Question: What will the pro racing be like in 2009 for the fans?

Answer:  More than ever the professional fields will be split between the “haves” and the “have nots”.

The Schumacher, Force, Pedregon, Prudhomme and Alan Johnson teams will probably dominate fuel qualifying. First rounds of elimination likely won’t be too entertaining.  In Pro Stock the Summit/Ken Black-backed Greg Anderson operation will probably go to three teams and, along with Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Dave Connolly (if he gets a sponsor) ,will dominate that division.

The bottom half of all pro fields will be weaker than ever before. A lot more teams will make just one qualifying lap and “dog” it in eliminations because of short fields and limited money. We’ll see more bye runs in eliminations.

Question:  What is the future of the NHRA “Countdown” ?

Answer:  That piece of fabricated drama is in big trouble.  Chances are that NHRA teams  -- without major sponsors that would require them to keep racing even if they don’t qualify for the Countdown --  could easily start parking their cars after the U.S. Nationals. Especially without any possibility of a team making a late season move into the top eight in points.

Question: What can NHRA do to make pro racing less expensive?

Answer: There just aren’t any easily enforced, inexpensive solutions. Lower prices for tires and nitro simply won’t make enough difference when the budget to run a competitive nitro team for 24 races in 2008 was between 2.5 and 3.2 million bucks. Travel costs, fuel costs and payroll all are problems for most teams. Doing away with all testing might be one step to consider. Having fewer races on the schedule has been suggested, but there are contracts in place and what track owners would be willing to give up their race? Basically the problem is twofold. One is that the only unlimited thing about nitro racing anymore is how much money the team owner can spend and, second, the more money spent the better the team is.

Question: What about the IHRA’s future?

Answer:  What future? Ask Ken Feld if there is one.  But seriously folks, at present the IHRA apparently has no series sponsor, no points fund, a lame TV package and no Nitro Funny Cars. Their pro racers face the same issues as their NHRA counterparts and neither the IHRA nor their national event track owners have the money to prop up their pro classes.  Other series (such as the ADRL) already are going after some of their pro classes. Simply put, the IHRA needs a miracle and new management.

Question:  So what could IHRA do to fix their issues?

Answer:   Ask Ken Feld?  No, the answer is they need to forget the past and embrace change. The IHRA needs to be the affordable alternative to the NHRA. Change the rules for their nitro dragster class and make it an injected nitro class. Most fans don’t care if the cars are supercharged or injected as long as there is a full, competitive field, and besides an injected car on the “can” sounds better than today’s supercharged cars. 

The NHRA apparently views their A/FD racers as a pain in their butt and makes rules that reflect that. They’d just as soon the T/AD class have no nitro cars. Free the A/FD racers!

The IHRA should immediately announce an AA/FC class using VRA rules requiring a single mag, small fuel pump, small blower and a body that actually looks like a car and a new T/F class and move on.

Question:  What about the future of drag racing in general?

Answer:   The future is bright for the sport in general. If you’re a nitro junkie (racer or fan) you have plenty of options. The NHRA-sanctioned Hot Rod Heritage races offering both AA/FC and AA/FD are held all over the Midwest and West Coast including races at Indy, St. Louis and Kansas City. The Goodguys have three or four events that include AA/FC and AA/FD fields. There are also traditional events like the Bakersfield March Meet, Cordova Dragway’s World Series of Drag Racing, and the annual race at the New family’s Boise track. (Bakersfield and Boise have qualified 16-car fields in both fuel classes). And those are just a few of the events; there are more, you just have to look for them, and the ticket prices are affordable for a family.  

If you are a doorslammer fan the Super Chevy Series and the NMCA series offer plenty of doorslammer action at affordable ticket prices. And then there is the ADRL, which offers free fan admission, free admission for the racers, supercharged and nitrous outlaw Pro Mods, Outlaw Ten-wide cars, and Pro Mod bikes. And if that weren’t enough, this year the ADRL has added a mountain-motor Pro Stock class and injected nitro doorslammers. Door cars with flames over the roof!  Whooooweee!!!

The NHRA will have 24 races with the quickest and fastest nitro cars in the world. It is the elite racing series, and like an elite restaurant there isn’t anything cheap on the menu. But it’s still the ultimate drag racing series if you can afford it as a racer, sponsor or fan.
The sad fact for a lot of the competitors and management is that NHRA drag racing is more than ever just their job and not necessarily their passion. That’s the way a business works.