Counterweight
Feedback , Friendly Notes , & Hate Mail
Second-Generation Pro Mod Wheelman Walks the Walk
Steven Whiteley
Street Outlaws Still Shining ?
Saw a commercial today about tonight ’ s new episode of Street Outlaws and wanted to reach out to you guys for your opinion : Does anyone still care about this show , or these people ? Can ’ t help but feel like this whole thing has run its course . I ’ m not reading nearly as much about record ratings and / or viewership , and it just seems that some of the buzz around the show has fallen off . Has the shock value worn off ? Is it just no longer a big deal to see these guys “ street racing ” on television , or is it just that everyone is 100-percent clued into the fact that the racing is being done in a controlled environment ?
Roy E . Wright , via the Internet
[ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WES BUCK REPLIES : Something like 8 seasons later ? Yeah , I think they ’ re still doing their thing in a big way . The show clearly has had tremendous staying power thus far , but I will admit that we are hearing less-and-less from
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readers about Street Outlaws . I can ’ t say that I ’ m surprised , though , because a large majority of that early feedback was outrage against the romanticization of illegal street racing , and , at least in some part , fueled by jealousy . As recently as last fall / winter , the Street Outlaw squad remain amongst the biggest celebrities on the floor of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas and PRI Show in Indianapolis . Personally , I was really enjoying seeing some of them venturing into more organized racing venues and throwing their hat into the ring , and it seems like some of that has faded , but I continue to see flyers touting the “ stars of Street Outlaws ” as the main attraction for an upcoming event . Even the people involved in the show , at least the ones I know personally , seem to have a solid understanding that all these things - specifically reality shows - eventually run their course , so I don ’ t think any of them would be surprised if the intensity of their stardom and the show ’ s popularity had plateaued . In my opinion , a couple of the cast members have done a
great job of creating a real , substantial following , and will likely end up involved in some sort of “ spin off ” show at some point . No matter what happens , I stand by my original commentary on the show , and that ’ s simply that for a period of time these guys brought drag racing back into popular culture - and it ’ s been a victory for the sport by-and-large .]
Screwed ?
What happens next in PDRA Pro Extreme ? Car counts have been alarming since the start of the year , and there doesn ’ t seem to be any significant uptick in participation on the horizon . I think we can all agree that a roots blower / nitro combination isn ’ t going to fix the problem overnight - even though it is a pretty fun and exciting option . Back in the glory days of Pro Extreme , I remember 30-plus cars showing up to events . Has it just gotten so far out of control with the 3.4-second , 220mph performances that only a handful of the elite wealthy can participate ? It feels like that is the case , but I know there have been some lesser-financed teams perform very well in recent history . What happened to all these guys that made Pro Extreme the most exciting class in drag racing for damn near a decade ?
Nicholas Eastman , via the Internet
[ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WES BUCK REPLIES : We ’ re worried , too , Nicholas . It ’ s my opinion , personally , that we may have reached a point in time where having separate eliminators for each power adder no longer makes sense . Clearly , there was a time when it made perfect sense , especially when the performances of nitrous oxide-injected door cars was a far cry from that of its supercharged counterparts , but a lot has changed since Kenny Nowling first came up with the idea of splitting Pro Mod up into Pro Extreme and Pro Nitrous . For what it ’ s worth , if it were up to me … I ’ d be strongly considering merging the PDRA ’ s top three eliminators - Pro Extreme , Pro Nitrous and Pro Boost . Much like the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series ( RPM ) has established itself and its rule package as the universal standard and definition of a legal Pro Mod , I believe the PDRA has an opportunity to create the definitive Outlaw Pro Mod eliminator . I ’ m not certain anyone knows whether the screw blower cars could be pulled back enough to even things out amongst the other combinations , but I believe it ’ d be worth a try - even if you ultimately discovered there wasn ’ t a way to do it . If that were the case , I think I ’ d do everything in my power to encourage guys like Jason Scruggs , Terry Leggett , Mel Bush / Tommy D ’ Aprile , Michael Recchia and the handful of other regular P / X teams to put together a roots blower program . Matter of fact , I ’ d probably try to get someone like Jason Scruggs to keep his current Pro Extreme car and screw-blown Hemi , and take any / all weight out of it and do whatever they can to make the car run 3.30s at 230mph - and let them run like 2-3 times per event as an exhibition , of course this would be in addition to racing another car in Outlaw Pro Mod . Can you imagine the PDRA promoting a situation where they roll into every track they visit with an expressed written goal of obliterating the track record with a truly unlimited doorslammer ? Let ’ s face it - there ’ s still a good bit of competition amongst the current crop of Pro Extreme teams , but the real competition is with the record book . These guys are long-ball hitters , and I think we might as well just embrace it . Wow . That ’ s a lot to digest . Sorry … this is what I do .]
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12 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 121