Graduating Up

[John DiBartolomeo]

This may sound a little depressing as far as the future of our sport, but it’s not meant to be that way at all. Rather it’s just a “call to arms” to be all that you can be and more.

When I started drag racing, there was a reasonable assumption that one day I could be driving a pro-class car; Pro Stock, whatever. It was a point when drag racing was a little more affordable to most everyone. Oh, how that has changed.

Nowadays, things are a lot different. I may be “speaking out of school” on this one, but today, getting a ride in a pro-class car requires either a lot of money, or you know somebody willing to take a chance on you. And therein lies one of the issues with drag racing today. Of course, there’s a lot of issues but I’ll save that one for later.

Naturally, the Jr. Dragster classes have enabled more kids and families to be involved in the sport. Up until 1991, drag racing had no “little league,” so to speak. You had to wait to achieve your state’s driver’s license before you could race. Of course, there were some instances where kids without a license drove a big car and, in some cases, did rather well.

When the late Vinny Napp innovated the Jr. Dragster as a way to keep his then-young son David involved, he started a whole new revolution of kids ages eight and older to begin to compete in some cases just like mom and dad. It also opened the door for some parents to begin to get more involved in drag racing than simply as fans. That’s the good news. The concern is what happens when junior ages out of juniors at age 17? With the ever-increasing expense of our sport, it takes quite a bit for the drivers to graduate up. Most probably end up in a full-size door car or dragster, running strictly in the bracket or Sportsman classes. Some may graduate into a fast pro mod or outlaw-type car but in any case, it takes hard work and money.

Now the NHRA may throw up an Enders, Langdon or J.R. Todd in our face as to how a Jr. Dragster driver can graduate up into the Pro ranks, but it’s extremely hard. This is no different than in the 2011 movie Moneyball, when Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane visited Scott Hatteberg to ask him to join the team as their first baseman. Hatteberg said, “I’ve only ever played catcher. I don’t know anything about first base.”

“It’s not that hard Scott,” said Beane pointing to a scout, Ron Washington, he brought along to the meeting. “Tell him Wash.”

“It’s incredibly hard,” said Washington.

And so may be the problem in drag racing. Naturally we’d all like to think we can graduate up into the pro ranks, but it’s just not that easy today. In most cases, if you don’t have the money to afford it on your own, you had better bring some money to the table maybe in the form of a sponsor. But this problem is no different than any other motorsport, or even life in general. Money is what makes the world go around.

Now as I said, I don’t want this to sound depressing. If you’ve got the drive and the ambition to graduate up, then go for it. Enders, Langdon, Todd and others have shown it possible. Just know that it’s a hard road ahead of you, but don’t give up. Prove me wrong on this. I welcome you to do that.

I’d like to thank the many who signed up for the Artisan Coffee Racing Club. Forget the fact you get a discount on their many coffee flavors; you also help to support those who support our sport. If you haven’t done so already, click on over to www.coffeebyartisan.com and sign up. Thanks once again.