NHRA, Get Ready to Rumble! Seattle Track Boss Says If Drag Racers Scuffle, He'll Pay Fine

• Manufactured rivalries clearly don’t work, but genuine skirmishes definitely generate interest.

• Pacific Raceways president Jason Fiorito recognizes balance between lively entertainment and family-friendly vibe.

• Fiorito said he’s willing to pay the fine—or at least part of one—if an upset driver gives the fans something to talk about at the social-media water cooler afterward.

Years ago, announcer Bill Stephens urged NHRA racers to show some passion when they speak with the top-end TV interviewer.

And it made sense. After all, if they can’t demonstrate how thrilling it is to explode 1,000 feet in less than four seconds at more than 320 miles an hour, why should fans care?

The program went a bit awry, as racers either continued to recite a litany of sponsors or manufactured some kind of rivalry that fell flatter than some of the dragstrips they just raced on.

Pacific Raceways president Jason Fiorito is all for the genuine emotion, the human drama. To prove it, he is encouraging the Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock Motorcycle competitors at this weekend’s Flav-R-Pac Northwest Nationals, near Seattle, to let their emotions erupt—and he said he’ll even help pay any fine the sanctioning body might levy.

“What was one of the most-watched SportsCenter clips in racing history was Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer going at it at Phoenix—or helmets being thrown at cars,” he said, emphasizing “the drama, the competition, and the heat-of-battle controversy.

“They have my permission to go at each other with the gloves off at Pacific Raceways,” he said.

“I don’t agree with fining somebody for being emotional,” Fiorito said. I agree that we’re in a family-friendly sport. My family does things that probably would get fined by the NHRA. So to a certain extent, I would let ’em go at it a little bit more. Personally, I like to see the drama. I like to see the SportsCenter clips at the end of the day. And I like the excitement and the controversy and the competition that it breeds.”

When the NHRA national event takes place, the sanctioning body is in charge of operations for that weekend, so Fiorito acknowledged that he can’t decide about whether to issue fines for anything. “But,” he said, “let’s say we’ll do everything we can to mitigate the downside liability of somebody putting on a good show at my track.”

He said he’s willing to pay the fine—or at least part of one—if an upset driver gives the fans something to talk about at the social-media water cooler afterward.

“Before knowing what the fine is, I can’t commit to it, but I’ll do what I can. I’ll pay as much of the fine as I can afford to pay. Let’s put it that way,” Fiorito said. “I can mitigate it for the driver and the team.”

It’s entertainment, and it’s what speaks to human nature, Fiorito would say.

“Generally speaking, I only speak for myself. But I can’t imagine promoters wouldn’t enjoy some more competition – and even the unfriendly competition. It seems to sell a little better than the unfriendly competition,” he said. “So as a promoter, I look for things that end up on SportsCenter, that create a buzz. If you’ve got a camera in your hand, are you more inclined to run toward somebody that’s huggin’ or are you more inclined to run toward somebody that’s swingin’ at each other? Most of us are more inclined to film somebody swinging at each other.

"At the end of the day, we’re racing entertainment. But entertainment is part of it. And I think emotions run deeper than they [racers] portray sometimes. And they should. This is personal for people.”

Ed "The Ace" McCulloch, a national and Northwest legend and one of drag racing’s most prolific punchers, lamented that in today’s corporate-controlled racing environment, "It's just getting so you can't hit a guy anymore."

And Fiorito said he, too, longs for the more Wild-West kind of authenticity.

“I love the old Whit Bazemore days,” Fiorito said, recalling the plain-spoken perennial Funny Car contender. “And John Force is still a pretty unfiltered guy. I love that about John. Some people ask, ‘Why does John get more TV camera time than anybody else?’ Well, ‘cause he’s more entertaining! I miss Whit, and I wish Whit would get back involved in the sport.”

At the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis years ago, Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Michael Phillips became upset at Chris Bostick after a starting-line snafu and head-butted him after their first-round match.

Steve Johnson, still at the top end after his own race, remembered that "at the finish line M.P. is screaming at me as he passes me: 'I'm gonna kill him.' Bostic comes over and M.P. takes his helmet off and starts running at Chris. I step in and say, 'Don't fight. NHRA might toss you. M.P. says, 'I don't care. I'm gonna kill him.' I say, 'M.P., NHRA might fine you.' MP says, 'I don't care.' I said, 'M.P., NHRA could suspend you. MP says, ‘I'm gonna kill him. I don't care.' I said, ‘The cameras are here. Go kill him.’"

Nobody killed anybody.

The NHRA, like NASCAR, has been accused of silently condoning scuffles. It fines racers, then basks in the media attention these naughty boys and girls stir up. Maybe they agree with the viewpoint of Boston Bruins hockey great Bobby Orr. He said, “Until they stop all this fighting, people are keep on buying tickets."

Qualifying for the Northwest Nationals will consist of one session Friday and two Saturday. Eliminations are set for Sunday.