I listened to the podcast with John and Whit and enjoyed it very much. I'm always interested in hearing the responses and opinions of people I respect on issues that I feel are important to the sport. I'm also intrigued and somewhat baffled as to how the comments involving the meeting I conducted with around 40 drivers, PR reps, and several members of the media in Indy have missed the point and misrepresent what I have been encouraging drivers to do.
First and most importantly, I have never suggested, promoted, or urged any driver to do anything phony, contrived, or beyond their sincere feelings and emotions during any interviews or interactions with each other during competition. Anyone who attended that meeting will concur. I gave examples of how the competitive instincts and aggressive attitudes of drivers in other series often spill over into conflict, confrontation, and controversy yet there is little of that in the NHRA. Are our drivers not as passionate about winning, determined to avoid losing, and consumed by the desire to beat their opponents every time they come to the line? If they are, they need to express those feelings and emotions honestly and not be concerned that they have to contain or sanitize how they really feel.
I would argue that right now, many drivers are not being honest when interviewed. I spent 12 years doing top end interviews for ESPN and the comments I heard from drivers after winning and losing were far different from what they said when the cameras weren't rolling, yet in other professional racing series, the drivers seem to have no trouble telling fans and the media exactly how they feel about their opponents. NHRA drivers are not being honest when they've just beaten someone they really don't like and after torching them they say, "So-and-so is a great guy and I have a lot of respect for him and he always races tough etc. etc etc...." when what they're really thinking is, "I am so PSYCHED that I just whipped so-and-so's butt! Of all the guys out here that I've beaten, he's the guy I enjoy taking out the most!" Why can't drivers say what they feel? That comment wasn't insulting, offensive, or personal. It was racing and that's how racers talk in the heat of the battle.
In NASCAR, when Carl Edwards or Kyle Busch or Tony Stewart get into a tussle and get into each other's faces, is that phony or scripted or contrived? Of course not. It's the competitive fire that burns in their guts spilling over when they have a score to settle. Granted, we're not rubbing fenders in the NHRA but I've heard many, many drivers talk about how they really feel about guys they race all the time and you'll never hear them say those things in front of fans or the media. I hear people say, "Well, the sponsors don't like that and they want NHRA drivers to be nice guys and not stir up controversy." Unless I'm sadly mistaken, the NASCAR drivers I mentioned haven't lost their sponsors for the verbal assaults and pit road scuffles that seem to be breaking out at almost every race. I'm not suggesting we promote fistfights and bench-clearing brawls. I'm suggesting that drivers in the NHRA need to tell it like it is.
Shirley Muldowney did. Big Daddy did. Al Hofmann did. Don Prudhomme hated to lose and although he wasn't one to stir up controversy, you didn't want to be around Snake after he lost a final round (or ANY round for that matter). Fans used to stand up when WJ and Glidden raced each other. When was the last time fans stood up for a Pro Stock matchup? Were any of the above drivers phony? Were they just trying to be "colorful"? They didn't need anyone to encourage them to be passionate about beating their opponents, letting the other guy know they were going down, or expressing their anger or frustration after getting beaten.
I understand there are many different personality types in the sport. But one thing I would hope that they all have in common is that they honestly feel that winning is the greatest experience in the world and losing is the worst. That there are certain opponents who present extra motivation for winning and that it's not just "It doesn't matter who's in the other lane" as we've heard so many times over the years. Even drivers who have the most mild-mannered, meek, and laid-back personalities would fight off an attacker who was trying to take away something that belonged to them; something that they had worked hard for and that meant something to them. Well, every time they pull to the starting line, that's exactly what's happening. The guy in the other lane is trying to steal the winlight away from them, keep them from getting the points they and their crew have worked long hours to earn, and if that opponent wins, he's the one who gets that top end interview on ESPN or the cover photo on National Dragster that makes the sponsors happy. If that doesn't get a driver fired up and into a warrior mindset, pumped with adrenaline and poised to fight for what he feels is rightfully his, then maybe he's in the wrong sport.
As NASCAR legend Buddy Baker once told me, "There are drivers and there are racers. Richard Petty was a driver. Cale Yarborough was a racer."
That sums up my message.
Seriously though, I really enjoy your interviews John, keep up the good work!
