Red Bull Air Races...

First off, if you read Esquire Magazine (May 2008), you’ll probably join me in thanking Connie Kalitta and all those associated with his company for getting the our parished soldiers back to their loved ones. There was a 10-page story in the magazine about Sgt. Robert Montgomery, from start to finish, on how he gave his life for his country and made the trip home. I won’t express my views on the bad shit going on in Iraq and the surrounding countries, but it makes me proud to be an American and have an association with the Conrad Kalitta, who was our February cover story.

Well, this last weekend I enjoyed a pleasured change of racing scenery in San Diego, California. Maddie Stephens of Red Bull World Wide invited Wesley and myself to attend the 2nd stop on the Red Bull Air Race World Tour this past weekend – held at San Diego Bay. At first I figured it was some sort of sick joke from the NHRA Media department – they always make us feel so welcome at their events. But after realizing it was a real offer and that Red Bull wanted our publication there just to see the spectacle of air racing, I quickly redeemed some Delta Sky Miles and booked a ticket. San Diego is a beautiful city with a perfect temperate and city center to keep you busy 24/7. After arriving at the media center and getting credentialed, Wes and I were informed of all the “can’t miss” happenings of the Red Bull Air Race. These people really know what they’re doing; from meet and greets with the pilots to VIP Pre-Parties, they’ve got it figured out. They even had a media-only part on top of the historic Hotel Solamar and its outdoor 4th story bar jSix. Free Red Bull, free booze and gorgeous women to enjoy my company – it was fantastic. Not to mention the scheduled “Pit Lane Walk” where the media is invited to interview the pilots and photograph the crews/planes before the race starts. What a novel concept?

The race alone is tremendous, if you dig air races. There were 120,000 people in attendance over the 2-day event. The pilots push these planes to instantaneous 10G snap rolls and maneuvers that almost break their body. These pilots cover a four-mile course in roughly one-minute and 18-seconds – that should give you an idea as to the performance of these people and machines. They come into the opening gate at 240mph just 65 feet above the bay. It’s a qualified field where the quickest 8 (Super 8’s) pilots race off for the win. If you live in the Detroit area I suggest you go to the next event here at the end of May. The tour only makes two stops in the states this year on the 10-race circuit. A globally marketed event, the air races drew 400,000 people in Abu Dhabi last month. If a company like Red Bull can do this globablly than what we were missing with companies like Coca-Cola and the NHRA. A race can be fun, too. Street parties, guerilla marketing, attendee participation, city-wide activation – not just a one-liner from John Force. I think our buddies Max Naylor, last year with Jagermeister, and Joe Parsons with Monster Energy deserve a bunch of credit for trying to get more people involved and create new fans of drag racing. It was terribly upsetting last year to see with my own eyes the NHRA telling the Monster Energy guys to to turn down the music in their pit area after they’d brought in a professional DJ and a great crowd. Just curious, but what exactly is “too loud” in the Top Fuel and Funny Car pits?

It seems that anytime someone gets creative in the NHRA they end up having to beg for forgiveness. I’d say that’s why so many teams struggle to get major corporate backing because they know that no matter how much a bang-for-your-buck the NHRA may be – you can’t activate your sponsorship when you get there. I’d say a trip to a Red Bull Air Race or a Monster Energy-backed Super Cross event would do a lot of good for the hierarchy at NHRA.

That’s it for now. Check out the poicture of the two little LUCID fairies we met at the Red Bull Terminal Party. Now, I completely understand why absinthe has been outlawed in the U.S. for 95 years.