Drag racing and its television coverage have progressed to the point where it could be considered in some ways to be its own worst enemy.

Have we become spoiled when it comes to our sport and the television coverage available? Should we accept what we have today and be thankful for it, or should we demand that our television coverage be commensurate with other forms of motorsports broadcasting? This is a debate that can go on and on as long as our "instant gratification" society continues to exist.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that drag racing coverage has come a long way since it appeared on ABC’s Wide World of Sports and syndicated Diamond P coverage back in the ‘70s. We must point out that the syndicated coverage was well produced for its time . . . but timeliness was the key issue. Often those events were broadcast almost two months after the event.  Of course, we’d be remiss if we neglected to mention the occasional NBC SportsWorld coverage from the early ‘80s.  

While the National Hot Rod Association seemed to be satisfied, for the most part, with crumbs that TV networks ABC and NBC threw its way, maybe the International Hot Rod Association is to blame for opening a Pandora’s Box. The IHRA's broadcast arrangement not only advanced coverage of the sport, but it also provided the NHRA an opportunity to "one-up" the rival at its own game. 

Larry Carrier, IHRA founder, and his longtime sidekick Ted Jones, opened a new door for the fledgling Entertainment Sports Programming Network. Does that name ring a bell? Given their shows appeared in prime time in Hawaii (sarcasm), it was still drag racing, nonetheless. Drag racing fans were dedicated to the point where they’d either stay up to watch the coverage, which was marginal at best, or invest in the newest technology of the day – a video cassette recorder. 

Drag racing forged ahead, and the race fans were appreciative.

It wasn’t long before the NHRA followed the IHRA's lead, which it had done many times to that point. This time it was into the vast, uncharted waters of cable programming. 

The NHRA brokered a deal with the USA Network for a limited number of races. In some cases, the NHRA didn’t even carry television coverage of some events. The Nashville Networks' American Sports Cavalcade occasionally aired a drag-racing feature.

Do you remember watching John Force’s first victory at the 1988 Le Grandnational in St. Pie, Quebec and the emotion that followed in the shutdown area? Unless you were in attendance that weekend at Sanair International Drag Strip, you didn’t.

No television crew was there. Coverage north of the border was nonexistent. When Shirley Muldowney suffered her devastating crash in 1984 during the same event in Quebec, only still photographers were on hand, shooting the action.

The NHRA moved over to ESPN and in time increased its number of events. As the NHRA managed to grab better time slots (although not that much better) than its rival IHRA, the NHRA began to drift away from what got it to the dance. 

In the early days of drag-racing coverage, the broadcast teams were more personable to the viewer. Hosts Dave McClelland and the late Steve Evans had a way of making the viewers feel as if they knew the racers. It was an unbeatable combination. 

Drag Racing had key icons such as Muldowney (who was an excellent interview), "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and even Connie Kalitta when he got wound up.

Did the icons make the shows? Did the broadcast teams make them? The answer didn't matter -- the viewing experience was a treat. So where did that zeal and love for our sport go? 

The IHRA found that out the hard way when former President Bill Bader angered officials from ESPN to the point that they, to this day, will apparently not allow a mention of the sanctioning body on their network. That didn’t seem to bother the resourceful Bader, who then brokered a deal with TNN, using a shell of what used to be the Diamond P production company.

One can’t blame the sport for trying to find its niche.

In the early ‘90s, the NHRA flirted with live coverage. That plan, which was excellent in theory, never really panned out because Mother Nature, oil-downs, parts attrition and drag racing’s general drag-along nature was no respecter of network schedules.

Then the IHRA’s idea of running consecutive weekend shows in a consistent time slot never really caught on the way officials hoped it would. There was just something about a near five-month tape delay for the first race to air that just didn’t appeal to some.

But now the major sanctioning bodies seem to be headed in the right direction with their broadcast packages. When will drag racing elevate its coverage to one of the "Big Four" networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX)? That remains a major piece of the puzzle.

Drag racing still has an identity crisis when it comes to television. It has no identity. No matter how hard the television crews work to bring forth the latest slow-motion technology to show tire shake or how many Hooters Girls they put at the finish line, drag racing is still going to get bumped for stick-and-ball sports -- and of course, women’s volleyball.

Should we as drag-racing fans get up on the tires when this happens and send vengeful e-mails and make hateful posts on message boards? Or should we go on EBay, spend about ten bucks and buy a video tape of a Diamond P syndicated broadcast to see just how far we’ve come?

Everyone is quick to criticize and slow to offer alternatives.