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The latest update as of June 2, 2009
And then there were none....
As reported first on the SpeedZone website, there won't be any "Pro" Stock cars at this year's IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals at Edmonton's Castrol Raceway. There was a virtual boycott by the class at last year's event as ONE non-conforming entry showed up, made a bye run in each qualifying session and closed out the "show" with a single in the first and final round of competition.
At the time IHRA made it clear that a similar fiasco would not be permitted to occur in 2009, and the latest news indicates that NO pro stock cars will be attending the Rockies. I guess it's been somewhat apparent for a while now, as if you look closely at the event schedule and decode the abbreviations for each class, e.g. TF = Top Fuel, PM = Pro Modified, etc., there is simply no PS (pro stock) class listed.
I've got to wonder how the association will try to "spin" this situation or just where or when the racers in this, or for that matter any class, decide not to attend a national event in the future. And that brings us to the really tough question today: just who runs the International Hot Rod Association? Is it Feld Entertainment (the owners), Aaron Polburn (the president), or the racers? From where I'm sitting and viewing this, it's really not clear who is in charge, despite what the various parties may say.
I've got to ask myself what would be the response if this boycott, or whatever you wish to call it, happened in the NHRA world. Would they sit down and discuss matters with the racers as they did after the fuel funny car boycott at the 1981 Cajun Nationals? Or would they simply inform the racers in the affected class that their participation in NHRA events was no longer required. The answer most likely lies somewhere between those two extremes. But based on the way the senior association has reacted to individual instances of non-conformance in recent years, or their willingness to play hardball with entire categories, I've got to assume that their response wouldn't be of the warm and fuzzy variety.
Now back to the event itself. Just how many classes will be competing at the Rocky's? Since last year's race we've seen nitro and alcohol funny car dropped from the IHRA roster, the Pro Nostalgia (7.50 index) funny cars and nitro bikes have never been an official category, and the PSB (pro Stock Bike?) class is not to be found in the IHRA vocabulary.
While Rob and Kim Reeves have gone waaay out on a limb to bring a great show to Edmonton next month, with a full field of alcohol funny cars and several (not sure how many) nitro floppers, the pro nostalgia gang, the nitro harleys, etc, etc, their event is getting further and further away from the mainstream IHRA promotion and is rapidly taking on a very individual flavour of its own. More credit to them, and based on past attendance figures, this year's edition of the Rocky Mountain Nationals should be a success (weather permitting). But there may come a time where the Reeves's have to ask themselves "Why are we sanctioned by IHRA anymore? Why not just book the cars and promote the entire event ourselves? At this point they've got to be at least wondering about this from time to time.
There's certainly more to come on this issue in the coming weeks, and opinions will be like belly-buttons (ie, everyone's got one) but there really can't be any winners in this fiasco. The fans at Castrol Raceway will miss out on the wild 220-mph cars, the promoters will miss out on the addition to the show, the racers will miss out on a chance to race, their sponsors and all of IHRA's sponsors will be shortchanged, and the sport itself will be diminished, at least somewhat, by their absence. But the pro stock racers have got to ask themselves, especially after last year's no-show, just what are they trying to prove? And when they do figure out the answer, maybe they can pass it along to their sponsors, the folks that pay the bills and allow them to race and presumably contract with them to contest the entire IHRA national event schedule.
While that thought process is going on, possibly IHRA can think of something to tell their series sponsors, the track operators and promoters that signed up for events in good faith expecting representative fields in ALL categories, especially the professional eliminators. Just something for everyone to think about between now and the July 3rd opening round of qualifying at Castrol Raceway.
To see yesterday's update click here
To see Sunday's pictures from the Mission Raceway LODRS click here
To see Saturday's pictures from the Mission Raceway LODRS click here
To see Friday's pictures from the Mission Raceway LODRS click here
To see updates/rants/blogs from March click here