Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

[greenracing]

I wonder if men used to p*ss and moan so much about everything 'back in the day'

I thought about that too. Everybodys 'back in the day' is different. You can't freeze the world in 1960. Things advance, technology comes along, the world changes. Some old guys are going to be sitting around 30 years from now bitching about how things aren't how they used to be back in the '10's.

Some of the points being made are valid, but most of them are preferences about what you want to watch and do. I don't disagree that the super classes aren't that much fun to watch, yet there are hundreds of racers that have spent a lot of effort building and tuning these cars and are having a lot of fun running them. I think bracket racing is boring as heck to watch, but I understand the reasons behind it and don't knock the thousands of people that keep the small tracks going.

I think baseball is the most boring game in the world - but there are stadiums full of people that disagree with me.

Promoters and organizations have been trying different things for years and will continue to do so - all in the name of putting butts in seats. Some work, some don't. We used to have match races, now we've got 3 ring circuses. Why? because it's sensational and brings people in. In today's short attention span world, the promoters have to keep trying new things; if they have the same show every year, people will stop coming because they've already seen it. Remember, the vast majority of people in the stands at a big event aren't necessarily drag racing fans - they're people looking for entertainment and they could just as easily spend their admission money on water park tickets, or a rock concert. The promoter really doesn't care whether they p*ss of 100 drag racing fans, because they really care about attracting the 19,900 entertainment seekers - that's where they make their money.

I have to fully agree with Wally - It's drag racing - liked it before and liked it now. It's going to change and change is not necessarily bad.

[streetracer]

good points, some are so critical I wonder if they really do like drag racing anymore.

[RickO]

For me personally the "Magic" of national events has been gone for some time. To me, all my heros of the sport are retired, and I don't see most of the current crop of drivers as such.
The drivers; some are pretty, some are loud, some are aS#%$les, but most are rich kids and or sponsor drones.

I still love the sights, sounds and smells of the power. I love the mechanics of a race car. I love a variety of race cars from J/SA to those long skinny cars as Dawn calls them. I love the personalities of people we've met over the years.

The current "big show" on TV and in person is at best stagnet, and the viewership, spectators, and car counts continue to show this. Question is; how does everyone involved control costs, improve safety, and increase sponsorship and attendance?! NitoJam? Nostalgia? Spec components? Shorter tracks? Uggggggh!

On the positive I do see nostalgia events and match races as a positive niche in drag racing and look forward to attending more of these events in the future. So, "maybe the future is so bright I gotta were shades"
RO

[WCB]

It's all good.......

opinions matter ( at least should be respected), and the title says "your opinion"

It thrills me that you can read about my sport in USA Today every Thursday and that a class (type of racecar), that I love came
to the big time now.......my bitch?...I wish the hell I was still out there.

my opinions,views,etc.....musings

people that hate it can simply hit "change channel" or go fishing or something or go watch the 2010 (under a nostalgia body) funny car kick the poop out of the "real" nostalgia cars......

[Diana The Doc]

Realistically speaking, for many racers, I don't believe that there's ever going to be any turning back from electronics, sputter boxes, real-time data computers, etc, etc... Electronics and computer gadgetry has now developed such a tremendous stronghold in the sport... It's become its own "industry" in Drag Racing-- The electronics industry currently has so many racers who rely on it for their weekly racing program, in the same way they rely on the tire and "hard parts" industries, they've "got to have it"... The question arises, was the advent of drag racing's "delay box" when we opened the proverbial "Pandora's Box"?-- Folks on both sides of the fence of this argument often express strong and extremely emotionally charged opinions... I know many racers who have made electronics an important part of their racing strategy, these are racers who wouldn't give up their boxes and gizmos for all the Tea in China-- And I know lots of racers who still subscribe to the "old skool", "no electronics"/"race from the seat of your pants" method, these are racers who you'd have to tie down and administer a lobotomy on 'em before they'd ever put electronics in their cars... I strongly suspect that this is a debate that will remain a heated topic for many years to come... "The Doc" (Celebrity Drag Racing Authority & Visionary)...

[streetracer]

for the big show my opinion is super classes drive away potential new fans, they are dreadful to try and watch. nitro cars need computers to gauge what the engine wants, it pays for itself. and less oil downs, isn't that what we all want? less oildowns.

[Zappy]

Doc, I agree we'll never get rid of most electronics. Most are fine, sputter boxes, data recorders, delay boxes, trans brakes, all help. It's the throttle stops that offend us.

[Novel-T]

opinion #1:Today's drag racing is much safer for the driver and spectator.When I look at a picture of my first altered it met all the safety rules,but compare it to the one I have now.What a dangerous pile of junk it was.My whole upper body was succeptable to damage,no arm restraints,etc.

opinion #2:delay boxes,For the first three years we raced this altered in brackets[Super Pro].I tried not using a delay box.I think my average was 47 red lights for every 50 runs.The first weekend with the box I became a racer.I went four rounds in eliminations.I finally realized I had to keep up with the Joneses.I did run it full throttle however.I would remove it for nostalgia races

I haven't raced it in several years,but I haven't lost my love for drag racing.The divisional 6 races at Mission are well attended by racers and spectators.

[Billy Mac]

For the majority of us (those who remember when Kennedy was president) racing Was just cool as all get out. Match races out the wazoo, 64 car FC shows, innovations from every class of vehicle...they were Great times. Then Corporate America got involved...in a lot of cases, the disparity between the haves and the have nots, grew even wider. It kinda seems funny to me, that when NHRA instituted the 3.20 gear rule (in an effort to slow things down ) they started going even Faster.
Then a few years later, they started cutting back on the nitro percentage...again, the cars just got faster. Most of us remember when Funny Cars actually looked like the vehicle they were patterned after; perhaps stretched a bit, like a Pinto or a Vega, but it was still recognizable.
Safety issues?? I have mixed emotions on some of that stuff. For instance, date tags on an ultra bell bell housing...the dad-gum thing CAN"T wear out...(if you have a converter explode, THEN get the bell housing checked out...if it's damaged, replace it. BUt for a low hp combo they will never in their eternity fail....same with "flex plates"/flywheels ) 2 year rule on Seat Belts?? You gotta be kidding me...but, it is what it is. While I do fuss and gripe about some of this stuff, I feel it is my right to do so. But I do that fussin and gripin with my neck collar, fire boots, gloves and certified chassis protecting me
AT a couple of the tracks in this area, none of that stuff is checked...they don't even do tech of ANY kind. You pull in, pay your entry fee and race. If you want to run a low 5 sec. car (1/8th mile) with only a pair of shorts on your bare legs, go for it. Crazy stuff Like that just Ill's the fool out of me... Yes, there are times that I wish I could make a pass just in my shorts (if I wore shorts...no since blinding folks with these skinny, white legs ) but I ain't going to do that, even if the track doesn't require me to. Hmmm...therein lies a bit of a dilima...outlaw tracks with No rules, or sanctioned tracks with tons of rules...I prefer the santioned tracks...but the outlaw tracks are closer. Sighhh...where's my tackle box and fishin pole?

[draglist]

I'm digging out this old thread because I just looked at the 2011 Topeka day one qualifying. There were exactly 16 cars in the top fuel field. If NHRA made all 16 runs count, there would be no need to make another run down the quarter, except to adjust positions or to establish a race day tuneup. It seems the sport is so expensive and the fields so light that NHRA had to institute that rule so that fans wouldn't have to sit through several relatively empty pro qualifying rounds all day Saturday. Yikes.

So here is a question: could little guy teams 'skip' the Friday session and run their single run on Saturday? Or does NHRA insist that you have to make a run on Friday? bp