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In case you missed it, the NMCA folks are offering free one-day race tickets for their upcoming event at Milan. Mich. Saaayyy, isn’t that what the ADRL does? Don’t be surprised if more and more race series start giving away race tickets in order to get people into their races. They then charge spectators for everything but the air they breathe, but I’m good with that. The major race sanctioning bodies right now charge big bucks for a ticket and then charge spectators for everything but the air they breathe.

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Drag racing’s sanctioning bodies better find ways to get more fans to attend their events or the Manufacturer’s Midway will soon have nothing but static displays of T-shirts, sunglasses, and charm bracelet sellers. An old friend of mine who’s in a management position at a major manufacturer told me his company recently went to a Goodguys event and sold parts to hot rodders as fast as they could get the boxes out of the bins. He said he hadn’t experienced anything like that at an NHRA or IHRA race in decades. Plus the Goodguys’ management treated his crew like they were glad to have them there. I’ve heard this same story from more than one of the NHRA’s Midway customers.

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It’s not all the NHRA’s fault that everything is so expensive for everyone at the Pomona Fairgrounds races. After talking to a couple of promoters who’ve had events at the Fairgrounds I understand why it’s $8.00 for a burger. The Fairgrounds management charge very, very high prices for rent, security and power, not to mention fees for the police, fire department, and the list goes on and on.

I wonder if the NHRA has thought about threatening the fair board with moving the race to the Fontana Speedway site? I’m betting the numbers of fans attended the NHRA national events at the Fairplex would get the attention of the France family who control the Fontana track. I don’t even know if it is possible, but it seems to me to be worth a shot to get the operating overhead down some at the Fairplex and then the NHRA could lower ticket prices, food prices and others. (I just said they could, not they would!)

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Hard to believe but the U.S. Nationals is just 10 days away! The SS/AH cars start qualifying on Wednesday, Sept. 2. The Mopar Hemi Challenge is the last truly unique thing about the U.S. Nationals and once again a look that the official NHRA U.S. Nationals schedule makes not one mention of the race, a schedule or any other info.

Since the race is backed by Chrysler (Mopar) you would think that the NHRA would do a little more PR on it.

I’m betting that if or when the ADRL adds the SS/AH to their line-up the cars and drivers will be impressed by the crowds they race in front of and the amount of PR they get compared to what they get or don’t get from the NHRA. 

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So, as I understand the NHRA testing policy, John Force Racing (or any team for that matter) can test any car as many times as they want as long as they change the driver after four test laps? Man, in his heyday Roland Leong would have loved this rule. So, for example, they could test the U.S. Army Top Fueler as many times as they want as long as Tony Schumacher isn’t between the pipes for more than four laps or days?

I’m still confused about all of this, with one exception: The NHRA rules have been and always will be subject to interpretation and whose ox is going to get gored!