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Media Matters: The show goes on at Englishtown

Phillip Gary Smith, go2geiger Media Columnist
Wednesday, 16 June 2010

Tragedy opened the initial ESPN race broadcast of the weekend as somber hosts, Paul Page and Mike Dunn, introduced and discussed the crash of Neal Parker’s Alcohol Funny Car, the "Excavator." Also a part of both Sunday broadcasts, the theme of their talk became "safer is paramount." The questions pondered included why the incidents here involve funny cars, and why is it happening at Englishtown. Mike Dunn described Englishtown as older (built on these grounds in 1964), the Pomona of the East Coast, and one of the shorter tracks. However, he noted four others are shorter still, though he left them unnamed. The booth concluded that questions needing further consideration are somewhat eternal: Can’t runoff areas be modernized, and what enhancements critical to the dragster need consideration.

John Force commented, "It was terrible. Stuff has to be addressed (like) safety. But that family will be okay as the Lord will see them through." Senior Vice-President of Operations, Graham Light, clinically opined the crash "was coincidence that it was here." Mounting evidence seems to be opposing that view. Antron Brown commented that in Phoenix there is a long runoff into the desert, "going on and on," minimizing the type of threat seen here.

Advancements have been made in the driver compartment, frames, and fire suppression systems. It appears similar advances are required on parachute systems even if that is later dismissed as a factor in this crash. In the tragedy of Neal Parker, if chutes had deployed the wreck might not have occurred. Sure to get discussion will be Sportsman Top Alcohol races going to the nitro standard of 1000 feet.

The following is Rick Green’s Summit FastNews Entry for the Neal Parker lap

(Note the left lane ET): "11:52 a.m. - Right Lane: Lourie took his car down the groove (in a single)

Left Lane: John Headley Runs 6.666/158.00, Now #3

Right Lane: Neal Parker Runs 5.732/249.90, Now #2

Headley spun the tires coming off the starting line and it sounded as if he never shifted. Parker ran his career best ET and speed but then never opened his chutes. The car went off the track into the sand ..."

Qualifying Show: This week’s broadcast was a ninety-minute version as opposed to the typical two hour telecast. The 11:00 pm start stole more sleep as it was delayed 20 minutes due to the NCAA Regional baseball tournament requiring extra innings between winner, UCLA, and Cal State (Fullerton).

First Pair -- What a Pair: What a run to start the racing portion of the qualifying broadcast. Force and Robert Hight both zoomed down the track with all their candles bright in the Friday night session. Hight’s Funny Car ran a record ET for the 1000 ft. era.

Run to the Zip Code?: Brandon Bernstein’s Copart dragster ran a stout 3.80 in qualifying while Cory McClenathan’s Fram ride in the other lane was setting a record ET of 3.752. This led Mike to declare Brandon’s pass was "not even in the same zip code." Paul asked, "Is this Cory McClenathan’s year? (This lap) makes you wonder."

Later Cory revealed his new secret ... He has been spending time with a legacy coach to help the mental part of drag racing. What is a legacy coach? In broad terms, they work with individuals on goals, commitments, focus, and ... stuff.

The Fram team suffered a hugely disappointing race day as the qualifying record went for naught, and all advantage was lost. The unopposed first lap looked to be a shot in tough conditions to backup the record, but the results were the same as the race in round two: up in smoke.

"Flat Tracking at the Drags": Craig Treble straddles his makeshift Pro Stock Motorcycle, his new ride since losing Schumacher’s sponsorship funding. Sliding from side to side in his run led to this flat track depiction by Dunn. Surprisingly, Craig made it to the finals. Event winner, Michael Phillips, earns kudos for giving credit to Craig for helping him "with a few things" with his motorcycle.

"Little Bit Short": Rickie Jones defined this phrase for all when he said, "We just came up a little bit short" when the Elite GXP team failed to squeeze into the Pro Stock field by a stingy .0007 of a second.

Bold Prediction: "Allen Johnson has a chance to win out of the thirteenth Pro Stock position," figured Mike Dunn considering the Mopar team had the quickest pass of the third session. Mike also selected the opening race of Johnson’ Mopar and Jason Line’s Summit GXP as an upset alert. Did this prediction hex Allen? Not in the first round of eliminations as Jason Line was the one who broke on the start.

