Just Wondering … Why doesn’t the NHRA pick one of their tracks with plenty of shut-off where they are having trouble getting the crowds they once did and allow the nitro cars to race on the quarter mile? If they get a much bigger crowd then we'll know whether or not track distance for nitro cars makes a difference. My pick for a race to try it at would be the U.S. Nationals, which could use some help.

Just Wondering … Has anyone but me noticed that in sportsman and bracket racing generally the rules and regs seem to be to penalize the classic drag racers who want to make their cars go as quick and fast as they can? In every sportsman class but TAD and TAF racers get penalized for performance. Go too quick in Comp, Stock or Super Stock and even if you win the quick racer can be penalized with an index change. Go too quick in a bracket race and generally you are on the trailer (maybe). In bracket racing there are so many rules aimed at increasing the odds a racer won’t be eliminated in the first round it makes me ill. The fact that bracket races allow racers to buy their way back into a race goes against everything I thought racing was about. What is fair about that if you are a racer who just has enough money to get to the track and back home but don’t have the extra cash for a buyback? A reader recently took me to task for not knowing anything about sportsman racing and yet writing about it. Sometimes I think I know too much.

Just Wondering … Is nitro racing getting boring? Have the racers and NHRA management forgotten what made those cars popular in the first place? People loved them and bought tickets to see them because they did big burnouts, launched with the wheels in the air, and were occasionally bad-fast and dangerous. Current nitro cars seem to have reached a performance level where no one car has a performance advantage over the other. More and more nitro and Pro Stock races are determined by driver reaction time. That borders on boring.

Just Wondering … Why are jet cars and wheelstanders more popular with most casual fans than nitro cars? They are loud, flame throwing, spark spewing, wheelstanding vehicles that are entertaining to any fan and no one cares how quick or fast they run.

Just Wondering … Are guaranteed full fields in the NHRA professional classes part of the contract that NHRA has with the Coca-Cola company? Does NHRA get penalized for short fields?

Just Wondering … Why isn’t there a Mello Yello-sponsored pro class team? Isn’t that supposed be part of the deal if a company is the NHRA’s title rights sponsor?