DRAGS, DOLLARS & SENSE: WONDERING WHAT WALLY WOULD SAY
Thu, 2010-05-06 18:54
What would Wally say?
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
Wally Parks, NHRA’s founder, has been gone for almost three years now. The sport he loved has changed in that time – not for the better, according to some – and that’s what has gotten my mind to racing.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
Wally Parks, NHRA’s founder, has been gone for almost three years now. The sport he loved has changed in that time – not for the better, according to some – and that’s what has gotten my mind to racing.
While the sound and fury over Bruton Smith’s Four-Wide Nationals lingers like nitro fumes on a still afternoon, it’s only the latest example of drivers and team owners venting their frustrations about NHRA management decisions. The fiasco that was track conditions for the Pro Stock and sportsman door-slammers at Firebird International Raceway came prior. As did grumblings about John Force Racing exceeding the testing limits; ESPN2’s production philosophy; prize money; the price of fuel; licensing fees and, well, the list goes from Pomona to Topeka, if not all the way on to Englishtown.
It seems to me that, as time has passed and the desire to show appropriate respect to Parks – and his memory - has waned, racers have become much more willing to speak out against NHRA on what they see as the issues of the day. And do so much more publicly and powerfully.
I’m not criticizing them because, quite simply, that is human nature.
Over at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, during last month’s SummitRacing.com Nationals, I gave my theory a test drive: I informally polled about a dozen people with deep and historical ties to the sport. I promised them all confidentiality in return for their honest answers, but I hope you’ll take my word for it when I say, you’d immediately recognize every name.
The two most prominent competitors I asked said, no, there’s no difference now from when Parks was alive – especially in his later years – citing dustups during the Dallas Gardner and Tom Compton administrations.
However, two-thirds agreed with me, at least in part. It got my attention when two – a team manager and someone with strong connections to both the corporate and media constituency groups – at first disagreed, only to later seek me out to say, “On second thought, I think you have a point.”
It certainly wasn’t a scientific survey. But it did strengthen my belief that respect for the sport’s leadership isn’t what it once was. And, again, that’s human nature. There can be only one founder, one visionary, one creator of the straight-line drag racing playing field.
Sometimes, it’s the little things that reflect a bigger picture. At the Arizona Nationals, last February, while visiting the hospitality areas of two of the most important players in the NHRA arena, I couldn’t help but notice that products from business rivals to series sponsor Coca-Cola were available to guests.
What would Wally Parks have said about that?
I don’t think he would have needed to say a word. There was too much respect for the man for anyone in the pit area to have dreamed of doing it.
Respect.
I think that’s the real bottom line to all the hot and dusty and turbulent winds that swirl around the Full Throttle circuit these days.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
Wally Parks, NHRA’s founder, has been gone for almost three years now. The sport he loved has changed in that time – not for the better, according to some – and that’s what has gotten my mind to racing.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
Wally Parks, NHRA’s founder, has been gone for almost three years now. The sport he loved has changed in that time – not for the better, according to some – and that’s what has gotten my mind to racing.
While the sound and fury over Bruton Smith’s Four-Wide Nationals lingers like nitro fumes on a still afternoon, it’s only the latest example of drivers and team owners venting their frustrations about NHRA management decisions. The fiasco that was track conditions for the Pro Stock and sportsman door-slammers at Firebird International Raceway came prior. As did grumblings about John Force Racing exceeding the testing limits; ESPN2’s production philosophy; prize money; the price of fuel; licensing fees and, well, the list goes from Pomona to Topeka, if not all the way on to Englishtown.
It seems to me that, as time has passed and the desire to show appropriate respect to Parks – and his memory - has waned, racers have become much more willing to speak out against NHRA on what they see as the issues of the day. And do so much more publicly and powerfully.
I’m not criticizing them because, quite simply, that is human nature.
Over at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, during last month’s SummitRacing.com Nationals, I gave my theory a test drive: I informally polled about a dozen people with deep and historical ties to the sport. I promised them all confidentiality in return for their honest answers, but I hope you’ll take my word for it when I say, you’d immediately recognize every name.
The two most prominent competitors I asked said, no, there’s no difference now from when Parks was alive – especially in his later years – citing dustups during the Dallas Gardner and Tom Compton administrations.
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However, two-thirds agreed with me, at least in part. It got my attention when two – a team manager and someone with strong connections to both the corporate and media constituency groups – at first disagreed, only to later seek me out to say, “On second thought, I think you have a point.”
It certainly wasn’t a scientific survey. But it did strengthen my belief that respect for the sport’s leadership isn’t what it once was. And, again, that’s human nature. There can be only one founder, one visionary, one creator of the straight-line drag racing playing field.
Sometimes, it’s the little things that reflect a bigger picture. At the Arizona Nationals, last February, while visiting the hospitality areas of two of the most important players in the NHRA arena, I couldn’t help but notice that products from business rivals to series sponsor Coca-Cola were available to guests.
What would Wally Parks have said about that?
I don’t think he would have needed to say a word. There was too much respect for the man for anyone in the pit area to have dreamed of doing it.
Respect.
I think that’s the real bottom line to all the hot and dusty and turbulent winds that swirl around the Full Throttle circuit these days.
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