Cut the fluff

Hey Jeff, I have to agree with you - the Bristol coverage was abysmal.  Because of my distaste for 1,000-foot racing I have watched very little of the “Big Show” on TV this season, and attended none of the events.  (NHRA, are you listening?) Instead my time and money has been spent at Divisional and Nostalgia events where we can still race or watch without all the fluff (and to 1320). 

That said; when I tuned in Sunday I was appalled at what I saw.  Between the 14,000 commercials (not a verified count) there was very little actual racing. The fluff was a total waste of time, and the silly game show had no place in race day coverage. Human interest articles are great as long as they have something to do with RACING, but the program is becoming too touchy-feely for my tastes. 

If it’s true that ESPN is responsible for this debacle, something needs to be done before they drive all the real racers and racing fans away from watching as they attempt to make drag racing palatable to Jim & Judy Milquetoast.

Once advertisers realize that the core audience is no longer the people who change their own oil, buy auto and aftermarket parts, or actually race and attend events, they will be gone too.

We certainly don’t need ESPN’s help to completely kill the sport we all love - NHRA is doing a fine job of that all by themselves. 

Dave Parsons
San Diego, California

Quarter mile defined

Re: Drag Definition. The story I heard about how drag racing became a 1/4 mile sport was that the distance came from the dry lakes. Hot rodders raced on the dry lakes in SoCal in the 1930s-40s, and would run a few miles to get up speed, and then enter a 1/4 mile "timing trap" that would give the speed. Makes me wonder why they needed 1/4 mile to get the speed reading. Perhaps that was an easy distance to figure out the speed using a math formula. Interesting to me that the original drag racing speed traps were 132 feet; 66 feet before the finish line and 66 feet after. This gave the speed as the car crossed the finish line. I hate the way they do it today, as MPH is measured in a 66' speed trap that is before the finish line. The speed recorded is not the speed as the car crosses the finish line, but rather 33' before the finish. How fast are the cars really running? If a Pro Stock car runs 210 MPH, what was the real speed as the car crossed the finish line? 212!

Everyone gets robbed of a true finish line speed with this system, which is another NHRA invention that has screwed the sport. The reason given for changing the MPH speed trap was that racers were driving the cars "out the back door" to get a big speed, and this was a "safety issue", as the cars were running too fast to stop safely. Arghhh!

You know, reading all the comments about drag racing on TV and other issues with NHRA & IHRA, it makes me wonder why can't we get someone to start a drag racing association who really cares about the sport. Not the money or the power or being able to force their will on others, but a desire to better the sport. Where is that person? Do people like that exist?

Cliff Morgan
Phoenix, Arizona

The face in the mirror

Jeff, I applaud your latest "Blast" [about ADRL and Motor Mile Dragway] but don't beat yourself up. All us old guys have to look in the mirror and recount our mistakes at some point(s).

John E. Wilson
Seabrook, Texas