Well, for you who still remember or might still have an operational drive-in movie theater in your town, you will know what I am talking about. Folks bring their pickup trucks, or their van, back them up to the boundary fence, break out the law chairs and coolers, and settle in and watch the drags. It is such a cool thing and very throw back, and nostalgic.

To me there is a simplistic beauty to this. Will there ever be “fuel” cars run there? More than likely not, however there is a “Pro Comp” Series made up of blown alcohol dragsters, funny cars and altereds that make about three stops a year there. This series runs to the eighth mile, but this doesn’t matter to the fans. I asked some of the fans who were there watching the latest Pro Comp show if the cars were less exciting running eighth mile. Almost none of the fans seemed to care, they want to see side-by-side racing, good burnouts, and parachutes. To have access to drivers and be able to get an autograph and a maybe buy a t-shirt.

{Note: See some action from the track]

On a personal note, I really think that sometimes some of the “names” in the sport need to occasionally visit the local small drag strip and get brought back to the origins of the sport. I’m sure a small number do, but I would presume that many don’t or ever have. I think it would behoove some of the names to get back to and see the origins of the sport. As well as the management team to come back and see the backbone of the sport.

In addition, since I am still standing on my soapbox I am going to also put this out there: How cool would it be to have a “national event” at a track like say… Bakersfield. However, it would be run as a non-corporate event. Meaning there would be only two rules outside of the NHRA safety criteria.

1. No hospitality tents or acreage dedicated to corporate hospitality.

2. One racecar, one truck and trailer. No utilization of mobile command centers or mission control complexes. Work and race out of the same trailer that the car is in with no extra enhancements.

Now, I am not delusional to think this would happen, because I know it will never happen. However, if it did happen it sure would be interesting to see.

So what brought this on? Well, in a way this did.

NASCAR is a giant in motorsports and rarely makes mistakes when it comes to stock car racing. Nevertheless, to me they made on giant mistake. When NASCAR some years ago, allowed Bruton Smith and Bob Bahre to buy out the track at North Wilkesboro from the Staley family, and divvy up the track’s NASCAR Cup race dates to augment Smith and Bahre’s own track dates. Wilkes County in North Carolina is the birthplace of NASCAR stock car racing. And now, for over ten years there is no stock car racing there.

It would be akin to NHRA closing down Pomona and never racing there again. Could it happen? Maybe.

So where am I going with this? In my opinion, NASCAR turned its back on the origin of their sport. I think that in some ways the NHRA has as well. There is only one place in Southern California where NHRA national events are held: Pomona.

Now I get it, land prices and population expansion have run out all the tracks that were the open back in the day.

I’m just saying it would be nice every once in a while if the NHRA would either circle back and remember its roots or show more support for the Heritage Series that is trying to keep the story of the beginning of our sport alive. In other words, be nostalgic about the sport steeped in history. [07/11/16]