Top Fuel driver says coverage isn’t provided equally and it’s not fair

Bob Vandergriff, Jr. is scratching his head trying to figure out the answer to a question that has been bugging him for the last few races. The UPS-sponsored driver from Alpharetta, Ga., said he wants to know what it takes to get on the event broadcasts.

 

Vandergriff said he felt that he’s got all the ingredients that should garner sufficient airtime, such as winning rounds and making the Countdown to the Championship. He said that despite the logical qualifying factors, he feels he is being treated as an outcast when it comes to the televison coverage.

 

“You have one of the largest companies in the world on the side of our car as a sponsor and they should want to feature that any way because it sends out a good message about our sport,” Vandergriff said. “It’s a valuable asset within NHRA Championship Drag Racing. The big picture is that it might inspire others to look and see UPS involved and look into our sport. Evidently that doesn’t fit the criteria.”

 

Vandergriff said the situation came to a boil between he and the television team last weekend in Memphis. He said he voiced his displeasure to the television crew and then moved on. When they came to interview him later, he said, “No way.”

 

Why would a driver turn down television coverage?

 

“I denied them to make a point,” Vandergriff said. “My point to them is that my team won five rounds last year. That’s a horrible season. You could bring a Super Comp car in there and probably win five rounds just from other teams making mistakes. We knew it was a horrible year.

 

“This year we qualified for the Countdown, clinched our spot in Brainerd. Nobody came over and asked us what that felt like. We came to Reading and technically claimed by starting the car – it was official. Yet no one came over and asked us what it felt like to go from five rounds and get into the Countdown. I asked them about it.”

 

Vandergriff said it was the answer he received that made him angry.

 

“They told me they were focused on the people who were being eliminated at that race,” said Vandergriff. “I just looked at them and said, ‘You have got to be kidding me. You are more interested in people who are being eliminated than those who are making it in?’

 

Vandergriff questioned the logic of ESPN2’s decision making.

 

“We are interviewing people who are losing and missing the Countdown instead of people who are winning and getting in?” Vandergriff said. “You have got to be kidding me.”

 

Vandergriff said at that point he walked away. He said his anger had subsided until Indianapolis.

 

“We qualified third and were the fastest in one session, second in another and third in another, won a round and moved up to fifth – and that still didn’t do us any good,” Vandergriff said. “No one wanted to speak to us about how it felt to go from five rounds to a spot in the Countdown. They only had 13 hours worth of coverage. They interviewed everyone and their brother at that event and yet no one came to talk to me.

 

“At that point, I told them I just wanted to be on television as much as Ashley Force’s boyfriend. That’s the kind of coverage I wanted. I thought it was the frigging E-channel. Are we covering the race or turning into the E-channel?”

 

Vandergriff said he’s not singling out Ms. Force or anyone else. He’s just questioning the direction of the television shows.

 

“I don’t have a problem with her because I think she has brought great attention to the sport,” said Vandergriff. “That’s not my point. I’m not downplaying her involvement or the people they are showing. I am concerned about the direction the shows are going.

 

“I think she is a larger problem for the other women in the sport than she is me. Being a woman in drag racing is no longer a novelty. We have enough of them racing that it’s no longer a novelty. You have to have a hook. If your last name isn’t Force there’s a hook. If you’re another woman competing against Ashley Force then you are going to have to do something spectacular to outshine that girl. If you’re not in a nitro car – then the ones I feel sorry for are the ones in Pro Stock Bike. They really have no chance because they aren’t in a nitro car.”

 

Vandergriff said that ESPN2’s team has reached out to him since the incident and he’s not certain whether he will do anything this weekend.

 

“Mike Dunn, a good friend of mine, contacted me to see if I would reconsider my decision,” Vandergriff said. “They even chased me down after a first round loss and I drove purposely all the way around the corner to get away from them. I declined once again. I’m not crying about it because everyone cries about not being on television.

 

“My issue is too many times I wonder what's the purpose of those post-run interviews because they are matter-of-fact after you reach a certain point. There is a right way to do the top end interview and mention who you need to and then there are the wrong ones. Most act as if they read off of a script. I think people tune out when they start reading those. That’s not what I am griping about. It’s the in-depth features or showcasing a team that I am talking about.

 

‘They don’t even think it’s a good idea to ask just how big of an accomplishment this is for our team. To me that is ludicrous.”

 

Vandergriff said he doesn’t fear repercussions from his comments.

 

“The problem is – “I was told that I would only tick off the producer,” Vandergriff said. “I responded, ‘What, is he going to show me less now? The only chance I have to be shown less now is if I am on a single and they decide not to show the round. As long as there is a car in the other lane, I am going to get the same coverage. How can you get any worse than that?”

 

“It’s like a motivational kind of thing for my team when they don’t want to show us, it will motivate us to go win the race and then not do the interviews. That should make a point.”

 

Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com was unable to reach anyone from ESPN2 for comment regarding this incident.