BURK MAY BE OLD, BUT HE DOESN’T KNOW NOSTALGIA SCENE
Nostalgia AA/Fuel Dragsters racing is alive and well in the Midwest. We regularly race with teams including: The Time Bandit, Jim Orban with Jeff Miller driving, Ohio; The FranticFueler, Dragster Dave of Competition Fabrication, Chicago; Jimi Young, Young Guns, (a SBC that goes 6.20) Wisconsin; Bill Walls, Ohio; Ron Mullet, The Hemi Slayer, Ohio; The Dustman Bros., Jolly Roger, Ohio; Al Pridemore, Risky Business, Ohio; Ernie McClain, Tri-State Racing, Delaware; The Hemi Hunter, PA; Joe Hendricks, Old Style Racing, IL; Denny Corso, Senile Delinquents, OH
We race at Norwalk's Blue Suede Cruise, World Nationals, and Night Under Fire, Thompson (OH)'s Gasser Reunions, 131 (MI)'s Funny Car Nationals, Maple Grove (PA)'s Geezers at the Grove, Quaker City (OH)'s Night of Fire, and more.
Jim Orban is pursuing more dates for next year.
Thanks,
Denny Corso
Kent, OH
THE BETTER TO SEE YOU WITH. . .
Jeff, although I can't speak for my N/TF counterparts let me just say that in the next few years there will be enough N/FC to have 16-car shows in California and decent 8-car shows elsewhere. Just remember that building one of these cars from scratch is not only crazy expensive but absurdly complex and it is a lot easier to say that you are building an N/FC than actually racing one. Sooo, a little patience is called for and we will eventually get the car count up.
I believe that Fontana has the potential to hold well-attended nostalgia races but, like Famoso, it requires a hook along with the regular show to put the butts in the seats. 10,000 bodies at a recent truck drag race at Fontana says a lot about the place’s ability to draw fans...and I still think you look better with the third eye.
Marc Roy
Claremont, CA
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
"Just Wondering…Why doesn’t the NHRA or the IHRA have $50,000- or $100,000-to-win bracket races at a couple of their national events each year instead of their regular
sportsman classes? They could charge just about whatever they wanted for an entry fee and they would probably have to limit the entries to 500 cars. I’m betting the manufacturers and sponsors, say like Lucas Oil or Torco, would support something like that for their bracket racing customers."
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Thank you, Jeff, for yet ANOTHER kick in the nuts for sportsman racers!! Now sportsman are being viewed as not only "filler" for pros, but can be replaced by bracket cars? Again you’re showing your "pro" bias and not caring what fills in between rounds of top oiler, because you and everyone else prompted by the announcer are going to the bathroom, etc when the sportsman line up.
Sportsman (S&SS in particular) are the most under-promoted and most taken for granted and it makes me sick you would further this promotion in an E-zine!
Jim Miller
Canada
Jim,
It's letters like yours that remind me that people just read and understand what they want. This magazine has gone out of its way to support the sportsman racer from having Will Hannah do a sportsman only column to making this month’s Checker/Shucks/Kragen Car of the Month feature on a Comp Eliminator racer, to sponsoring with MONEY a Comp car and crewing it for two years, to same day coverage of the Sportsnationals at both No Problem and Columbus, to sponsoring Jay Roeder's Stock Eliminator Mustang, to extensive coverage of SS/AH race at Indy. Yeah we just aren't doing enough for Sportsman racers here at DRO.
Here's the deal. I'm not an elitist drag racer; I believe that bracket racers are Sportsman racers and deserve some national recognition just as all SPORTSMAN racers need and deserve. Out of 23 NHRA national events that feature sportsman class racers would it hurt that much if there were only 21? I don't believe so. Thanks for reading DRO and taking the time to write. -- Jeff Burk
