Follow that up immediately with
just one qualifying session for each class, run in reasonably
rapid succession. Too often I think there’s down time
allowed for tuning and repairs that many (most?) teams don’t
even need. (Again, I’m not talking nitro burners here.)
If a team can’t make the call to qualify, so be it,
and if there’s room just tack them on to the bottom
of the list.
However, it’s important to make qualifying
mean something by limiting each class to eight, 16, or 32-car
fields—depending on their expected participation and
popularity—and sticking to it! If a crowd favorite
or heavily sponsored team doesn’t make the cut, it
would certainly be unfortunate, but fair to those that do.
You don’t see NHRA or IHRA making exceptions
when one of their stars misses the mark, so why do we see
smaller series bumping up to a 32-car ladder in order to
accommodate 18 or 20 cars just because they showed up? That
waters down the importance of qualifying much the same way
that giving a trophy to every kid on the soccer team, regardless
of ability, does because it’s the “politically
correct” thing to do. It also leads to a lot of boring
bye runs and makes it so much more difficult for the casual
fan to get hooked. Drag racing—by definition—requires
side-by-side competition to be exciting.
Now, anyone who goes racing knows that Mother
Nature can and will wreak havoc on the best-laid plans of
us mere mortals. If that’s the case, with rain interrupting
qualifying, but better weather lying ahead, I’d advocate
scrapping qualifying altogether and setting the fields according
to point standings or by drawing numbers from a hat—anything
to start eliminations as close as possible to their prescribed
time. That may be an unpopular idea amongst racers, but
there certainly is precedence for this, with nearly all
major racing series—including NHRA, IHRA, and NASCAR—having
resorted to point standings for their starting fields when
qualifying was washed away but raceday was expected to dawn
bright and clear (or at least dry).
And of course, a Saturday-only event would
allow for a convenient rain date on Sunday if Mother Nature
absolutely won’t allow all these great plans to proceed.
But if the one-day event does go as scheduled, track operators
or promoters could hold a local bracket race the following
day, when fan attendance typically is not a consideration
for breaking even. The way it is now, most grandstands are
embarrassingly empty on raceday, but it costs every bit
as much for the track prep, staffing, lighting, cleaning,
and everything else that goes into being open for business.
Regardless, once racing begins for the one-day
show, it would have to be run fast and furious with no tolerance
for laggards when a class is called to the lanes. Give a
couple of preliminary calls well in advance of each requested
appearance and make a final call that really is a final
call! There was no hint of lateness from any competitor
at the stock car race. Once the checkers fell over the previous
class, no more than five minutes elapsed before warm-up
laps began for the next race. The track expected no less
and the racers knew what was expected. I think it’s
an attitude that’s sorely lacking on both sides of
the drag racing equation at certain venues and series.
I realize many of you likely consider many
of my suggestions to be “pie-in-the-sky” dreams,
not practical at all or even worthy of discussion. But we’re
always seeing hand-wringing articles about what can be done
to stimulate interest from the general public in drag racing.
Our fan base is aging, the commentators say; we have to
get young people involved; we have to compete as an entertainment
option.
Well, my trip down memory lane to the short
track amply reminded me of what’s required to attract
and entertain a race-going crowd: a well-organized show
of speed and action, something I certainly believe drag
racing can deliver if a few chances are taken and changes
are made. I’d urge you to at least consider alternatives
to speed up the process of drag racing at certain events
in order to make them more fan—and racer—friendly.
Race safe,
PS-- Kudos to fellow Canucks Rob Atchison
and Carl Spiering for scoring wins at home in Alcohol Funny
Car and Pro Mod, respectively, in the recently completed
IHRA ACDelco Nationals at Toronto Motorsports Park.
