In a colossal flip-flop that would make a 40-year politician blush, the Professional Racers Owners Organization (PRO) gave in to the slightest bit of pressure from NHRA president Tom Compton and racetrack owner Bruton Smith and decided its members would now participate in four-wide drag racing.
After the problem-plagued inaugural NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in late March at Smith's zMax Dragway in Charlotte, PRO members voted 60-3 against any further four-wide races when championship points were on the line. Smith replied that he was only trying to help the sport grow and that perhaps he should just pull back altogether. This sent a wave of panic through the NHRA pits and an emergency meeting between PRO and NHRA was called this past weekend in Las Vegas.
The result was a total reversal of its earlier statement by PRO with the NHRA smugly announcing that four-wide racing would resume next year at the same event.
Apparently, PRO's three biggest concerns -- safety, a high level of confusion among drivers, teams and fans, and the fact sponsorship identification was virtually non-existent on TV -- was quickly replaced by a "keep Bruton happy" sentiment.
Opinions are definitely varied on the subject, so I asked editor Craig Wack to take an opposing stance on the topic.
Wack's take:
Four-wide racing might not be the cureall for what ails the NHRA, but at least credit Bruton Smith for trying to open drag racing to a wider audience.
Smith saw one of the strengths of pro drag racing -- pure, thundering horsepower -- and spent millions of dollars to crank the ground-shaking, teeth rattling dial to "11" in an attempt to make this event unique and fill his massive grandstands.
However, the first incarnation of the 4-Wide Nationals seemed to be doomed from the start because teams and hardcore fans were dead set against the notion right from the beginning, apparently just because it was different. What the two groups didn't realize is that this race wasn't for them. Four wide racing is Bruton Smith's way to make drag racing irresistible to the casual motorsports observer.
Is it a gimmick? Sure. But entertainers from P.T. Barnum to Harry Houdini to KISS to Carrot Top have proven time and time again Americans love a good gimmick and will pay good money to experience one.
More butts in the seats and eyes on the TV mean more opportunity to make the sport grow. A bigger audience makes drag racing more prized by corporate America. Expanding the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series' fan base should be the top priority of the sanctioning body, every track and every team -- especially since corporate giants like Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing, and U.S. Tobacco have recently decided drag racing was no longer worth their attention.
So stop calling Bruton Smith everything from a crazy old man to the spawn of the devil. He thought he saw a way to help the sport of drag racing evolve and he acted on it.
I'm glad Smith stuck to his guns. In fact, I encourage him to add two lanes to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and make any new drag racing projects four-wide. The more four-wide races are run, the more comfortable drivers will become with the staging procedure, and ESPN2 will find more effective ways to televise it.
Tradition is nice, but "the way we've always done it" isn't exactly enflaming the passions of the casual sports fan. Bottom line, the sport needs more risk takers like Bruton Smith. It would have been crazy to give up on this idea after just one race.
Geiger's take:
My opinion of four-wide drag racing is…
Wait, my opinion doesn't matter. Neither does Bruton Smith's or Tom Compton's for that matter. The only opinion that matters is that of the fans. True, you're not going to please everyone, but this is America so we need to go with the majority. In this case, the majority has spoken and they gave four-wide racing a resounding "NO."
Even the members of PRO, who usually can't agree on anything (besides safety issues), voted 60-3 against ever racing under the confusing format again with championship points on the line, at least before they caved in to Smith's pressure.
Personally, I was happy to see the PRO vote, although the group back-pedaled like the spineless organization they've always been in Las Vegas because Smith had told ESPN2 that he may as well take a big step back from the NHRA if nobody likes his ideas. Everyone out there dreams of the day Smith will buy NHRA outright. They sure don't want to scare him away.
Here's the deal: the drivers didn't like it. Not many of them said it out loud because they don't want to be blackballed by the NHRA (yes, it happens all the time), but almost every one I talked to didn't like it. The three original votes that were in favor of more four-wide racing in the PRO poll came from Jeg Coughlin Jr., his team owner Victor Cagnazzi, and longtime contrarian Warren Johnson.
What was interesting to me is that the fans hated it even more. After prompting from several racers, I wrote a column before the event saying the four-wide idea needed to be explained a lot better because the drivers had no clue how it was going to work, which was apparent throughout a bumbling weekend of racing in Charlotte.
After I wrote that piece, I got a couple of words of thanks from the drivers but a heap of e-mails from fans saying they didn't like it at all. I wasn't expecting that kind of feedback so I spent some time up in the stands in Charlotte randomly chatting with the ticket-buying populace. They resoundingly echoed the e-mails -- no one liked it or understood the racing. About the best endorsement it got was "it's cool when all four go down at the same time." Unfortunately, that didn't happen much.
I ran into Bruton's son Marcus in the pressroom that weekend. He was very excited about how the racing had gone, which puzzled me a bit because I thought it was a pretty obvious flop. Blinded by the light, I suppose. I gently relayed to Marcus my interaction with the fans and the negative feedback I'd received. As polite as he was, I felt like he didn't want to hear it. I suggested he poll the fans himself and he just kind of smiled, said maybe they would, and wandered off.
Everyone laid over in that second PRO meeting in Vegas but in their rush to keep Bruton happy they overlooked the wishes of the fans. Now the only thing ticket buyers can do to let their voice be heard is actually do what PRO initially said it would do and refuse to participate.
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