Will they call it the F**** you Nationals

[SSTRACER323]

No one liked it, Racers or Fans but NHRA says F**** You!!!!

A rolling tide of persuasion has washed away the line drawn in the sand by the PRO board when it comes to four-wide racing.
NHRA President Tom Compton announced today there would be four wide racing at zMAX Dragway in 2011 and the event would be a championship points event.
Compton and Graham Light, NHRA Vice President of Racing Operations, sat down with the PRO Board for nearly two hours this morning to discuss issues which were revealed in a letter sent to the NHRA and Bruton Smith, owner of zMAX Dragway by PRO. At the end of the meeting, according to Compton, the drivers and owners sitting on the PRO board understood why the four wide racing format needed to be run again in 2011.
"Let me just cut to the chase," said Compton to open the announcement. "We are going to return to Charlotte next year with the four wide format. We think there are a number of areas we can work on to make the experience better. We know on television there are a number of things we can do to enhance the experience."
Compton also talked about how in the stands the NHRA can do a better job letting fans know how four wide racing actually works. They are also ways to improve on the issues which are important to the competitors - including better sponsor coverage and improvements on the tree.
Attitude Apparel's Competitionplus.com is currently working on a broader story about the four wide racing format.

[Bob Verwold]

With all the sportsman P.O. why stop there, I really thought they would stand together. Seems Morgan Lucas was one that still doesn't agree with the Ivory tower.......

[Carl Juliano]

Im thinking there had to be some money thrown around for PRO to change their stance so quickly without a fight. Almost all the drivers were against it.....now its squashed and everythings cool?!!,what BS.
I just hope the "2nd" track is better for the sportsman cars in a years time. I wonder if that was addressed yet?

[Bob Handschuh Racing]

I raced at this event and was in the stands watching one of the funny car qualification rounds. I found myself watching the two cars that were out front. One of the funny cars exploded the body at the finish line (and that car was one that was leading). During the same run, a car that was closest to the stands where I was sitting blew the body off. I was no more than 150 feet from where it landed and didn't even see fly off and land near the grandstand.

It would seem to me that racing in the pro categories is dangerous enough and having twice as many cars doubles the danger level for the drivers and fans.

It seems that they want to turn our form of racing into a real circus to please one rich investor.

Bob Handschuh

[Tim H]

That is probably a very appropriate title. Too bad PRO gave in !!!

[Rich Biebel]

Originally Posted by Carl Juliano

Im thinking there had to be some money thrown around for PRO to change their stance so quickly without a fight. Almost all the drivers were against it.....now its squashed and everythings cool?!!,what BS.
?

Carl I agree 100%......Had to be $$$ Talking
No way they could tell the Pro organization something like "We will find other cars to run the show".......There are no other cars!

NASCAR did that at the first race at Taladega many years ago.
NHRA Ran Indy without many of the big name Pro's around 1972 but that was a completely different era and there were plenty of cars out there running........

[Michael Pliska]

Damn, Bruton and Compton hacked Don's account over here too

[Tom Joseph]

Originally Posted by Don Higgins

Nope, just giving my opinion. Everyone who was there thought it was amazing to watch.

I was there it was confusing at best. The drivers were having the worst reaction times in history not to mention the track prep was not acceptable. I hope you enjoy it next year I won't be there and if you like it go that's what's kool about living in The USA and being allowed to think what you want...for now.

[GaryGoFast]

Being a first time event I was excited to go but with that being said, the track was garbage, I didnt travel 14.5 hrs to watch 4 wide but to compete against other racers. I wont go back, like i said in an earlier post, I can get screwed closer to home for less.

[Jason Oldfield]

I was there primarily to witness the 4-wide spectacle, and after about 5 sets I had enough. It was too hard to watch, and there was FAR too much downtime with there being twice as many lanes to maintain with no more equipment.

My personal opinion is that NHRA didn't throw more money at the racers, but Bruton threatened to take Zmax and the other tracks he owns (Sonoma, Bristol, and Vegas), go buy IHRA, AHRA, or the ADRL and make them all very sorry for pissing him off.

Bruton doesn't screw around - he plays hardball, and gets what he wants. If you all remember, the way Zmax got built in the first place was Bruton threatening to doze over Lowe's Motor Speedway and build a new super speedway in a neighboring county where he could also build his drag strip. He was obviously convincing enough that the Mecklenburg Country government backed off their restrictions and let Bruton build his drag strip.