 Why is this young man smiling? Because he's getting paid big bucks (50 cents an hour) to watch nitro cars during NHRA's Fuel Ban -- plus blown gassers, Modified Sports cars, Top Gas and Jr. Fuel Dragsters, |
Has there been a bigger doorslammer thrill since Bill Kuhlmann smashed the 200-mph barrier in a home-welded kit car (right after Glidden also tried but failed at Darlington, carrying the wheels to half-track and hitting 199 ’n’ change)? Remember when you could qualify a nostalgia fueler in the 6.50s, and not even pull an iron head between rounds? Where have all the jets, rockets, wheelstanders, fuel bikes, fuel altereds, and fun gone? Why can’t I sit anywhere I wish on a Thursday or Friday that has thousands of empty seats? Who are all these strangers with special parking passes, anyway? Why don’t my buddies go to national events anymore?
Ah, listen to the ranting and raving of one of those dinosaurs whom this columnist swore he’d never become; going on and on about the good ol’ days, when a starter ruled the starting line and the best parking spaces went to the early birds, instead of to sponsors, celebrities and Top Eliminator Clubbers.
Actually, the drag-racing world I’ve known since the early Sixties is not so much passing me by as losing my concern. A columnist should care deeply about his or her subject,
always. A publication’s readers deserve nothing less. Besides, y’all can spot a poser when you see one. The passion is gone, and so am I.
That’s not to say that my words will disappear from your view. I fully intend to continue contributing to these virtual pages, only in different sections of this magazine. The publitor and I agree that the detailed historical and personality pieces of the type I’m most inclined to research and write are better served by a longer form — with many more photographs — than a column which sometimes forces readers to return next month to get the rest of the story. (Sorry about that!) So, if you thought your retiring columnist ran off at the mouth and/or ran too many pictures in this restricted space, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Speaking of DRO columns, this longtime reader has a complaint about the one called Burk’s Blast: Every other week isn’t nearly frequent enough for us loyal followers, is it? After all, this is the Internet, all fresh and right up to the minute, right? I know: Let’s all insist on a DAILY edition of Burk’s Blast, effective immediately! Seven days a week, we’d like to see a brand-new column posted not later than 7:00 a.m., Eastern time, discussing the burning issues of our times.
Send those e-mails to the guy at the top of the masthead who wants his columnists to focus more on the “now” than the “then.” 
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