Competition ESPN2 didn't show Light Duty Diesels at Bristol

[Briar Hopper]

Looks like ESPN2 sold out to Lucas Oil, and the owner's wishes. He certainly bought enough advertising time to get them to listen to him.

Well, it was all big rigs, and then instead of showing Eric, Steve, and Daniel, and other diesel pickups, they showed the usual silly kiddie trucks. Drag racing monster trucks?

You reading this, Lucas? Even if I didn't have a strong, educated preference for Amsoil, I wouldn't buy and use your products to give my worst enemy an enema!

 

[Bob Wagner]

Diesel Drags were nice to see and the jet truck was good



Could have done without the monster trucks

 

[Sled Puller]

LUCAS SHOULD HEAR FROM THE DDRA LIGHT DUTY HEAD GUY!!



Eric,

You get the petition going, I will be the first to sign it. I wanted to see a lift kitted Dodge with twin turbos blowing smoke down the strip,and an interview of the owner- not Monster junk gasser trucks.



Go get 'em!



Gene

 

[DHRA]

The last straw!

Guys, I am so disappointed in Bristol Dragway. In Lucas' defense, he hired Bristol Dragway to handle everything. They did nothing but treat us like third class citizens. It's a real shame, one heck of a chance to take diesel drag racing to another level gone... .

Keep posting your feelings and I will email this thread to Mark Cathall here is his email if anyone else would like to personally write him:

mailto:mark@bristolmotorspeedway.com

 

[Briar Hopper]

If I'm out of line about Lucas, then I apologize. I wasn't there, so I wouldn't know first-hand who was responsible for the mess, other than Mark Catcall. I only had to go by what people told me, plus, it sure looked like a half hour infomercial for Lucas Oil.

All I know is people like Mark, in doing this to satisfy their petty little grievances, sure missed the boat, the light duty diesel world is big and getting bigger all the time. And we all discriminate about where we spend our money. The great state of Tennessee does not deserve the inhospitality of people like Mark. We have other drag strips that are more than glad to have us and treat us right, but it's a shame people like him ruined what could have been a good annual event in a beautful part of the country.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! #ad
We're having a DDRA meeting this weekend and I'll be getting some video from Eric on the true final run this weekend. I'll be posting the true final video sometime next week (where Eric runs against the 3/4 scale truck that "supposedly" won the final according to the TV show - and WINS) - where the announcer says there's $5000 on this run, along with pictures of the check Eric got for $200 the next day (if he'll give them to me - NO TYPO's there, btw). I'm also going to be contacting people in the drag racing publication world that I know to try to get the true story presented. Just one of the other lies presented in the show was that the CFI truck has been on ESPN a number of times - most recently in the pikes peak run. Nothing against the CFI guys - they are AWESOME guys, have had great times with them. However, their drag truck is a totally and VERY different truck from the one that ran Pikes peak! You can see great shots of the CFI drag truck at the DDRA website I recently designed ( http://ddra.org ) at - http://ddra.org/cfi.htm . There's an in cab video from the CFI truck at the Bristol race at the bottom of the page. BTW, you guys might find it interesting that the guy running the race (a Bristol employee) wanted to run us light duties right along with the big rig's in one class. None of us felt that was fair since the big rig guys don't have syncro'd trannies - and we ALL (the light duty guys as well as the big rig guys) threatened to walk out over it, until they conceded to run the big rigs and the light duties as seperate classes, then run the two winners against each other for the final! We simply didn't feel it was fair to the big rig guys to run against us in a bracket competition!

 

[BCFAST]

I can live without the Monster Trucks and that fire-eating whachamacallit... how stupid! Wasnt the title of the event "Diesel Big Rig Nationals"?... if so, one could complain about having pickups on the show as much as gasser monster trucks... . I dunno... Im with you guys on most of this: they wasted TONS of time on the kiddie show crap. (the V12 Detroits sounded wonderful!).

 

[David Muench]

That was pretty disappointing. They could of canned the monster truck footage and the dump trucks racing each other (I thought I was gonna fall asleep). I can't believe they had a car crush on the strip too. I've worked as track crew at monster truck shows, and the mess they make is incredible. I wouldn't want to take a dragster down that strip afterwards. . I doubt they can pick up all the glass, plastic, and metal shards.



#ad
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[Steve St.Laurent]

All of the racers had left before they started the comedy show with the car eating thing and the monster trucks crushing cars on the strip (Saturday night) - none of us stayed around for the antics. We were supposed to race sunday as well but after the saturday fiasco and their delaying things ridiculously (Eric was supposed to receive his prize at 11 am - didn't get his check until almost 3, $4800 short!) and when we asked them what the purse was at that point and they said they hadn't got to it yet - WE WALKED! BTW, BCFAST - I would agree with you on them advertising the event as the big rig nationals and showing big rigs only on the show - EXCEPT that the only reason us light duty trucks weren't racing against the big rig guys was because US racers (big rig and light duty guys) DEMANDED that they run us seperately or we'd walk. In addition to that, the truck that won the "big rig" class was a 3/4 scale truck running a light duty drive train - still not exactly fair to the big rig guys! The whole deal stunk REAL bad, and I for one will not drive 12+ hours each way to support their race next year as I did this year!!



