NEWSFLASH...You aren't entitled to $hit in drag racing!

Another day has come and gone in the drag racing world and yet I continue to notice this about drag racers, crew, fans, and media. So let’s talk about it.

Let me ask you a question. If I were to come into your job and tell you all the things that I thought you were doing wrong, all the things I hated about where you work, and proceeded to curse you right out, would you find that acceptable behavior? Would you just stand there and take that from me? I’m willing to bet the answer in your head is “absolutely the hell not” and yet I seem to see this behavior more and more at the race track every weekend.

This isn’t just an issue with a few racers, as if that were the case I’d just address them directly. This is a community wide issue that seems to be getting worse and worse each weekend I am at a track to cover an event. I see people MF’ing track staff over everything from parking, gate fees, track prep, curfew, payouts, bathrooms, and every single thing in between there.

At what point did you as a person decide that it would be ok to show up at the track and act like an entitled adult prick to people? At what point did you decide that it was ok to MF the person in the staging lanes for doing their job as they were instructed? At what point did you as a photographer or videographer decide that you are entitled to credentials to any event you want to go to?

What I find even more of a disturbing trend is those that won’t say shit at the track about something and then hop on social media and MF the entire staff, track, promoter, etc. for something that may have happened at the track. The inability to use your words and brain while actually at the track to address an issue is absolutely astounding. Is this the same way you behave at your own job? Do you attempt to belittle your employees?

The race track is a place that we all go to in an attempt to enjoy what we love to do. Whether that be driving a race car, working on a race car, photographing a race car, or watching cars race. Yet there are some that seem to have this process of thought that they are entitled to everything and if it doesn’t happen exactly how they want they act like a 5 year old that didn’t get that candy at the store and they want everyone to know it.

This phenomenon isn’t just limited to behavior at the race track though. Over the last decade plus I have worked with a fair share of companies within our industry and this behavior seems to creep over to the manufactures side of the industry as well. Now, if I call you at 2am on a Saturday morning demanding that you help me even though you work Monday thru Friday 9-5 are you going to want to help me? Again, the answer is probably hell no! Oh boy though…the amount of entitlement from racers that purchase a product and then expect 24/7 customer service blows my mind. I’ve seen it with everything from car builds to parts, and I’ve seen racers lose their every loving minds if someone doesn’t do exactly what they want immediately. These are the same assholes that cry every time they go to a fast food place and it isn’t fast enough, even though they saw the line wrapped around the building when they pulled in.

I’m not saying that you don’t have an expectation from someone or something within our industry, but you don’t have the right to treat people like actual shit whenever you want. You don’t have the right to MF a promoter if the track isn’t exactly how you want it because your stupid ass can’t find a tune to go A to B and instead of racing the track you are given, you expect to have the perfect surface every time you pull in the box.

What I have also realized is that drag racers must all have jobs or businesses where nothing every goes wrong and nothing ever breaks. I mean based on how they treat people at the track, they must live in a perfect world of kittens and rainbows all the time.

So what creates this entitlement attitude that I see at the track? A lot of it has to do with the mentality of money. Meaning, if I am spending my money I have the right to treat these people in any manner I want no matter how asinine it is. And media people please pay attention to this also. You are just as bad sometimes! Just because you own some gear and have a social media following doesn’t mean you are entitled to go to any event that you want! Even at this point in my career I still apply for credentials to races I’ve covered for more than a decade, and fact is that there are other events that I get turned down credentials for. So stop acting like you are a gift from the gods and that every promoter should worship your existence in this industry!

Lastly, to the fans of drag racing…you aren’t entitled to shit either. You can have expectations, but you certainly aren’t entitled. You are an important part of the equation that is successful drag racing events, but again I reiterate, YOU ARE A PART, you are not the end of be all of drag racing. If you have ideas of how to make an event or track better, please share them, but don’t act like you can always do better. 99% of you have no idea what goes into making an event happen, much less making it successful!

I really think that this needs to be a wake up call for all of us in the industry to do better, that includes me, when it comes to tracks, events, manufactures, etc. You can have passion and not be an asshole! Those two things aren’t exclusive to each other. Take a moment next time you are at the track to say thank you. Say thank you to the promoter, the track staff, the et shack person, a photographer, the beer girl, or even your fellow racers. We all play a part in continuing to build and maintain this house that we call drag racing!!

Do Better and we will all benefit!