[Chris1529]

Drag racing is about the cars and the drivers just as much as it is on the on track action.
Perhaps showing everything live isn't the best answer.

Its about the guys that thrashed in the evening all week to change transmission or rear-end then drove for 6 hours from a different part of the country through a blinding rain storm to wait in line to get into the track.

They have to find a way to have a lot more stories like that in between the pro runs, classes, and clean-ups and unfortunately, it takes a lot of production and editing to do that, so showing everything live.
Merely interviewing the pros in this dead time has gotten old really quick. There are may personalities at a drag race other than the pro's that can make the TV viewing a lot more interesting, but it will be a challenge to do more on TV with the intent of keeping everything live or even tape delay with only 3-4 hours of editing.