Hey, there's more to Drag Racing than the Nitro cars. Let me tell you what I enjoy about IHRA style Drag Racing.

1. The low buck guys n gals fighting the good fight in Funny Car. Walking through the pits my son Dave has been invited to lunch with Mark Thomas, sat in 3 separate FCs and had great conversations with about 1/2 dozen other drivers/ crew. Not unusual to have 20+ cars trying to get in.

2. Pro Mod, Great controversy along with super quick and very wild racing, not to mention pretty competitive. The NHRA sure has jumped on the bandwagon.

3. Nitro Harleys, these babies just flat haul the bacon and slowly but surely, a competitive program is building.

4. Mountain Motor Pro Stocks, watch the way these things twist up for the first 100 feet or so, also pretty competitive fields.

5. Top Dragster and Top Sportsman, maybe it's the old bracket racer in me but when I see doorslammers with 6.5-second dial-ins and dragsters with 6.2 seconds on the board I freak! This is Bracket racing Xtreme and I love it.

6. Just the general laid back atmosphere at the IHRA events appeals to me.

OK, the IHRA Top Fuel program is in trouble; we all can see it, as can Bader. If he doesn't do something soon it will die which would be sad because the sport needs a place where low buck nitro racers can qualify and earn a buck. But in my opinion, for the money you pay for admission the IHRA show is worth every dime. If all you like are Nitro cars, skip the IHRA and save your money for the NHRA price of admission. For me there is more to Drag Racing then Nitro burners. 

As for TV, don't even get me started ... Drag Racing does not belong on TV; it's a participatory sport, even for the spectators. Drag Racing on TV is less than 1/10th the experience of being there. I could give a damn about either sanctioning body's freakin' TV package!