Twenty-five years ago, while serving as publicity director for the National Hot Rod Association, I can recall my amazement upon arriving at Seattle International Raceway, then the site of the NHRA Fallnationals, to find that instead of the usual construction trailer parked near the starting line with no view of the racetrack, the media facilities consisted of a construction trailer parked near the finish line with no view of the racetrack.

The difference, though, was monumental.

At the finish line, there was less walk-up-and-ask-stupid-questions traffic, there were fewer NHRA officials using the facilities as their personal lounge, there was less noise, there were fewer whining photographers, there was more - pardon the expression - ambience.

Moreover, since there was nothing between the trailer and the racetrack but a few trees and the return road, one could, from the "front yard," look back to the starting line and observe the subtle little corrections made by drivers as they accelerated to then-breakneck speeds of almost 250 mph. It provided an entirely different view of a sport with which I had fallen in love as a newspaper reporter in Amarillo, Texas.

Compared to Amarillo Dragway, where I learned the basics of the sport from Dale Ham and track owner Earnest Walker, SIR was big-time and, because of the finish-line trailer, the trees and the occasional view of Mt. Rainier, it became one of my favorite stops on the tour.

Well, a quarter-century later, I was back at SIR last week for the Prolong Super Lubricants Northwest Nationals presented by NAPA Auto Parts - and was struck by the fact that nothing, really, had changed.

Oh, there were some differences. Now, for instance, instead of one construction trailer at the finish line, there are two - one for the attending press and one for team reps, of which there were none in 1975. Instead of one phone line, there were eight or 10. And from personal experience, I can report that portable toilet technology has improved immensely.

Beyond that, though, it was basically the same track it was in the 70s, a stark reminder that now matter how far we've come in legitimizing our sport, there's still a long way to go.

The crude sign on the motorhome parked on the other side of the track, directly across from the "press center," encouraged management to "Pave the Pits." That's the least of the track's problems, however.

Venues that play host to events that today comprise the NHRA's 24-race Winston Series range from the ridiculous to the sublime. Route 66 Raceway in Chicago, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bristol Dragway, Gainesville Raceway, Bandimere Speedway Park, the Texas Motorplex. Those are examples of the latter. SIR? It's the poster child for the former.

Whit Bazemore, who set a track Funny Car record this year in Chuck Etchells' Kendall Camaro, called the track "a disgrace." And, certainly, in an era in which the NHRA is pulling races out of Dallas and Houston, facilities for which it need not apologize, SIR is a disgrace.

It hangs on because Seattle-Tacoma is such an important market to the NHRA, a market in which, for instance, Winston Cup has no presence. It's one of the keys to NHRA's promotion of a nationwide series - Washington to New Jersey, California to Florida, Minnesota to Texas.

So why has SIR lagged so far behind? NHRA is quick to point the finger at long-time general manager Jim Rockstad. Rockstad might be somewhat culpable. Obviously, he's the point man.

But, hey, this is a guy who has been abused by landowners who are more interested in getting an Indy Car race to the track than they are in upgrading the dragstrip; a man who is in the final two years of a contract that won't be renewed; and a man who now has been screwed over by two generations of NHRA administrators. How much of your own money would you invest under those circumstances?

Fact is, Rockstad reportedly still is owed matching money for the last batch of improvements he commissioned at the track, improvements to the operations tower and adjacent suites. Considering NHRA's new policy of not sharing the cost of track improvements, the likelihood of a major renovation is pretty low.

For its part, the NHRA still is courting the landowners, the same people with whom it was negotiating, behind Rockstad's back, when Dallas Gardner was president.

In the week before the Prolong Nationals, new president Tom Compton publicly voiced his support for individuals who, after feigning interest in tendering a long-term lease to the consortium fronted by K.C. Spurlock and Bill Kentling, abruptly reversed fields just three weeks ago and sent Kentling back home without even discussing the issue.

So, SIR is likely to endure for at least one more year in its present condition. It's a standoff. Jim Rockstad isn't going to spend his own money to fix up a facility from which he is going to be ousted next year. And the NHRA can't spend the money itself lest it violate its own policy.

The worst part? You can't even see Mt. Rainier any more.