105W AND THE GREATER MORAL DEBAT

Hey guys, I hope I do not wander too far from our shared Drag Racing core with this stream of thought, but has anyone else considered the morality we are teaching our young people in this "Win at any cost" world.

Life is full of examples where "Champions" are later found to be competing outside the intention of the rules, and so society and sanctioning bodies maintain the status of the "Champion" to protect the sport and change the rules to either prevent or sanction others from taking advantage or the same loop holes. What does this teach our kids? (They are the racers and world leaders of tomorrow.) It teaches them the "Innovating and interpreting the rules" (we used to call that cheating) is ok so long as you win and do not get caught. The problem then, is when someone is found out and others have preceded them down

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their "Innovative" path, the sanctioning bodies can not penalise anyone with out discovering they will need to punish everyone, and then they do not have a show.

This is how Funny Cars and Pro Cars end up looking like inverted boats. It is a case of someone saying, "Well you let him tweek the roof so you have to let me tweek the trunk" and eventually the car racing is not the car the creators intended or the fans want to see.

And now to 10.5w. I am excited to see Goo(dy)ear are going to support the racers by making a better 10.5w tyre that measures at little over 11.5 inches wide. Hmm, so I guess the guys racing the class have a reason now to ask if they can push out the rear guards on their cars to they can fit this magically legal 11.5 wide 10.5 tyre under their cars. What are the boys at Goo(dy)ear gunna do when Hoosier release their 12.25 wide 10.5 tyre? Hell, I bet they are gunna go get the old moulds for those 13 inch wide Pro Tyres and through the magic of modern technology and millions of dollars in R&D, they will change the size designation and call them 10.5w.

It is unfortunate now day that, cheating so long as you have a good story, can be rewarded when the bottom line it taken in to consideration. This is the new message for our kids. In Australia the government do it. The "War On Terror" is becoming the "Struggle Against Violent Extremists" so the government can soon say "We kept our election promises, the war is over," but the media will remind us that the struggle continues.

Big business do it. Why else would a company make a tyre for 10.5w racing that is larger than 10.5 inches across the cross section of the tread?

Racers do it. How else have we ended up with vehicles in this sport that are almost unidentifiable?

What will you tell your kids when you catch them cheating at school, at home, on the street, or just lying to get advantage? Will you be able to look them in the eye and tell them to play fair like your heroes and your country's leader?

Thanks for the chance to have a rant; it is winter down here and the races are still a couple of months away.

Regards,

Stu Bond
Australia

TRY MARKETING

Did I hear Mike Dunn say on ESPN2 that NHRA was considering eliminating the Top Fuel class?

NHRA has to do the worst marketing job of any sport as there is never any significant coverage in any major newspapers. Many do not even carry a three-line article of results. Does NHRA have anybody promoting the sport we enjoy?  Have they never heard of product placement in venues such as movies, music or TV shows.  Why don't they market the brand to amusement parks and major stores such as Wal-Mart and have joint ventures with other racing organizations? 

Thanks for listening.

Robert Wohleber
Silver Spring, MD