Sun, 28 Nov 2004, 09:19 AM Things Drag Racing Fans Have to be Thankful For

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2004 Auto Imagery, Inc.

First of all, I know that the headline is poor grammatically, but who cares? As I was sitting around Thursday with the lovely and talented Diana, with my daughters, Julie, Denise and Janice, with the grandkids, Stevie, John and Matthew, and the in-laws, I began to think about how lucky I am. My favorite line to people when they ask how I am doing is, “I have a wife that loves me, kids that are happy, grandkids that are spoiled and a job that’s like stealing money.” And since I believe all of those things, I am thankful for everything in my life. Drag racing, of course, is a big part of my life and has been for almost forty years and I am thankful for that, too. As the years go by, and people keep talking about the “good old days,” I always turn my attention to the things that are good about the sport right now and I realize that drag racing is alive and well and the fans do have a lot to be thankful for.

Don Garlits

In no particular order….drag racing fans have to be thankful for the great competition that we have in all of the classes, professional and sportsman. I realize that years ago there were significantly more cars competing in the fuel classes than there are now, but I also realize that the competition has never been better than it is today and that includes almost any era in the past. The battles that we had this year in the two top classes was pretty good, and while it didn’t go down to the last race, it hardly ever does, and that doesn’t take away from the level of competition. The top five cars in the POWERade points this year could hold their own with any car, driver and team of any time frame. Give me a race that includes Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowney and Gary Beck and I’ll give you a field with Tony Schumacher, Doug Kalitta and Larry Dixon. It would be interesting to take one of those big new computers and program it so that the stars of yesterday could square off against today’s top teams, wouldn’t it? The “Garlits’ era” was a different time and I’ll take the level of competition and the teams we have today and stack them up against any of the top teams of the past and I believe my guys will more than hold their own and that’s why I’m thankful for the great Top Fuel teams that we’re watching now. Don’ t get me wrong, if I could see Don and Shirley at a race in their prime, with a little Richard Tharp and Jerry Ruth thrown in there for excitement, I wouldn’t complain, but it’s not too bad to go to the races and know you’re going to see the Kalitta clan, Brandon Bernstein and the others that I mentioned, is it?

John Force

Of course we have to be thankful for John Force, even if he will have to get “bleeped” during the coverage of the awards ceremony when it’s on television this weekend. But then that’s why we like John, isn’t it. We also have to be thankful for Del Worsham who is a breath of fresh air and who impresses me more and more every year. Del has everything you’d want in a young man and a race driver and it’s only a matter of time before he wins the championship. Boy, will that get John “bleeping” mad!! And we have to be thankful for Whit Bazemore because he’s as close as we get to a Tony Stewart, you know, someone who the fans will talk about whether he wins or losses. You can always count on Whit to be the center of attention and that’s good. While we may not have anyone like “Jungle” Jim or Richard Tharp, guys who actually swapped lanes during a burnout once (wonder what that would cost them these days?), but we do have Whit, a very talented driver and a guy who is not afraid to speak his mind and for that I am thankful. We need more “black hats” in our sport, and I mean that in a complimentary way, and Whit is leading candidate and that is a very good thing. And then there’s Gary Scelzi, and any guy who will dress up in a nun’ s outfit has to be on our thankful list. The rest of the Funny Car group is also very good and as competitive as any time that we’ve had in the history of the class. Give me a field that includes Don Prudhomme, Raymond Beadle, Dale Pulde and John Lombardo and I’ll counter with John Force, Del, Gary and Whit. The Funny Car class is alive and well and for that I am thankful.

Anderson vs Line

Pro Stock kind of speaks for itself, with the record-setting and all-conquering Greg Anderson leading the way. The resurgence of the hemis, including the “Three Hemi Stooges,” Larry Morgan, Ken Koretsky and V. Gaines, and the abundance of great young talent like David Connolly and Jason Line makes the Pro Stock field as good as we’ve ever seen. Sure, Bob Glidden, Lee Shepherd and Frank Iaconio were great but they never faced the kind of competition, top to bottom, like the Pro Stock teams do today. And if you don’t think that Greg and his team could compete in any era than you’ve been in a coma for the last two years. The only thing I’m not thankful for in the class is that there are no really good Ford teams out there. What’s up with that? I know that John gives the Ford guys a lot of exposure but I firmly believe that for a fraction of that budget the blue oval guys could make a real splash in the factory hot rod class and they could do it with a Ford body and a Ford engine. Maybe I’ll put that on my Christmas wish list this year. Or how about a competitive Toyota Pro Stock car? Just thought I’d throw that out Plus, we should all be thankful for the “Professor,” Warren Johnson, and I hope he enjoys his final season as a driver. Now if he’d only tell us who is going to take over for him, because I know he knows!!

Andrew Hines

The Pro Stock Bike class is as strong as it’s ever been and it only promises to get better in the years ahead. A championship for Harley-Davidson was only a dream a few years ago and now it’ s a reality. Now the only question that remains is how long before we have a Buell as the champion? And, just like Ford in the car class, I’d be thankful if the Kawasaki factory guys would wake up and jump into the NHRA scene. That’s about the only thing that’s missing in one of NHRA’s more interesting and competitive classes. Angelle Savoie against anyone is a great match and the Vance and Hines guys against George Bryce’s team isn’t bad, either. And we have to be thankful for Steve Johnson and all he does for the class. I love watching the bikes race but I still think they need to run at all of the races in order to fully realize their potential and to give fans in all of the markets an opportunity to see what they bring to the party.

The sportsman classes always give me reason to be thankful and Mitch Myers’ 5.10 run in Pomona is only one reason why I love the sportsman teams. Battles that go all the way down to the last few rounds of the year are way cool and teams that overcome a lot of adversity is another one of the things that I am most thankful for. Gene Snow is another one. Here’s a guy who won his first race in 1966 and is still having as much fun as he ever has. Also on my wish list for next year is a national event win for Gene, now how cool would that be? The general mix of racers and teams that you get in the sportsman ranks is also something to be thankful for. What other sport has sixteen year olds competing

Dixon and family.

on the same field as seventy year olds? The answer is probably none and that’s something to be thankful for. Ashley Force, Hillary Will, Bill Reichert, Dave Hirata, Bucky Austin, Jay Payne, Frank Manzo, Bob Newberry, Dennis Taylor, Mert Littlefield and Jay Blake, among others, are all things to be thankful for. The humility of a Larry Stewart, the fierce competitive desire of a Dan Fletcher, the determination of Lyndon Rutland and the never-say-die attitude of Tom Stalba are also on my list.

I’m also thankful for Larry and Ali Dixon and what they did to help Julie Russell. They put in a lot of time and effort and they are to be applauded for their efforts. Very few people do something like that without expecting something in return, but the Dixon’s did it out of the goodness of their hearts. And so did everyone who participated in the auction, from the big spenders to those who worked behind the scenes. It’s moments like that when you realize what a great community we have and how much people really care. It’s also times like that when you realize how lucky we all are, and how much we all have to be thankful for.

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