Thread: Things That Ruined Drag Racing!

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MONEY, MONEY AND MORE MONEY!! This, IMHO, is what is killing drag racing (also circle track and road racing)

I wont even go to a drag race anymore. Big bucks to be a spectator, mega bucks to be competitive in your class - from the lowest street class to the highest fuel class. And the bracket racing is, in a single word for a spectator -boring - watching a bunch of Camaros/Chevelles/Mustangs (choose your make) run down the track. The old head-to-head racing of of years ago was fun - basically it was 'run what you brung' and I did many years of that. But never again.

Circle track has become much the same way - if you are sponsered by Budweiser or Home Depot your budget for sure is a lot higher than the guy that is sponsored by a hair restoration product or the local tire shop.

Road racing - look at the follow the leader F1 'racing' or even IRL cars on a road circuit. Yawwwwn ! The mega buck cars are leading the lower budget guys. Always, unless the big guys are all broken

I wont even get in to the land values and eco stuff - but, again,
It's MONEY, MONEY AND MORE MONEY!! and no longer grass roots fun but business!!!

money money money, huge sponsership are a must, and large cost to be competitive have ruined it for me. i wanted to follow in my dads footsteps and run a fuel funny car. at an average cost of 7000.00 per single 1/4 mile run it is just not affordable anymore for a simple man to do. and it is a nessacary evil because the world had to see what these cars could run and that is what it took to get there. i ran a super comp dragster for a couple years and that was expensive enough. about 200.00 for the day if nothing broke. and the pay off for a win was not something to shoot for either, it was just good exciting entertainment. man i loved that car, but hey on the off weekends it was a top draw at the car shows and with the hooters gals. and the whole family could just hang out there all day and have a good time doing it. man those hooters girl make ya want some wings dont they?

I guess Mr Severson and I will have to agree to disagree on the negetive impact liberals have on racetracks here in california.

To the original topic I understand what you mean about missing the wild and wooly days of drag racing. Gear bangin, sky high wheelie series are still out there but dont get as much press but are still around for those who seek them out. The 10.5 outlaw classes are a prime example. To the comment about super classes being boring I couldnt agree more. Just go to a divisional race and watch car after car try to run the same number then the next class does the same thing only a second slower. Now dont get me wrong, if thats your gig then more power to ya but its not fun to watch. As far as the modern drag cars i love to watch the landlocked missles do their thing and along with nostalgia races to go to I thing drag racing has never been better! As the bug-o-rama guy pointed out there is also niche racing for them and import/tuner stuff so everyone is covered. That doesnt mean someone has to like it all but there is something for everyone.

To the circle track stuff being ruined, I say not. Its actually CHEAPER in many short track series to compete than it was twenty years ago. Back at 99 speedway in the day a baldwin chassis would set you back around fifteen to twenty grand and a fisher racing small block chevy would be over twenty grand. Some could build their own stuff but most had to buy what they could afford and this was their performance limiting factor. Now a days its easier than ever to buy chassis kits and used cars and with spec/sealed motors its cheaper to be competitive. Example, I know of a few speedway engineering type kit cars with sealed small blocks and narrower tires than turn considerably faster lap times than cars of twice the price ran back in the day. All this on a narrower tire. Note these sealed small blocks put out 400hp and sell complete for five grand and usually get freshened ONCE a season maybe twice. How is that bad. Short track cars handle so much better because more people understand how to make then work and chassis design has come a long ways since back in the day.

Another thing thats undeniable, its CHEAPER to build reliable horsepower today than its ever been.

Sure times change, sure I miss the old days but I think todays racing scene is alive and well in general.
Mike

Originally Posted by mooneye777

man those hooters girl make ya want some wings dont they?

Not exactly the part of the chicken that comes to mind first........no.

Typically, I am a fan of safety upgrades in motor sports; but, they have come with an unfortunate price (not worth someone's life mind you, but still a cost all the same) in the category of excitement.

Fire burnouts, for example, are no longer allowed and I don't see as big of a push to go faster each week so much anymore as I see a push to win events/championships to keep the sponsors happy.

I still remember watching Eddie Hill in his Super Shops T/F Dragster break the 4 second quarter mile in '88. To me that was a land mark moment in drag racing, and at the time I remember thinking that the 4 second barrier had finally been broken and somebody, someday, might actually run in the 3's. It made me really wonder at the time how fast somebody could actually cover the 1320' between the light and the line? Who would be the first to clock a 3.XX and when?

We're now creeping up on 20 years since Eddie's 4 second run, and over the past few years we don't seem to be getting much closer to the 3's. After all, Schumacher set the current record of 4.428 this past November. Most of the T/F dragsters run in the mid 4's and the T/F Funny Cars are even in the 4's but, nowadays teams are looking to shave time in increments of 0.001 or even 0.0001 of a second rather than 0.01 or 0.1.

Fuel content was limited to 90% nitro-meth in 2000 and then to 85% following the death of Darrell Russell in 2004. Final drive ratios are limited to no less than 3.2:1 to limit top speed for the sake of safety. Granted they (thankfully) save lives; but, rules like that really limit the capability to shave too much time off the E.T.'s, and unfortunately, as a side effect, simply produce the same races and E.T.'s week after week. Maybe mid 4's are as fast as it can be done safely and that is the answer to my question, but I still hold out hope that someday I'll see a 3.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see anybody get hurt, quite the contrary, I just wish that we were trying to push the envelope more like they used to.

