Pinks All Out.

I was never a huge fan of Pinks. Didn't care for the drama of negotiating and the flag start seemed to create some problems. I watched it off and on, but it never really turned me on. However, I do like Pinks All Out. I'm still not sure how they arrive at a particular group of cars, but overall I like it.

So my question to all of you..........Do you think Pinks and P A O have had any impact on drag racing? It seems a whole bunch of similar shows are springing up, like Pass Time, where three contestants guess the times a car will run and win some cash if they are right most of the time.

My feeling is that Pinks HAS had a pretty good influence on the sport, and they sure seem to be getting huge turnouts at any event they have around the country. The crowds seem large. What do you think???????


Don

I like some of the shows . But I would like to see more on the cars that are being raced . I hope to run a car on there one day . **) :HMMM: Tango

Hey Don, they are having tryouts at gainsville raceway soon, for upcoming episodes. I think the shows are having a huge impact on the general population, whether they are good or bad ,im not sure, but i think between these shows, and the ricer trend, it seems that the race image is turning for the better! They show that young kids can be cool, and have fun at the same time. I think most people still have a image, that racing is for rednecks!! Now that celebrities, and sports guys are getting into it , and all these shows kinda give it a bling factor, its getting more popular. I also believe that the early ricer crowd , are now getting wiser with age , and realizing, kinda like wally did, that they need orginization, and safety, to further the sport.

The best scene on "Pinks" was when Christensen biffed on the mini-bike.

I have a couple customers that will be in the Tucson episode this month, but I'm not a big fan of the show, with all of the typical reality show drama.

I do know that the format has changed some. At our event, they ran all cars that qualified in a certain time bracket, with some sort of elimination structure.

At least it will get some new faces to the track, and eventually add to the number of fans and racers.

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Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

"Didn't care for the drama of negotiating and the flag start seemed to create some problems."

"Do you think Pinks and P A O have had any impact on drag racing?" Don

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I'm with you, there, Don. Also, I don't care for the (maybe staged) hostility and usually bleeped-out profanity that goes with the negotiating. And I'd guess that the show does create interest in the sport, thereby attracting new fans. That couldn't be so bad, but I think some of the shows create the perception that that's the way all drag racing is.

Thanks, in part, to a bunch of stupid movies, the earliest drag racers were given the image of being a barely civilized horde of scuzzy punks engaging in all sorts of dangerous and illegal activities, only one of which was daredevil street racing. I remember one in which the local bad-arse challenged the local "Mr. Clean" to a "train drag". Huh? The procedure was to have the cars side by side on a railroad track, each car straddling a rail and facing the direction from which an expected train was to come. As the train bore down the scene the first car to turn chicken and get out of the way was the loser.

....... In case anybody is still reading this foolishness, the good guy (chicken that he was) got off the track and lost the race. The bad guy didn't make it in time and got squashed.

For another instance of misconception, the old North Texas Timing Association held a big race at Caddo Mills and brought in several big-name cars from both coasts as well as all the local heroes. As their races always were, it was orderly, well managed and well run. On Monday morning a young guy where I worked asked what I did over the weekend. I told him I went to the drag races. His eyes got big and he said "WOW! Any fights out there?"

I guess where I'm going with this long, boring speech is that, to some degree, that image is still perpetuated.

Even after fifty years.

Am I wrong?


Jim

I'll be competing at the event in Denver in August. They open it up to cars running 12.99 and faster but I don't think I've ever seen them pick a group of cars running slower than 10.9's :whacked: I expect to be running 11.6's this year but I'm debating whether to add the juice to get into the 10's... of course that will be the day they run the 11.6 cars :LOL:

As for the show... it definitely raises awareness and gets a bit more exposure to the "sport" of drag racing but I think of it more as a novelty. At any rate, the prospects for a chance at $10000+ was good enough to get me in there :D Never cared much for the original "Pinks" with the car length negotiations and sandbagging.

^^^Jim - yes the misconceptions are rampant... my wife mentioned to a colleague I was a drag racer and her immediate thought went to the rice burning street racers which had recently killed a few people downtown :HMMM:

-Chris

Good deal, Chris!

Keep us posted, and good luck!

Jim

Sure do wish they'd leave Rich in the tower and use the lights!!!! I like the all out version a whole lot better then Pinks... The other new show where they guess the ET is produced by the same people..

But hey, anything that puts racing on the tube in a favorable manner is just fine with me!!!! Anxious for the local tracks to open and see if the tv stuff has done anything to put butts in the seats on the spectator side of the track.....

Rich wants it to be about him, its the racing, not faces and arm poses when he drops em. Anyways, PAO in MI set an attd record for Milan dragway and any PAO show, we want and it was an awesome experience. The drama of slow cars on Pinks out negotiating a faster car is just stupid.

i gotta agree with henry , the best show is when famous mr.arm dropper crashed the street bike! go ahead and call me a bad person but i laughed my butte off!!:D

The concept of Pinks is pretty stupid - build a car, and then negotiate to keep from giving it away? PAO is OK with the run all out qualifying, and then running for bucks without breaking out on top. Their approach of picking their field from a sliding bracket virtually eliminates sandbagging. But Rick putting the street bike down......priceless!!

