[dwydendorf]

When I started racing back in the 70's the first time I raced at the Nationals(now the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals), I raced in SS/U and there was a Pontiac wagon driven by Jack Mullins in the class. Later on in the 70's I raced in Modified Eliminator and in A/SM and Don Bowles had a Fairmont in the class. For those who don't remember or didn't know, these were both killer cars that went alot faster than anyone else in the class. A few years later, fast forward to the early 90's, I raced in SS/J and Dick Sherman was one of the fast guys and had alot more money than me. I had decided at that time that I would no longer run from anyone and just race in the class I wanted to. Sometime in the 90's Bobby Cunningham had a very fast SS/J Firebird and I decided to go to Indy anyway. Well the week before Indy he crashed the car at Bowling Green, very unfortunate for him but I got the class trophy at Indy(not the way I wanted to win a trophy). A few years later Charlie Westcott said he was going to race in GT/G at Indy but I went there and ran him anyway. Well, I was lucky once again. I have always been a low budget guy and not a fast qualifier but you can either suck it up and race, or cry and complain about the killer cars that have a performance edge on you. If you work hard enough and focus on your own program instead of somebody elses, you might get lucky too. Now they may have spent more money or gained an edge because of Nhra's factors, or just plain outworked you, or all of the above. Killer cars have been a part of the sport since I started racing and I don't see it changing anytime soon. Isn't that why they call it racing instead of winning?