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Presidential
Memories
Bill Bader’s sudden resignation marks not only the end of his IHRA reign, but the end of an era that dates back more than half a century. He’s the last of the self-made mavericks who rose from the ranks of racers or track operators to lead entire sanctioning bodies.
Wally Parks became the first when, in 1953, he switched NHRA’s attention from street to strip. Only two years later, the way that Parks & Co. conducted the inaugural NHRA Nationals so infuriated a Midwestern participant named Jim Tice that this unknown racer went shopping for a sanctioning body of his own. In 1956, Tice acquired the American Hot Rod Association and created the AHRA Nationals at the same Great Bend, Kan., airport that had hosted NHRA's first national event the previous season. He went on to make a fortune by running nitro during NHRA’s 1957-63 Fuel Ban, and later backed the PRA’s bold National Challenge series. a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Click to visit our sponsor's website In 1970, ironically, it was an AHRA track operator, Larry Carrier, who bolted from Tice’s organization to form a third sanctioning body. Thus did racers and fans of the Seventies enjoy a scrumptious selection of classes, facilities, politics and turf wars as the hard-headed Parks, Tice and Carrier battled one another for tracks, attractions and headlines. Some of the sport’s greatest and longest-lasting innovations directly or indirectly resulted from their intense, often-acrimonious rivalries. Alas, the mold was cracked when businessman Mike Gray acquired AHRA from Tice’s widow, then broken when bean-counter Dallas Gardner succeeded Parks at the wheel of NHRA. Larry Carrier’s last shocker was selling IHRA to Billy Meyer, for a reported $1.4 million (in 1987 dollars, remember!). In his subsequent Drag Review editorial, Carrier penned this postscript: “I went through many lean years, years of rain, and hung tight. I fought off all rumors to destroy IHRA. And as the final bell sounds, my last remark to The Great Gardner and Wally Parks is -- I GOTCHA!” a
d v e r t i s e m e n t Meyer’s rule was unprecedented in terms of financial loss, controversy and brevity. Within a few months of assuming control and uprooting the organization’s traditional Southern headquarters, this 33-year-old rich kid had driven off every employee and nearly every sportsman racer ever affiliated with IHRA. At the end of his tumultuous 1988 season, about all he had to show was the Texas Motorplex national event that produced Eddie Hill’s historic 4.99; a whole lot of rain; millions of lost dollars; and one unforgettable photograph that seemed to sum up the combination of immaturity and arrogance that ultimately sealed Meyer's fate. I'm proud to say that the picture was mine, snapped in a Motorplex suite during the aforementioned Texas Nationals. As so often happens on film, the infamous “tongue” photo that appeared in the June 1988 issue of Drag Racing magazine was not the intended shot. Rather, I was setting up a serious photo to accompany an editorial I was writing about IHRA's sudden elimination of all Modified, Super Stock and Stock classes. I’d planned to depict a thoughtful president, gazing out over his troubled empire. a
d v e r t i s e m e n t Then I got lucky. When Billy heard the shutter slam shut, he stuck out his tongue - failing to realize that my camera was equipped with a motor drive, and that my trigger finger was still in place. I squeezed off a second shot; what some of my peers still refer to as my “career photo.” As soon as I got back to L.A. and processed the film, I knew I had the proverbial picture that would tell a thousand words. The question was: How would I get it into print?
I’d already been lectured by my new publisher, Jim Adolph, about “going negative” on Billy, his old racing buddy. Moreover, Adolph had confided to me that he’d recently purchased a Funny Car trailer from the recently-retired Meyer -- but had yet to finish making payments. No way in hell was this guy gonna let this photo run, I figured. Then again, I’d already announced intentions to resign as editor as soon as my contract was up, later that year, so what did I have to lose? Thus did I conspire to attach the first, serious photo (which is reproduced here for the first time) to the preliminary page that my publisher reviewed. Not until a week or so later, when the approved “blue lines” were being packaged for shipment to our Midwestern printer, did I secretly substitute the “tongue” photo, with instructions to make the switch. Not even my art director nor managing editor were told. Whoo-ee, did the stuff ever hit the fan! When that issue hit the street, Waco Willie went nuts, reportedly calling every masthead name from Robert E. Petersen’s on down. Internal memos were written. Head-rolling was threatened. Every word of my next (and last!) four issues would be scrutinized by the suits. Coworkers were informed -- correctly, as things turned out -- that Wallace would never work again as an editor. a
d v e r t i s e m e n t
In person, Meyer was nothing less than cordial. In fact, to this
day,
whenever he sees me, Billy smiles and sticks out his tongue (after
glancing
around for stray cameras, that is). I’d like to believe that
Bill Bader
might’ve slipped some lucky photographer a little tongue, too, under
similar
circumstances. I don’t think Tom Compton would. As long as
Clear Channel
Entertainment is signing Aaron Polburn’s paycheck, I doubt that Bader's
successor will be flashing any pink, either. Sanctioning-body
presidents
just ain’t what they used to be.
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