Drag Illustrated Issue 111, July 2016 | Page 10

LETTER from the EDITOR J uly is an interesting time of year. It’s hot. It’s humid. The days are long. The inherent optimism of a new year has started to fade by the time June comes to an end. The relentless dog days of summer that come with the seventh calendar month change our mood. It’s funny how it happens. We all come into a new season with a full head of steam—excited, motivated and eager to get new projects and plans underway. But it’s hard to maintain. As time marches on we lose a little momentum, begin to examine our progress and look at things through the scope of reality and, inevitably, start the cycle all over again. I’ve always felt this somewhat brutal time of year is the perfect climate for a little bit of self-examination. Thus the reason we always try to schedule our annual STATE OF DRAG Special Issue for July. Removed from the excitement that comes with the start of the race season—new sponsors, venues, drivers, cars, events and venues—by mid-year we can see things a little more clearly. I’ll preface this by saying that I am painfully biased when it comes to drag racing. Generally speaking, I refuse to acknowledge any perceived shortcomings the sport may (or may not) have, and routinely go way out of my way to identify the silver lining to any supposedly bad situation that comes our collective way. I love this stuff—and I’m not bashful about it—but I’m not stupid, either. As much as I enjoy presenting the pros of straight-line racing and seem to permanently adorn a pair of rose-colored glasses, I’m aware the drag racing community and automotive high-performance industry face a plethora of issues in 2016. Still, I refuse to buy into any notion that the proverbial sky is falling when it comes to the future of drag racing. I’m well aware we have some problems to solve, and that’s the kind of thinking we wanted to promote with this 111th issue of Drag Illustrated. It’s easy to identify problems. The hard work is in solving them, and while we may not always accomplish that through these printed pages, I’m satisfied we are promoting fresh ideas and going to the source—to the racers, promoters, manufacturers and fans—in seeking solutions. Our goal here has always been to give a voice to the people who make this sport great, so that’s what we tried to do with our slew of roundtable-type features this month. That said, I’m a sucker for “king for a day” opportunities, so I won’t leave without spewing a few of my own strong opinions. First and foremost, I recognize car counts, cost control, overlapping and oversaturation of events are all massive obstacles we must work together to topple, but the growth of drag racing—on a professional level and national stage—are 100-percent dependent on the developWesley R. Buck Editor-in-Chief 10 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com ment of superstar personalities. I don’t care if we’re talking about NHRA, IHRA, PDRA or Radial vs. World—the cars are not the stars! Until we shake this archaic, massively incorrect notion, this sport will never reach its full potential as a sports entertainment property. Secondly, and this is something I have only recently fully appreciated, I think that as a sport, we need to sometimes be careful of what we wish for. As I mentioned, I’m the first one to vocalize my hopes and dreams for a bigger, more star-studded and mainstream version of drag racing. I’m not naïve enough to think that it won’t come at a cost, though. We’ve already seen an innumerable number of teams and drivers priced out of the sport of drag racing, and an elevation of status or markedly improved return-on-investment for corporate sponsors will only drive the cost upwards. I believe there’s a perfect example with NHRA Pro Mod right now. For what it’s worth, I think what the Real Pro Mod group has done with the NHRA is incredible and easily represents the most competitive and impressive collection of fast doorslammers currently in existence . There is an abundance of cars, fierce competition, some semblance of parity amongst three different engine combinations, and interest from fans, track owners and even sponsors is at an all-time high. It’s great drag racing. Yet I’ve caught myself on more than one occasion in recent weeks bemoaning the fact that NHRA still hasn’t fully embraced Pro Mod and wondering aloud what it really would be like if they brought the class under the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series umbrella. Well, that dramatic increase in exposure would inevitably bring more money into a category that has already priced many out of contention. It would increase competition further and drive the price-toplay into the stratosphere (some would argue that it’s already there), so we have to make sure that’s actually what we want. And it’s not just a pro-class issue. Just as in Pro Mod currently, bringing bigger purses, and more frequently, to say regional bracket races, would almost certainly drive up entry fees and the competition within. We’ve spent the better part of 2016 using the slogan the slogan “Make Drag Racing Great Again” to promote Drag Illustrated. It’s been monumentally well received. The truth, though, is that drag racing is and always has been great. We’re not saying otherwise and as I’ve stressed before, we consider the phrase more of a rallying cry than a critique. We’re simply trying to bring people together and highlight the awesomeness that is the sport of drag racing. So, as we continue in our quest to make drag racing great—for now and forever—I think we need to realize there’s a price to pay with every step forward, and it exists on every level. I invite you to email me at wes@dragillustrated.com and follow me at facebook.com/wbuck and wesbuckinc on Instagram. Wesley R. Buck Editor-in-Chief wes@dragillustrated.com Scott Dorman Publisher 615.478.5275 scott@dragillustrated.com Will Mandell Senior Sales Executive 615.426.0465 will@dragillustrated.com JT Hudson Account Representative 660.341.0063 jt@dragillustrated.com Mike Carpenter Design & Production Director 704.737.2299 mike@dragillustrated.com Ian Tocher Senior Editor 404.375.4895 ian@dragillustrated.com Van Abernethy Senior Staff Writer & Field Subscription Sales 828.302.0356 van@dragillustrated.com Nate Van Wagnen Web Editor & Staff Writer 440.986.1480 nate@dragillustrated.com Bret Kepner Historian/Statistician bret@dragillustrated.com Andrea Wilson Controller 660.349.0847 andrea@dragillustrated.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Ainsley Jacobs, Bobby Bennett, Tommy D’Aprile, Lisa Collier, Gordon Columbine, Rob King PHOTO DEPARTMENT: John Fore III (Senior Staff Photographer), Paul Grant (Senior Photographer), Roger Richards, Ian Tocher, Van Abernethy, Mark J. Rebilas, Joe McHugh, Chris Graves, James Sisk, Jason Dunn, Ron Lewis, Gary Nastase, Jason Sharp ADVERTISING SALES: 615.478.5275 SUBSCRIPTIONS & CUSTOMER SERVICE: 660.988.2313 customerservice@dragillustrated.com DRAG ILLUSTRATED MEDIA, LLC 902 Kings Road, Kirksville, MO 63501 P: 660.988.2313 F: 660.665.1636 www.dragillustrated.com Copyright © 2016 by Drag Illustrated Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Drag Illustrated is a registered trademark of Drag Illustrated Media, LLC. Printed and mailed by Publication Printers in Denver, CO. All statements, including product claims, are those of the person or organization making the statement or claim. The publisher does not adopt any such statement or claims as its own, and any such statement or claim does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher. Issue 111