What made Dragstock so interesting and exciting is that with practically no rules except for safety, it presented a unique opportunity for the stars of major-league Pro Mod series to go head-to-head with the so-called "outlaws" of all those smaller venues. And again departing from the norm, its team format of pitting 11 NHRA AMS All-Stars against 11 Flowmaster Outlaws injected a sense of novelty to the event.

It remains to be seen, however, if such a format has true staying power. Without exception, the racers and fans I spoke with at Dragstock were pleased with the experience. With 52 cars entered, probably the quickest and tightest all-doorslammer Quick 8 ever assembled (a 4.03 bump led by a 3.99 over the eighth mile!), a rock band playing the night away, and even a "hardbody" contest to entertain the predominantly testosterone-charged crowd--what's not to like? I just have to wonder if such an event can be sustained as more than an annual affair.

The healthy car count suggested a lot of racers wanted to be part of the inaugural event, but still fell far short of what Dragstock's promoters originally predicted. And truthfully, there were several cars entered that had no real business being on the line beside the likes of Mike Ashley, Jason Scruggs, or Tommy Mauney. I guess it's part of the outlaw deal, where you "run whatcha' brung," but I found at least one '63 'Vette running a five-speed behind a small-block that wasn't even assisted with a spray of nitrous. It was a nice car and certainly

ADVERTISEMENT

looked the Pro Mod part, but even its owner admitted he was only out to make a few test runs and had no chance at making the qualified field. To be sure, this doesn't detract from the absolutely stellar times at the top of the qualifying sheet, but are field fillers really meant to be a part of the future of Pro Mod? Someone has to ask.

There's also the issue of having no defined winner when all is said and done. Without eliminations, just read the explanation of how each team gained points and some of the round-by-round coverage of Sunday's action and tell me your head's not swimming by the time you're finished. Reading the same names over and over, but paired differently each session, can be confusing, especially to someone not well versed in how drag racing operates. The Dragstock team format certainly is an interesting concept, but not immediately fan friendly to any but the most die-hard followers of the sport. Dragstock's format basically does away with complaints that major-league drag racing has too many winners on raceday by not having any winner at all. It's a team thing all of a sudden and I'm not necessarily convinced that's a good thing.

Still, I have to say Dragstock delivered what it promised. A big money winner was presented Saturday night as John Lyman scored $10k after beating Mike Neal in the Didicom Clash final. The track e.t. record was broken and reset no less than three times throughout the weekend, with Ashley winding up the quickest of the quick after a 3.970-second pass in Sunday's first racing round. Finally, the Dragstock team victory came down to the last round of racing for points, where it was decided in the AMS All-Stars' favor by an upset victory from Scott Cannon Jr. over Lyman.

tocher@dragracingonline.com