Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsman!
 

I participated at the race at Englishtown NJ this weekend and was discusted and furious at the starter Rick Stewart. It's not bad enough that SS got screwed out of a qualifying run or that the track was sub-par once again. I found myself being handed the RAD CAP off my SS by the starter once the vehicle had left to make it's run. He simply handed it to me and told me it had fallen from my vehicle during the burnout. My question to Rick Stewart and NHRA is: are we, as car owners, not mandated to have a visible and identified "PUSH OFF" button on our vehicles in order for the NHRA personel to have the power to shut us off if they feel there might be a safety issue with one of our cars? If my SIX figure car had water spill under the tires would Rick or NHRA pick up the tab on the damage??? I once again see clearly that not only does the NHRA not care about us but so do some of the high placed officials. My suggestion to NHRA is to get rid of Rick, he obviously could care less about us and the majority of our vehicles are worth more than what he's getting paid. Get someone who will treat a sportsman vehicle just as delicate as a Funny Car!

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

u must have 1 of the 2012 fords!

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

What does that have to do with the fact that Stewart knowingly let a car run down the track with the radiator cap missing?

Speaking of the starter, who is he trying to impress everytime he makes it look like he is the one who starts the tree when the Pros are running? It must be for his TV image. Anyway it sure makes him look stupid because everyone knows the tree is started automatically and he is not the one starting the race at the flip of his thumb.

Buster never made a big deal of flipping the switch and he was really the one who actually started each race back then.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Their will never be another BUSTER he was #1
Allen

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

possible rick did not know what the part was for ???? like i said check them their lugs boys

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

I was at Dallas I think it was 93 and 2 cars wouldnt stage in Pro Stock in Qualifing. Buster walked up to the tree so both drivers could see him, put the starting box down and walked off for 90 seconds. After 90 seconds he picked the box up and pointed the drivers in they both went in. He told them after the round if they had cut their off he would have backed them out and no run. He had control and he didnt have to look like a circus monkey to do it. My dad said when he was division director it was Busters way or the highway and all the racers liked that.

Herb Jr

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

He is the visible representative of the corporate attitude. What do you expect?

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

X2 None better than Buster.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

You guys act like it is a drag race or something. IT's a SHOW!!!
Based on the way NHRA has been run the last 10 years or so, did you expect any better from the hired help. My 7 year old granddaughter knows more about "Real" drag racing and she knows how to start. (Not sure she would have caught a radiator cap though, but she spots oil and water right away.)

Tom Sr.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

x2

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyHc8ZoyKyY

Here it is ...Classic WJ / Scott G.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Awesome video. Talk about the good ole' days. Steve Evans voice so brings me back to when I used to actually watch the TV coverage and be excited to do so. Before I even got started as a class racer, I remember planning my Sunday morning to watch NHRA Today, or tape it, cause you sure didn't want to miss a single episode. Seems like only yesterday, and now Steve is dead, Scott G is dead, and WJ is barely competitive. God I'm getting old...

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Please clarify.You own the car and someone else was driving?If so,as much as a dick as he is did you see him pick up the cap?If not then maybe one of the other starting line crew
gave it to him and he handed it to you.If that's the case then maybe instead of worrying about Tricky Rick maybe you should concentrate on who left the radiator cap loose,
causing it to deposit itself on the track.After all you are responsible for having a safe car come to the starting line ready to race,not Ricky.
I didn't hear anyone complaining any more than usual at a national event about the bite.
Just my opinion.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

I couldn't agree more with your post Dan.........

I taped all the shows on a VCR....and actually cared who won.....

Steve Evans and Big Mac did a great job making those Diamond P shows....

Buster had no equal out there and didn't sit in no chair barking at his assistants

He stood up all day and started most of the races himself and the time from stage to start was up to him......

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

x2

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

How about we get WJ to be the new nhra starter ????

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

WJ would probably get so fed up with the way a racer was staging, go over, tap on the window, open your door, throw you out and say, "I will show you how to drive this"!

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

X2 there Dan. It was the best we'll ever know !

I'd bet Arlene thumps you soon Dan O !! LOL !

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

x 3

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Think WJ would be a great starter...would definitely shake the NHRA castle with his thoughts so don't look for that anytime soon, he is absolutely such a legend it hurts to see him run underfunded and uncompetitive...remember a time he said he wouldn't run out of his own wallet so hopefully he has something cooking that will enable him to run a bit stronger.

Do believe a lot of the tech guys and others care about the sportsman racer because they identify with us more than the pros....Stewart needs to move on.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Rick Stewart is a fabulously,fashionably, caring guy. He is a huge icon in the West Hollywood area. They really love him on sunset blvd.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Perhaps some of the feckless contributors on this post should try to process the following through their diminutive grey matter. Rick Stewart may not be your cup of tea but the man is sincerely enthusiastic in his participation of the sport of drag racing. To bash him on this forum due to an attempt to divert blame shows a lack of backbone. SS/GS if you were so outraged, why didn't you have the stones to go and discuss your concerns with Mr. Stewart? Not yell and scream about what a d. bag he was, but why they didn't shut-off your SIX figure representation of your phallus? What Rick should have done was to throw your run out for depositing things on the racing surface.

