Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing is??

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Diana The Doc
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Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing is??

Postby Diana The Doc » Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:14 am

Lately I've noticed a rather disturbing trend among the "general population"... I'm actually kind of surprised (although I guess I shouldn't be?) by the amount of people, especially younger folks who I've encountered, who don't even know what the h*ck Drag Racing is... A couple of weeks ago I hired a media group to create something for Drag Racing Underground, when I received the first draft of their work, I was surprised to see (although I guess I shouldn't have been?) that they actually placed a "Formula 1" car in the ad-- When DRU's Mike Bennett confronted them, nobody from the agency even knew the difference between a "Formula 1" car and a drag car-- And these are all college educated young folks, who for the most part are relatively bright people (and very highly paid I might add)... Then, just last week, I had a non drag racing related meeting with an attorney who was in his late 20's, when I told him about my Drag Racing Underground business, he too, didn't have a clue to what the h*ck drag racing even is-- Hmmm, kinda weirding me out, although over the last year or two, this seems to be more of a "common occurrence" among people I meet who are young, upwardly mobile and well educated... I really don't know what to say about this, however, I guess being someone who has been in this drag racing business for a lengthy number of years, I guess this can't be a "good thing"?... I mean, this never used to happen before, most people I'd meet would at least have a vague idea of what drag racing is (I guess that's because those folks weren't born AFTER the "Snake & Mongoose Hot Wheels" era was long over with??)... It's kind of "unsettling" to see this trend happening... Whatever... That's life, I guess... "The Doc" (Celebrity Drag Racing Authority & Visionary)...
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Re: Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing

Postby WildcatOne » Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:33 pm

Good point, Diana...a few years ago I was making sponsorship graphics for some pro cars. The dreaded encounter with corporate communications people was inevitable. After dealing with them for 25 years in my corporate job, I knew I was up against monumental stupidity and iron-clad authority combined. Make a long story short, I sent 'em what I did. They hired a commercial art agency to send me back what was acceptable after reprimanding me and threatening to sue me if I used what I sent...which was perfect (or so I thought?)...
The car which was sponsored was a Pro Stock Mopar. The graphic the art agency sent back to me with the mean little letter from the sponsor's corporate communications expert was a sloppily-Photoshopped Firebird Top Alcohol Funny Car. I backed out. They never heard from me again. I hope their (non-automotive) sponsorship venture went well with the drag racer. The other ones I did for him with other sponsorships worked out fine...they used precisely what was on my desktop and ran the big show with it. But there are some real idiots out there with millions of dollars to waste...they'll let you know whose world it is right off the bat, too. It doesn't help to confuse them with the facts.

Most folks don't know what drag racing is. Usually when somebody doesn't know anything about what you're talking about, they make jokes or insults about it. I've heard it all, particularly from folks who could use a little mental exploration concerning the big picture, ya know. A couple of times I've tried explaining it, and what I got was "Well, no wonder they crash all the time! How do they think they can make the turns with cars that long?" after I told them it's a quarter-mile straightaway...

Anyway, if the collective attention span of the junk-culture masses ever gets stretched to 6 or 7 seconds, they might follow a drag race all the way through while watching TV and get a better idea of what drag racing is. But that's a pretty tall order in this day and age. They'd have to be interested in it before they'd pay attention long enough to learn something.

I sat ALL DAY and watched the March Meet last year...chatted with buddies, commented, had a blast...some of the best time I ever spent. It was GREAT and I look forward to this year's meet...but we are a very small minority! I still prefer to be there in person. That's the BEST way to experience the thrills.

