DRAGS, DOLLARS & SENSE: MIKE DUNN IS THE BEST

mikehead2

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Mike Dunn is the best racing analyst on TV.

Sorry, DW.

Somehow, Dunn's eye is sharp enough to see what went right -- or wrong -- on sub-four second runs. Before the replay. And that's watching a monitor in the ESPN production truck. That's correct: He never has a direct view of the track.

Dunn, with 22 NHRA National wins -- 10 Funny Car, 12 Top Fuel -- also tells it like it is. Remember last year's U.S. Nationals? Somewhere, Howard Cosell is smiling.

I sat down with Dunn last month in the ESPN compound at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and asked 10 questions. His answers have been edited slightly for length and clarity.

Q. What's the state of NHRA drag racing?

A. "Obviously, with the economy, we've been hurt a little bit. I haven't been overly-excited with some of the shows, but we have had some great shows. Indy was one of the best we've had in a long time. Overall, I think we need to work on tightening up the shows as far as oil downs. A thousand foot kind of helped but now -- it's like (Don) Prudhomme said -- if you make 'em run an eighth-mile, these crew chiefs will figure out how to blow them at an eighth-mile. A thousand foot was just a temporary cure. I believe we're back to the point where we're blowing up too much and it's affecting the show somewhat."

Q. Most people haven't driven on an oval track, but almost everyone has felt the acceleration driving away from a stop sign. Given that connection to the general public, why isn't drag racing more popular?

A. "That's a good question. I've heard people say, 'We're a niche sport.' Maybe we are, but we're a niche sport that draws a pretty good audience. We pretty much hold that audience. All of motorsports is down. NASCAR is way down. We're kind of flat from last year. I think the biggest problem we have is you cannot translate the live experience to television. No matter how much we try, and we have a great team here (ESPN) and I think we're always trying different things -- we have a producer and a network who are not afraid to try different things -- but you can never capture it (the same as) live. You can't feel that vibration and the noise and the smells. That's what makes drag racing great."

Q. If you were in charge of NHRA for one day, what would you change?

A. "You've got to give 'em a quality show. I love these cars, the noise, the speed, the horsepower, the sound. But I'm not a big fan of guys doing burnouts for 50 or 100 feet, pushing the cars into the bleach box, and then hitting the gas on time for four seconds and that's the only thing they have to do. I tend to think some of the fans have that same feeling. It's not about speed – we have the speed. And, make no mistake, we can't go back to quarter-mile without making some major changes, not only to the cars, but also, some of the tracks. To me, driving a race car, well, take a nostalgia Funny Car. They don't run as quick and fast and these (nitro) do, obviously. But to drive one, you have to go out and control the throttle to do the burnout and you do longer burnouts, and you can do what they call the 'dry hops' at the starting line, then you shift the transmission. I'm not going to say they're easier or harder to drive, but they're definitely more fun to drive. I can't say exactly what you need to change, but the crew chiefs and the car owners don't want to change anything because they say, 'We want these cars to go fast. We want an unlimited class.' I hear that all the time. OK, I kind of agree with that. But, at the same time, they're sitting there telling me these cars are too fast and too hard to drive. Think about this: They've shortened the racetrack. They've put throttle stops so guys don't have to do burnouts. They’re pushing the car so the driver can't let the clutch out the way he's supposed to and actually move the car himself, because he may get too much or not enough heat in the clutch. And you've got automatic shutoffs. You’ve got parachutes coming out at 100 feet out, which I hate, when you backfire the supercharger -- that looks stupid. I would take that safety device off right now. Leave the ones on at the finish line so if the driver is incapacitated it will pull the chutes for him and shut it off. I’m all for that one. But if a driver cannot pull the parachutes, cannot hit the fuel shutoff, cannot stop that car when it blows up by 600 or 800 feet and get it stopped on his own, he should not be driving that race car."

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

Click to visit our sponsor's website

Q. After backing-down from its opposition to four-wide racing, can PRO ever be effective?

A. "They're effective in doing small things, important things, like getting insurance for the racers, getting round money, stuff that needs to be done. As far as the big things, the problem I see with them is, they can't get together. Charlotte was a perfect example of that. They all can't stick together to do the big changes."

