Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

[cjforumadmin]

http://www.bangshift.com/blog/Warren-Johnson-Rants-About-NHRA-on-ESPN-Race-Telecast.html

[studemax]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

As usual, the Professor is right!
(I'll bet the fur will fly for a long time about this)

[Ron Ward]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

Somebody get the popcorn. This should make for an interesting show.


Ron

[barryhauhe]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

I'm not one for going backwords in time. Top Fuel is on the leading edge of motor technology, and happens to be my favorite to watch. To watch those guys tear down and put a motor back together to be on the track in around 70 minutes is incredible to watch. Pro Stockers don't do anything but read the paper between rounds.

What we need is for Warren to shut up and have Fuel cars go back to the quarter mile.

[dougg01]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

Let's just set the stage a little:

Drag racing is the #1 participant motorsport.....period.
Drag racing is no where near the top spectator motorsport.

I like the fuelers. Most people, even non-fans, enjoy the thunder and extremes of the fuel cars.

They make up a very small portion of the show. They are a draw, but not the only reason folks come.

For YEARS the powers-that-be have been catering to these guys.

Remember Mufflers being mandated...? This was to quiet the over all sound pollution of an event, but not quell the fuelers. They didn't have to do a thing. I can hear a fueler miles and miles away. I can't hear a pair of super gas cars from a mile away unless they are in a valley.

The whole show is manipu-farted around these guys.

I got 4-letters to disperse any notion that the fuelers make or break the 'show' - ADRL.


Warren is a crotchety old fart that I respect greatly. His car would be at or on top with another driver because he just can't get off the line like he used to. His time and dedication to the sprort seem to carry some weight, but not with the NHRA heads that clearly have their's shoved up their collective arses and are always looking for another payday from their 'non-profit'.

I say ADRL runs the table after they progress through the growing pains, add some street-legal classes and turn NHRA into the 2nd-rate show they have become. Of course,, ADRL needs to find someone other tha ESPN to air their stuff because they repeatedly can't get it right. Even the PINKS crew does better.

/soapbox

[dougg01]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

I'm not one for going backwords in time. Top Fuel is on the leading edge of motor technology, and happens to be my favorite to watch. To watch those guys tear down and put a motor back together to be on the track in around 70 minutes is incredible to watch. Pro Stockers don't do anything but read the paper between rounds.

What we need is for Warren to shut up and have Fuel cars go back to the quarter mile.

ProStockers 'read the paper between rounds'...? You ever go to a real race...? Cliutches need resurfaced, plugs checked, valves ran, pressures set, etc, etc. They don't use 20-guys scrambling around a 300in car that costs more to run one day (if nothing breaks) than a prostock engine can cost. They are not at the fore-front of technology. They are in it and have some cutting edge stuff, but they are not at the fore-front in the sport. they focus a LOT of dollar on a few key areas and that's it.

Again, I like the fuelers, but they are not the whole show and it could be done without them. On that front, the NHRA is even hurting the small-time fuelers guys with the testing ban....so they are only worried about the big-money teams.....just like NOTCAR. You see their attendance dropping too. Even drunk corn-hole-playing folks waiting for a crash get bored after a while.

[barryhauhe]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

Doug,

[dougg01]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

Doug,

You rang....?

Caffine must have kicked in.....

NHRA must be ran by a bunch of folks who couldn't get nominated for the real scam.....U.S. legislature.

[barryhauhe]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

Doug, I go to Gator nationals every year, but I must admit I don't spend much time around Pro Stock Pits. I can also safely state they don't spend near as much time with the car between rounds, or is it as difficult to diagnose and resolve a performance issue.

Top Fuel has to stay and the 1/4 must come back. Top Fuel is really what drag racing is all about. Very little restrictions on what can be used, and may the best foot and tuner win.

By the way, I was typing and someone stepped into my office and hit the post button prematurely. Oooops!

[dougg01]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

Top fuel is not what drag racing is all about. It might be the pinnacle performance platform, but not the whole deal of the sport.

Only a few handfuls of folks do it now and the list of those that have come before isn't all that big either. A couple of divisional events-worth of SG or SC would just about cover it.

Again, I like them and want them to be in the show.....but they are not the ones all others should bow to and make concessions for. Just not.

In this day and age....there will only be fewer TF teams.....no privateers and that means, as WJ put it, they are the smallest minority yet the NHRA stooges cow to them. We coulde replace them with jets...spend less money and have fewer mishaps shutting down the action. It REALLY is that simple. The jets bring the awe-factor up.....without the drama.

dun

[studemax]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

We coulde replace them with jets...spend less money and have fewer mishaps shutting down the action.

Oh, come on!
The jets will not replace nitro cars.

[BBR]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

Warren just used the water issue to get camera time to bitch about the NHRA.

I honestly couldn't make his connection between: improved shutdown areas and torrential rain causing water to leak up through the track.

He just wanted to whine.

[mustang13]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

How could any of this be that important when NHRA or ESPN2 on a weekly basis pre-emt the start of the show because of little league, girls softball, spelling bees or whatever. Call me selfish but, thats my gripe. If you don't like the track conditions, don't race( I know, sponsors,contracts, etc.). I'm been so turned-off by this season of NHRA. At least ESPN2 airs the Sportsman show during the week, lately I enjoy watching that more. Just good old racing, no B.S., no drama, although they could show a few more of the doorslammer classes. Who doesn't like watching wheelstanding American Iron. My $.02.

[Schtauffer]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

Fans go to NHRA shows to see the fuel cars. There's plenty of other venues to see 6-second 200 mph cars. Plenty. Nobody else has 1500 hp NA cars with the technology that NHRA Pro Stock exhibits, but technology doesn't put butts in the stands-- crazy HP and earth-shaking burnouts do.

If NHRA slows the fuel cars dramatically, the stands will really empty out. Heck, people didn't even hang around on Saturday for the TA cars!

I think NHRA should go to 1/8 mile for fuel and let them eat a little harder.

[jfuelracer]

Re: Warren Johnson Rants About NHRA on ESPN Race Telecast

Here is a statement regarding the 25th Annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, courtesy of NHRA Communications:

"On behalf of the Stauffer family, the management team of Maple Grove Raceway would like to apologize to the fans and racers for what transpired this weekend," vice president/general manager Lex Dudas said Sunday. "We are committed to fixing the problem."

The track ownership will be extending the concrete pad from 550 feet to the 1,000-foot mark of the track. The asphalt surface will be milled 2 inches and new asphalt will be installed for 700 feet to the quarter-mile mark and beyond. This should prevent future occurrences of water seepage that caused the long delays during the course of the weekend and help to improve the performances at all future Maple Grove Raceway events.

"We greatly appreciate the many fans that showed their dedication to the NHRA and Maple Grove Raceway by waiting through the long delays," Dudas said. "We hope you continue your patronage with us in the future." [8/25

I copied this from Dragrace Central, but I think it does say it all.
And from the NHRA point of view the fuel cars are the only cars that put butts in the seat.
If you were running the show what would you do.
If you go to a division race you could shoot a cannon through the stands and only hit maybe one beer can if you were lucky.