Cheers, WC1
Last edited by WildcatOne on Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing

Postby Billy Mac » Wed Jan 12, 2011 8:37 pm

Its the same mentality as news reporters who call idiots who cause crashes on the interstate...Drag Racers. I remember, back a number of years ago... an IHRA race had Just gone off the air on ESPN and that guy who now does the news on MSNBC (Keith Olberman) came on ESPN's Sports Center and announced..."Drag Racers cause Head On Collision with Toronto Blue Jays Coach..." "I" am personally of the opinion that if that coach was hit head on by a Drag Racer...then Coach...you were in the wrong place a the wrong time and going the Wrong Way... :evil:
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Re: Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing

Postby stimpy » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:12 am

its called the video era , we are a unexposed sport compaired to what we were in the 80's and earlier ,it ended about the end of Generation "X" thats when the last of the cool cars where gone us gen xers we had them growing up then the econobox crowd came in , no more sleek mustangs , swoopy camaros and chevelles , everythign was about milage and looked like a doorstop or a jellybean or juicebox on wheels . so our sport died and certain orginizations started thinking more about corperate sponsorship money than racing or sportsman promotions . If I want commerials, I'll watch the infomercial channel . and hollyweird didn't help us either , they play us off as a bunch of Import racers and snotty people who are law breakers ( yes street racing is illegal ) , which is boring ! My step kid is 21 years old up till 3 years ago he didn't know what a dragrace was , then I brought him and his mom to a draglist national ,the perfect way to break him in , got to smell nitro for the first time , and get bluehair ,and asked a lot of questions , alot of people don't know Dragracing is the only motorsport you can compete with the family car too! no 300 +mile a hour lawn dart needed , you can race with the family truckster ( and be very competitive at it too ) ,but noone seems to tell them that . alot of the dying aspect is from the promotors , Racetracks and associations they don't tell more , just want more . they leave it up to us to do there dirtywork .
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Diana The Doc
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Re: Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing

Postby Diana The Doc » Thu Jan 13, 2011 8:04 am

John, for some reason, some of what you wrote reminds me of back when Big Stick first released the "Drag Racing" records, I recall the way some corporate record execs would take me aside and say, "So, you don't REALLY like that drag racing stuff, do you?"-- Then they'd usually follow up with a comment regarding how they thought drag racing and the people who do it are strictly "White Trash"... It was kind of an ugly eye opener for me... Billy Mac, unfortunately, there's some folks in the media who will never separate irresponsible street racers from mainstream drag racing... Several years ago, Drag Racing Underground briefly got into the "media consulting" biz, advising mainstream media outlets about drag racing, and while I'll admit it was kinda neat to get quoted in The NY Times, Daily News, on TV News programs, etc, and get paid for it, it quickly became apparent to us that no matter what we told the mainstream media folks, they would still wind up doing a "hatchet job" of practically every story we helped them with, often making drag racin' folks out to be nothin' more than unruly druggies, drunks and degenerates... Stimpy, yeah, your 21 year old step kid really didn't know what drag racing was, that's what I'm talkin' about-- I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but, this has got to be the first period in drag racing's history, where there's so many people of the younger generations who genuinely have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER of what this sport is-- They don't even know it exists!!-- And let me be perfectly clear about something, I'm not trying to play the role of being an "alarmist" here, I mean, it's not like a mammoth meteor is heading towards earth, or the proverbial sky is falling, but h*ck, this really is the first period of our sport's history, when you can say the words "Drag Racing" to young folks and they draw a complete blank... It seems weird to me... "The Doc" (Celebrity Drag Racing Authority & Visionary)...
Last edited by Diana The Doc on Thu Jan 13, 2011 5:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing

Postby Maritime Drag Racing » Thu Jan 13, 2011 8:46 am

Typed about a thousand words then decided it was too much of a "rant" to continue so I deleted it all and started over. Needless to say I have had some serious run-ins over the years with these ignorant people. And I mean ignorant in the Websters Dictionary definition of the word. To this day I have relatives who I don't speak to anymore after accusing MY SPORT of killing innocent people late at night on city streets. Even worse are the ones who think we go in circles and run into one another for fun - GRRRRRRR!!! I even had a couple of buddies pull me out of a tavern once before I beat a drunk for suggesting "WE" killed more people on the highway than alcohol did(he was drunk - we were there to eat) Better stop now before this turns into a rant again.........

