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THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'

NHRA out of touch? You bet.

I hate to say it, but the NHRA and the majority of its aging members are disdainful of imports and the crowd that run 'em. I certainly have no desire to run a Honda Civic, but I recognize that Garlits, muscle cars and nostalgia for little deuce coupes are as meaningless to today's kid as drifting is to us old guys. I know a few youths that have 5.0 Mustangs or Camaros, but that's usually under the influence of their fathers. It should be no surprise that all those kids out at Irwindale knew nothing about drag racing's past.

Nostalgia drag racing events are mainly for the participants, friends and family. I personally have a little fondness for old gassers but the funny cars and fuelers blow up or never make a full pass so often as to make it a waste of time for spectators. Imagine how it is for a kid who knows nothing about the "storied past of fuel burning cars." At the Goodguys event the first pass I went to watch saw a top fueler hand grenade hemi oil down the track, and I got disgusted at the whole thing and went back to my pit. How do I explain how much excitement there is at the strip to my daughters and their friends when this happens?

Today's Honda Civic is the substitute for the '57 Chevy of our youth. They are cheap, plentiful and have lots of parts available. Yeah, I know, they make more noise than speed but we all know "you run what you brung." What kid can afford a muscle car even if they wanted one? The price of the car and all the parts to run one and the limited places you can race make them relics of the past. They never knew a time without CD's, cell phones or computers so why should they even care about Cha-Cha?

I think that drag racing in general is on the way out along with cheap gas unless something is done to recruit new members and make it relevant to today's youth. The aging of the membership and the high cost of racing must be offset by bringing in new racers no matter what they run. The NHRA is all about corporate sponsorship, money and the pro classes. It is so non-competitive -- only a handful of people win all the races -- and the rest are also-rans. Force and his money wins another championship....yawn. The kids and their girls down at Tommy's Burger don't know what they are missing.

James Moore
Los Angeles, CA

NHRA, WHERE'S YOUR CHARITY?

Last week I reserved 5 tickets to take my family to Saturday's festivities at the US Nationals. Rather than spend the weekend relaxing when so many are suffering, I decided yesterday (Wednesday) to head down to the Mississippi area with my pick-up filled with as much bottled water as I could carry and to see if I could help with any relief efforts. I called NHRA yesterday (Wednesday) to cancel my tickets. Their response: tough, you're just out your $267 for the tickets.

Why do I waste my time and money to support such an organization? As long as money is coming their direction, they'll "allow" me to support their business. This is the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. I've put up with their rudeness and arrogance long enough! I've been to a couple NASCAR races and am amazed at the difference in customer service. NASCAR seems happy to have your business!

I've loved drag racing all my life, but it's time to walk away and let the NHRA membership lapse. This is the last $267 I'll waste with them.

Name and State Withheld

THEY'LL FIND A WAY

Drag racers, and every other racer on the planet for that matter, will always want to go faster -- that's what they do. Does it put 'em in harm's way? Yes. Do they know, understand and accept the risks? Absolutely. It's not like all of a sudden Alan Johnson figured out a new gimmick to go 337 - the guy's a brilliant engineer and mechanic and has been for years. That's what makes him so special.

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Look, I'm all about doing what's necessary to make the cars and drivers as safe as possible (mandatory head and neck restraints, for example), but let's face facts, they're still going to be unsafe. Going 300+ MPH in 1320 feet is generally considered an UNSAFE practice. Slowing a car down 5, 10, 15 or even 20 MPH won't necessarily make them any safer - people die every day on our highways going a whole helluva lot slower than 300 MPH!

As for the tires, give the engineers time, they'll figure it out. Performance breeds ingenuity, not the other way around. You know the old saying - Necessity is the Mother of invention... But even when they get the tires figured out, going 300+ MPH will still be inherently dangerous.

And we're never going to control the escalating costs, it's simply not gonna happen. A Capitalist society says that those who have it make more and the rest of us have to play catch-up. Like it or not, more often than not it's going to take $$ to win in any of the professional categories.

But back to my earlier thought. Even if you take money away from Alan Johnson - he'll find a way to win. Remember, he was winning with Blaine long before Winston came along and padded his checkbook.

Gordon Carlon
San Diego, CA