Now I don't consider myself a hardcore Nitro fan. I'm a participant first and spectator second. I drive a rear engine dragster that will go 7.10 to 7.20 in the quarter so I know a little bit about going fast. I love 1/8 mile racing more than anything and hate driving the 1/4 mile myself. I love watching pro stock and all the sportsman classes more than the nitro cars but after watching the pro's on T.V. and thinking it was a win/win situation for everybody going 1000 ft. I decided to go to Ennis yesterday.

Well, after watching it live. IT SUCKS !!! The cars just get settled in and starting really pulling hard and then it's over. So although I'm a die hard 1/8 mile racer myself, I would rather see the pro's go 1/4 mile. I went to an IHRA race earlier this year and they ran the pro's 1/8 mile and it was pretty cool but for some reason seeing them going in between 1/8 and 1/4 just doesn't seem right.

P.S. somebody needs to fix the whole PS motorcylce red light issue. The motorcycle races are so lopsided because of either red lights or late lights due to the racers being afraid to go red that it's not even fun to watch.

Mike, didnt you get the memo that 1000 ft races means no oildowns buddy. For those of you who just got the telecast, first round of the fuel cars took a lllllloooooonnnnnnggggg time. 3 oildowns in a row and then another in funny car.

There's a problem with having the nitro classes run 1000' and everyone else run 1/4 mile. It's the same problem you have when you are at a "traditional" 1/4 mile track and the racing is done 1/8 mile. Your eyes and ears get used to seeing the cars race to a given point. When they start contradicting what your brain is prepared to see you have this feeling that something is wrong. The placement of the scoreboards is one of the biggest issues with this. The IHRA event at San Antonio was hard to watch simply beacuse of where the boards were in reference to where the cars were shutting off.

After seeing 1000' in person for the first time my opinion is that every class needs to run the same distance. I'm sold on 1000' for nitro cars. I'd like to see NHRA and IHRA go to 1000' for every single class...and move the scoreboards back closer to the new finish line to enhance the visual reference.

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Wes Tarkington
www.galaxywest.com