Over the last month or so I’ve seen a lot of internet chatter and banter back and forth about records, and it got me to start asking myself a simple question…WHO CARES?

I don’t care what sport you are a fan of, there is a good chance that you know records. Whether it be Cal Ripken, Nolan Ryan, or Barry Bonds in baseball. Or whether we mention Wayne Gretzky in hockey, Tom Brady in football, Michael Jordan or Bill Russell in basketball, the list goes on and on regarding records in every major sport on this planet. Do any of you really care about those though?

To simply answer the question of “who cares,” the short answer is EVERYONE. The racers, the fans, the media, the track owners, the sponsors, the manufactures, etc. They all care in some way shape or form. The reason they and we care about records is because it’s an achievement. Records are a way to measure one’s performance against someone else who set a previous standard of excellence.

There are some records in sports that will never be broken. Some are just scientific fact and some are based in opinion. For example, I don’t think that anyone will ever break John Force’s record for wins or championships in NHRA. That’s an opinion about current records. Is it possible that someone comes along and does it? Absolutely, just not in my lifetime most likely. Then there are records like Cal Ripken’s consecutive games played record in baseball that will absolutely NEVER be broken or even approached. It’s a mark that is so far out of the conceivable reach, that the math alone supports it never being broken.

We as sports fans love to see records broken. In drag racing, setting an ET or MPH record is like watching the long ball in baseball or the hail mary as time expires in football. It’s like watching the underdog horse come from behind on the last turn to take the win. It’s exciting and it continues to make us watch and guess what will happen next.

Look at Eric LaFerriere in White Rice earlier this spring when he dropped the first ever 4.0’s pass in X275 trim. If there was a roof on the place it would have been liken to being at a Metallica concert for how loud it was. Even if we all knew that someone was gonna drop the hammer and get to the 4.0’s it was still as exciting as me seeing David Wolfe run 4.40’s in 2010.

More recently, Stevie Jackson set the Radial record with a blistering 3.48 at Steele. While I don’t think anyone was “surprised” by the record pass, it’s still cool to see records fall. Especially when Stevie was only the 3rd driver in radial history to run in the 40’s during competition.

It seems like there is a record for everything when it comes to drag racing, including micro records. Listen, it’s still cool and will always be cool to see records set in drag racing. Means that we continue to move forward in the industry. New technologies, new drivers, new ways of making a brick go in a straight line as quickly and as fas as you can based on a certain set of rules. Those achievements should be celebrated, even if they are just a PB (personal best) or whether you have the quickest coyote with twin 80mm while granny shifting and not double clutching or the fastest 2JZ that you claim in a 10 second car but looks like it caught fire and should be at the junk yard. I’m sure some of you will get the previous references as well.

In the day and age where the in thing is to push all this EV crap on the general public, we have men and women, no matter the age, race, religion, orientation, etc. all out there competing to win and set records in the most extreme sport in the world…drag racing. No one ever thought that Bob Glidden’s ten NHRA Pro Stock Championships would be an achievable record to break, yet heading into this season, Erica Enders, arguably the greatest woman driver and for that matter one of the greatest drag racers of all time, has her eyes set on a seventh NHRA Pro Stock Championship this season. Erica is barely even 40 years old and let’s face it, she may end up with 12, 13, maybe 14 or more of those Pro Stock titles. Could she compete with Force’s record of championships? Time will tell on that one, but if she wants to, I don’t see anyone telling her she can’t do it.

Entirely too many times within the drag racing world, we, and that includes me at times, get so jaded and wrapped up in hating something that is going on, that we don’t take the time to appreciate the gravity of the situation. As long as we continue to support those that strive for personal growth and those that continue to reach for records, we will always have something to celebrate in drag racing. Let’s not forget that when records are broken, it’s not just great for the person behind the wheel, it’s great for the entire industry. It’s great for the parts manufactures that are on that car, it’s great for the driver, the team owner, the track that it occurs at, the promoter if there is one, the fans that cheer for that team, and it’s also great for their competition. It give the competition a bar to reach for, and gives the fans of the competition even more fuel to cheer for their team as they reach for those records.

Let’s keep supporting tracks, supporting drivers, supporting the sport, and let’s continue to see records fall and excitement build!!