SpeedLounge

The SEMA show in Las Vegas, Nevada is all about the knockout punch. It is the aftermarket and car tuner company’s one chance each year to hit the media and public in the face with a kick ass car or new part and say, “Here I am, stand up and take notice, or be relegated to the Altezza tail light and big mouth bass body kit trends of the past.” This year, was no different, the knockout punch just came from a totally unexpected direction.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up early…really early. The TSL crew was catching a 7:30 flight to the city of sin, sand and SEMA, Las Vegas, Nevada. It seemed like any other morning and as we arrived at SEMA, that too seemed like business as usual.

There were cars, girls, wheels, celebrities, and of course, the hustle and bustle to get invites to the best industry parties. We wandered around the show until about 4 pm and then hopped in the rental van so we could head to the hotel to get ready for the first party, courtesy of C16 and Formula D at Tao in the Venetian. The party was good, packed like sardines with the token go-go girls dancing and bathing beauties covered in nothing but flower petals (Only in Vegas).

Wednesday morning came and needless to say, I woke up with a hangover (damn you, Red Bull and Vodka). We got to the show at about 11:30 with the expressed purpose of hitting the media area as Formula D was set to have a press conference at 12, announcing their plans for the 2008 season. The press conference was standard issue. They announced their 2008 schedule as well as some new Television shows and with a round of applause it was over. It was a 12:30, surprise press conference announced by NHRA and NOPI drag that was about to provide the knockout punch that would have the whole sport compact drag racing industry wishing they could rewind back to that Red Bull and Vodka hangover that they had woken up with.

The long and short of the press conference was this, The NHRA sport compact series and NDRA were joining forces and would now be called, “The NOPI Drag Racing Association sanctioned by NHRA.” In a matter of seconds, the entire sport compact industry was in shock. Audible gasps were heard and instantly the questions began to fly. Unfortunately, not many of them could be answered. It seems that the two organizations had come to an agreement no more than 20 minutes before the press conference and consequently, neither organization could provide a schedule, a set of rules, not to mention information on a TV package for next year. As quickly as it had begun, it was over. We were left to wander the SEMA show floor for the rest fo the day and try to make sense of what had happened.

By Thursday morning, the rumor mill had begun to churn. We were hearing stories that the NHRA had offered Wally’s, but NOPI had turned them down, several major sponsors had announced they were leaving drivers. In the week and half since the announcement, we’ve since found out that none of these rumors were true. Needless to say, by Thursday afternoon, there were a lot of questions, most of them leading to whether or not sport compact drag racing had a future, and there were very few answers to be found. It was 3:30 in the afternoon when I first saw a glimmer of hope in the Sport Compact future. I received a text message from a certain professional, female, sport compact drag racer that the newly formed SCDA (Sport Compact Driver’s Association) was having a meeting at 4 and it was something I might want to check out.

At 4:00 pm, Thursday afternoon, I found myself in a random meeting room high above the SEMA show floor with a who’s who in sport compact drag racing. Anybody who’s anybody in sport compact drag racing was in this room and if they weren’t, they had representation in the form of a team owner, crew chief or team mate. I’m not at liberty to say exactly what was discussed in that meeting room that afternoon, but it was a little pearl of wisdom that was put forth by Ron Bergenholtz that really struck a chord with me. Speaking in reference to the future of the sport, Ron said, ”We don’t need to worry about the future of the sport and we don’t need to worry about doing this for money. We need to worry about doing this with passion. None of us got into this to make money or be famous. We got into this because we love to race sport compact cars and if we do that with passion, the rest will fall into place.” It was at that moment that clarity hit me. Ron was right. When this scene started, there wasn’t a major racing organization; there wasn’t a TV deal, or major sponsors. It was kids in different parts of the country that shared a common interest in racing cars with small, turbocharged engines, trying to figure out how to make them go as fast as possible and no matter what happens, that can’t be changed or taken away. While many people may see this as a sign that the sport compact drag racing scene is in a bit of a recession, I choose to see this as a step backward that is necessary to make a giant leap ahead. The combination of the two racing series would mean that racers and teams wouldn’t have to pick and choose events, and neither would fans. More fans in the stands and on tv, means more sponsors and money and that means more people get to do something they love. It seems like things have changed drastically but really, it all boils down to some kids (well maybe Ron Bergenholtz isn’t a kid anymore) who want to race cars with small turbocharged engines. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Can’t wait to see what 2008 brings.