After decent races in Pomona and Phoenix the last 3 races have been absolutely brutal to watch on TV. Gainesville was horrible with all the tire smoke, Houston had the infamous bump and Vegas was a one lane racetrack. Jon Asher mentioned something about their being empty seats in Vegas and the fans that were there were not happy with what they saw. At the start of the year I was contemplating skipping a couple of Saturdays this year, if things continue to go the way they are going I may be skipping more than Saturday. I have a hard time getting excited about seeing funny cars run times they were running more than 10 years ago. Are they choosing to slow the cars down by preparing the track poorly? With the hot weather coming I don't see how (unless it is unusually cool and cloudy) the shows will be any better. What can they do to improve the product they are putting on the racetrack? If they don't do something gradually the paying spectator is going to drift away.

I'd like to see NHRA accept some sort of 'Traction Control' for both of the Fuel Classes. I think this would help the cars from smoking the tires on MOST runs. Nothing worse than watching the cars go out and 'strike' the tires and / or shut off due to smoking them.

Any comments why the NHRA shouldn't allow 'Traction Control', please chime in.

Larry

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The question I have with regards to Traction Control is, will it load the tires to dangerous proportions re-creating a significantly worse problem.
Maybe the teams need to swallow the expense of running Goodyears' already developed bigger tire.

I don't know that Traction Control will put any additional load on the tires? My understanding is, it only controls the amount of power transmitted to the tires... which would slow the tire speed down so they don't spin into a smoking condition.

Any MSD rep out here watching this???
I think they have a system available already.

Larry

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I think the first step is better track preparation. I don't mean super stickie but just even lanes. There is always going to be some disparity between the lanes but when it is to the point that you know if you are in one lane you will have no chance of winning if both cars run to the finish.

BTW: That was a good question on traction control, will it hurt the tires?? In the summer i doubt it but what happens when it cools down and the tracks get tight and they are making a ton of power???
jim

They need to change the schedule a little to the seasonal weather pattterns. And don't have three weeks off between races at the begining of the year (Phoenix & Gainsville). Maybe have a few back to back races at the begining for the year and towards the end. And have a two or three week brake between races in the middle to end of the summer. This would help with seeing faster times in cooler temps.

I overheard a conversation between a former nitro tech magnate at NHRA and the Star of Stars of NHRA-POWERade Drag Racing a few years ago at Houston. The "techie" was explaining to the Star that almost all of the rules and procedure changes being made in the professional classes were to produce a better TV package. In order to compete for advertising and sponsorship revenues against the likes of NASCAR and other emerging motorsports, the NHRA was/is trying to design a package that would be "almost live" to the point of a 30-45 minute delay instead of the multiple hours now. To achieve that goal, the bottom rung teams would have to step up or disappear. The "techie" even hinted to the Star that he should prepare for a possible 8-car field in the future. Among the items discussed were oil/debris containment, turn-around time between rounds, close, even, side-by-side competition, and even steady performance improvements. Up to that point the conversation was one-sided...

The Star then gave his retort...and it wasn't pretty. The Star said, to paraphrase, that if this was the TV package that was going to push drag racing into the same limelight as the "roundy-roundy rednecks" (actual quote...I'll never forget that one), that he might as well close up shop and go fishing. He went on to explain how important the privateer teams are to drag racing, how the racers are doing more than NHRA requires to contain oil and parts, how terrible the track prep has been (this was in 2006), and the only time they get two cars to the finish line together are on a pedal-fest run. I left out the colorful words. Star also went on to explain to "techie" that the way they make them do the TV deal plain sucks. They never capture the true emotion of the sport...how they can't hire a TV staff that knows what the heck they are talking about...how the current TV package is doing more to hurt the sport than advance it. Star also warned "techie" that the NHRA woul fail if they went to 8-car shows.

I'll let the reader draw conclusions regarding the above conversation...who's right, wrong, etc. But the big problem is that you've got 3-4 main entities tugging at the nitro classes in different directions to produce an exciting "show" both on TV and in person. Tech wants to level the playing field and reduce down-time...marketing wants a slick package they can sell to Fortune 500 America...the fans (ticket buyers, viewers) want good, old fashioned, hard-core drag racing. Oh...I almost forgot...the NHRA Bean Counters don't want to spend ANY money. Therein lies the connundrum.

I was offered free tickets to last years Dallas event. Tickets, parking (Gold Key), suite passes, and food. I passed on them. Figured I would be better off spending a Sunday being bored at home and not wasting gasoline. This coming from a guy that lives and breathes the sport.

Would it help if they let cars make use of more modern technology? For example, of those fuel cars that do make it down the track, how many have cylinders out? It seems rare that one keeps all the candles lit for a full pass nowadays. I'm no expert, but I'd have to think that a real-time fuel management system (ie. EFI) would be a big step towards helping reproducibility, reliability, and perhaps even reducing the oildowns. NHRA wants to have a level playing field and keep costs from getting out of control, but it does this at the expense of technological innovation.

It's no surprise the cars are running the same times as a decade ago because the rules are setup to limit progress -- progress that could ultimately lead to a better show.

I'd guess by whatever means you create more bite, the load is therefore increased. The question remains, where do you cross the line between load (bite) and danger. Additionally, if optimal wheelspeed is known and electronically achievable at any given rpm/driveshaft speed, what effect does it have on everything else, including but, not limited to, the quality of the show.

I was offered free tickets to last years Dallas event. Tickets, parking (Gold Key), suite passes, and food. I passed on them. Figured I would be better off spending a Sunday being bored at home and not wasting gasoline. This coming from a guy that lives and breathes the sport.


Hey Wes,

The next time you get an invitation like that and decide not to go can you hook a brotha' up?

Tom

If you "lived and breathed" the sport,you would of been there.. Nothin beats bein at the races..

Oh wait,i guess sittin home being bored does.

I just got back from Vegas1.

The stands were not as populated as last October. There was plenty of room everywhere.

I did hear lots of complaints about the track prep.
I don't know if NHRA prepped the track or LVMS prepped track. There is a big difference. LVMS is widely regarded as having nothing short of excellent track prep.

The occasional pedal-fest is fun. People were going nuts when Bob Bode won, it was great!

I knew Friday would be a smoke-fest, so I stayed away that day.
I still had a good time tho.

If the track is not super sticky, that's one thing, but the biggest thing hurting the show, be it live or on TV, is having a one-lane track. When one lane is so far off base that you can almost predict the outcome, that is really, really bad for the event, and ultimately the sport. People that spend the money will only come back, and bring friends, the following year if they are left with a positive memory. If next year comes around, and people are thinking about how boring it was with no side-by-side runs, many are going to say, "Maybe I'll pass this year..." . And that's not good. I gotta tell ya', I'm as diehard as they come, and these last few events have been pretty bad on TV. How's the casual observer or first-time watcher going to react? Will he/she be back?

I think track prep is a major part of it. It's obvious NHRA is scared of the speed, or the tire situation.

Traction control-- I don't think it's going to make any difference, in fact, they already have built in traction control after half track and 8250 RPMs
And, in the case of Mike Neff yesterday, nothing was going to stop that.
Once something realizes the wheelspeed is up, I don't think you can take timing away fast enough to keep the car from smoking the tires.

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You hit the nail on the head Nunzio, one lane race tracks are the biggest detriment to the sport, period. What happened this weekend was embarrasing. And apparently, according to Ron Capps, NHRA makes them bite their tongue when they have anything negative to say about it all.