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Volume XII, Issue 6 June 14, 2010It’s not the speed that kills,it’s the sudden stopI knew Neal Parker. He was a bear of a manwho loved life, drag racing, going fast andhis family – the one at home and the one atthe track. He was a fearless driver who gotevery ounce of performance out of thesupercharged altered he had when I first methim. I go to know him at the time he boughtengines from Jim Oddy, for whom I used todo PR. He had Oddy engines is his alkyburningsupercharged altered in IHRA TopSportsman and Quick Eight competition.It is my opinion that Neal Parker would be saddened if he thought his death while racingmight have an adverse effect on the sport he loved. I don’t think, however, that he wouldbe upset if his death forced those in charge of the sport to make it safer for thecompetitors.The problem that the NHRA and other sanctioning bodies face is that some of thenational event tracks simply aren’t long enough for the speeds many of the sportsmanand all of the professional classes are now running. The issue really is just that simple.Here is the problem the sport faces as I see it. There is simply no doubt that no one whodesigned and built some of the NHRA’s current national-event tracks anticipated thespeeds we are seeing now.When tracks like Englishtown, Columbus, and Pomona were built no one could haveenvisioned that sportsman cars would be recording speeds well over 250 mph and TopFuel and Funny Cars would be turning speeds well over 335 mph. Now racers areregularly turning those numbers and trying to stop on tracks that were built when 200mph was science fiction. Part of the problem the tracks face is that many of them areland-locked and cannot buy more land to expand the shut-down area.Over the years the NHRA has steadily increased the minimum weight of its professionalcars, mostly in the name of improved safety. You cannot fault the NHRA for this; they arejust trying to make the cars as safe as humanly possible.But in trying to increase the inherent safety of the cars they may have done just theopposite. Cars competing in the premier sportsman classes and all of their professionalclasses are not only quicker and faster than they have ever been, but they are heavierthan ever before. The drivers are now trying to stop their heavier and faster cars in thesame distance that they had to stop the cars with when the 200-mph barrier wasn’tbroken in any division.DRAG RACING Online will be published on the 8th of eachmonth and will be updated throughout the month.DRAG RACING Online owes allegiance to no sanctioning bodyand will call 'em as we see 'em. We strive for truth,integrity,irreverence and the betterment of drag racing. We have no agendaother than providing the drag racing public with unbiased informationand view points they can't get in any other drag racing publication.EDITORIALEditor & Publisher, CEO Jeff BurkManaging Editor, COO Kay BurkEditor at Large Bret KepnerEditor at Large, Emeritus Chris MartinBracket Racing Editor Jok NicholsonContributing Writers Jim Baker, Darr Hawthorne, DaleWilsonAustralian Correspondent Jon Van DaalEuropean Correspondent Ivan SansomPoet Laureate Bob FisherCartoonists Jeff DeGrandis, KennyYoungbloodPHOTOGRAPHYSenior Photographer Ron LewisContributing Photographers Adam Cranmer, James Drew,Todd Dziadosz, Don Eckert,Steve Embling, Steve Gruenwald,Zak Hawthorne, Rose Hughes,Bret Kepner, Jon LeMoine, TimMarshall, Mark Rebilas, IvanSansom, Jon Van DaalPRODUCTIONCreative Director/ Webmaster Matt SchramelGraphic Designer Marissa GaitherProduction Assistant Clifford TunnellSite Programmer/ IT Consultant Adrienne TravisADVERTISINGDirector of Sales Darr Hawthorne (818-424-6656)FINANCIALChief Financial Officer, AccountsCasey AraizaManagerAgent 1320At the Back Door(caption contest)Letter to the Editor(for publication)New product press releasesRacing Net Source LLC114 E. Elm St. , Ste. 8O'Fallon, MO 63366-2642636.272.6301 / fax 636.272.0412Burk's Blast - It's not the speed that kills, it's the sudden stop - Page 1 of 2 - dragracingonline.com