Columnist Ron Kantowski: You don’t have to chase around to sense these thrills

Monday, Nov. 1, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Having grown up near Chicago, once we worked up the courage to ride the "El," a baseball buddy and I began an annual tradition where we would check out a midweek game at Wrigley Field after the Cubs had been eliminated from playoff contention. In most years, that meant any midweek game after the Fourth of July would have sufficed, although we usually waited until September, because that's when the crowds were the smallest. Besides, ditching school was half the fun.

In retrospect, we were Ferris Bueller and Cameron long before they decided to take their infamous Day Off, although, sad to say, we couldn't find somebody of the female persuasion who looked even remotely like Sloane Peterson to accompany us. But at the end of the day, it didn't really matter.

Any self-anointed baseball purist can appreciate the shortstop backhanding a ball in the hole and throwing out the batter from short left field in September as easily as he can in June, and the fact that he did it while the sound of beer cups being popped echoed through the nearly empty grandstands almost made us diehards feel privileged.

Of course, we also knew that we were part of a minority that has gotten noticeably smaller since Ivan DeJesus last threw out somebody from short left field. If there's not a division championship or wild card playoff berth on the line, chances are the upper deck is going to be more empty than Barry Bonds' medicine cabinet on random drug test day.

That's why you've got to admire the drag racing fans who turned out in huge numbers for Sunday's ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The sprawling grandstand lining the quarter-mile as well as the luxury suites on top and the bleachers at the starting line were jammed to capacity, despite the fact that John Force clinched the Funny Car championship Saturday night and Greg Anderson and Tony Schumacher nailed down the Pro Stock and Top Fuel titles weeks ago.

The only of the four pro class championships that hadn't been decided was Pro Stock Bike, which is the NHRA's equivalent of Mixed Doubles at Wimbledon. Only instead of strawberries and cream, when the pro stock riders hit the asphalt most drag racing fans head for the concession stands to replenish their personal supply of top alcohol. In other words, 20 ounces of ice-cold Budweiser served in brown plastic bottles.

But the real beauty of drag racing is that you don't need a Chase for the Championship, which is what NASCAR calls its new made-for-TV 10-race playoff, to hold the interest of its fans after the trophies have been distributed.

"Even after the championships had been decided, our reserved seat sales were 20 percent ahead of usual," said LVMS spokesman John Bisci who added that if anything, this weekend's crowds were bigger than the ones for the Summit.com Nationals in the spring at LVMS,

While there's no debating the loyalty of an auto racing fan -- heck, there are probably guys who signed up for a tour of duty in the Middle East, just because Schumacher's car had U.S. Army decals plastered on the side -- it should be noted that auto racing in general may be the quintessential spectator sport.

It's colorful and it's visceral, so it really isn't contingent on pennant races and playoff hunts to keep fans from wandering and/or nodding off, although I must admit that watching Kyle Petty run around Charlotte Motor Speedway while two laps down doesn't exactly do it for me.

But with drag racing, you don't have to be one of those guys who changes his oil in his driveway even before the 3-month, 3,000-mile interval to be enthralled by a racecar going from zero to 330 mph in less than five seconds. In that way, drag racing is like watching a guy on a motorcycle jump over a bunch of school buses. Even if his name isn't Knievel, you can't help but watch.

But you just don't watch a drag race, you breathe and feel it. Try inhaling the Nitro fumes as the cars idle at the Christmas tree and then feel the percussion in your chest as they "light the candles" and blast down the track and see if you don't agree.

It's the reason that drag racing continues to please its old fans while attracting new ones, sometimes even rich and famous ones. On Saturday, the pop star Jewel and her longtime rodeo cowboy boyfriend Ty Murray were among those spotted in the staging area while World Series of Poker champion Chris Ferguson and the great guitarist Carlos Santana were on hand Sunday.

Santana lent his name to Cruz and Tony Pedregon's Funny Cars and his trademark psychedelic logo to their crew members' shirts to call attention to his Milagro Foundation, which benefits charities and agencies that support children and youth in the areas of health, education and the arts.

So one of the day's catch phrases was "Oye Como Va," which translated basically means "Hey, how's it going?"

Based on the full grandstands on a crisp Halloween afternoon in Las Vegas, even a Black Magic Woman would have to concede that the NHRA is going just fine.