A lot of things took place at the AC Delco Nationals in Las Vegas this past weekend, some of which has already been reported here on Torco’s Competitionplus.com already, while other items will be brand new.

Friday’s PRO Board of Directors meeting was highlighted by the first appearance of new Board member Bill Miller, he of connecting rod and Top Fuel fame. A thoughtful, extremely intelligent man, Miller’s voice was a breath of fresh air for the Board, as we’re hearing he spoke out on the issues while at the same time offering the organization a fresh perspective on drag racing’s problems. Miller replaced John Force, who resigned before his term had expired.

We’ve also heard that Kenny Bernstein will serve a third two-year term as the organization’s president at the specific request of the Board. Pro Stock driver Vieri Gaines will reportedly join the Board, which already includes Pro Stock racers Warren Johnson and Mark Pawuk who, while not competing in Las Vegas (or at the Finals in two weeks), flew in specifically for the meeting. A lot of things took place at the AC Delco Nationals in Las Vegas this past weekend, some of which has already been reported here on Torco’s Competitionplus.com already, while other items will be brand new.

Friday’s PRO Board of Directors meeting was highlighted by the first appearance of new Board member Bill Miller, he of connecting rod and Top Fuel fame. A thoughtful, extremely intelligent man, Miller’s voice was a breath of fresh air for the Board, as we’re hearing he spoke out on the issues while at the same time offering the organization a fresh perspective on drag racing’s problems. Miller replaced John Force, who resigned before his term had expired.

We’ve also heard that Kenny Bernstein will serve a third two-year term as the organization’s president at the specific request of the Board. Pro Stock driver Vieri Gaines will reportedly join the Board, which already includes Pro Stock racers Warren Johnson and Mark Pawuk who, while not competing in Las Vegas (or at the Finals in two weeks), flew in specifically for the meeting.

Speaking of Force, it was apparently his outspoken displeasure at the hiring of Ray Alley by Kenny Bernstein that ultimately resulted in Alley’s premature firing by NHRA right after the U.S. Nationals. As you may recall, Force believed that Alley would have unprecedented access to his team’s tuning secrets, which resulted in his verbal explosion to NHRA officials. Force has since apologized to Alley, but it’s apparent their long time friendship was severely strained by the accusations, which apparently had little basis in fact.

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Alley is almost finished recruiting mechanics and fabrication experts for Kenny Bernstein’s return to Funny Car. Johnny West, who has struggled as a lead tuner in the past, will become Alley’s right hand man, but will not shoulder the overall tuning responsibilities. Those will remain Alley’s. The crew is apparently just about all set, but no names have been announced because most of those who will be joining the operation fear they’ll lose whatever bonus monies they may have earned this year with other teams if those owners find out they’re jumping ship.

Force may not be complaining when Dan Olson, currently the “tuning manager” for Don Schumacher Racing, replaces Alley as is reportedly going to happen immediately after the season, because his team isn’t currently fielding a Top Fuel car. However, that may not be the case with other T/F competitors, as Olson’s close relationship with Army Top Fuel tuner Alan Johnson may make some teams wonder if he might give his former team a break when it comes to technical matters.

There’s significant internal turmoil at Schumacher Racing these days as tuners, mechanics and even drivers are apparently trying to position themselves for the future. Richard Hogan, who has done a masterful job with Melanie Troxel this season, confirmed to Torco's Competitionplus.com that he’s leaving the team at the end of the season. He wouldn’t confirm that he’ll continue to work with Troxel next year if and when she teams up with the Lucas Oil operation, calling that eventuality “one of the opportunities that’s out there for me.”

Although the decision had been made well before the U.S. Nationals, Anheuser-Bush officials confirmed at Las Vegas that the huge Saturday crowd was witnessing the last Budweiser Shootout. NHRA marketing operatives also confirmed Budweiser’s departure, but the brewer will continue to be the Official Beer of the NHRA while it will also remain solidly behind Brandon Bernstein’s Top Fuel operation.

As long as we’re in the suds mode, the latest word out of Don Prudhomme Racing is that Larry Dixon has “a job but not a ride” for 2007. While Prudhomme’s minions continue to beat the bushes for a backer for the two-time Top Fuel champion, right now there’s no confirmed deal.

Okay, so drag racing is facing the departure of one major brewer, and the cut-back of involvement by the other. A number of trackside observers and fans have been placing the blame for these departures on the shoulders of the NHRA without understanding the dynamics of the national beer marketplace at present. Both Bud and Miller continue to enjoy strong sales and use by their core audiences (mostly male) when at home or in “guy” social situations like watching a football game or POWERade drag race, but when those young men go out on dates their beverage of choice becomes an expensive import brew or hard liquor. For example, bar sales of spirits, particularly mixed drinks like martinis and the like, have been climbing at the about the same rate that the sale of domestic beers has declined. One result has been a decline in stock prices for both companies, and nothing upsets management more than that kind of development. Noting those declines, senior managers at both firms are looking for ways to revitalize their market shares, and that means financial belt-tightening and ventures into new promotional areas. Unfortunately, drag racing is one area where those cutbacks are being immediately felt.

