Drag Illustrated Issue 157, June 2020 | Page 8

LETTER from the EDITOR Over the last few months, I’ve been asked all kinds of questions about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected what we do at Drag Illustrated – questions like “How do you cover drag racing when there’s no drag racing to cover?” Fortunately, ever since social media and the internet made race results instantly and abundantly available to fans several years ago, we haven’t focused on actually covering races in the magazine. With the exception of major, once-peryear happenings like Lights Out, the World Series of Pro Mod or our new race, the World Doorslammer Nationals, we’ve focused on featuring the personalities in drag racing and telling the stories behind the race results you’d find online. However, it goes without saying that everyone at Drag Illustrated is thrilled to have races to cover again. To celebrate the first few races of our new post-quarantine world, we’ve added an expanded race coverage section. We had boots on the ground at Keith Haney and Todd Martin’s Throwdown in T-Town at Tulsa Raceway Park, Keith Berry and Lance Stanford’s Wooostock at Darlington Dragway and Donald Long’s COVID-8, and I got to cover the PDRA’s first race of the season, the East Coast Nationals at GALOT Motorsports Park. You’ll find photos and features from all those races in this issue, plus several interviews with a wide range of personalities in our sport. For the cover story, Josh Hachat spoke to Paul Lee, who wants to race his nitro Funny Car so bad that it hurts. We’ve got stories with racers Jim Howe Jr. and Stevie “Fast” Jackson talking about how the Nate Van Wagnen Editor-in-Chief pandemic has affected their season. Jim Halsey and Keith Haney provide insight from the racer and track/series operator standpoints, and Rollie Miller discusses the challenges faced by major touring series like NMCA and NMRA. Then you’ve got TJ Zizzo providing a burst of optimism as he shares why he thinks the unique new NHRA schedule might actually benefit some of the professional teams like his. As of this writing, it’s safe to say racing is back. Independent promoters and major series alike have kicked open the gates for racers to get back to doing what they love. But is this the last we’ll speak of this horrid pandemic? Probably not. From the top of the sport down to the bottom, this public health crisis will leave a lasting impression on everything from big-show nitro racing to local level bracket racing. We’re going to feel its effects in July when the NHRA starts up again in Indy, and we’re going to feel it still in 2021 when tracks like Summit Motorsports Park will open for the first time since the conclusion of the 2019 season. We’ll continue to explore this topic next month in one of my favorite issues, the State of Drag Issue, where we usually talk to industry insiders about anything from track prep and safety to car counts and performances. We’ve already started taking the deep dive into much bigger issues facing drag racing here in 2020, but I’m also open to suggestions. What do you want to read about? Whose opinions do you want to hear? Do you have opinions or insight to share? Drop me a line through the contact info below or to the right of this column. We’ll talk soon. DI Feel free to email me at [email protected] and follow me at facebook.com/nitronate1320 and nitronate1320 on Instagram and Twitter. Wes Buck CEO / Founder & Editorial Director 660.988.2313 [email protected] Mike Carpenter COO / Design & Production Director 704.737.2299 [email protected] Scott Dorman Publisher 615.478.5275 [email protected] Nate Van Wagnen Editor-in-Chief 440.986.1480 [email protected] Nancy Koeppen CFO 573.552.5551 [email protected] Will Mandell Senior Sales Executive 615.426.0465 [email protected] JT Hudson Sales Executive 660.341.0063 [email protected] Josh Hachat Editor-at-Large 740.627.1423 [email protected] Van Abernethy Senior Staff Writer & Field Subscription Sales 828.302.0356 [email protected] Caroline Fox Customer Service / Office Manager 660.988.2313 [email protected] CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Ian Tocher, Ainsley Jacobs, Kelly Wade, Bobby Bennett, Brandon W. Mudd, Tommy D’Aprile, Allyson Johnson, Pete Epple PHOTO DEPARTMENT: John Fore III, Van Abernethy, Rick Belden, Tara Bowker, Shawn Crose, Jason Dunn, Paul Grant, Chris Graves, Ron Lewis, Will McDougle, Joe McHugh, Gary Nastase, Mark J. Rebilas, Roger Richards, Cole Rokosky, Chris Sears, James Sisk, Ian Tocher ADVERTISING SALES: 615.478.5275 SUBSCRIPTIONS & CUSTOMER SERVICE: 660.988.2313 [email protected] DRAG ILLUSTRATED MEDIA, LLC 902 Kings Road, Kirksville, MO 63501 P: 660.988.2313 F: 660.665.1636 www.dragillustrated.com Copyright © 2020 by Drag Illustrated Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Drag Illustrated is a registered trademark of Drag Illustrated Media, LLC. Printed and mailed by Royle Printing in Sun Prairie, WI. All statements, including product claims, are those of the person or organization making the statement or claim. The publisher does not adopt any such statement or claims as its own, and any such statement or claim does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher. PHOTOS: TARA BOWKER, KAYLEE CURRAN 8 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 157