Black Tuesday?

[bill dedman]

Dick Butler said, " I cannot get on the court with Micheal Jordan."

I have news for you, Dick; when you pull into the opposing lane from Dan Fletcher, Peter Biondo, ~either~ of the Lang bros., Edmond Richardson, or David Rampy (and, yes, I have left our a few,) you ARE on the court with "Michael Jordan."

It's a lot like allowing Mike Tyson to box Golden Gloves... practically impossible for someone who, because of circumstances; financial, or otherwise, someone, who can't accrue seat time (or, equipment) equal to someone who races for a living, to win. It's possible to beat those guys, yes, but the odds are with them.

This, in an Eliminator that, at least at its inception, was created for the hobby racer, not the professional. Stock and S/S are Sportsman Eliminators, and as such, were never intended to be the venue of the professional. NHRA has Eliminators for professional racers (Pro Stock, T/'F and F-C,) and they are called "Professional" categories.

Neither Stock, nor Super Stock is one of them.

Yet, these "Pro-Sportsman" racers are not doing ANYTHING that could in any shape or form, be construed as, illegal. This situation has evolved to its current status through the progression of how the rules are interpreted, how the game is played, and what parameters are followed in the prosecution of the national and LODRS races, and their many regulations.

It's ALL legal, and above-board.

Someone said, "Making money this way is not easy."

That is way understated. As we all know, there are, by actual count, 347,218,963 ways to lose a drag race, and only one, to win it. You have to be a psychologist, chemist, engineer, statistician, prophet, athlete, tactician/strategist, and about a hundred other things to win a race, PLUS have lady luck firmly on your side.

I can't IMAGINE trying to make my living that way....... all things considered, it seems impossible!

But, there are people doing it.

Someone said you can't legislate this "Pros in a Sportsman Eliminator" away; it's here to stay..." or, something similar.

That may be true, because you really can't define a Sportsman vs. Pro in any way I can imagine. Who's to say whether these racers literally make their living on the race track??? You gonna subpoena their W-2's??? I don't think so...

The only idea I ever heard that seemed feasible was one I read on here, a couple of years sgo, and I'm not sure whether it would even have any chance of working, but that was to limit entries in such a way that everyone racing was limited to ONE CAR per race, eliminating a 2-car effort. That would drop the odds of anyone winning (if they ran, say, a Stocker and a Super Stocker) by 50-percent, wouldn't it?

I don't know anything about math, but that SOUNDS probable, to me.

That one change might make it unattractive for an alleged "Pro" to run a "tour" of national events and points races, if only one car per event, were allowed.

Of course, NHRA would never go for it; they like the entry fees from the so-called "Pros" as much as anyone else's.... and we all know that they're all for a level playing field as long as it doesn't cost them a plugged nickel.

So, we'll very likely never to see such a limit.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.....