Sept. 25, 2001

After my family and friends, music shares equal billing with racing and journalism as the things that define my life. I often use songs, their lyrics or even titles as a kind of mental bookmark of the good and bad events that have happened in my life. Tunes and lyrics from the Dylan, the Doors, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, John Prine, Miles Davis, Kurt Cobain and many others have cataloged much of my life experience.

Since around 9:15 a.m. two weeks ago today the lyrics and melody of another tune, Don McLean's American Pie has been rattling around my brain. I wish I could make myself quit hearing that tune in my head, but I can't. For many Americans Tuesday September 11 truly was the "Day the Music Died." I don't think that for the foreseeable future any motor sport or sporting event can ever be as important to me or have the effect on me that it has in the past. Oh, I will still enjoy the people, competition, and even the controversy, but racing will never be as important as it once was. Although I will now cherish the time I spend at the races with my racing family more than I ever have.

President Bush has urged all of us to get back to normal and I will try, but I'm no longer sure that where we were was normal or whether any of us can ever go back to whatever it was we were before 8:45 a.m. September 11, 2001.

That said, we now return to as normal as we at DRO have ever been.

Just wondering ... Why would anybody want NHRA president Tom Compton or IHRA president Bill Bader's job?

Just wondering ... With almost every major sanctioning body in auto racing (with the single exception of NASCAR) having trouble getting or keeping series' sponsors, how much luck are NHRA and IHRA going to have in attracting series sponsors?

Just Wondering ... When will the producers of the drag racing televsion programs finally realize that watching drag cars doing burnouts is the most visually exciting thing these cars do during the daytime and watching drag cars back-up after a burnout only makes viewers reach for the remote?

Just Wondering ... Is it absolutely necessary to go the Top End interviews right after the run? Maybe they could do those when the cars are backing up or, as boring as most of them are, NOT AT ALL!

Just Wondering ... again ... Is there a better interview in drag racing currently than Whit Bazemore?

Just Wondering ... When Bazemore dropped the hint that Force might be thinking about driving a Top Fuel car during a Memphis television interview, was he just kidding or does he know something the rest of us don't?

Just Wondering ... When are t.v. interviewers of racing drivers and crews going to quit asking questions that everyone, including the viewers, know the answer to before they ask it? Are they just afraid to ask the tough question? Are they just uninformed? Or do they think their audience know nothing about the sport?

Just Wondering ... Will the Pep Boys take the money they didn't pay the IRL and move it over to NHRA? Could NHRA become the Moe, Manny and Jack drag racing series?

Just Wondering ... When is the editorial content of drag racing television shows going to catch up with the technical expertise and camera angles they are now using?

Just Wondering ... Am I the only person confused by the fact that on NHRA's fifty greatest DRIVER! list Mickey Thompson could rank above drivers such as Lee Shepherd, Ronnie Sox, Ed McCulloch and Gene Snow? Mickey Thompson was a force in the sport -- but the 11th best driver?

Just Wondering ... Why do the highly paid producers of most television shows insist on showing panning shots of empty grandstands? I'm sure there are times that it is unavoidable, but the shot seems to show up too much. It is just embarrassingly painful to watch and hard to explain to sponsors, etc. -- especially when the announcer is talking about the "great crowds" on the voice-over.

Just Wondering ... How mad will the truck racers be if NHRA gets a sponsor for the Pro Mod exhibition class? Would NHRA make them a Pro Class or could they have a sponsor, points and a championship for an "exhibition" class?

Just Wondering ... How can or will the Pro doorslammer classes at IHRA continue to race for $1,000 to qualify when entry fees and a set of tires cost about $1,200? Interestingly enough, I believe those classes have been racing for that much qualifying money for about 12 years!

Just Wondering ... Is there anybody that doesn't understand yet that national event level drag racing isn't a sport? Just like NASCAR, WoO, and the WWF, drag racing is Sports Entertainment with the sole goal of making the owners and their employees money. Once you accept those facts, the decisions of the sanctioning bodies make a lot more sense...business sense, that is.

photo by James Drew

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