NEED SOME CHANGES

Right ON! The drag racing that we grew up with is over. If NHRA and IHRA don't wake up and address the issues you've mentioned Drag Racing will consist of the National Hot Rod Reunion in KY. As it is now NHRA events are a flat bore, from qualifying to Sunday's finals. The cars lack any type of personality, the drivers are dull interviews and the races, although very close, don't create any excitement. The only time I get charged is when I see the fuel cars trying, in vain, to get a grip on the track.

Let's face it, everyone who goes to any type of automotive racing event is going with the hint that danger is lurking. Not that people want to see drivers get injured. But to see a guy tear his shit up on the track is what brings people in. The drivers become heroes by

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escaping death defying runs. I'd bet John Force wouldn't be the star he his today if he hadn't repeatedly cheated death the way he did in the early '90s.

Pro Stock and PS Bike are like watching slot cars run. Please find a way to bring back huge wheelstands and product identity.

To switch gears, baseball has taken and maintained a very interesting approach by NOT allowing technological advances with regards to equipment. Perhaps as you mentioned with the Ten-Wide cars, NHRA removes the advances, or puts very strict limits on them. Put 15" slicks on fuelers with 250" wb. Remove the "bedpans" from the rear decks of Funny Cars and force them to run recognizable bodies. There are so many ways to run here.

In the meantime I will go to my one event per year, the CHHR and enjoy myself. It's just a shame to see what I believe are the last years of major league drag racing. I predict it will be gone by 2010. I see more tire lawsuits on the horizon, Goodyear bails out, and it's over.

Keep writing thought-provoking articles.

Regards,

John Bell
CALIFORNIA

HEY, HOW ABOUT DRAG RACING ONLINE?

In response to Burk's Blast about "10 wide" cars, I think that the problem with poor attendance at modern drag racing events has more to do with changing society in this country. You are right that people can't relate to the odd cars that they see on the track these days. Building hot rods for the street and customizing cars, does not hold the same interest in today's twenty something crowd that it did back in the sixties and seventies. Better to figure out how to race Dell and Gateway computers against one another. That'll draw a crowd.

Dave Smithers
Sault Ste. Marie, MI

WELL, HERE'S ONE SCENARIO

Jeff, you and I know as long as the dog food salesmen are in charge of NHRA  and Wally's alive, we're going to have to put up with slow, if any, change. As a racer and a lousy spectator, I could care less who the sport attracts. You do 'cause the bigger it gets the more secure your deal is. There will always be racers as long as there's fuel and a hunk of pavement... sanctioned and insured or not.

Unfortunately, we're left with Bruton singing the "Waiting For Wally To Die Blues." Bruton will be buying up the tracks soon, Dallas still may go to jail, and we'll keep paying dues.

Regards,

Richard Pederson
Mesa, AZ