WHERE ’S THE EXCITEMENT?
Hey, Lenny! I read your DRO article with great interest. I, too, have nodded off while watching ESPN2’s coverage of the POWERade series. Not because the event is boring, I have attended too many national events at Brainerd to believe that. There is a certain “atmosphere” present at a national event. It is downright electric. But it loses something in translation when it hits the boob tube.
My solution? NHRA should hire a young, wacky, creative, Madison Avenue ad-guy and tell him to wander several national events just to experience the mojo going on. The person selected should be a motorhead or at least, motorsports savvy. Then call him back in for a Saturday Night Live style writing session with a group of other motorsports television people and draft an entirely new blueprint for broadcasting NHRA POWERade drag racing events. I am willing to bet that the outcome of that session would be a fresh, over-the-top format that would properly showcase our beloved sport.
Professional drag racing is violent, raw, loud, explosive…incredible. Television coverage should be aimed at these elements, not a re-hash of a NASCAR format. That kind of coverage would keep me on the edge of my seat, for sure!
There has been a “bulleted list” of facts surrounding nitro racing floating around the Internet for years. I’m sure you’ve see it – it outlines the fuel consumed, the G’s felt by nitro pilots, the relative speed of dragsters compared to Hennessy Vipers, etc. I have those statistics pretty much committed to memory and whenever I am in a setting where I can toss a few of those facts around in conversation, it NEVER fails to impress the listener. They are always impressed by this stuff and the typical response is “I gotta go see this some time!” Even people that can’t tell a spark plug from a bass plug can grasp raw speed and acceleration. A bit of understanding of what generates that speed and acceleration fascinates anyone.
If the NHRA and ESPN could capture this visceral response to nitro racing, I believe it would grow to NASCAR proportions. This kind of coverage would play to the unique strengths of our sport and ensure the WOW factor that underlies nitro racing. Then when you’re hooked, introduce them to the men and women that hold the reins of these beasts for their quarter-mile blast and you make it personal. By the way, women in the pro ranks should be headline news. Why Melanie Troxel isn’t on the cover of ESPN is beyond me.
I took too long, but there is a formula out there that will propel NHRA drag racing closer to the fore…if they will just invest the resources to take it there. In my humble opinion, Wally Parks needs to let go and let’s get a young hot-shot that has a finger on the pulse of what’s hip in America run the show.
Greg Bednar
North Mankato, MN
HERE’S MY ‘JOHN HANCOCK’
Get that petition rolling, Jok. I'll be the first signature.
Jeremy Lehrke
TAKING ITS TOLL
Jok, I couldn’t agree more. How would you like to run them toll roads every week? My toll bills for the truck average $180.00 -- thank God the boss pays the bills. And them roads! It’s a no-brainer why I see a chiropractor 2-3 times a month.
Fuel prices already changed my racing plans. I was gonna run the Cordova points meet then go to Brainered in August. Fuel would be about $700.00, then entrance fees, pit passes and beer and I’m looking at a $1300.00 week. That’s a lot of weekends at Cedar Falls even though my beer budget will cost more.
Jeff Essmann
