CON #6.5
I am waffling, but leaning towards not liking it. While the history is such only the Elite Eight have ever been the champ, look at what happened to Schumacher and Troxel this year. Who would you rather have running at the end, Troxel or Schumacher? If I was Kalitta, I would be tickled pink if Schumacher did not count. Plus, if I was out, why not go into test mode for the next year. Thus a bunch more tire smokers/fires/oil-downs to make the show less interesting.
However, future intrigue could happen: If you are in, maybe go help Joe Bob beat another Elite Eight guy in round 1? Give him a motor and tune-up? Now that would be good pit gossip for sure.
But the 800-lb gorilla in this deal will be the sponsors. I am sure Budweiser, Army, etc. will be very upset if their team has a bad beginning (say a series of parts failures that cost them dearly for 2-3 races) and thus they wind up on the outside looking in. I hope NHRA consulted with them (and team owners) beforehand, but well, uh, we all know NHRA's past history with sponsor and owner treatment. I really, really hope NHRA does not P.O. some major sponsors. Our sport does not need that.
I have started running NHRA again in Top Dragster (Div 4), first time racing NHRA since 1997. As my buddies put it "when you get mad and boycott, you really do it!" No 1-2 race holdout for me.
William D. (Dee) Kruse
CON #7
Countdown to the Whatever: Can't we just give all the racers Championship trophies at the end of the season? (It really doesn't matter. After the Winternationals, the NHRA is a huge bore.)
Mark Beauchamp
Fullerton, CA
CON #8
I think NHRA stands for Nascar Has Ratings Always, so I guess Tom
Compton in his inevitable lack of what the hell is going on, will just copy the Nextel boys.
Tom Gondal
Pottstown, PA
CON #9
This new points deal sucks large! Just goes to show the powers that be in the NHRA have no clue at all. Hey, let's steal an idea from NASCAR to create a playoff-like atmosphere towards the end of the season. Lame, Mr. Compton, really lame. I wonder how much
thought was put into this idea anyway. Last season we had the Funny Car class go down to the last race...wasn't it exciting enough?
I also wonder if ESPN will like the idea of possibly losing TV viewers for those first 17 races that don't mean anything. You may have some die-hard fans who would watch fuel cars go down a dirt road, but I am willing to bet the new fans that NHRA is trying to hook by offering some sort of parity with NASCAR will only tune in for the playoffs...just like hockey, baseball, basketball and football.
I can only hope some of the big name drivers think this new deal sucks as well. Could you imagine if a big name driver like John Force or Brandon Bernstein went to race for real in the IHRA instead of just periodically showing up to test and tune like some of the Funny Car guys have done already. That Norwalk Final in Funny Car was great, wasn't it? It would sure send a strong message wouldn't it? Please IHRA don't follow suit! Keep the points the way they are!
Brad Turk
Ontario, Canada
|
