Looking Forward
Written by Jory Elliott · November 26, 2006
After what will go down as one of the most historic seasons in the history of our sport it is now time for everyone to start gearing up for next year. The hangover from that wonderful weekend at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona is over. The IHRA hosted its last event over a month ago and the Universal Technical Institute World Finals in Rockingham, NC ended what was a landmark season for the IHRA and its eMax drag racing series.
The NHRA experienced some of the closest point’s battles they have had in years in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. What could make for a more legendary season than Tony Schumacher defying all odds and running the gauntlet to snatch the POWERade Championship right out from under Doug Kalitta’s grasp? By winning the last event of the year while setting the national record as the clincher, The Sarge put an exclamation point on any arguments against the NHRA’s insistence that a new points system is needed. And not to be lost in all of that is the fact that the undisputed king of drag racing John Force, wrapped up his 14th career Funny Car championship by beating his closest rival Ron Capps, in the second round of competition. Now I guess the only way that could have been more exciting is if there had been a contrived points system that due to its nature made the points battle come down to the final round of the event, with three or four drivers all in the chase? And what is the fun of having a close point’s battle every year in each of the professional classes? Is it not more exciting to remember years such as this where Tony Schumacher was not given a mulligan with six events to go but instead worked his ass off to earn the championship? It is possible that this new system will take away from the excitement around the sport because each division will have a close point’s battle each season thus making those points races less memorable in future years. Remember back to 1992 and the historic, season long Funny Car clash between Cruz Pedregon and John Force for the championship. This leaves me begging the question, would this championship be remembered and revered as much if it had been decided by a contrived points system? How about the 2005 championship race and the classic battle that occurred between John Force, Ron Capps and Gary Scelzi with Scelzi coming out on top as the series champ by only eight points over his teammate Capps. Would that battle have gained as much attention in the media had it be manufactured by a chase system? What the NHRA failed to recognize is that the chase format works in NASCAR because they have one division competing together. This makes it somewhat exciting because all of the drivers compete for one championship. When you look at the NHRA’s situation, how do you go about creating legitimate hype for four separate classes all experiencing manufactured points’ battles?
The IHRA experienced what could be considered one of the most successful years in the history of the organization. Thanks in no small part to the re-introduction of the Fuel Funny Car class, the IHRA experienced record crowds at several of its national events this past season. The Fuel Funny Car class failed to disappoint as well with its championship battle going down to the final round of the last event. Two of the sports senior statesmen battled it out all season long with Dale Creasy Jr. taking the trophy over his friend and worthy competitor Jack Wyatt. Last season just laid the foundation for what will be an exciting prosperous class for many years to come. Clay Millican once again won the Top Fuel championship but not without some fierce competition nipping at his heels. Were it not for an unfortunate crash at the rescheduled Chevrolet Dealer’s of Ontario Canadian Nationals in Cayuga, Ontario, Doug Foley may have had something to say about Clay winning his sixth straight IHRA championship. Both professional classes appear to be healthy with the current car counts and with any luck they will have increased competitiveness in both classes next season. One step in the right direction was the reversal of the rule that allowed A/Fuel dragsters to compete in the Top Fuel class. This rule was originally introduced to help fill out the Top Fuel fields at national events but has now run its course and is no longer a viable option if the IHRA hopes to improve the quality of competition and increase its legitimacy as a professional drag racing sanctioning body. The Pro Modified class should bring about some interesting scenarios next season after several rule changes were made in reaction to the qualified field at Rockingham that featured sixteen blown cars and no nitrous assisted machines. The rumors as to whether or not the Alcohol Funny Car class will even exist next season as a professional category on the IHRA national event tour will not seem to subside. With the re-introduction of the Fuel Funny Car class and the seeming lack of knowledge that would allow the average IHRA fan attending the races to differentiate between the two, other than by the fact that one is louder than the other, it would make good sense to eliminate this class from the professional program. There is still a place for these roots style, blown cars to compete with the IHRA but on a smaller scale.
The IHRA appears to be a sanctioning body headed in the right direction with the programs they offer to not only professional class racers but with their commitment to grassroots programs as well.
So in closing, good luck to all those teams putting their parts and pieces together in preparation for next season. We are in for some interesting, exciting and controversial moments throughout the 2007 season.
This was a terrific drag racing season for both of the main associations and I agree, the NHRA could not have had a better points battle than what we had this year … and without the new system. I hope the IHRA can continue their growth - I’m sure the NHRA will have something to say about that before too long. And here’s hoping Nostalgia drag racing gets a new organization - any organization would be nice. :)
Hey DH thanks for the comments. I wasnt aware that nostalgia racing was in need of an association? I think it would be great if there were one association called the Nostalgia Drag Racing Association, that goverend all of the events for these cars and competitors. It would bring some solidarity to a very popular and growing brand of drag racing. This tye of racing could use some national event type races where all the competitors would race for points and a championship at the end of the season. That may just be a pipe dream though.
The Goodguys had a small but consistent effort for Nostalgia drag racing over the last 15 years or so. But they bailed for next year due to losing Famoso (Bakersfield). A new group of operators have taken over and the rumor goes that with the help of some “NHRA people”, a new series can be started.
The rest of the country has small independant tracks or groups but no national presence - which I agree, is needed. We can only hope something national can happen but …