Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

All you "Heads Up" guys,take a look at the Dallas results on Drag Race Central.

Today,they ran Stock Class Eliminations.

Maybe 1 or 2 good races at most.Usually the fastest car is lifting early and still winning easily,and sometimes,the faster car even lets the slower car win.

You think "fans" want to watch this?

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Personally, I think the wide variety of cars in Stock and S/S is a big part of the appeal. I think a single combination would kill the class. If everybody had to race a 350/255 69 Camaro, do you really think that everybody with a different combo will just sell, scrap, or park their " not the chosen one" combination, and build a Camaro? Even if the only class was SS/AH, with 50 cars, all heads up, the stands would be empty at a National Event. I have watched almost every so called "fan" leave the bleachers as soon as Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car finish their session. If they couldn`t be bothered to watch Pro Stock or the Alcohol classes, what are the odds they will care about "slow" 8 second Super Stock Hemis? Let alone small block Camaros.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

To each his own. No one I know of is trying to change anyone's class that I'm aware of. Just thought it would be interesting to have a heads-up class that is affordable. At the LOCAL level sanctioned by NHRA\IHRA.To all the naysayers that say it's impossible, limit the heads to spec policed by the manufacturer, and several other angles of thought to keep the cost down. And to the guys who say shut up and race your car. Other then Comp guys that have raced for 30 or more years, I've probably ran more heads-up, no break-out racing since 71 then most on this board. That's probably why I still beat the dead horse. It won't be a fan favorite at national events, but would create a local following.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Most racing series have entry level racing, what brought this to mind was AMA motorcycle race that I attended this past weekend. They have a class for 14 to 21 year olds. About 6 motorcycle brands and models are represented and must race on stock bikes. They must use stock wheels and brakes, they have 2 spec tire suppliers, have to run on a dyno after race to check that HP does not exceed predetermined horsepower.

I think key here is younger racers competing against each other on a heads up basis. (would it need a lot of work, yes but once it started moving ahead may prove fruitful)

Heck, allow them to put Harley motors on junior dragsters and race, .

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

442olds. Winner lifting is probably exactly what we are talking against. Bogus hp car in rt lane, Highly factored car in left lane....

If you could run any car you have currently, including the 69 Camaro with a spec motor and the motor was 1/3 the cost of yours today would you move to that class next time the motor crashes? would a 20-30 year of who wants to enter take his dads old stocker and join the racing? It is a family sport and that's shown by the JR. Dragsters but where do they move after that, 50K SS or Stockers?

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I have to admit the most fun I've ever had racing was when I was active in the NMCA EFI classes in the late 90's. We ran 11, 12 and 13 second indexes on a 400 Pro tree with no transbrakes and had a blast.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Recently I had the opportunity to take my 2 nephews to the track for the first time, they are 11 and 14 years old. It was the Lucas Oil Canadian National open in Mission, we went on the Friday for the test and tune. It was a pretty decent turnout of competition and exhibition cars. We got to the stands by 8:45 am and sat there till noon, they were busy taking photo's, video and asking a whole lot of questions and were pretty excited. We took a lunch break and the youngest wanted to go see the Yellow Dart that wheelied (Shawn Blair SS/JA), he took a picture of it. We walked around and looked at some cars and then went back to the stands to continue watching, then Super Street came up followed by Super Gas. The oldest said "boring" and asked me how come they slow down and then go again? The youngest shaking his head said "they burnout good but don't wheelie and they slow down". The same general opinion of Super Comp. I'll admit it was the first time for me to sit in the stands and watch full sessions of each of these classes and it really was boring. The drive home was enjoyable listening to the highlights of their day. They convinced my sister to take them back on Saturday and stayed for the night qualifying and jet cars and tried to answer her questions about the cars that slow down. I think the whole "throttle stop thing" may have hurt the spectators expectations of the first 600 feet compared to every other class. MB.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

put the 3 tenths back on the index and the problem is solved. The classes will take care of it selves why did the index change anyway so the new cars could go fast? Remindes me of the NFL

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

This is supposed to be a drag race. Sure there are many cars under factored. Not only the new cars, but some older cars as well. Since dragging supposed to be a race, all those qualifying at the 1000 ft should be disqualified. NHRA use to have a sand bagging rule. Whatever happened to that rule? When was the race removed from drag racing?

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

The bottom line is money...even if you were to start with the most basic of basic operations...

Good used truck....10000
Open trailer....1500
Nice foot break car...10000
Spares...3500

If you wanted to start small I mean your average saturday night bracket buster combo your gonna spend at least 20/25K to get the ball rolling

All of the kids I grew up with junior racing the majority of us did a stint in a big car as we get older things like new homes, babies, careers, and most of all a lack of funding has caused a lot of us to walk away from the sport we love so much