Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

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bandit
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Re: Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

Postby bandit » Fri Aug 13, 2010 11:11 am

I agree with Wally. If it has wheels that make lotsa smoke, is loud and has gobs of power, I love it too!!
Nano!!

223rd&Alameda
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Re: Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

Postby 223rd&Alameda » Fri Aug 13, 2010 12:26 pm

C. The Funny cars. As one who saw the complete evolution of these cars from Jack Christman's Mercury to todays cars, I believe I have a good knowlege of these cars. My favorite time for these cars was from mid 1966 thru 1975. Not a better time for the class. My all time favorite year was 1967. Still had door cars, injected cars, flip top cars, supercharged engines, Jeeps, VW bugs etc. The cars actually had Chevys, Fords, wedge engines and hemi engines. Colorfull names, drivers and events.

Rules? Same engine gripes with Top Fuel engines. Lose all the stuff mentioned in the prevoius post. The bodies?? Todays eggs are a trainwreck and a disaster as far as looks. Table flat bodies with bubble looking roofs and double foolish spill plates and way to large spoilers. I have no answer for a better body spec, more stock looking with way less spoilers. A good example of a great look was Dale Pulde and his great Buick Sommerset Regal.


The racing today is rather weak, more smoke and kabooms than anything else. The less funded cars have a rats a$$ chance of winning. I would be a happy camper to see the Funny Cars run 5-flat or 5.10s' on the quarter mile than this 1000 ft. rubbish of today.


Dang, what I would give to see Tripp Shumake in Johnny Lopers flopper take out the Snake at Irwindale just like he did at Irwindales big 64 car Funny Car meet at Irwindale in 75.




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Bob Kraemer
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Re: Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

Postby Bob Kraemer » Fri Aug 13, 2010 7:33 pm

Well said Barb, & I agree 100%
Ok Billy .. you asked for it!!!!

First and foremost .. drag racing was the brains of man and car .. NOT ELECTRONICS. You get these guys now who are computer experts putting chips or whatever into the control boxes, clutches, fuel systems .. let them get back to racing by the seat of their pants. Make it an even playing field for everyone.

Second, there was a place for EVERYONE to race, not just the "PROS". Now it's a three ring circus with the multi-million dollar teams taking up most of the pit space with their "support" vehicles. What they have seem to have forgotten, is guys like you, who keep these tracks open week after week. Without the tracks there would be no NHRA, IHRA or the likes.

Third, and this is personal .. when officials came to us back in the day and told us we could NO longer go to THEIR event and make one shot to qualify and sit out until race day.

Fourth, now you have to get approval for a sponsor on your vehicle. That's hog wash .. they just want to get their hands deeper into the pockets before the racers do.

Fifth, let the tracks control their shows not an organization that might be in that area once a year.

Sixth, get back to the origin of the superiors being .. "Dedicated To Safety"

I'll crawl back under my rock for now .. :mrgreen:
Bob Kraemer

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PJ
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Re: Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

Postby PJ » Fri Aug 13, 2010 9:10 pm

On the plus side
-more access to cars and stars then any other sport could hope to have
-the sounds and senses are beyond what words can describe
-the ulimate test of speed
-win or go home
-something for everyone. Nitro to door cars, pro mods to bikes, street cas to wheelstanding golf carts and everything else in between. You can find some class to like
-the nastalgia movement is good
-norwalk. If you want it done right, then then watch how they do it


on the down side
-well since my logo is anti countdown I suppose I should start there(don't worry it will be brief)
-with barely 10 people making the tour in TF is it really a big deal to have a cut off?
-when you can win the champions by, not winning a race, avoiding other "playoff" teams, losing 1/2 your first round races or diving gifts from the boss (all of which have happened) then what you have is the second worst championship system in sports (the bcs in college football the worst).

-when the nature if the sport is win or go home...or I suppose now Go full throttle. The countdown says the opposite. I don't know why anyone would go to a midseason race as so many drivers have claimed that they go into test mode then
ok I'll stop :)
-the pro's not going to match race as much. That is how to spread the sport. Right now there are 23 races in 20 towns, to get fans elsewhere we need to go elsewhere. Be missionaries and spread the good word of our sport They need to open up testing again but make them at match races. THis was teams can go make a pass or two early in the day, then do a match race for a local track. It helps the track, helps the team, helps the sanctioning body, helps the sponsor and so on
-throttle stops. Super gas used to be one of my favorite classes but I run from the stands now. I wouldn't mind seeing a huge bracket class. Toss sg/sc/sstreet and whoever else wants to be in there. I want to see a 15 second stocker getting a 7 second head start on some dragster.

I could go on but I don't think anyone wants to read a novel :)
http://www.petitiononline.com/nhra/petition.html

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draglist
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Re: Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

Postby draglist » Fri Aug 13, 2010 11:40 pm

Great comments from everyone and I pretty much agree on down the line. But I don't know if we'll ever see those days again. One of the things that is gone is the thrill of new ET and speed numbers. We'll never see them again, except at 1000 feet or 660 feet. bp
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Re: Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

Postby Zappy » Sat Aug 14, 2010 1:21 am

Barb, & Billy, yer SO right. The countdown is SO wrong. A "SEASON" champion should be the overall best of the season. Not someone that happens to get hot the last few races. The Friday qualifying system (only top 12) tics me off worse then the countdown. How they EVER came up with the plan to NOT count #13 thru #16 ..???

