In the April edition of Wolf’s Word, “No Prep Racing Is A Return To Drag Racing’s Beginnings”, I made it a point to convey my overlying belief that this exciting, polarizing, and controversial new genre of drag racing is the perfect opportunity for the National Hot Rod Association and the racing community at large to meet street racers at a give-and-take middle ground. The NHRA’s founding was based upon the mission of providing a safe place for hot rodders to conduct their extravehicular activities, and it’s their job — and the job of all of us — to help make both the track and the streets safer for everyone.

This particular topic took on a new dynamic last month when the much-rumored partnership of the NHRA and Street Outlaws’ Justin “Big Chief” Shearer came to fruition, with the reality television star stepping in to film a Public Service Announcement imploring street racers to ‘take it to the track’. This move left many questioning how exactly the NHRA could work in unison with a party in full defiance of its mission statement. A mission statement, we should add, that to this day allows the organization to operate as a non-profit under the eyes of the IRS.

…the NHRA cannot condone what Shearer does, but rather, can only hope to capitalize on the influence that Shearer holds in the street racing world

And it remains a very good question. So, can they work in harmony without overstepping their theoretical boundaries? I’d answer with an emphatic yes and no.

After four years on the air on the Discovery Channel, the vast majority of free-thinking viewers have ascertained by now that the racing on the show is conducted by safer means than a true street race. After all, if it weren’t, it wouldn’t be allowed to air on your television set. But the point remains that the show glorifies a form of side-by-side racing that the NHRA cannot outright condone. As such, the NHRA cannot support what Shearer does, but rather, can only hope to capitalize on the influence that he holds in the street racing world to attempt to sway as many street racers and would-be street racers from partaking in something dangerous.

Others, as the internet has proven, see it simply as an attempt by the NHRA to profit from arguably the most popular drag racing-themed television show in history. Perhaps they’re right, but I choose to look at it from a more positive vantage point without knowing the clear motives.

Fact is, racing on the street is too easily accessible and too great an adrenaline high to not remain appealing to car enthusiasts who want a quick and dirty way to settle the score. The efforts of the NHRA and Shearer alone are not going to stop street racing. And neither is televising multi-million dollar drag racing machines on FOX.

What our sport has to do is, not totally reinvent itself, but to retrace its steps, to a time when the ultimate objective was not to look out for itself by commercializing drag racing.

You see, over these last six-plus decades, our sport has gotten away from the bigger picture — the original goal of organized drag racing — and turned it into an enterprise that’s put the initiative of making money above that of identifying and promoting ways for racers to get off the streets and get involved. From the sports’ primary sanctioning bodies, the NHRA and the IHRA, on down to regional heads-up organizations and beyond, no one is truly out there trying to make a difference, knocking on doors, visiting Saturday night car meets, talking to street racers, and attempting to provide them an outlet that will appeal to them. Instead, they’re hoping that street racers will have a sudden change of heart and invest in their organizations.

It’s true that our sport is comprised heavily of racers who openly admit their racing roots are traced back to the street. That’s a great thing, and it shows that what Wally Parks created over half a century ago is still working today. But, instead of being courted by a sport that wanted to provide them a safer venue, most did so by their own free-will — whether they had their vehicles impounded for street racing one time too many, they were involved in a life-changing incident, family life implored them to quit, or whatever the reason may have been.

There are individuals out there who have taken it upon themselves to create change, namely in promoting legally-sanctioned street races. No prep racing, too, falls into this. But these folks can’t do it alone, and these events, in their relatively small numbers, are only making a minor dent in the overall scheme of things.

What our sport has to do is, not totally reinvent itself, but to retrace its steps, to a time when the ultimate objective was not to look out for itself by commercializing drag racing. To when they didn’t simply hang “Street Legal Drags” banners on the fence and hope street racers pour in the gate, or wait around for street racers to have a sudden change of heart. This is the time to be a little more radical, and if that means having your name tied to a legal street race, or a no prep race, or going so far as to offer to inspect someone’s chassis even if you don’t agree with what they’ll do with it, so be it. Because the fact is, street racers are going to continue to race with our without us….we as a sport can either have a hand in making it as safe as it can be and perhaps even getting them off the street, or we can continue to rinse our hands of it and hope it goes away.