"Nice call, Mr. Dunn," commented Paul Page. Facing Jeg Coughlin in the next round, however, the belated hex snuck in as Johnson experienced multiple problems on the line and down track, only winning an early start back to Tennessee.

Battle of the Mustangs: Mike Dunn picked Ashley Force Hood’s Castrol GTX Mustang over the higher qualified Bob Tasca driving his Motorcraft / Quick Lane Mustang. Result? Bob got to meet Ashley’s daddy in the next round, where he also put John Force’s Castrol GTX Mustang on the trailer.

Earlier, Mike pointed out to viewers the hood on Bob Tasca’s Ford Funny Car was weak. The replay video showed the ‘r’ in the word ‘parts’ painted broadly on the hood was concave from the down force. "They gotta go back and add a brace there." We never heard whether the crew took his suggestion thereby helping Bob win the whole thing here in his own backyard.

Good move by Tasca to grab John Force after eliminating him in round two and get him in the post-lap interview seeing that JFR is working closely with his team -- and it shows.

Did You Know?: Learn new terms and phrases weekly from these broadcasts such as this one: "Driving into the chutes," meaning the driver pulls the chute lever at the finish line while still hard on the throttle.

New Data Idea: After each pass, the best qualifying position of that driver flashes on the screen along with the current lap ET and speed results. Running Saturday sessions, the better qualifier at Englishtown, and most tracks, was Friday night, so that is the qualifying number shown. Even though there may be no improvement in the following round(s), and even though the subsequent qualifying number for that round is announced, why can’t it be displayed in the graphic, too?

Typical of the importance of these later rounds is Pro Stock competitor Allen Johnson’s poor No. 13 qualifier in the cool Friday night conditions. In the third qualifying round run on Saturday, he would not improve on that number but importantly was the quickest in that round. Why is that key? As Mike Dunn points out, the daytime conditions were more like those on race day. Even with a bottom of the field start, Allen’s performance in the heat of the day showed he had a good race day setup. The graphic needs to show his (worse) starting position, but also reflect the current session’s run. So, show the standings in each of those subsequent rounds. It’s a key -- Mike said so.

Best Sign: Displayed at the "NHRA RaceDay" show with a massive crowd in attendance, this choice is a take on ESPN: Eat Sleep Play NHRA

Mike’s Picks to Click: First he selected Robert Hight’s AAA of Southern California Funny Car who went out in the second round. He also wisely chose Larry Dixon’s Al-Anabi Top Fuel Dragster -- the event winner.

NT-Broke Before Staging: When was the last time you watched three dragsters win this dubious designation for their first round efforts? With Cory McClenathan’s bye round, only four pair raced the opening frame.

Best Line: "Steve Torrence with his Simple Mobile Dragster wished we were still racing the quarter mile as he would have won it," exclaimed Mike Dunn. Terry McMillen pushing his Amalie Oil dragster was flashing flames and distributing engine parts as he (barely) won their first round meeting.

Most Sentimental Round: The emotion surrounding the semifinal father/son race of the Grays could not be beat. Rookie son in his Tire Kingdom GXP overpowers the senior and experienced Johnny with his NTB GXP at the tree and the run. Johnny explained Shane for some reason had the better car, seemingly questioning himself how the heck did he let THAT happen. Minister Mike Edwards gave young Shane a sermon in the final round, his seventh delivered thus far this season. The message this time? I’m not dad.

Drag Racing Poetry: Would poetry and drag racing mix? Why not! Paul Page says the sport needs a Robert Frost to describe the sounds and sights of drag racing; he is right. Who will be among those to email me stanzas of an attempt to do just that? Adapting a Frost verse like this from The Road Not Taken does not qualify:

"Two drag lanes diverged in a finish feud,
And sorry they could not win both
But only one winner, long they booed
And looked to the finish line as I could
To watch the other win as they should."

Sportsman Broadcast: The Englishtown Sportsman Broadcast is scheduled for Saturday, June 19 at 2:00 pm.

Favorite Names in a Round: Round three, Pro Stock Motorcycles, featured Michael vs. Matt, or better still, their last names: Phillips vs. Smith.

E-mail your thoughts to Phillip Smith at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 

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