GROWING PAINS

I just read you article and I will agree that the majority of people do just fix up their cars to look nice. You also state that the attendance for these venues are very poor and that "The isolated Sport Compact Series isn't worth the time, money and effort so many are expending". I remember when I first started in the scene, it was in 1995 and I had just gotten my first car. Well that night me and a friend decided to go take a cruise. Well I had never heard nor seen any of the races until this Mazda pulled up beside me and just took off. Well the next day I decided to transform my car and I did.

Don't you see that's the real sport compact racing, although illegal, kid's fixing up the cars of this generation and still have money left over to take out a date. My last car was a 400+hp Eagle Talon which would just smoke any Corvette I lined up against. My sport is

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till young and so are the few pro teams that are out there. We don't have 50 years under our belt like the NHRA but I guarantee that in a couple of years we will be at least par with the NHRA as far as crowds.

It is unfair to also compare the NHRA "big boys" to the sport compact cars. I personally would like to see the "big boys" make a fwd car go 7 seconds down the strip. I mean seriously it doesn't take too much skill to take a big engine and just cram enormous amounts of air and fuel into it. At least with the sport compact class there have been major leaps at least every year, I haven't seen much of a difference in the big show for some time now. It also must be nice to be able to voice out against sport compacts, us in the sport compact community, especially pros, aren't going to bad mouth anyone cuz of the fear of losing sponsors.

I believe that in a photo shoot some time ago Ara from Bullish Racing hit up some Pro Stock for a race and got turned down. Hmm, must not have wanted to lose to an inline six. I'm all for having the two sports compete against one another every once in a while. I think that would bring out a very diverse crowd. In short my sport is young, fresh and still full of steam. Years ago if someone had told me that a fwd Saturn would run a 7.7 in a quarter mile race, I would have told them that they were full of crap.

Criticism is nothing new to us and we will continue to do what we love most. We have love for our sport. Just wait for that day when most "big boy" sponsors start supporting us because the last time I checked almost every sport compact magazine covers the drag races; now imagine the sponsorship coverage in that alone also given the fact that we're cheaper. That's what it all boils down to, money. If we had the coverage the big show gets we'd be at the same level. Take it easy

Rick Pena

WORDS OF WISDOM FOR W.J.

IF WARREN JOHNSON ever wants to win again he needs to paint that car black again. If you check you will see I am right.... SO GO BACK TO BLACK AND START WINNING AGAIN.

Steve Gonthier
New Durham, N.H.