Q. What's your relationship with John Force?

A. "We're great. We understand how the whole thing works, from the TV standpoint, why we do things and why he does things. I may not agree with what he does and he may not agree with what I do. But the reason I love John is, at the end of the day, he's chewed my a** out like my dad used to. He even said that one day. We've agreed to disagree. Prudhomme was the same way. We had our differences but he came up and said, 'Hey, let's bury the hatchet. There's no sense in us not talking.' I can deal with that. I have no problem with somebody disagreeing with me. But don't BS me. John doesn't BS me. He believes what he believes and I respect that. There is a mutual respect. I know he doesn't like me saying what I say. Here's the thing about Indy (last year, when Dunn criticized Force after Robert Hight won their semifinal race) that a lot of people don't understand: To me, growing up, there was no world championship. Indy is Indy. It's the U.S. Nationals. To me, what I saw there, it was almost sacrilegious. So, my emotions got ahead of me. I still would have said what I said, but I may not have been as emotional about it. What I try to do, and what I do with John, is present the facts. Here’s what he did: He took the bad lane when nobody else took that lane. Then he had one of the worst lights of his career. Then the car drove out of the groove faster than any car I ever saw that didn’t have the front end in the air, fluid under the tires, or a broken axle. Those are facts. Based on those facts, I had to come up with one of two conclusions: Either John helped Robert win the race – he didn’t throw the race, but he helped Robert win, because he didn’t go up there and shut the car off or red light. But he helped Robert because Robert had to run a number. So, I had to either believe he did that, or, that he’s such a lousy driver that at that age he should quit and let the kids take over. I never once believed John could not drive a race car. So, I chose the latter. John is a great driver and he's proven it again this year and I stand by what I said."

Q. Were you hurt by the criticism you received for your comments after Indy last year?

A. "Yes. I got letters I never got before. I actually responded to some of them. Some people recommended that I not respond, but I'm not that way. I laid out why I came up with my decision and said what I said. Ninety percent or more came back said, ‘OK, we understand why you did what you did.’ If I hadn't done that, it probably would have been worse. Some said, 'You only do that for John Force,' but they forget that in 2003 I called Don Schumacher out for the exact same thing in Seattle. I want to go on record that I'm against a rule against team orders. I don't think there should be a rule against it. What I think there should be is you can only have one sponsored vehicle per category. If you want to have two Castrol cars, you have to have one Funny Car and one in Top Fuel. If you had to explain to your sponsors that you could not let their car win, that’s more pressure than any rule you could have."

Q. This year you named Pat Austin as No. 1 on your all-time driver list. Why not Don Garlits?

A. "The criteria was if you took the car out of the equation. Don Garlits is still the greatest drag racer ever. You will get no argument from me. But what made Don Garlits so great is he could take a race car that was terrible and keep whittling away, and make it better and better. He also was good on the PR side. He did his own press releases and he built that image of ‘Big Daddy Don Garlits’ and that was genius at the time. He'd go to races and barely get in the show and in the first round the other guy would red-light because he was racing Big Daddy. He'd keep working on the car and, by the time he reached the final, he'd run low ET of the race and win. But with the criteria being natural driving ability, Don, I'm not sure you could put him in somebody else's car and win because Don wants to be in control and that's what makes Don great. When he is in control of his destiny, no one can beat him."

Q. Who would be the No. 1 tuners on your current and all-time lists?

A. "Would Austin Coil be current or all-time because he's been around so long? Overall, for someone who has adapted to the sport over so many years and been so good, Austin Coil would have to be it. On the current scene, how can you go against Alan Johnson?"

Q. You told me a couple of years ago you explain to racers the way to get on TV is: Win, crash or cry. Really?

A. "That's a TV thing. If you want more coverage, do those three things. I just kind of saw that working. I'm not saying I agree with it. I'm just saying this is the reality of it. You watch any debate. You watch Brett Favre retiring. Hillary Clinton started to choke-up during one of the (presidential) primaries. It was all over TV for two days. I told that to (Jack) Beckman and he said, 'If I win, I'm going to hit the wall, and get out of my car crying.' I said, 'You'll get a half-hour of coverage.' It's a little tongue-in-cheek but it's kind of accurate."

Q. Are you officially retired?

A. "I've never officially retired. I love it the way Prudhomme did it because not many race drivers can do it that way. More often than not, when they come back, they look stupid. So, when I say I'm retired, I'll never sit in a seat again. I still haven't officially retired."

{loadposition feedback}

{source}
<div style="float:left; padding:5px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
sr_adspace_id = 2000000613807;
sr_adspace_width = 300;
sr_adspace_height = 250;
sr_ad_new_window = true;
sr_adspace_type = "graphic";
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.afy11.net/srad.js?azId=2000000613807">
</script></div>

<div style="padding:5px;"><script type="text/javascript">
google_ad_client = "pub-8044869477733334";
/* 300x250, created 4/3/09 */
google_ad_slot = "2028912167";
google_ad_width = 300;
google_ad_height = 250;
</script>
<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</div>{/source}

Categories:

:::::: Editorials ::::::

Search form

DRAGS, DOLLARS & SENSE: MIKE DUNN IS THE BEST