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Originally Posted by flh4speed

i gotta agree with henry , the best show is when famous mr.arm dropper crashed the street bike! go ahead and call me a bad person but i laughed my butte off!!:D

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I must have a twisted sense of humor too.........I thought that was the best part of the show. :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

BTW, does anyone know where Rich came from? I mean, has he done other stuff TV wise or car wise?

Don

Just now watching a re-run of PAO--old tricky Rich held his dang arms in the air so long both cars were bouncing off the rev limiter, and of course it was a bs start.... Still think he should be replaced with a Tree and the show would be a whole lot better with the emphasis on the cars and not Rich. Got to admit, the bike crash and his excuses afterward were really kewl!!!!!!

Gotta upgrade our cable and get the speed channell!

I have watched it a few times, the all out version, (Just this week got rid of cable, decided we spend too much time in front of the damn thing and not enough on the stuff we actually need to get done).

I enjoy the show, would like to see more on the cars, like how they narrow the brackets and choose.

BUT I hate that Rich guy, one of those people I can tell I would never want to be acquaintances with let alone friends. I agree that the start with the hand drop is all about showing off his arms, big headed asshole. He seems to know possible less about cars than I do, not good. And he really comes off as an asshole sometimes when talking to the racers. I remember a couple of guys wanted to just put up 250 bucks and he said no, it wasn't enough money. I would have told him to do a couple of things and made the bet with the guy anyways. He isn't the one risking s*%t.

my opinion, get rid of him and put that young kid that does the evaluation of all the times up in the booth and make him host. you'd have a lot better show.

they are going to northern CA in Sept. I think I heard, my friends husband is taking his Nova up there, it runs in the 10's.

Red

Another automotive soap opera that could be better if Rich would just leave the starter's job to a tree. I've watched a few shows - but the staged drama lets my fingers walk to the remote to either change the channel or shut the @#$% boob tube off(usually).

but certain he is not a racer, or even a car guy for that matter. He mentioned it very early on in an episode, no doubt why he thinks the drama and arm dropping is so important. My god on some shows he actually makes noises when he lifts his arms up, like a weight lifter. Gimme a break.

Short and sweet, Get a tree, and get rid of the Duffus

What you guys may not know is that Rich is the Producer/originator of the show. It's his show, so he gets to stand in the spotlight.

the show where the three guys try to guess the ET`s of the cars that run is ok .. iv`e seen it a time or two ..

When it first started, it seems it was a place to settle a grudge. Then it seems car shops were building cars just to showcase them on TV. Thats when I quit watching, except for all out. Only problem is with the arm start. You have a Xmas tree, use it. It would also do away with false starts.

As for his arm drops, have you seen the one he does where he kneels down on one knee after the drop? Looks like something from Swan Lake. :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

I'm expecting one of those racers to lose it at the starting line and run over him some day.


Don

I would Like to take MR Clean street racing in Chicago with me . He will think he fell off that bike again :eek: . And he would never go near a Fast car again . I will show him some all out racing . :LOL:

wow, that guy is full of himself. I was just curious as to where he came from, how he got the stuff to start this etc. etc. don't visit his site, he doesn't deserve the traffic, suffice it to know that he has a big picture of himself from behind, arms held wide, no shirt trying to show off his physique. I almost feel bad for the guy, many people with issues that cause his type of inferiority complex are pretty nice, he's compensated by trying to make himself seem special and is a total d*&#head.

Red

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Originally Posted by tango

I would Like to take MR Clean street racing in Chicago with me . He will think he fell off that bike again :eek: . And he would never go near a Fast car again . I will show him some all out racing . :LOL:

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Actually, I have heard him talk about the show and his ideas he is trying to bring to it. One of them was that you can race for money at the track instead of on the street. The whole concept was to recreate a "street race" in a safe environment. Hence the arm drop starts and negotiating lengths. The "Pinks" part was hailing back to the legendary times when serious racers bet their cars. I have never seen that, but have seen some serious money change hands. Have also seen some testy situations when someone thought they got hustled too, just like on the show. Anytime you try to create a "reality" situation in a more controlled environment there has to be some conceessions. Personally I am tired of hearing the news where people are getting killed in street races, if they convert even a few, I see that as a good thing. I like the show, its one of the few places where they are showing "real cars" and sometimes the challenge it takes to make them run.

Pat

My son and I were invited to Phoenix to be contestants on two filmings for "Pass Time" a couple of weeks ago. We had a good time, but lost out in the final round. Yes, they (Producer Rich Christensen) encourage the drama to make the show(s) more interesting. Like someone above said it's his show and he sets the tone.

My take is that he has given more TV air time on his shows to sportsman drag racers than any TV network ever! You just have to look and appreciate the racers and cars and no be bothered by the showmanship hype.

My son's showing will be on Monday, March 10th (Troy Palmer) and I'm not sure when mine will be scheduled yet. As a side bar, his show was filmed at Phoenix Firebird Raceway "without working time clocks" which was pretty funning for a top national NHRA track. The track could not get the time clocks working and they had a full film crew and three studio trucks at $50K at day, so they did a "retro stop watch" timed race with a hand held timer at the top end based on watching a flagman at the starting line. So much for renting a track at $8500/day to film.