BTW, you might notice that the ESPN guy said that the CFI red racer had a 9 speed transmission and the driver said he has a Allison 6 speed transmission in it (about 3 minutes apart) - yet another BS story from the TV guys. It truly makes me sick how the innaccurate the TV coverage was! It's making me question ANY TV coverage of races in the past as well as the future !



-Steve



P. S. Just watching the video again and they showed a bus race on there and said they were diesel buses - AGAIN total BS, the buses were gasssers!!

 

[joesoot]

Major Bummer!

I left work an hour early to catch it

Then to watch that thing eat a car, school bus racing with the banjo player from Deliverance driving... .

No pickup trucks and a 3/4 scale cornbinder winning... I hope some of those fools get an earful.

By the way, why did the Freightliner have to wait 8 seconds at the light? So that the 23 second 'binder could win?

 

[TxDieselKid]

very disapointing...

That was an embarasment. And they wonder why others say trucks can't race, well if they would leave the circus at home, maybe we could have seen the race.



AJB

 

[hdm48]

I set my vcr to record the show because it was on at 3:00 in the afternoon. got home all excited to watch some of our guys race. It was so bad even my wife said it was a waste of time. so I erased it. I wouldn't ruin a good tape on that. I used to drag race and if I was there I would have walked out. they wasted 30 minutes of my life and I want them back!!!

If this is the best they can do, the sport is in danger.

 

[Sled Puller]

Way to kill truck drag racing, ESPn, nice job.

Jerks. Idiots. Morons.

 

[Briar Hopper]

The show was so poor, it cast even the big rigs in a bad light...

I know, because I've seen one of the best annual big rig diesel events in this country, not once, but twice. That was the Cummins Big Rig Nationals at Maryland International Raceway in Budd's Creek, Maryland. I know Englishtown , NJ is even bigger, it's a 2 day event, and packed full... but I haven't seen that one yet. Compared to Bristol, both of those events were first class. Both of those events feature our light duty diesels very prominently. I know, because I brought home trophies two years in a row. Only Eric McBride's Thunder in Muncie could top these events, when it comes to light duty diesel drag racing on this end of the nation, and that is an opinion shared by many, including the big rig drivers. Quality, not quantity, is what counts, when it comes to racing promotions. Mark Catcall isn't fit as a manager or event promoter to even host a 3 legged gunny sack race in Egypt. His horrible attitude, and a mouth writing checks so big his @$$ couldn't cash them, in trying to show off for ESPN2, did so much damage it's unbelievable. In the end, he cheated himself, and his track, for we will bypass events run by people like him and take our money where it's most appreciated.

Bill Kondolay said it best: The diesel performance industry is still in it's infancy. What you are seeing here is growing pains, as we find our way to the top. Encountering a few losers like Mark along the way, is inevitable. It is more their loss than ours.

As for Smith Transport's Tornado trucks, the quad turbo V-12 detroit diesel wonders, I first saw them in April 2000 at Maryland International Raceway. They had only the cabover back then. I was lucky enough to witness it do an 11 second run in the quarter mile. It hasn't done it again since, to my knowledge. Just one more thing ESPN wouldn't know, in their superficial quest for a clown show to fit around Luca's commercials.

 

[Oasis-3]

Budd's Creek

Briar I second what you say about Budd's Creek in Maryland even with a little rain this year they still ran a good show and I for one will try to make that one again.

Sounds like this could be a Masion-Dixion TDR meet.

Cliff

 

[Briar Hopper]

Cliff, the GLTDR will be out there in force, I'm almost sure. We're all looking forward to Maryland next April. We all need to pull together and show everybody what these "little" trucks can do.

 

[FFutch]

Budds creek

When is the next Big rig nationals and where exactly is Budds creek?I think you're right Cliff about the Mason dixon meet. Oh yeah I'm still working on getting the pics of my stacks posted. Hopefully soon. I was also dissapointed in that show last night. The announcer was talking about the V-12 detroits and said " they're not only turbo charged but they also have blowers"NO SH*T . A two stroke detroit won't run without a blower . I also could have done without the monster trucks or truckzilla,kind of goofy . I had to work 2nd shift so I had my brother record it for me. I guess I'll record over it too. Doug

 

[Briar Hopper]

Too lazy to look at a map, FFutch? It's south of St. Charles, MD, and is across the bay from Fredericksburg, VA.

The Big Rig Nationals is usually held the last weekend of April every year. Watch the events forum of the TDR, it'll get posted by me, or others.

www.mirdrag.com is their website.

Edit: they have the 2002 Nationals posted as being on April 27.