On September 9, 2008 Feld Entertainment, Inc. purchased the Motor
Sports division of Live Nation. Kenneth Feld, Feld Entertainment’s CEO,
recently discussed the deal and where he hopes to take the new division
of Feld Entertainment…Feld Motor Sports.

Q: What was it about the motor sports division of Live Nation that
made it attractive to, to the point where you wanted to acquire it and
make it a part of Feld Entertainment?

Kenneth Feld: When I first heard the motor sports division of Live
Nation was for sale I was intrigued. Actually I was intrigued before
that. I thought it was a live event business that fit really well with
what we do. These are major live logistical events, and what I really
liked was that anyone on the planet could enjoy them. You don’t have to
speak a certain language and it’s not a cultural thing the way certain
specific brands of entertainment are. This was something I thought if
you have a heartbeat you would have to love all these motor sports
events.

The show known as the NHRA was a huge hit in Concord (NC), a suburb of Charlotte, this past weekend.

It all started with a phone call. Tom Compton, NHRA President, mad the
call in the fall of 2007 to noted NASCAR mogul Bruton Smith. That call
led to the construction of zMAX Dragway, the most fantastic drag racing
facility to ever be built.

While there was never any question the Carolinas Nationals would be a
stellar event right out of the gate, two consecutive sellout days,
Saturday and Sunday,  at the inaugural Carolinas Nationals hosted by
Bruton’s new zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C., confirmed drag racing has a
home in the Charlotte area.

The usual cast of suspects, the diehard drag racing fans, were nearly
overwhelmed by the pack of first timers. "Brutopia," a moniker bestowed
on the new facility by members of the media, was a cornucopia of
success for the NHRA, Bruton Smith's new facility and the thousands of
first time attendees who are more used to stock cars then they are
nitro burning rockets, piloted by the test pilots of the 21st century.

Dave Connolly sat at his kitchen table on a particularly cool January
morning, looking forward to the coming season. The talented Pro Stock
driver was pondering the upcoming season over a bowl of Fruit Loops and
planning a trip to team owner Victor Cagnazzi’s shop to prepare for
another run at an elusive world championship.

Then his phone rang and every vision of topping 2007’s five-win streak came to a crashing halt.

On the other end of the phone, Cagnazzi informed Connolly unless
sponsorship could be procured in the 11th hour, he wouldn’t be racing
at the season-opener the next month in Pomona, Ca. Sponsor Evan Knoll’s
Torco Race Fuels had pulled every race team sponsorship they had
including his.

All of a sudden, the Fruit Loops didn’t have the same appeal they’d presented minutes earlier.

Not
only is zMAX Dragway @ Concord the nation's newest racing venue, it's a
creation that the pioneers of Carolinas drag racing could never have
imagined when their sport began more than half a century ago. The Sept.
11-14 NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway is part of that once-inconceivable
picture.

Races that once were started by flagmen long ago gave way to an
electronic "Christmas tree." Debates over which car hit the finish line
first are now settled by super-slow motion video and timing clocks that
measure a run to within one-ten-thousandth of a second. Rudimentary
drag strips are just as much a part of the past. At zMAX Dragway, there
are four-yes, four-all-concrete lanes laid for racing; certainly a far
cry from the dirt drag strips and abandoned airstrips that were drag
racing's building blocks. 

Gary Scelzi has endured a season he’d just as soon forget.

The four-time world champion from Fresno, Ca, was shut out from the
winner’s circle during the first phase of the NHRA’s Countdown to the
Champion and as a result of inconsistent performances fell from
contention for a potential fifth world championship.

Many fans are wondering what’s in store for the popular driver who answers to the nickname “Wild Thing”.

Speculation increased following a DNQ performance in which Scelzi,
during a top-end interview with Alan Reinhart suggested that 2008 could
be his final opportunity to win Indy behind the wheel of a Funny Car.

Is Scelzi returning to Top Fuel? Will he drive for Alan Johnson? Will he call his career over?

There is something magical about the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.  In
years gone by purists bemoaned the selling of the event's title rights,
but in this day and age the additional funding is helpful.  Or should
we make that mandatory?

We don't care if they call it nothing more complicated than just
"Indy," because every drag fan from Maine to California knows that this
is the year's most important and prestigious race.  Winning this one
can make a driver's career complete.  Just ask the likes of Ed "The
Ace" McCulloch, or Bob Glidden, who was honored at this year's event
for having won it nine times.  Or "Big Daddy" Don Garlits.  Or Shirley
Muldowney.  Or John Force.  Or… Well, you get what we mean.  Winning
this is big, really BIG!  So big that a few years ago Larry Dixon said
in defeat, "You have no idea what this means.  I wanted that trophy!" 
As far as he was concerned the runner-up purse could have been half a
million bucks, and he still would have been devastated.  Winning at
Indy is what every drag racer dreams about.

This year there was extra pressure on a handful of drivers because at
the conclusion of eliminations the Top 10 points earners in each
professional category would be locked into the Countdown to 1
championship program, so qualifying and advancing through eliminations
was, well, huge.

It’s a jungle out there.  Thundering through the twilight hours are
Elephants, tromping and stomping everything in their way as they move
from one end of a clearing in the trees, a clearing known as O’Reilly
Raceway Park, to the other.
 
In days gone by animals abounded in this jungle.  First there was the
little Mouse, he of the high-winding, screaming voice.  And then there
was the Rat (motor), also from the land of Chevrolet, but overcoming
them all was the massive Elephant from Mopar.  Four hundred and
twenty-six cubic inches of fire-breathing horsepower that, in its day,
dominated drag racing.

Since 2000, CompetitionPlus.com has provided coverage of the NHRA MAC Tools U.S. Nationals from start to finish. However, those who visit Indy know the experience of the event has little to do with the numbers and win-lights. It's about the people and the plethora of stories that transpire during the five-day event. In the days leading up to Indy, we will bring out some of our finest Indy-related feature stories for your viewing pleasure.