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Re: Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing

Postby stimpy » Thu Jan 13, 2011 11:34 am

yes Diana, I know what you mean , and when you do say drag racing all they talk about is the 300 mile a hour lawn darts , no pro stocks , no funny cars , no sportsman classes , heck , when I tell people I raced superstock , I get a look like I had a third eye on my forehead or say whats that? souped up hondas? , and being I am in the Chicago market , the only time I hear a dragracing ad Is for the nationals , or a outside promoters event , most people here think the track is closed the rest of the year ! and then the track owners wonder why they don't make money , isn't the first rule of business to make money you have to spend it ?? I have to say what Maritime said is true we do have a bad rap , but most people don't see when we do have track functions its not like that at all , for one we police ourselves and makesure the bad Influences are not welcome or taken care of . I have seen more drunk specators from the nascar events than dragracing events . and one of the biggest complaints I here is the track is never open , the track owners say there isn't enough business to open the gates , well if the gates are closed they won't make money , the owners should listen more to the racers and spectators and see what we want , the racers want more track time , we don't need the place lit up like a superbowl , one bank of lights will do . also is the lack of teachers , I have to say thanks for AJ and Bret K. for helping out in this part on schooling them , but we need more to teach these kids whats right and whats wrong and why the rules are there , half of them don't know how to get a rule book or interpret it . some of them believe you have to be a member in order to race . also we need people to show parents these cars we race aren't dangerous , with all the safety equipment involved , and people in place ( track staff and EMT's) and johny is better of doing it in a controlled enviorment than out on the street .
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Re: Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing

Postby WCB » Fri Jan 14, 2011 7:21 am

Honestly?
I don't run into people that don't know about drag racing....
Perhaps I make it that way ?
Drag Racing is a MajorPart of MotorSports and I'm proud of that.
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Diana The Doc
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Re: Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing

Postby Diana The Doc » Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:33 pm

Maritime, it sure is sad that drag racin' is perceived by ignorant people in such a bad way.... Several years ago a feature film titled "Parenthood" was released... The movie was produced by Hollywood heavyweight Ron Howard, and featured major stars like Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen... When they made the movie, word got out that there was going to be a character in the film who drag raced-- I remember some of my friends at NHRA were so excited, they figured that the sport would receive widespread exposure with this major Hollywood film... Long story short, when the movie finally came out, it depicted drag racing as nothing more than an unsafe, dare-devilish sport where foolish "hicks" and "yahoos" just hurt themselves or worse-- The film's character "smartened up" and quit drag racing after being involved in a messy on-track accident-- It was just plain ridiculous the way the film handled the subject-- Needless to say, it wasn't good for the sport at all-- Made us look really stupid... Stimpy, yeah, so often Super Stockers and other drag racing categories that don't make lots of noise and fire do not get the recognition they deserve... And drag strip owners/promoters have a difficult time hosting (and financing) their own independent events-- It truly has become "risky business"-- Kids want Monster Trucks and "spectacle" stuff-- So, many track owners and promoters have greatly reduced the number of events they're willing to gamble on... I too applaud "teachers" like Bret Kepner and Doug Foley, people who have made the effort to educate aspiring racers on the right way to do things-- I once produced a TV commercial for Doug Foley's drag racin' school-- And I admit that I learned an awful lot from the experience... And I also applaud folks like Wally Bell, Bill Pratt and John Bockelman, for their service in producing radio shows that give drag racers and fans something to sink their teeth into (or at least their ears)... We need stuff like that... "The Doc" (Celebrity Drag Racing Authority & Visionary)...
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Re: Why do so many people in 2011 NOT know what Drag Racing

Postby draglist » Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:01 pm

Parenthood... featuring the famous shot of Dianne Wiest walking behind a running jet dragster on the starting line... :D bp
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