The involvement in NASCAR by both Budweiser and Miller is also negatively impacting drag racing because of the rapidly increasing sponsorship costs. While we don’t have any solid figures, those closer to the roundy-round scene than we are report that Miller’s sponsorship of Kurt Bush may have cost two or even three times what it cost them to back Rusty Wallace. On the Bud side it’s estimated that, despite his on-track struggles, Dale Earnhardt, Jr’s unprecedented popularity has raised his asking price to several times what it initially cost Anheuser-Bush.

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It’s possible, however, that should A-B and/or Miller turn things around in ’07, they could come back to re-establish their positions in drag racing. Possible, yes, but likely? We think the odds are pretty slim on that right now.

Why do sponsors and/or competitors put names on their cars in a manner that doesn’t “explain” what they mean? Names and logos like Budweiser, Castrol, Mac Tools – things like that are either so well known or self-explanatory that every fan in the stands or back home sitting in front of the TV knows what they mean. That wasn’t the case with Joe Hartley’s Top Fuel car in Las Vegas, with its i society logo. We Googled i society and came up with the following possibility: isociety.org is the International Conference on Information Society 2007, which is a “global knowledge-enriched collaborative effort that has its roots from both academia and industry.” That was but one of 430 million possibilities, according to Google, of the combination of “i” and “society.” We’ll wait to hear from Hartley as to what the right answer is.

In case you’re wondering, Gary Densham’s plan for next year is to “fight the fight and go to war until we’re out of money,” which is, in effect, the plan of attack he’s followed since leaving the John Force fold a while back. Like almost every other Funny Car competitor we spoke with, Densham estimates there will be “18 to 20 cars out here next year that’ll be capable of ripping off 4.70s on every run.” That’s going to make qualifying tougher than ever for the racers, and better than ever for the fans. Among those everyone believes will be regularly in the 4.70s are both Kenny Bernstein and Ashley Force, but the difference between the two is that many wonder if Ms. Force will be capable of “racing.”

Tim Wilkerson has had a forgettable season, so vows “to lose 10 lbs. during the off season and don’t do anything to piss off my wife too much so I can keep going to the races!” Along with continued backing from Levi, Ray and Shoup, Wilkerson says the team is working on obtaining some additional sponsorship so they can go to war with more equipment than they’ve had available in ’06.

After redlighting in the first round Pro Stock Motorcycle, racer Steve Johnson’s crew chief, Mark Peiser opined, “F------ drivers. What’re ya gonna do?” Not to be outdone, Johnson said in jest, “Antron (Brown) paid me $1,500 to go red.” He also said he could fix his redlighting problem. “A short visit to any licensed psychiatrist will solve this.” Johnson bulbed in the first round of the last two POWERade Series events and will miss a Top 10 finish for only the second time in the last thirteen years.

Who was the hottest pro driver in Las Vegas? Hometown Top Fuel standout “Hot Rod” Fuller, who left on every single opponent he faced. Had the car not let him down with mechanical failures in the Budweiser Shootout finale and the semifinals of regular eliminations he could have doubled up. Strong Reaction Times are not usually associated with the fuel categories, but Fuller put that to rest with consistently excellent numbers, including an other worldly 0.033 against Doug Kalitta’s 0.044 in the Shootout finale. Too bad the connecting rods in Fuller’s engine departed at 1,000 feet!

Television can be deceiving when it comes to crowd estimations. As the cameras follow the cars downtrack it’s often hard to tell if there were 30 or 30,000 fans watching the action. That wasn’t a factor in Las Vegas. Friday’s crowd, which was visually the best first-day turnout in the track’s history, was reported to be 42% higher than last year’s. That trend continued through the weekend, with Sunday’s turnout also being nothing short of fantastic. We’re not sure whether this was a result of pre-race promotions, exceptional weather, exciting competition or a combination of the three, but after the rainouts that, to a certain extent, “ruined” Maple Grove and Virginia, it was a very pleasant surprise. Incidentally, across the street from the drag strip the Las Vegas Motor Speedway stock car track includes painted grandstand seating that’s been designed to make the facility appear full of fans when the cameras pan by, and it works. When you look into the stands it’s almost impossible to discern the real people from the paint and yes, it is something some executives at NHRA have been considering for their own facilities