The rumor mill is working three-shift days just dealing with the rumors surrounding Firebird International Raceway. Is Charlie Allen going or staying?  Does the Indian tribe that owns the land the race track is built on want to raze the tracks and buildings and replace the track with a new hotel for their casino that currently sits on land adjacent to the Firebird facility? Did Charlie Allen and businessman/team owner Ronald Hodgson lobby to get the Spokane track because the Indians wanted to close the Firebird track?

I don’t believe that Mr. Allen or the Indians will close the Firebird racing complex any time soon because it apparently generates plenty of revenue, with racing and testing at that track almost a year-round program. I also don’t see the NHRA moving their national event from Phoenix to Spokane, so I expect Firebird to be around at least as long as their current contract.
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Never underestimate the mystique of the March Meet on drag racers and drag racing. Especially for racers on the West Coast, the March Meet is more important and prestigious than winning the U.S. Nationals.

This year there is a good chance there will be 22-24 front-motored AA/FDs trying to qualify for a 16-car field and perhaps 40 or more AA/FCs trying to be one of the quick 32 that will qualify for the first 32-car qualified nitro field since the late 1970s.

How important is this event? Pro racers who get basically free admission to race at NHRA national events are building and driving nitro cars at the March Meet and paying admission to get in. As a matter of fact every one of the AA/FC and AA/FD teams at this event will PAY to race. The teams not only pay an entry fee for the car, driver and a couple of crewmen, but any extra crewmen will have to buy pit passes. Compare this to the NHRA, ADRL, and the DRO Challenge series in the Midwest where race teams pay nothing for entry or anything else.

But wait, there's more. I haven't yet been able to find out what the purse is for Top Fuel and Funny Car at the March Meet. When asked about the prize money, almost every racer I’ve talked to says, “Who cares what they pay or charge; it’s the March Meet!”

The Bowsers, who run the track, and the March Meet must be envied by all of their track operator peers who can’t charge admission to pro cars and teams.
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Don’t believe that the fastest growing segment of drag racing is Nostalgia Nitro racing? Well, consider the following: There will be close to 60 Top Fuel and Funny Cars entered for the March Meet. An impressive number by any standards. But as impressive as those numbers are, on the same weekend the March Meet is going on there will be at least eight nostalgia AA/FCs racing with the IHRA at the track near Baton Rouge, LA. And there are approximately another dozen or so active nostalgia funny cars from the Midwest and East Coast that could compete at the March Meet but just won’t or can’t afford to travel to the West Coast. 

The point is that building and racing nostalgia AA/FCs is an “affordable” option for both racers and tracks. The fact that a major race can have a 32 Nitro Funny Car field with spares (something the NHRA couldn’t do if they wanted to) proves that there is an alternative to NHRA/IHRA nitro racing.
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If you are a bracket racer you may have noticed a trend at some of the larger tracks away from “big” money bracket races. In looking at schedules this year, I see several big name tracks like Rockingham, NC, Orlando Speed World, FL, and Cordova, IL, which have drastically cut back on the bracket racing, and in many but not all cases have added test-n-tune and street car only dates.

One reason for that may be the serious bracket racer’s demand that tracks be “glued” from the starting line to the finish so they can use all of the power their  600+ cubic inch, 1000-hp engines -- almost mandatory for a serious bracket racer -- are making without spinning the tires.