A New Plan ~ Gentlemen (and Ladies), Start Your Acronyms
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I
grew up with the space program. It was
there I got my introduction to acronyms and initialisms. NASA (an acronym) is loaded with them. The first initialism I remember catching my attention
was during the Gemini program. EVA
(pronounced E-V-A), space agency shorthand for Extra Vehicular Activity
or a spacewalk. Later, during the Apollo
program the LEM was the acronym used for the Lunar Excursion Module,
the vehicle that was to take the men to the moon’s surface. That seemed to be the start of my infatuation
with acronyms and initialisms.
When
I graduated from college and went to work in Kentucky State Government it
didn’t take long for me to learn a new set of acronyms and initialisms. Our program was loaded with them. Later, I moved to Frankfort and was part of
the development team to help our department expand its regulatory
responsibilities. New regulations,
policies, procedures and of course forms had to be developed and with it I got
the chance to even develop some new acronyms and initialisms. Terms like MIR, NNC, INC, FTACO, ICO, IVS,
PPA, and MFR all make up the secret language spoken in our agency.
One
of the more experienced employees saw my glee taking the initials from form
titles to make new abbreviations and took me aside to offer some words of
wisdom. He cautioned about getting
carried away with it. He shared how in
an earlier chapter in his state government career he was working with a team to
bring mass transit to the Capital City area.
The team he was on worked long and hard to develop the program. They
were about to wrap things up but had yet to come up with a descriptive name. He said the perfect name to describe the
program for mass transportation for Frankfort and the surrounding area was the
Frankfort Area Rapid Transit System.
Initially, it was met with enthusiastic acceptance. Logos were sketched, it all looked so
promising until somebody stopped and did the initialism for it. It was then the realization set in that it
just wouldn’t be appropriate to name the system that.
The
moral was be careful and always check before you adopt a name. I’ll just leave it at that.
Racing
had its share as well. Just the
sanctioning bodies would make your head spin-NASCAR, ARCA, USAC, AAA, ASA, IRL,
INDYCAR, IMSA, NHRA, IHRA, DIRT, UMPS, WoO. Racing looks worse than FDR’s (Franklin
Delano Roosevelt) “New Deal” “alphabet agencies.” When you throw the sponsors into the mix to
describe the series, it becomes downright ridiculous, MENCS, for example.
Every
track’s name is initialized as well as the groups who own them-primarily ISC (International
Speedway Corporation), SMI (Speedway Motorsports, Inc.) You just can’t get away from it.
Our
races have been broadcast on television on ABC (American Broadcasting
Company), CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), NBC (National
Broadcasting Company, ESPN (Entertainment and Sports
Programming Network), TBS (Turner Broadcasting System),
TNN (The Nashville Network), FOX Sports (uuuhhh, FOX Sports?) and radio on MRN (Motor Racing
Network), PRN (Performance Racing Network). Acronyms and initialisms are everywhere you
turn, including this web page-RFF (Race Fans Forever).
In
the “olden” days, when fans were more influenced by MPH (Miles Per Hour)
than MPG (Mile Per Gallon) and before the stock car hoods
were covered with high paying sponsor logos, they often included a big number
plus HP (Horse Power) to denote how powerful the engine was. Less common was the abbreviation CID (Cubic
Inch Displacement) which let fans know the purported size of the
engine. And in straight-line racing ET
meant something far, far different long before everyone knew it as a little
wrinkled space alien who wanted to phone home.
There
are three car manufacturers in the Cup series today. The Camaro is made by Chevrolet, a division
of GMC (General Motors Company). I was raised on Fords
made by the Ford Motor Company or FoMoCo. Ford has been used as a backronym by its fans
(First On Race Day) and by its
opponents (Found On Road
Dead and Fix Or Repair Daily).
The
third make, Toyota Motor Corporation is commonly referred to as just
Toyota. When it comes to racing, I
really wished someone in their outfit had talked to that wise co-worker of mine
before naming their racing division as their initialism for Toyota Racing
Division is just a little too close to Frankfort Area Rapid Transit System for
my liking.
A
couple of seasons ago NASCAR introduced Stage Racing. RFF reader and former co-worker Jack
Protagonist emailed me about the opportunity the Sanctioning Body missed to
come up with an appropriate acronym.
When asked what it should be called, he said New Enhanced Racing
Format or NERF.
Long
before Nerf was known for its foam balls, footballs, darts and bullets, it was
a racing term meaning to bump lightly, accidentally or
purposefully. What
Kevin Harvick did to Kyle Busch seven laps from the finish at Loudon probably
qualifies as a nerf. What Kyle
Busch did to Kyle Larson at Chicagoland probably doesn’t.
In
some series that don’t have bumpers, to Nerf requires Nerf bars and you will
still find them on open wheel cars, especially the Modifieds. And
Nerfing is still a part of today’s racing, even if you don’t hear the
term used in racing much today.
Although
I’m not a fan of that particular brainstorm from Daytona, I loved Jack
Protagonist’s clever use of this old racing term for it. New programs like Stage Racing needed a new
shorthand reference and this was catchy on several levels. It was a shame that it just never took
hold.
It
seems like NASCAR rule changes are now an annual event and no season would be
complete without the new rules for the upcoming season. Lee Spencer with RacinBoys.com recently wrote about NASCAR’s 2019 PEI (Proposed Event
Implementations) which covered a wide range of items including
expanding the use of this year’s All-Star package to fourteen more tracks to
the use of tapered spacers to improve fuel mileage so smaller fuel cells can be
used, to single gear ratios for different tracks, to enhancing the dash
technology and eliminating the driver adjustable track bars. It even addressed possible changes to the VTP
(Vehicle Testing Policy).
Don’t you love initialisms that refer to other initialisms?
Sounds
like a lot of far-teaching stuff to this CRF (Common Race Fan). I wish them the best of luck with it.
As
a CFR, I hope this PEI fixes what ails the sport today-it turns out to be What
Is Needed. We can really use a WIN now. Otherwise, it’s just going to be another Comprehensive
Racing Action Plan.
We don’t need any more of that.
Only
time will tell.
(Editor’s Note: “Tapered
Spacer” is a refined but deceptive term for restrictor plate!)