.

What could be done at minimal cost is to allow 550" of displacement for the injected cars. This is still marginal, but may be enough to make them competitive with the looser tracks at IHRA events.