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Letters which do not include a full name will not be considered for publication.

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Chewing and spitting

I'm freakin' out! Just watched the NHRA Arizona Nationals on TV. The pros were on a [let's see if it works] 50-minute turnaround in preparation for live coverage down the road. Then the announcers intimated if there was a [lateness] problem, the first competitor to show up would get a single.

Really? So ESPN is dictating rules to the NHRA?

What the hey? ESPN2 regularly pre-empts/delays Nationals coverage due to overtime in college (I'm holding my tongue here) round-ball games!

I'm calling B.S.! I could chew nails and spit carpet tacks!

Tom Moore
Southern San Francisco Bay Area, California

Don’t sacrifice safety to meet an arbitrary TV timetable

This 50-minute turnaround between the pro rounds at NHRA races has me quite concerned that they are beginning to sacrifice the safety of the driver, crewmembers, and spectators. You can only push a person so far before they begin to make errors, forget things, and even just slipping and falling or knocking someone over, causing injury. It is absolutely nuts to expect a nitro team to perform the necessary tasks in such a short time with 100% accuracy.

The race is supposed to be on the track, not in the pits.

Wesley Young
Kettering, Ohio

More engines might be the answer

Speaking from personal experience, it’s hard to properly service any alky or nitro car in 90 minutes without an engine change and be sure everything was done correctly and safely, much less do that job in just 50 minutes. Servicing a smoldering hot nitro motor and clutch or replacing an engine if need be in just 50 minutes with every nut, bolt, clamp, and electrical connection involved properly and safely installed and torqued seems to me to be asking a great deal from any team.

If we ever made it to the big show, I decided years ago that I’d pull the hot bullet and drop in a fresh one every lap. Only two teams need three, and they all have that many, so the 50 minute deal shouldn't be a problem. That would give more quality time for someone to do a complete check and rebuild on the previous unit. Have them ready, including hat to pan and reverser, all locked and ready to load. End of problem, eh?! Twenty minutes tops, eh?!

Ron Evans
Lovington, Illinois