: Before the NHRA changed the ladder all pros eliminations began with the number one car running the eight car in a 16 car ladder. Why have you decided to return to that ladder for the March Meet?

BB: My concern for the Heritage Series is points, how is that going to effect the points awarded, but that is something that I need to ask the NHRA and the Heritage Series and that might event things out even more, now you are talking about tightening the field even more with the number one qualified car racing somebody who is closer in ET

: That would be number one qualifier versus seventeen, two versus eighteen, etc.

BB: Yeah, I think that is how it shakes out, but it does work out that eventually it could be one versus two in the final in the final, either way it is creating excitement, the fans are excited – which is the bottom line, we all need that.  We need the fans to come to these races, if they don’t come we are out of business and there’s no place for these cars to race… then we are all done.

: Has this thirty-two car funny car field announcement made any difference in March Meet pre-ticket sales yet?

BB: Mostly just buzz, and buzz is ok at this time of the year. Tickets are on sale now, but this is the slow time of the year for us. The buzz out there is good for all of us.

: Lets talk about Top Fuel for a minute. How do you see the Top Fuel field shaping up for the March Meet? Will there be enough cars for a full field?

BB: I think it could be tough to get sixteen cars and that’s another reason for the 32-car funny car field, I want the fans to stay entertained, I don’t want them to see less and less cars coming.  It’s not Top Fuel’s fault, it’s just very expensive to campaign a Top Fuel car right now, even in the nostalgia ranks.  It has just gotten more and more tough.  I think the funny cars have an advantage since they are a little more affordable car to run, and I am not saying they are cheap by any means, but they are a bit more affordable than a top fuel car right now. That one reason there are more of them (AA/FC).  So it is going to be tough to have a 16-car top fuel field, I am probably going to stick with that and there may be a time when we’ll have an 8-car field and if that happens I don’t want to shortchange the fans.  I want to have just as much racing as they have come to expect, if we end up with an 8-car (top fuel field) with 32-car funny car field – we are giving the fan just as much racing.

: Other than tradition is there any particular reason to run the nitro cars together?  Could you run top fuel at one point and then funny car an hour later? Tt would give more time to service between rounds.

BB: It would be different, way different, I’ve never been to a show like that where it was spread out over the day like that, I guess because the fans would be stuck in the grandstands all day long.  You know there are a lot of fans who do stay all day and watch every car to go down the track from gassers to top fuel, but I know you see this at Boise or Pomona or Famoso, the stands fill up when nitro runs and kind of filter out when the other categories run.   That is just normal, in nostalgia there are a lot of popular classes that are pretty entertaining to watch, all the gas categories, the nostalgia categories, they are all entertaining to watch.  If we broke up the nitro classes it would be a long day, well it would be a great day, it’d be as entertaining as heck, but it would be a very long day for the fans and that is asking a lot of them.

You know we want the fans to get out of the stands and enjoy all the other things to do at the track, in the pits, support the concession stands, support our vendors.  We have a lot to do at the March Meet, as you know… there’s a swap meet, a great car show and we want the fans to experience all that. We are lucky because of everything we have here at Bakersfield, there’s a lot to do besides  drag racing.  You’ll just a lot more for your money at the March Meet.

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