Drag Illustrated Issue 153, February 2020 | Page 74

DRAG ILLUSTRATED ROUNDTABLE
on both sides. I feel like that will help racing. It
makes our sport a little more prestigious and it
also will put us in front of a dedicated crowd. I
feel like that’s a big step for drag racing.
What is your biggest concern going into this
season?
CM: Just purely the cost of running these things.
We do it as efficiently and tightly to the belt as
we can. The costs just continue to go up and it’s
harder and harder for everybody, but especially
on the small teams like us that are intending on
doing all the races. It’s really, really hard. The
escalating costs of running these cars is my big-
gest concern.
The wild, unpredictable racing
and relatively low restrictions
as far as rules makes the Outlaw
Fuel Altered Association an at-
tractive option for fans, teams
and track promoters even after
over two decades in existence.
CG: I want to see some changes in the NHRA
nitro ranks, “the big show,” if you will. I grew
up in the stands at Texas Motorplex watching
Dean Skuza and KC Spurlock and Eddie Hill
and Lori Johns. I don’t think I’m alone when I
say that something needs to be done about the
big show if the big show is going to last. It would
be nice to see whatever changes they’re going
to do go into effect. You continue to see more
negative reviews and responses from the fans in
attendance. They can claim sellouts and things
like that, but all you’ve got to do is look at old
pictures to see that the places aren’t sold out. I
would love to see something happen with the
big show to reduce costs. Put the independent
guys back in Top Fuel and Funny Car so you’re
not having short fields anymore. I’d like to see
the big show have 24 cars at every race. But until
something changes, that won’t happen.
But the overall growth is there. The TV deal,
Street Outlaws and No Prep Kings and all that,
that’s great for the sport. It gets young people
and a broader market interested in the overall
sport of drag racing. That’s great to me. I don’t
watch it all the time. I’m not a no-prep fan, but
that many people being interested in the general
sport of drag racing carries over into other forms
of drag racing and it supports the whole industry
collectively. The more race cars that are getting
down the track, the more parts manufacturers are
selling parts. The general economy in drag racing
has to be strong for the sport to stick around. I
think all that stuff is important.
intricate sport at the moment. I want that kind
of competition to remain. I want to go out there
every week and have a chance to win and every
week I want to fight for it. I want it to always
be as competitive as it happens to be right now.
TC: First off, getting people to the races. A lot of
things have changed since 2019. It’s been a big
offseason for a lot of different avenues. On some
accounts, the free live feeds are gone. There’s a lot
of uproar about it, but at the end of the day, if you
don’t want to pay to watch it online, maybe that
helps the promoter bring more people back out
to the racetrack. It’s the age-old argument over
whether the live feed hurt the front gate. Well,
we’ll find out this year if it really does. There’s
positive and negatives to both sides. I feel strongly
DK: With the timing of this particular inter-
view [mid-January], I guess my biggest concern
is what am I going to do next year when Jason
[Line] is gone. He’s the one directly responsi-
ble for plugging the laptop into my race car, so
I have no idea what that means for next year
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Jason Line announced on
January 15 that he will retire from Pro Stock
competition after the 2020 season.]
TC: My biggest concern right now is probably
the economy. It’s always fluid. You never know
what’s going to happen. Drag racing is a very big
economy-based sport. When the economy is good,
Tyler Crossnoe, who can be seen doing anything
from working a drag rotator tractor to running
a race from the tower, fears an economic down-
town as we go into the 2020 season.
more people are talking about drag racing, the
easier it is on us as far as maintaining sponsors and
finding new sponsors. The more excitement there
is around this sport, the better it is for everybody.
CG: Weather is my only concern. I don’t want
to jinx myself, but I’ve done 12 Funny Car Chaos
races and I’ve had no rainouts. We’ve had some
rain, but we haven’t had to cancel a race. Hon-
estly, that’s my biggest fear. Keeping drivers safe,
we do everything we can to keep everyone safe
and avoid any kind of on-track incidents, but my
biggest fear this year is rain. I think my odds are
going to catch up with me.
DK: That’s a tough question. I’m in it for the
competition, and right now it’s the best I’ve been
able to experience in a long time. It’s a very close,
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