What has been the most surprising development in drag racing so far this season?

What the hell is so surprising about the Evan Knoll story? Companies encounter financial hardships all the time and then renig on contracts and commitments. This story just points out the terrible ineptitude of Evan Knoll (and perhaps Aaron Pollburn) as a businessman. The growth of nostalgia nitro racing on the other hand represents a potential sea change in drag racing. It's like minor league baseball growing in popularity at the expense of the majors. The growth of nostalgia drag racing (gassers, altereds and super stocks as well as nitro) over the past several years says that many racers and fans are fed up with the cookie-cutter cars, corporate blandness, and the inane "how-many-sponsors'-names-can-I-spew-out-of-my-mouth-in-30-seconds" mentality of the NHRA and IHRA pro programs.

Having voted for the Nostalgia Craze myself....I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Chermer's every word. I may get in trouble for this added comment, but I see the "writing-on-the-wall" for the Lucas dynasty also, after Indy! The look on Forrests face said it all. Then, the snub to Morgan (On Camera) was difficult to watch........ Anybody watching the "back-peddling" that Starbucks is going through? It's all sad....but true.....big companies can and do get greedy and grow too large-too-fast!

DRO's Man Of The Year set the bar pretty high, all right.

Who's next, Tom Compton?

--The Ol' Prospector
Calaveras County, Calif.

With the financial pressures brought to bear by the extreme levels of competition in the top drag racing classes, it comes as no surprise that some individuals, like Mr. Knoll, have turned to dishonest enterprises in order to survive. I would not be at all surprised if other high dollar sponsorship dynasties eventually fall from grace also. Unfortunately, the real chilling thought here is that it doesn't speak as much about the character of those spending the money as it does about the character of the whole sport.

ADRL attendance is great, what next ??? free beer. That would triple the attendance. Tony Shu and Alan J dominance, yawn, excuse me while I scratch backside. Evan Knoll, to dang naive, got screwed by a-hole CEO and such. Who's fault, who knows. Nostalgia Floppers, now that is the real deal. Long live nostalgia floppers and fuel altereds.

Gotta agree with Ken. We all wondered how Torco could afford their sponsorships? Nothing new on that front. ADRL free tickets? I went to a race. The spectators were mostly dirty butts. They cant afford tickets - they sure as hell can't afford to buy sponsor products. NHRA - yawn. Gotta love the Nostalgia!!!!