Wow, after a 24 hour s**tstorm of popular disbelief and outcry, the NHRA finally got its head out of it's a** and decided to believe its eyes and awarded the 2005 Indy Pro Stock Bike title to Steve Johnson. DAMN RIGHT HE WON IT!

Way to go, Steve!

Tony Dipietro
Englishtown, NJ

Thank you for running my letter (as is) about where to find Mr. Light's head. His head is still up there but I strongly believe your Drag Racing Online response and pressure from NHRA sponsors to the NHRA headquarters repaired this injustice against Steve Johnson. It will happen again for as long as we got arrogant know-it-all Graham Light working in his position at NHRA, in fact I expect it, then we'll get the lecture. They fixed a lousy decision for the right winner.

By the way, this might be the most coverage the Pro Stock Bikes has ever had! Keep up the good work.

Tom Conifer

The NHRA reverses a decision AND Gilligan dies on the same day. Hide your children! The Apocolypse is upon us!

Tazz Hines

Chris, that is one great article! Without getting all emotional, it almost brought a tear to my eye. Your detailed analysis had the reader cheering Steve Johnson on even if you didn't know who he was. One correction - Johnson's first National Event win was St. Louis, 2004. It was unfortunately overshadowed by the death of Darrell Russell.

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The article also, and I don't think it to be malicious, shows NHRA in a bad light. This was unfortunate, but necessary. I feel with their recent successes with POWERade and ESPN coverage, they have become disconnected with the true sport itself and exhibit to much of a company "climb to the top" attitude. This was evident at another NHRA event, Reading, PA in 2003, and the qualifying order in the staging lanes debacle. Graham Light, again, did not come out in a good light.

Again, thanks for a GREAT article. It certainly was a contributing factor in the outcry from the racing community and the ultimate reversal of NHRA decision.

Les Hughes
San Antonio, TX

Hey, Chris, I enjoyed your story about Steve's "screwing". I'm sure that many other fans, including myself, sent about a zillion e-mails to NHRA pointing out the obvious snafu. But, unlike many wrongs that they've committed in the past (some of which you cited in the article, i.e. Marv Schwartz), at least they righted the wrong this time! PROBABLY due to editorial, public and sponsorship pressure - HA!

BTW, IMHO, the biggest screwing occurred at the '73 ('74?) OCIR World Finals when Reid Whisnant stole the Pro Stock championship away from Frank Iaconio with an obvious early-round rear-wheel start that should've been a red light. Lee Shepherd went on to win the event and the championship, beating Frankie by only a few points.

Ray Casner
former Hot Rod Magazine tech editor (circa '73-'74)