The Holiday Season in America has evolved in a positive direction, in my opinion. Never before have I witnessed so many people willing to accept different directions and personal rituals in marking the transition of the year, as humankind has done in one manner or another for thousands of years...
A longtime celebratory event gets my annual vote for best indie promotion of the year. The Snowbird National Open featured a great eclectic open 'procomp'-style mix of open altereds, TD and alky floppers. While we are priviledged to see such a salad tossed together on an index on the left coast, it is not often that a no-rules combo eliminator is allowed...much less encouraged.
Another factor that struck me as healthy symptoms of diversity was provisioning for as many doorslammers as possible: 10.5 on up to unlimited with a refreshing lack of fencing-in which we have suffered way too much of this past year in both 'pro street'/outlaw and Pro Mod-style southern promotions. This race was truly independent. Recognizing which sorts of entrants would show....THEN providing avenues for those eager runners to play within...showed promotional maturity. I could easily see how an unlimited field expanded to 16 cars could have accomodated a budget weights-out team capable of lighting up our world.
(BTW...Any promotion/psuedo-sanctioning org that demands pledges of allegience to series sponsors or acronyms is doing a disservice to themselves...and proving how little faith they have in the free market of ideas to attract a quality show...)
The Snowbirds Pro Mod field did give old flopper sensibilities reminders of ancient Miami-style winter events; those monthly FC two-day blasts that would attract .....snowbirders. This year's 'slammer show had only one 'northerner' I recognized: #4 qualifier Scott Braskett out of Ohio- a mid pack 6.41 qualifier..and first round duck. The finals were dominated by the only real "star" of this event: Quain Stott. His savin-it-for-the-final 6-oh ET outran another Stott stable 'Vette.
Unlike those Funny shows of yesteryear, there seemed to be no 'hitters' to book-in, ala the Blue Max, Chi-Town, etc. My suspicions that there are none available....no killer cars at all in the midwest who will venture outside the national/Chevy events...seem confirmed. It cannot be healthy to have all the PM stars sucked into a couple circuits and the occasional Snowbirds or World Street Florida show. Promotional genetics points out this is inbreeding the innovation and free spirit of competition out of the top end of the sport. Supporting the local single-event features and looking for teams who can parlay their resources into a small-biz supported entry of note should keep us busy in '08.
A quick mention of another holiday celebration on the west coast that is being 'handled' internally: Christmas in Compton attracted a reported thousand 'tators onto a street in South Central. A Solid Brotherhood oversight of a scene still forced off-track, due to lack of suitable drag strip outlets, was disrupted by....squirrels. By and large, things were OK, til supposed 'street racers' started doing dog-nuts on the asphalt. Cripe! Proved we desperately need to educate a new generation not clear on concepts like responsibility to community. Over the xmas weekend, a kid slammed into a pole at high speed in a side-by-side run on Marineview Drive, near my crib. These deaths are racking up a hideous bodycount. My recent exchange in the local daily on the subject did not shed new light, nor impress me those authorities interviewed are interested in anything but whitewashing and NIMBY. Kudos...kudos to the LAPD and Los Angeles County Sherriffs for a mature response to an ugly reality. Street racing is happening now....and needs venues to contain the carnage- drag strips, not jail cells.
