The NHRA, on Page VI of its 2010 Rulebook, lists in the basics of drag racing section, a definition of drag racing.

“The sport of drag racing is an acceleration contest between two vehicles racing from a standing start over a straight race course.”

It is that one simple line in the rulebook which has the Professional Racers Organization up in arms over the recent NHRA 4-Wide Nationals to the point the board issued a letter to both the NHRA’s upper management and zMax Dragway’s Bruton Smith stating their intentions of not racing another four wide event for points.

They did, however, point out a willingness to discuss participation in a non-points earning version of the event.

The NHRA, on Page VI of its 2010 Rulebook, lists in the basics of drag racing section, a definition of drag racing.

“The sport of drag racing is an acceleration contest between two vehicles racing from a standing start over a straight race course.”

It is that one simple line in the rulebook which has the Professional Racers Organization up in arms over the recent NHRA 4-Wide Nationals to the point the board issued a letter to both the NHRA’s upper management and zMax Dragway’s Bruton Smith stating their intentions of not racing another four wide event for points.

They did, however, point out a willingness to discuss participation in a non-points earning version of the event.

On Saturday, April 17, 2010, the PRO board will meet as a group to determine how they intend to move forward on this issue.

The combination of the letter sent to Smith and NHRA upper management and the upcoming meeting is being viewed by many as a line drawn in the sand.

Two of the three parties in the controversy, Bruton Smith and members of PRO, have spoken with the media while the NHRA says it’s reserving judgment until after its gathered all data.

Smith took offense to the racers’ objections during an interview which was posted on ESPN.com.

“I won't be a part of this kind of negativism,” Smith told ESPN.com. “I have invested huge dollars to move this sport forward and help build the NHRA. But based on this [vote], I will just back away.

“I guess they don't want to promote the sport and grow. I will not be a party to this. We will pull in our horns from the NHRA.”

The article also stated Smith held past PRO President Kenny Bernstein as the responsible party for spearheading a campaign against the event’s future as a full-fledged point earning event. While Bernstein’s role as PRO president ended at the end of 2008, instead of walking away from the group completely, he remained as one of the Board of Directors.

Bernstein’s signature was the first on a survey, which only asked, “Do you want to participate in a 4-wide National Event for Points Again?”

Sixty-three drivers/owners cast their vote on the issue, sixty-one of which were opposed to future four wide events staged for points.

Don Schumacher, a member of the PRO board, believes Bernstein has been unfairly judged as a leader of an implied boycott movement.

“Kenny is getting a terribly unfair rap,” said Schumacher, who is one of eleven members on the PRO board. “This was not his undertaking nor did he need to take the lead in this thing. We all talk on the PRO board and universally we're against doing the four wide racing again. I take as much responsibility as Kenny Bernstein, as does every PRO board member. PRO needs to step up and take the responsibility rather than have this burden be on his shoulders. This is not Kenny’s fault or his responsibility. He is not the president of PRO. He’s just a board member like us.”

Schumacher wasn't the only PRO member to speak in Bernstein's defense.

“This isn’t Kenny Bernstein against Bruton Smith and to say it is, is very unfair,” added Bill Miller, another PRO board member. “As a group we simply said we didn’t want to do this when it affects the championship race. It’s just not fair.”

PRO’s intentions to not participate in future four wide events, involving points, were published in an article on March 31, 2010 in Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com before the PRO board could agree on the verbiage contained in the letter, and before it was delivered to both Smith and Compton.

The wording in letter published on this site was the same as the wording in the letter eventually delivered to Smith and the NHRA.

In the opinion of many of the professional teams, they are appreciative of the investment Bruton Smith has made in drag racing’s future. Many reluctantly supported the first event in a points-earning capacity out of respect for Smith, but a second event with championship ramifications is asking too much.