All that being said, I don't really think that the changes I mentioned killed it for me; I still go every chance I get, but, they sure did remove quite a bit of the excitement.

We've been hit with the same thing on circle tracking, prices have actually gone down, thanks mostly to spec engines and sealed engines.... Everyone is so equal on power now, it comes down to chassis setup and driver skill.....the way racing should be.. $7,000 for a race engine that will run the entire season then get freshened isn't bad. I quit racing sprinter isn 78, we had 10 k in an engine, and started every season with one in the car and a spare in the trailer. Freshened both at least once every season....

With NHRA trying to slow the cars down, I don't think we will see "threes" in our lifetime. I don't know how we could do it with rubber tires limiting traction, plus all of the other new rules limitations being added.

To go threes, they would need more downforce, lighter weight, and no power restrictions. I can imagine a minimal car weight, 700 cubic inches, 100 percent, screw type blower, and multiple wings. Trap speeds would probably go to 350+!!!

The truth is, I enjoyed the races as much when they were running 7s. What is important is that the competition is close. That is where a lot of the excitement comes from.

We will NEVER see sub four second runs, ever. Besides the limiting factors already mentioned you start getting into physical limitations which bring upon inherent dangers that cant be overcome. I think mid fours is just fine. Remember, the faster you go the harder it is to go faster. One big benefit of the performance limitations imposed by the NHRA is the fact that the tracks not getting oiled every run. I recall the days of clean up after clean up which nobody likes to see. They still pitch out some parts and oil once in a while but its a LOT better than it use to be. As stated before close competition keeps it interesting. Plus it still shakes my bones to see those cars go by. Just look at how popular fuel car test sessions are. Plenty of people go to watch TF testing because they're awesome to see. Pro stock holds its popularity because of the close finishes. Lets face it, they run straight as a string most of the time and would be somewhat like super classes if they werent chasing et records. For me, hitting Pomona, Infineon, LVMS for a few nats and nostalgia drags at Infineon, Famoso, sacramento and some sportsman stuff at sac and famoso gives me what I need for my drag racing fix. When my 40 dodge is done i'll try my luck in the brackets and life will BE ALL GOOD.

Originally Posted by Mike in Motown

We will NEVER see sub four second runs, ever.

I'm sure that you're probably right. I don't mind mid 4's either it is still an impressive sight to see.

My point though is that as a whole, we're not pushing the envelope as much as we have in the past. It is awful hard to advance though if you don't push that envelope and then take what you learn, apply it and push it again.

For example, by 1969 we had men walking on the moon and jets that flew over Mach 6. Since '72 we haven't been back to the moon and we aren't building jets to fly anywhere near as fast as we used to.

Drag racing is just another unfortunate victim.

Like I said I still really enjoy it and go every chance I get. It's just not as fun knowing that we will most likely never see a run in the 3's.

I hear ya chicken. Your looking for the 'next big thing' to 'break the next barrier' we all have a need for that. I look at it this way, in drag racing et milestones dont need to come in 'even' seconds. National records at this point are a big deal even if they're only by .001. I still cant get over the performance of Johnson/Shumacher in the last run of the finals to win the championship. Look at how many stars had to line up to make that happen and with all the pressure THEY PULLED IT OFF! That to me was an historic performance.

I was watch the military channel a while back and they had an old school test pilot that was in it after Yeager and he talked about how bummed he was that it got dropped. Said that we should always reach for and find out where the 'limit' is. Mach 6 is amazing, now if we could just figure how to make tight turns at that speed.lol

The ARMY car run is being called "THE Run" by NHRA writers. It was truely an 11th hour miracle! It takes quite a team to be able to do EXACTLY what they had to to snatch the champioship away from Kalitta! They had to not only have a car capable of setting a record, and conditions that made it possible, but be able to do it at exactly the right moment, when it is sooo hard to tip toe on the edge of traction, from A to B! Phenominal effort!....and I think the Kalitta team respected them for it.

I felt sorry for Dougie.

But what could he say? When someone throws down the near impossible when it counts theres not much anyone can say.

My wifes friend got vip passes to the Kalitta Mac tent and said that Connie, Scott, and Doug went out of their way to spend time with everyone and made sure everyone had fun.

I'm really surprised that the top fuel points championship didn't get a lot more press then it did.... As HRP said, it's close to miraculous to have this many factors in a points race and have them all come together at precisely the same time....

welcome to "don shumachers" nhra racing where drivers contend to win,..... THE SHUMACHER CUP!

its hard to beat the shumacher's when they own 12 teams, do you think the canned mellanie troxel because they just could not afford another paycheck to her. not, she was running to good and was creeping up on tony's shoes so they eliminated the threat. and take team force, how many cars do they run? as current champions they choose when they make thier pass. and always force and shumacher run last, they take all the information from thier team mates passes running in front of them. and in the staging lanes make fine tune adjustments to thier cars to compensate for pit set up that is no longer good enough for the current track conditions. in my opinion they should not be abel to share the info they get from the other cars, it is unfair to the under budgeted teams and its kinda like cheating. basically the only champs from now on will be force, schumacher, anderson, or someone from thier teams. it seems pro stock is heading this way also. takes the fun out of watching when you already know who will probably win.