HOUSTON (March 17) -- The general manager of Houston Raceway Park, Seth Angel, is hearing a clear message from his customers -- "Give us back the quarter mile!"
"The quarter-mile distance is a big part of the sport of drag racing," Angel said. "We're gearing up for the 23rd annual O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals and I've been jumping in and helping our staff with ticket sales over the phone and I can say without question that our fans want the NHRA to return to the quarter-mile. They tell us this over and over again.
"It's our sincere hope that by this time next year NHRA will be racing the quarter mile again."
The NHRA, motorsport's largest sanctioning body, reduced racing action to 1,000 feet in its top two professional categories, Top Fuel and Funny Car, in the wake of champion drag racer Scott Kalitta's fatal accident in June of 2008 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey. NHRA has since been working on other ways to reduce horsepower and top speeds in the nitromethane-fueled classes but have said the new 1,000-foot distance will remain in place at least through the 2010 season.
"We're all for safety," Angel said. "Nothing is more important than the well being of the drivers and the fans. We have always supported the NHRA in its ongoing search for solutions.
"We just need to be true to the essence of NHRA competition and drag racing always has been contested to the quarter mile."
NHRA officials have tested several ideas with random race teams in post-race, on-track practice sessions, including this week at Gainesville Raceway. Angel offered Houston Raceway Park as the next testing site.
"Our gates are always open to NHRA," Angel said. "We know they're working very hard to keep everyone happy, which isn't always easy. Their main goal always is safety so everything they do is with that in mind, and it's important we support them at this time.
"However, the first rule of customer service is listening to your customers and the vast majority of them are telling us they want quarter-mile racing. We must continue to push this initiative forward, figure out how to slow the cars down a little, and return to the quarter mile as soon as it is feasibly possible."
The 23rd annual O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals run April 9-11 at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas.
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