How many people on this site know anything about Rick Stewart? Like did you know that he was an accomplished top fuel racer back in the day that so many of you pine about ad nausea? He drove front motored fuel cars when it took a big sac to do so. He is a hell of as lot more of a RACER than many of you dorks who cowardly use this forum to spew your bile all over the place. His perspective comes from racing at a different level then most of us on this site. So perhaps instead of wagging your ignorant tongues about how he disrespects the sportsman racer why not have a civil conversation with the man. Don't try to give me the excuse he's not approachable or available, that's a load of horse dung. I had some issues/concerns with him years ago. He was quite cordial and appreciated that I had brought my concerns to his attention. He also educated me on some of the challenges he faces. Trust me I worked a year in the tower at my local strip and you would not believe some of the moronic stuff that some racers do. That includes many of you holier than thou Stock/SS Class Racers. Of which I proudly am one despite the many trolls that insist on posting their venal diatribes here.

I have a true disgust of the direction of NHRA and the treatment of sportsman racers over the years like everyone else. It has taken a lot of the fun out of racing. But even more parasitic to my enthusiasm has been the constant name calling, complaining, back biting, jealousy and selfishness that has pervaded this forum. Kudos to Mr. Matyas for at least trying to inject some positive vibes into this overwhelmingly antagonistic website.
If I were Rick Stewart or any of the management of NHRA and saw this bunch of immature, virulent posts I wouldn't listen to you malcontents either!

BTW if you ask many racers that are long in the tooth, Buster Couch could be a class A prick in his own right. You just choose selective memory to bolster your feeble arguements.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Talking about venal diatribes. You don't have to visit this antagonistic website if it gets your shorts in such a knot. Why don't you practice what you preach?

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

on top of what Dan mentioned, Olds is no longer around. :(

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Mr. Nolan,

I was once told to never argue with idiots, they get you down to their level, and then beat you with experience. Therefore I shall not spend any more of my time reading what you have to say. Your opinion has no relevance what so ever. You are one of the prime muckrakers on this site.

Good luck with your tilting at windmills!!!!

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Steve,you were a bit harsh.I made the point that Stewart may have not been the culpit in this case,but he is a bit of a drama queen when he's performing his duties.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

[QUOTE=Steve Sullivan;262699]Mr. Nolan,

I was once told to never argue with idiots, they get you down to their level, and then beat you with experience. Therefore I shall not spend any more of my time reading what you have to say. Your opinion has no relevance what so ever. You are one of the prime muckrakers on this site.

Good luck with your tilting at windmills!!!![/QUOTE




I don't know who you are but you are off the rails here. I have posted less than three times since the beginning of the year. And I only came on today to post an ad.

You must understand how foolish your original post on this thread really is because you have no response other than more bashing. So there is no high road for you on this thread. I guess you came out here to say some nice things about Mr. Stewart and in the process engaged in a rant about this site and the people who post comments. You bash the bashers and then bash some more. You look just as bad as the people you rail against. It's too bad because you could have taken the high road and made an honest point but you chose to throw a childish tantrum. I know you don't see it that way today but read your muck again tomorrow and you'll wish you hadn't behaved so badly. Good bye to you.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

I haven't been an NHRA member for about 3 years for various reasons. But when I was active they had started to have class eliminations on Thursdays after 2 rounds of sportsman qualifying. By the time we began running class the starting line was not up to the quality it needed to be to support this type of racing, but they put us out there anyway. Then try to go 3 or 4 rounds on such a poorly maintained starting line and the results were very frustrating to say the least. I wrote a personal handwritten letter to Rick Stewart addressing this issue and I did not get a reply. At one event one of my pit crew walked up to Rick Stewart at the starting line after seeing several cars spinning the tires and asked him: "Can you do something about these bald spots?" I was told that Rick's reply was "What you see is what you get." I don't know who's call it was to let the track get sloppy during class eliminations, or if the blame lies with Rick Stewart or NHRA, but IMO neither one gave a damn.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

x3

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Steve Evans and Dave McClelland doesn't get any better than that!!

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Oh how I miss the old days. But there not coming back so let’s make the best of what we have. Because these will be the good old days soon. Diamond “P” was the best.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Those were the good old days....I didn't miss an episode....lol

When I hear the taped commercials at the races with Dave's voice it brings back memories of Dimond P stuff....

As far as Rick goes.....He's the least of our worries....I bet my percentage of error is a lot higher than his.....he turns the switch on properly most of the time...who's call is it to dust the bald spots...I don't know...

But I wouldn't want to stand out there all day...would you...looks like a sucky job to me....

Make sure you get the radiator cap on next time....and he won't have to pick it up....not like it fell out of the back of the car.....

Rock Haas

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Steve Evans...." A PIN, A PATCH,,, AND MUCH MUCH MORE." Way cool. Did anybody notice the nitrous backfire when they launced? Those were the days.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Something tells me that when Rick's term as starter is finally over, he will just fade away and never be spoken of again.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

I'll never forget him.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

Let me rephrase that. He will never be spoken of in a good way like great men such as Buster have been.

Re: Rick Stewart should be fired, doesn't care about sportsm
 

First off, like someone else already said. It is your responsibility to make sure your car is ready and safe to make a pass down the track. Especially since you had extra time to do so because you didn't get one of your qualifying passes to begin with. So in my opinion you and your team dropped the ball here.
Now, whoever picked up your radiator cap should have shut you guys down right there. It doesn't sound like you know for sure Rick Stewart is the man that picked up your radiator cap. With that said I believe you are out of line for your rant unless you know for sure he picked it up and that he had this knowledge before the tree came down.