Drag racing news items for this weekend

Finally. The wait is over. For me, today marks the start of the [spectator's]racing season in Pomona, with the NHRA's Winternationals. In Florida, practice will continue for the Daytona 500 race, followed  tomorrow for the qualifying for this, the big daddy of NASCAR races. Meanwhile, in Doha, Qatar, the 2013 Arabian Drag Racing League International Championships wrapped up it's short season with a thrilling finish. Now, if only we could get Curacao's drag racing season started, I'd be one happy dushi hende!

As the NHRA circus rode into Pomona, California, this past Thursday, some were happy to start the season, others wished they could have done more over the winter. In the highly contested class of Funny Car, all drivers came to the starting line for their qualifying pass wanting to place an exclamation mark behind their names. I guess Tony Pedregon did so too, but for all the wrong reasons.

The second generation driver experienced another fiery engine explosion but was unhurt. Tony is one of the more exciting drivers and be sure to look for him at the races. For an even greater sequence of pictures on this engine explosion, please click here.

Also in Pomona, rookie Top Fuel and second generation driver Brittany Force experienced an brake problem as she set out for her first ever professional qualifying pass. I only mention this for the same problem happened to me in an elimination round last December. At least she had more common sense and aborted the run!
She is one of four other T/F drivers using a canopy this year.

Boy, do I miss attending the Winternationals. Nothing like being at a track surrounded by palm trees with snow capped mountain in the distance. California!!

Although the ADRL racing season hasn't started yet, I'd like to mention two great developments. First, after the tragic loss of Extreme Pro Stock driver Bert Jackson last year, longtime ADRL sponsor Sonny's Racing Engines and BigStuff3 will be sponsoring the inaugural Bert Jackson Memorial Shootout for that class. Secondly, the support of Sonny and BigStuff3 brought enough financial weight to the Extreme Pro Stock class to reverse an earlier decision to eliminate EFI in the class. A win-win for everybody, that is what sports should be about! Two thumbs up!

In an ever changing world, tourism is becoming increasingly important, as the developed nations' work less hours but earn more (generally speaking). This has given rise to "Event Tourism" and nowhere is this more evident than in motorsports. Countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, India and China, all  have spent a great deal to built Formula One tracks in an effort to showcase their countries and bring in tourism dollars.

Qatar's Sheikh Khalid al-Thani also recognized this opportunity and created the Qatar Racing Club, a state of the art racing facility near the capital city of Doha. At an incredible effort and expense of importing the world's best eight-mile talent to the track he created, the Sheikh was rewarded with a clean sweep of the series point championship. I hear that the american contingency of top rated drivers had a great time in Qatar and can't wait to go back again, and this while the are still there!

How did he do it? Well, he simply timed his championship to take place in the U.S.'s drag racing off season (during winter). Here in Curacao, we got a taste of this last December, when Ingemar Meyer organized a drag race, called the Xtreme Christmas Shootout,  featuring some of the world's best cars in a lower class called "Extreme Import". Nevertheless, this is an important step in making good use of our own state-of-the-art drag racing facilities at Ronde Klip. Now, if only our leaders could get all their noses pointed in the right direction!

To my readers, sorry this piece was so drag racing focussed but it is the only thing on my mind today!

Thanks for reading.

Sources: CompetitionPlus.com.
Photo credit: CompetitionPlus.com, LA.com, Mark J. Rebilas, 

YAS Drag Racing Festival

Earlier this year I joined my brother on vacation in Dubai, UAE, for our yearly motorsport getaway, and quickly arranged for a driver to take us to Abu Dhabi. March fourth was to be a remarkable day for we attended both the famous Ferrari World and the Drag Racing Festival.