BAN throttle stops. They are killing the class. (S/G - S/C - S.ST). A drag race is a test of acceleration, Not a coasting contest. I'm no computer guy but....instead of coasting in front of most of the audience, couldn't they be set up to cut out at 1,250 - 1275, or 1,300 feet where 90% wouldn't notice???
Lift the test ban. Drop the 16 car max for the PRO classes, ALL run.

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Barb
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Re: Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

Postby Barb » Sat Aug 14, 2010 5:51 am

I agree, Barb. But on the qualifying deal, I think they are trying to discourage "one shot" qualifying by the lower budget teams. (You mentioned the same thing above, about Indy)
Think about it this way Billy .. the superior beings are the ones that created that mess for the lower budget teams. There were some events that we went to and made EVERY pass and didn't qualify, but they forgot those!!!! We ran the same parts, which in some cases costs us even many more dollars, cause we couldn't afford to buy in bulk. Most of our budget came from match racing and the superiors took care of that too!!!! We'd get paid $5,000 for two runs at a show and first round loser at an NHRA or IHRA event was $5,000 .. you can do the math and no matter how you look at it $2,500 a pass back then kept us in business. And while I'm at it .. NITRO back then cost us up to $2,750 a drum .. not the $900 it is today.

The Nostalgia movement is and will be a fantastic deal as long as the superiors keep their hands out of it. I'm so afraid that it won't happen though :evil: People like Rocky Pirrone, the S&S Gang, Bob Rosetty .. just to name a couple are what this new movement is all about .. and the image of yesterday they represent. Full quarter mile passes, long smokey burnouts, dry hops, cackle fests, showmanship and friendships .. it just don't get any better 8)

I would also like to send kudos out to Darwin Doll, who along with his gang, are keeping YESTERDAY alive with the "Legion of Honor" York show and race at Beaver Springs. To Denny of the GLNFC circuit (I think I put enough letters in there) for his tireless efforts with his group. I'd also like to wish Steve Leseure (excuse the spelling) great success with his efforts with an east coast Nostalgia circuit. Hummm, maybe it can get better :mrgreen:
Families are like fudge .. mostly sweet with a few NUTZ!!!!

223rd&Alameda
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Re: Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

Postby 223rd&Alameda » Sat Aug 14, 2010 9:14 am

D. Pro Stock. Once again, saw this class from day one. Pro Stock in the early days up until 1998 was a fun class to watch. Multi-manufacturers, colorfull drivers and great rivalries. Then a change went down. The cars became cookie cutter in looks. While the racing is the tightest of the Pro classes, it has become kinda stale and boring. How can it be the tightest racing and be boring. The cars just do the same thing run after run, same weak launch, same shift points. Once they leave the line I can pencil in the winner just past the tree on most all cases.

Rules? This opinion will light a fire I reckon. I would like to see the class go to fuel injection, get rid of the dinosaur carbs. Lose the awfull looking hood scoops, flat hoods. More stock appearing bodys, how ya get ther I don't know. Can you picture a 2010 Challenger, like Jegs stocker, with that stock body style, a 500 cubic incher under the hood, big tires, no hood scoop, and a "real" 4 or 5-speed? It would be like Pro stock on the early 70s.

This next viewpoint is radical, no wheelie bars!! Would it not be sweet to see the cars launch "Super Stock" style and bangin' the gears, not this style of phony shifting of today.


The bodies today are just idiotic looking over swoopy eggs that you can barely tell what is what.


Shoot, what I would give to see Bill "the Red Light Bandit" Bagshaw bangin' the gears against "Dandy" Dick Landy at Orange County on a Saturday night. Now that was Pro Stock racin' right there.



223rd & Alameda

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Diana The Doc
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Re: Your Opinion Of Drag Racing Today?

Postby Diana The Doc » Sat Aug 14, 2010 9:30 am

There's certainly no denying that nostalgia racers like Rocky Pirrone and Bob Rosetty have become sort of the "saviors" of drag racing to some fans (I love both those guys, I've known them for years, and they're both also genuine gentlemen who respect women)... Much like many of the racers in the outlaw heads-up scene, guys like Pirrone and Rosetty aren't afraid to, uh, "give it up" for the fans... Racers who are willing to add a healthy heaping of "showmanship" into the mix are far more likely to "turn the fans on" to the point where they're more likely to come back to the track for repeat visits... Now look, that said, I understand that there's a lot of racers who don't necessarily have the budget to do lengthy burnouts and push their equipment to the edge, largely because they can't afford the risk of breaking valuable parts, I understand that-- most racers take a far more "conservative" approach to their racing-- Unfortunately these sort of circumstances puts drag racing in a bit of a quagmire... Let's face it, when most people are spending their hard-earned money to spectate at the strip, they're looking more for a show that leans towards "reckless abandonment", as opposed to "conservative caution", that's why Monster Trucks are all the rage at the big drag strip shows, the Monster Truck teams have no qualms with driving completely reckless and crazy (that's why they make the big bucks)-- the fans line up at the pay gates in droves to see 'em-- So, how can drag cars that are designed to go "straight" and "stay in the groove" possibly compete with that sort of package?... Yeah, the sport of drag racing is in a bit of a proverbial pickle, but I still try my hardest to remain optimistic for its future... I do believe the sport will survive... "The Doc" (Celebrity Drag Racing Authority & Visionary)...
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