Additionally, the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA), under the direction of ProMedia
founder, president and CEO Stephen Wolcott,
helped elevate the radial tire scene to a national
level when it announced in 2014 the addition of
the Radial Wars class to its national-event series
with its associated points championship.
Improved tire technology, too, is unquestionably among the many reasons for radial racing’s
success. For years, Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels (M/T) has been a huge
supporter of the sport, and its 275 and 315 drag
radial tires are notorious for helping drivers lay
down absolutely stunning elapsed times.
As radial racing’s popularity grows, and with
more teams and drivers becoming involved, controversy surrounding rules and unfair advantages
seems inevitable and omnipresent. As much as
the rule makers, including Long and Sears, try
to maintain parity, it’s a constantly moving target
requiring extreme vigilance and refinement to
maintain a level playing field. Weight changes
based on power adders and chassis or suspension
setup, restrictions on other components,
and a multitude of other tweaks and
adjustments have sparked many great
Internet debates.
“The real deal is there’s a bunch of
multi-millionaires who are crybabies
when it comes to wanting a huge advantage. It’s not all of ‘em, but some want
everything their way and that’s when a
promoter or race organizer has to step
in and do what he’s got to do to make it
fair,” Long bluntly states. Looking back
at the historical data shows the turbo
cars, the supercharged cars, and the nitrous-oxide cars on radials have all been
fairly competitive, he insists. “Let’s say
one guy’s combination isn’t running at
max effort; we have to think about what
it could possibly do in the right hands.
Just because this guy has it, doesn’t mean
he’s the guy to make it go the fastest.”
Sears’ take on parity puts the racers
first, with his focus on trying not to make
them spend unnecessary money. “The
hardest thing to do is reset the rules to
the point where it takes your core groups
and costs them a lot,” he says, keeping in
mind his core clientele often work 40 to
60 hours each week just to remain able
to continue to afford racing in his X275
series. “They’re all hard-working guys,
and I hate that if we take something
away, for example making someone
have to buy a smaller turbo, they could just as
easily buy another turbo the same size as what
they already have, put on twins, and step up to
the next class.
“A lot of guys get into it and realize it’s a lot more
work than they thought it would be, so they fall
102 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
SUPPORTING CAST Long isn’t the only promotor
in the drag radial game now, with RTRA’s Gene
Nicodemus (top), X275’s John Sears (left) and
NMCA’s Steve Wolcott also playing their part in
bringing the radial classes to the masses while
giving competitors a safe, fair place to race.
back to another class or sell their car and get out,”
Sears notes. To help keep things fair and make
sure everyone has a chance to be competitive, he
looks at the class as a whole when making his rule
changes and adjustments. “Too many changes can
run people off, though. We try to do a mid-year
revision via weight to accommodate for new parts
or discoveries and not take parts away that will
impact their programs for the year.”
Meanwhile, Nicodemus says he puts a huge
emphasis on safety when creating RTRA rules.
“I’ve always relied on Donald [Long]’s rules to
Issue 111
PHOTOS: CHRIS GRAVES, WES BUCK, NMCA DIGITAL
DR AG I LL U S T R AT ED R O UN D TABLE