What A Crazy Year

-NHRA Pro Stock was the most talked about class going into 2016 but as it turned out it didn't matter if it was EFI, CSI or BFI. There was a small group of fans that cared and a much larger majority who referred to them as P Stocks because when it was their turn to showcase the class on the track that’s what most of the fans did...get up and pee.

-Could anyone actually follow the IHRA story? Hell, I was a past President and I had a difficult time trying to figure out the end game. But I did enjoy their press releases because they used so many large and obscure words I had to go searching in my Webster’s dictionary for the meanings and my personal vocabulary probably increased tenfold.

-Come on...did you really think Trump would get elected?

-Hell did indeed freeze over. The Cavs won the NBA World Championship, the Cubs won the World Series, and Ron Capps won the NHRA Funny Car Championship. Even though I'm a diehard Indians fan you had to feel good about all three.

-I miss Tim Hyatt a lot.

-Everyone had an opinion on NHRA TV. Overall I would give it a B-plus. No question it was the best product we have seen since the TNN days. Now if they could just avoid the drama that spilled over into many public forums it could be even better. Can't we all just get along?

-One of the items that fans didn't like about the NHRA TV plan was the wait to get to the final rounds. The time was filled with interviews and stuff that would put even the most rabid fan asleep on their recliner. Here is my suggestion: Fill that void full of crash and burn video. Remember the video series called ‘They Walked Away’? It probably sold more copies than any other race video in existence. The fan would not tune out and it may even help sell tickets to the live events.

-How cool is it that after all the heartache and drama that Dragway 42 went through on their massive rebuild that it is actually going to happen. If you haven't been on their website, check it out. This place is going to be a jewel. There cannot be another place on earth where there are so many quality dragstrips. If Ohio isn't the #1 state for drag racing by any measure someone needs to step up and prove me wrong. By the way, Ron Matcham who owns the venue has balls the size of coconuts.

-When Peter Clifford vowed to make sportsman drag racing and track growth a priority, little did he know that the IHRA corporate think-tank would hand deliver NHRA thousands of members and dozens of tracks due to out of control ego and misuse of power.

-Where would IHRA be without the support of Summit Racing? Where would NHRA racing be without Lucas Oil? The fact that both have signed on for 2017 and beyond may have saved drag racing as we know it.

-Anyone want to buy some Cleveland Browns swag cheap? 0-16 baby. This stuff could be priceless.

-Do the following this Christmas: 1. Do something nice for a complete stranger; 2.Listen to Silent Night in a room only lit by candles and a fireplace; 3. Try to resist re-gifting.

MERRY CHRISTMAS. GODSPEED...RACE SAFE.