I think we all agree that at least two of the top management of NHRA needs to "resign to spend more time with their families." But, how about calling out people in the NHRA that acutally have their *&^*( together.

I'll start.

Steve Gibbs-ran a fairly tight ship with minimal controversy on the competition side and now presides over the growing and healthy nostaligia genre.

Phil Burgess-"The hardest working in man in show business" runs the New York Times of motorsports and finds time to write an amazing blog.

Rick Stewart-Keeps a potentially very controversial job noncontroversial.

Mark

I' disagree with you on that one. He's made some really ****ty calls in the past including one that most likely kept Capps from winning the championship.

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Very good point. In blasting the faces we see who make the decisions often others are lumped in.

THe first to seem to do a good job.
As for Stewart, the shut off non shutoff of Shoemacher and the Capps incident come to mind. Also why does he throw his arms forward when he starts the tree. It would seem that this could either distract or tip off drivers

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I'll be another to disagree with you. He's not a starter in any sense of the word. In fact, "starters" don't even exist anymore with the advent of the Autostart system. He's not calm, cool, nor collected. His arm waving and carrying on is terribly unprofessional...especially on TV. Very few racers respect his judgement which is why we have had the incidents on the starting line in recent years. Yet another example of an NHRA employee having a critical job not because of ability and/or experience but because he's someone's buddy.

All the ladies in the VIP credentials do a great job!!!
Keep up the good work and always help those that don't know who does what

The alleged oil leak......that one was a really ****ty deal...

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The safety safari in unmatched in sports. The response time to any accident/fire/issue is remarkable.


We may not like track prep right now but that chances are the people making those calls aren't the ones bustin their butts on the track. THink amount the amount oil and such that needs to be cleaned up when someone oils the track. I realize when you're sitting at the track or listen to audiocast it seems like it takes forever but when you consider what they are trying to accomplish it really is impressive how quickly they are able to get it done.


Ya know I would say that the PA announcers do a good job too but it may go to their heads

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Hey Mark,
Your thread is dangerously close to being hijacked by all the keyboard crewchiefs so I'll throw a few more names in there to try and balance it out. Thanks: Tim, Glenn, Rick, Travis, Kieth, the new guy whose name I don't remember, Charlie, Art, Ruth, Rachelle, Keith, Brad, Reed, Clate, RR, LoCal, Rollie, Mike, Carol, Cash, Barry, CH, Dan, Barbara and Bruce, Darla, Leroy, All you tech guys whose names I will never remember (even the grumpy ones), Carl, TV Tim, G man, Joe, Rick (congrats again on the bambina), Scotty, Unc, Stevie, Wiley, JL, Lori Anne, Kelly, Torch, Terry, Carla, Alan, Scotland, the guy who gave us 20 lbs of ice cream in Gainesville, Robin, John, Michelle, Eddie, Chris, Ron, the UPS guys/gals, the Coke guys/gals, Mike, Jason, Mindy, James (hope to see you out again soon) and Wally, especially Wally (and Bob Frey).

Agree 100% PJ

But, I wish that Alan Dude would show a little enthusiasm. And Bob Flea would stop taking lessons from Ron Capps car.

d'kid

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True! The Safety Safari is rolling before a wreck comes to a complete stop it seems!

I'll second that-they are helpful and always friendly.

I didn't see any keyboard crew chiefs....a few guys stated their opinions about NHRA employees. That's what I thought the thread was about. Was I wrong?

And big kudos to the Safety Safari and announcers, they always do a great job.

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Rick Stewart's antics are a little ridiculous for sure, but the Safety Safari's performance is unmatched.

I was running in Super Comp in the early 90's at a NHRA national event at Firebird in Phoenix. It was in an actual race (not qualifying) and was passing my opponent just before the lights. I jammed the brake pedal to scrub off some speed and the damn pedal jammed and locked up the brakes! Anyway, I'm coming to a violent, bouncing halt and before I even get stopped, I see the Safety Safari truck riding along side of me. Unbelievable! I mean it couldn't have been more than 5 or 10 seconds after I crossed the finish line with the brakes locked up and there they were before I even stopped!

The NHRA Safety Safari crews are the best!

Grrrrr.....I need a ****ing drink!

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