photo by Jeff Burk

OH MAMA, CAN THIS REALLY BE THE ... END?

With apologies to Bob Dylan ...

It surely ssseeeemmmmsss like it. Opium visions of Wally and Dick Wells acting like mad scientists in the midst of a Sterno rage, hacking pictures of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits out of their love child, "Fast Lane"....

In doing so, Parks now sports graffiti all over what had been a relatively zit-free public image ...

- NHRA forced to go through the public humiliation about an ill-conceived abortion called Pro Stock Truck...

- NHRA measuring the soft, pliable neck of the Federal Mogul Dragsters and Funny Cars on the chopping block and Federal Mogul reportedly toying with the hand grenade of bankruptcy...

- The Top Fuel class in the most uncompetitive shape in 15 years. Hard workers, but limited budgeteers like Rob Passey, Howard Haight, Garth Widdison, and Bobby Lagana Jr. routinely making the show?

- And on the executive level, what next? George L. Phillips replacing Tom Compton as president?????

Fortunately, for all concerned, I'm close enough to the subject of drag racing where the target image tends to blur and to the point where I justifiably could be accused of blindness or farsightedness, at the very least. But still things have never looked bleaker for the good ship Lollipop.

It was brought to my attention that pal and talented mikester Dave McClelland has been burning the midnight oil preparing NHRA introduction tapes for potential sponsors. Good. Not that Dave has to bust his hump, but that NHRA recognizes to some degree that things are bad.

But bad, if you've just concluded a teleconference where you've gone public with the fact that Corporate America is punching it out for parking space on the NHRA sweetheart list. The simple fact of the matter is that C.A. is not. No way. As far as auto racing goes, those blood-soaked profit-leaches have made their decision for their automotive buck and the acronym is spelled "N-A-S-C-A-R."

I knew NHRA might be in for an electronic short from the pacemaker when Compton said in response to a query about stock markets (I'm assuming he meant the outside business world and their precarious position) that he wasn't worried about something so morbid; not overly concerned.

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