The 5 star Yas Marina Hotel

Yas Island (man made) is about 30 minutes from the Abu Dhabi and about 75 from Dubai. Our Arab speaking driver explained in "broken" English that he doesn't have music in his car, only religious prayers. I guess we could have listened to anything, we didn't care, for we were going to Yas Marina and Ferrari World (more on this in a different blog). The Yas Marina Circuit is situated on Yas Island and is the venue for the Abu Dhabi GP. The course was designed by Hermann Tilke and is supposed to be the Arabian version of Monaco. The course runs by the drag strip, marina, and through the famous Yas Marina Hotel and has several long straigths and tight corners. The circuit also has an 1/8 mile drag strip and a karting track. The facilities are absolutely out of this world. Seriously.

View of the Marina and F1 circuit

The drag strip complex is nestled between two large and tall concrete grandstands, which acts like a sound amplifier. As if that were not enough, the area of the drag strip which is quite large, is dotted by large speakers that propagate the sound of the cars. Talk about loud racing in every corner of the facility. And as this is an NHRA member track, it has all the amenities necessary, including VIP suites, press booths, concession stands, etc.

Grandstand, Ferrari World, Ctrl Twr

The Annual Drag Racing Festival is a two day event and is one of the most anticipated races in Abu Dhabi and the U.A.E. as a whole. It features entries from street legals to Top Fuel rails and everything in between. Admission cost just AED 50.00, approximately Fls. 25,00, a person and boy did we enjoy ourselves. Although, one cannot understand the language, a drag race is similar everywhere. The Yas Marina Circuit employes american track officials to ensure that everything goes as planned, including timely attention to oil downs. Consistent with their M.O., and this being is a relatively new sport to the region, they recruit the best people from around the world and then ensure for a quick knowledge and technology transfer to their own. Early in 2010 they partnered with Don Schumacher Racing, one of the very best racing organization's in the US, to provide two complete Top Fuel dragster teams to be based in Abu Dhabi.

Grand stand, Yas hotel in the back

We watched the races from the grand stand and were quite entertained, even tough the cold put a bit of a damper on things. Like us, they start in the afternoon and race into the night, albeit close to daylight conditions (lots of artificial lighting). When confronted with periods of inactivity, say oil down, the organizers send entertainers to keep the crowd busy. Oh, the female fire breathers and motorcycle dare devils were a sight. Also, a giant TV screen is used to show the racing action and anything worth repeating.
The racing was good too, close, with many thrilling moments. We even laughed when a drivers' door came flying off of his car. All kidding aside, these people love racing and aren't afraid of crashing. Of course, they lack the size of our racing field (car wise) but they don't lack anything in terms of intensity. These racers do not back off the trotle at any point. I must say we felt right at home between these arab speed junkies. We took some footage ourselves but I found a better compilation from Yas Marina Circuit, which you can watch below:

A bit about the long-term goals of Yas Marina Circuit's drag racing efforts:
When money is no object, one can afford to attract the very best. And this has a trickle down effect too. And so in 2010, DSR hired Lee Beard, a 30 year veteran as crew chief and team manager, to assemble two complete Top Fuel teams for the Yas Marina Circuit. This was to be the corner stone of their drag racing events. Furthermore, it helps in promoting locals to adopt the sport quicker. Ultimately, the target is to get UA nationals into the top level of drag racing in the US and around the world. Same as what Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar has accomplished with his Al-Anabi teams in NHRA.  As I mentioned before, their M.O. is to transfer knowledge and technology back to UA and the Middle East region in general, so as to in the long run achieve a high level of racing there. Once that goal is met, racers could run NHRA's regular calendar in the U.S. and in winter go the Middle East and race there. In their own words: "The long-term goal is to create a championship in the Middle east region which will attract top-level drivers from the US to come over and spend winter over there, so they would be racing all year."

This week Bahrain Int'l Circuit will kick off their new racing season, a first as a member of the NHRA Worldwide Network, with the opening round of the National Racing Festival.

For more information please visit: www.yasmarinacircuit.ae or http://www.bahraingp.com/Pages/default.aspx

Pictures courtesy of Yas Marina Circuit, own collection.