1,000 feet and holding

NHRA announced today that the switch to a 1,000-foot drag strip for Top Fuel and Funny Cars will continue to be the rule, at least initially, during the 2009 season.
The release from the Glendora-based organization said NHRA will test various engine combinations and make a decision sometime during the season.
We will attempt to get comments from the Top Fuel and Funny Car top qualiliers later, but nitro coupe drivers Cruz Pedregon and Tim Wilkeson addressed the switch to 1,000 feet earlier this week.
"I look at it from the fans (point of view)," Pedregon said. "If you look at the fans, (the move to 1,000 feet) is not a good thing. Why? Because we've educated them for over 50 years about the numbers (at the quartermile). I think what we've done (with the switch) is a good thing for an immediate response, but I think NHRA has to do whatever they can to go back to the quartermile. I believe, in the long term, it will hurt the sport. I think fans matter, and the quartermile is what they expect.
"Look at NASCAR, they dealt with this issue, and they didn't make Talladega smaller, they didn't make Daytona smaller. If they would have done that, now you're messing with something you shouldn't play with. Do we need all that safety? Absolutely."
Wilkerson was more concerned with fixing the latter.
I thought the 1,000-foot idea was a great way to fix the problem," Wilkerson said. "I agree. I understand that. But where's the balance between the tradition and the safety. We can't knock off drivers. I don't want to see Cruz get hurt. He doesn't want to see Robert (Hight) or I hurt. It's not a good thing. It's a tremendous problem.
"I never believed it could happen (Scott Kalitta's death). I was blind to that. I got in that car every weekend thinking I was John Force, I'm superman, I'm not going to get hurt in this car. After that Kalitta deal, we went down there and stared at that, and thought, 'Wow, we are a bunch of dumb SOBs.' We need to fix this deal. But it's a tough deal. Everyone's opinion has validity. It's a problem, so how do you fix it?"