Go Hard or Go Home?
8/8/07
Like the song says, “Go Hard or Go Home.” Played during NHRA broadcasts this year, the catch phrase of The Formula Project’s signature tune succinctly captures the essence of drag racing. Well, most of the time. A seldom-used rule that came into play at the recently completed NHRA race in Seattle at least temporarily put the song’s sentiment into question.
At a soggy Pacific Raceways, Morgan Lucas, Gary Densham, Tim Wilkerson, and Jerry Toliver did in fact ‘go hard’ in the single round of qualifying that was completed in between the raindrops–but they still went home. Each was a victim of a long-held agreement between NHRA and the Professional Racers Organization (PRO) that represents the series’ pro class competitors to guarantee a starting slot to the current top-10 points leaders if just one qualifying session is in the books. Obviously,
after posting times good enough to make the raceday field, it was a mighty blow against Top Fueler Lucas and his Funny Car brethren to be bumped for “provisional” qualifiers David Grubnic, Jim Head, Cruz Pedregon and Gary Scelzi. However, being well aware of the rule (even if many fans were not) before qualifying even began, each ousted driver accepted their unfortunate fate with dignified resignation.
Personally, I’d rather see just the 16 quickest cars from qualifying–regardless of whether one or four sessions are run–going racing on Sunday, but I also understand the preference to give everyone at least one shot at both lanes before competition begins. Of course there’s also that desire (need!) to put as many as possible of those big top-10 sponsors out there on raceday, since they support the sport nationwide and (Rod Fuller excepted) they’re the colorful cars most fans are expecting to see.
So I see what NHRA/PRO are trying to achieve, though with all the focus placed on being in the top eight in points for this year’s inaugural Countdown to the Championship it would seem logical to make eighth place the new cutoff for any qualifying gifts being handed out. Maybe this has to be renegotiated with PRO or maybe it was just an oversight by NHRA when the Countdown came into being since the “Top-10 Rule” really is an oddity, but if creating tension in the points is really what it’s all about, let’s see some consistency.
Likewise, as the Countdown progresses, I’d suggest only those still in the hunt should be guaranteed a raceday slot. So, at Las Vegas and Pomona where only four drivers in each pro category will still have a shot at the season championship, I think only those four should be assured a start if the one-qualifying-session rule comes into play.
This is just the latest issue to put NHRA qualifying in the limelight, though. It seems this year even more so than in the last few, drivers and crew chiefs have been pointing out and complaining that Friday night’s typically cooler-air session is the only one that really counts, as it’s rare for anyone to improve once the temperature climbs back to normal–and to raceday conditions–on Saturday. This seems particularly true for Pro Stock, though at the season’s last race at Sonoma several racers defied that trend by considerably improving in Saturday’s first session, though by the afternoon the status quo resumed.
