Calling out all Mustangs

[Hemi Moose]

Originally Posted by Bret Kepner

In order,

1. Yes...and we KNEW that when we made the rules. As several people have noted, the first race is a week away. If you already know what is going to happen, please post a race report and save a bunch of people the gas money of traveling to Houston.

2. Congrats, Mr. Kenney! You are the FIRST PERSON since the concept was unveiled on January 13 to ask about a payout. You read that correctly. You are the FIRST. The manufacturers, the sponsors and the many racers who've contacted us have never asked...ONCE.

In any case, here’s the deal. Car and driver are admitted FREE. PERIOD. Crewmembers have to buy an all-access armband but that’s an insurance mandate, not an ADRL decision. We debated the purse and settled on a $150 “donation” to the purse. Whatever money is taken in is paid out. ADRL takes nothing. Under normal circumstances, this should make a purse which can realistically pay $1000 to win and be able to pay the semi-finalists. We’re only accepting fourteen cars for each event, (at this point, anyway), so that would make a maximum of $2100 for the purse.

3. While I’m not the contingency director, I can tell you we’ve had far more companies wanting to become involved in this program than we could’ve believed. However, I’ll stop there since, at this point, I’m not qualified to run down the list.

4. There will not be a point champion for the 2012 program simply because we’re fully aware the will be “tweaks” necessary to make the division successful in it’s first season. In reality, it really can’t be anything BUT a success since we already have accomplished the goals for the series prior to the first event. The entire industry is talking about it, cars are being built for it, the manufacturers are elated about it and the fans are already enthusiastic if not outright thrilled.

5. The licensing question has already come up and ADRL Technical Services, (Chris Bell and Jimmy Holzman), are already working on it. You guys have no understanding at all of the incredible amount of politics we’ve had to endure through this but suffice to say the NHRA “loopholes” regarding the lack of NHRA licenses in Stock do not apply in this case.

Now, here are a few things you folks should know. The SuperCar Shootout is NOT Stock Eliminator. It was never meant to be and it never will be. The SuperCar Shootout is NOT an “entry-level” category. It was never meant to be and it never will be. The SuperCar Shootout is NOT a “sportsman” division. It was never meant to be and it never will be. The SuperCar Shootout is NOT a “filler” class. It was never meant to be and it never will be. The SuperCar Shootout is NOT an “all run” format program. It was never meant to be and it never will be.

The SuperCar Shootout IS designed with heavy input from the manufacturers and the fans. The SCS cars will be pitted as to be the first vehicles the paying spectators see when they enter the pits and the SCS cars will be located close to the manufacturers’ midway since they will be working hand-in-hand with the manufacturers and dealerships onsite.

The SCS cars will not run at the beginning or end of the event “run order”. In fact, the SCS cars run just prior to the ADRL’s marquee divisions, Pro Nitrous and Pro Extreme, during qualifying sessions. During eliminations, the SCS cars will run at 7:30 PM, 8:30 PM and 9:45 PM on Saturday night…the absolute peak time for the spectators. Eliminations will be conducted at a pace which allows a build-up of the matches, information about the teams and drivers and plenty of time to showcase the models racing and even the manufacturers themselves.

We already have drivers like David Buckner doing displays and media interviews/appearances for Houston and we will have many more doing the same at future events. The event T-Shirt for the Houston event features an SCS car (CJ) at the top. The ADRL 2012 Series T-Shirt features an SCS car (DragPak) at the top. The radio commercials for the ADRL 2012 Series mention a few classes by name but specifically mention and explain the SCS. The TV commercials are exactly the same except they include video of SCS cars.

This is no small deal. It was never meant to be and it never will be.

The SCS was created after six months of intensive discussions with representatives from all three American manufacturers. When the concept went “global”, we began talking with automakers who never previously thought about a drag racing program. The media coverage for the series, including the very first event, includes outlets which often don’t even cover drag racing. When David Frieberger of Hot Rod Magazine heard about it, he immediately committed a team for coverage. That, in itself, stunned me.

The SCS is, quite simply, a place for folks to race new performance cars, a place for manufacturers and dealerships to showcase new performance cars and a place for fans to watch heads-up drag racing between new performance cars. It’s nothing more and nothing less.

Now, I’m ugly but I’m not stupid. I know there will be plenty of racers who don’t care about, don’t agree with, can’t afford, or don’t want to compete in the SuperCar Showdown…especially here at AlwaysHappy.com. However, I’d like to ask one small favor of you.

We spent a lot of time and effort on this program. If you don’t like it, we understand. However, please do your best to not bicker, belittle or complain about something which hasn’t even completed its first event. No matter how many racers show for the first race, I know from talking to all of them that every one of them is truly excited about this deal and plans to have a good time. They know a lot of eyes will be on them but they also know they’re not a sportsman category in this format and they are a part of the “big show”. They know that being at the forefront of fan interaction is an important job and they all plan to respond accordingly. The many racers who are behind this class “get it” and understand what will come of it.

Most of you know I’ve been a racer for many years. I know the drill and I can whine with the best of ’em…even when I’m driving five hundred miles into a 100% rain forecast for a race which pays $100 to win for $101 entry. However, just this once, accept this program for what it is and either support it or sit back and watch it. You never know; it might just become as big as a lot of people think it will.

Thanks in advance.

Bret, good post....sounds like you have written some other articles in the past.