Track prep is not the problem, the egos of crew chiefs and drivers that won't allow them to adapt is. The same teams are still blowing the bodies off their cars as were before they are just using the new track prep as their excuse now.
NHRA tried equipment restrictions and it wasn't working, but the 5% change in mixture for track prep is working across the board equally for everyone.
Without scoreboards telling you the times, you cannot see the difference in a 3.85 run and a 4.0 run. And the casual fan really doesn't who won the last round let alone who won what when or when/what record was ever set. They just want to see/feel/hear the nitro cars run. That is why Fridays and Saturdays have more spectators. They just want to witness runs.
From an actual racing standpoint, it's pretty tough to argue with anything you said. But what about entertainment?
Awhile back in another thread, I made a comment that I still stand by; NHRA (with regards to the fuel cars) needs to decide if they're in the racing business or the entertainment business. The topic of die-hard drag racing fans being vastly outnumbered by the casual fans gets talked about literally all the time. And when you consider that the casual fans, who have limited knowledge and/or care for the technical aspect of the sport, are there to see the nitro cars, it seems to me that the nitro cars then become as much, or more about entertainment as they do racing. These fans represent the numbers. The numbers that pay the bills. That said, I think every measure needs to be taken to ensure these cars get down the track the majority of the time. Like most others, I have my favorite classes I like to follow, but I have appreciation for what it takes to be competitive regardless of class, but when it comes to fuel, there's simply nothing like 2 fuel cars thundering by with the candles lit, especially at night. NOTHING.
I've posed the prospect of traction control on several occasions, and of all those times, the only response I got from someone that's out there doing it was a while back from DeLago. For the most part, his only "issue" with it was that it would hurt his business. While I can see his angle, I can also fathom that it really would have no effect. No matter how good a system like that would be, nothing is fool proof, and at the end of the day, there will always be a need for someone that knows how to build power and manage a crew, especially if a change like that would bring out more teams. As a veteran of the sport who has seen so much, I'm guessing you fall on the purist side of things and see no value in that, but I would be interested in your opinion on the subject as it could pertain to where the fuel classes, as well as the sport itself has evolved to today.
Sean D
