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In a short three-paragraph press release late last week Don Prudhomme announced his retirement from drag racing. The press release was typical of Prudhomme: short and to the point. As anyone who has ever interviewed the Snake will tell you, he tends to answer questions with short answers and one syllable words when possible.

I believe there was a chance that Prudhomme’s driver, Spencer Massey, could have brought enough money to fund Prudhomme’s team for ten races, but from what I hear that it would have been a very tight budget. I believe that in the end, rather than take a step down, Prudhomme decided to call it a career.

Prudhomme’s inability to find a sponsor casts a pall over the NHRA professional classes. When a recognizable team owner with star power and a winning team like Prudhomme can’t get any sponsorship money, you can bet that others are having the same problem.

So far this year I haven’t heard of one new major sponsor for a nitro team other than Kenny Bernstein’s. Despite many rumors about new sponsors coming into the NHRA nitro and Pro Stock ranks during the last two races of 2009, none of them has materialized.

Prudhomme supposedly had two sure-thing sponsors; he ended up with none. The Pedregon brothers have yet to announce sponsorships, Bob Gilbertson announced his retirement from racing. Top Fuel racers Clay Millican and the Hartley family (barring a change of heart) are done.

If there is an upside it is that there remains a large group of hobby nitro racers who will race 6-10 times a year at races close to their home to help fill out the fields. There were almost fifty different Top Fuel cars that attended an NHRA event at least once in 2009, so the cars are out there. I believe that there will be ten or fewer full-time Top Fuel teams on the NHRA trail this year and 14-15 car fields will become a common occurrence.

The NHRA announced a joint venture between themselves and the powerhouse production company of Stephen Pullin and Jack Schaeffer’s Disrupt/ive Studios to “create, develop and produce media properties including new racing competitions, new events and television programs” beginning with NHRA Unleashed.

There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the monetary success of both the ADRL and the PINKS franchises are behind this move by the NHRA. If there was any lingering doubt in anyone’s mind that the NHRA is focused on making money this should erase that forever.

Disrupt/ive is the production company behind all of the Pinks shows, as well as the popular Drag Race High. Disrupt/ive and the NHRA joining forces is a natural for both parties. Pullin has a lot of juice with the cable networks and their experience with PINKS has taught them how to do the series and shows.

I’m wondering, though, if there aren’t too many drag racing and drag racing-themed shows on cable television already. During the NHRA season we get between five and six hours of coverage of NHRA national events, plus NHRA Today and the Lucas Sportsman series on a weekend on ESPN2. On other networks like Speed and Versus you can watch two or three broadcasts of the PINKS shows, broadcasts of the IHRA races, NMRA/NMCA races and various other drag racing-oriented shows ranging from drag boats to bracket racing to drag racing game shows.

My point is that not only is television crowded with drag racing but also the calendars of many tracks (especially the ones that have the pit space, seating and concessions to support a weekend show) are filled. I just don’t see how the sport will support more races and I say that some of them are going to fall by the wayside before this is all over. You can bet that the first thing that happens is that NHRA-owned tracks will clear their calendars for NHRA Unleashed and whatever else Disrupt/ive Studios develops.

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Finally, I want to announce today officially that there will not be a second season of the DRO AA/FC Challenge. I have been trying since the end of last season to find some sponsorship for the series with absolutely no luck. I was vacillating between trying to have another season and folding the deal when I got a note from Marc Meadors saying that the Goodguys wouldn’t be supporting the series in 2010, and that made up my mind for me. Without the races and support of the Goodguys, a series makes no sense.

I want to personally thank promoters Marc Meadors, Scott Gardner, and John Troxel here. They supported me and the idea of a series, and put their own money into the points program last year. I’m proud to consider each of them my friend. I also want to thank all of the racers who participated during the year. Some of you spent money to change your cars to meet the NHRA rules the series adopted. I really appreciate that effort. We couldn’t have had the series without your attendance and support. Some of you came from as far away as California and Pennsylvania and all points in between to race and entertain the fans. I hope you all had as good a time as I did.

As far as I know, there will be races for AA/FC at all of the tracks where the DRO series raced last year. Contact the various owners and track promoters for rules and payouts. I’m out.