“It was an experiment that we were all willing to partake in,” Schumacher said. “I think we all learned and realized a lot with the experiment. I do wish the NHRA and Bruton would have come to the PRO board when this thought process came about. When they ran the exhibition event last year, I had conversations with NHRA management and the conversations centered on it being a non-points, special race as some of the sponsors did in the past. I think that would have been a great experiment and taught us a lot. To put it in the mix of a championship race creates a really difficult situation. Every point is important.”

Four wide nitro racing in the modern era was first introduced last September prior to the final rounds of the NHRA Carolinas Nationals. Seven different team owners participated in the exhibitions.

Schumacher didn’t allow his teams to participate.

The bone of contention for Schumacher is safety.

“Some teams felt it was a safety issue and others didn’t,” Schumacher said. “In a non-points environment, they may feel comfortable in doing it again. I feel the safety was compromised. And, as the NHRA works very hard all the time on the sport’s safety, I don’t think we should compromise at all. With some of the things that went on there, we know it wasn’t up to the standards the NHRA and Safety Safari has at all of the other venues because it was so different. It wasn’t that they did anything wrong with safety. It was so different and overwhelming to everybody.”

In a race with no points, many believe the risks would be lesser. A driver who has a championship on the line might be inclined to drive their car closer to the edge.

Some feel that by PRO claiming safety as an issue but then saying it could be acceptable as an exhibition race, make it sound like PRO has a double standard. However, former NHRA official turned Kenny Bernstein Racing GM, Len Imbrogno feels PRO’s position is exactly correct.

“It is a matter of risk management,” said Imbrogno. “Most teams are obligated by sponsorship contract agreement to run all national events as well as chasing points towards the championship and therefore have little choice but to run the event. However, as an exhibition event, team owners would have the choice on whether or not to put their teams and/or sponsors at risk in such an event”.

Miller believes while Smith’s contributions to the sport have been great, his efforts of attempting to create an influx of excitement through four lane drag racing might have been a mistake.

“I think he’s a very courageous man, who has made a living in doing courageous things,” Miller said. “When you go to the city of Concord and threaten to move your oval track 30 miles down the road, that’s pretty ballsy. For him to build a four wide drag strip, I figure that was on him. It would certainly be my assumption that the attempt to build the four wide drag strip in Vegas, he was probably talked out of that one. In his mind, he probably wanted to build the four lane drag strip because he believed this was the direction drag racing needed to go.

“I commend Bruton for making a pretty courageous move in building a four wide drag strip. It’s like every business in the world, sometimes you make a decision and it’s wrong. I’ve made a thousand decisions in my life that are wrong. All I say is, ‘that didn’t work.' When that happens, you have to step back and figure something else to do.”

A source close to the situation told Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com the NHRA initially tried to talk Smith out of building the four lanes in Concord but his desire prevailed. Only one of Smith’s four facilities has four lanes – zMax Dragway.

“Can Bruton survive a four lane drag strip if we only run two?” Miller continued. “Of course he can. He can carve the whole thing to the ground and start all over again. If he can move a multi-million dollar oval track down the road, he can fix a couple of lanes.”

Tim Wilkerson, who fills the dual role of team owner and driver, believes the issue is cut and dry.

“I believe if just one fan or one sponsor, in this current economic climate, thinks this is a bad thing, then it shouldn’t be attempted again for a points-earning event,” Wilkerson said. “I think it’s a terrific novelty and no offense to Bruton because he is thinking outside of the box.”  

With a line drawn in the sand, it is yet to be seen if the car owners and competitors in the NHRA will stand together behind their convictions, if the NHRA will accede to the wishes of their membership and if Bruton Smith will stand by his words and just forget about the matter completely.

“We can all dig our heels in here and be all nasty, blame everyone else for everyone’s problems … but the fact remains – here we are,” Miller explained. “We have to make a decision on what to do. We all need to get in a room and talk about this, be gentlemen and ladies and see what reasonable conclusion we can come to. At this point it appears you have a 75-percent rejection of four wide drag racing by the polls online.”