Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I think enclosed trailers hurt drag racing attendance as bad as anything else. No highway car show for fans to see. That's what brought me to my first race. What say you all?

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Has nothing to do with the problem. Money is the problem.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

You're probably right.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I think many things hurt and are hurting drag racing. Rising costs and poor economy don't help. Enclosed trailers, larger tow vehicles sure don't help. I think things are changing and some are for the good and some are not. JMHO

Kevin

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Younger people have little to no interest in cars. There's your problem.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

well here in englishtown, nj, the track always gets lots of imports with plenty of young kids.
i think muscle cars for them is too much work, so why bother they say.
i could race my honda with a shot of n.o.s. and be quick.

Money not the problem
 

Money must not be the problem!
Look around at the events you go to and the stuff people use to get to the race!!
The same payouts or less but the tow vehicles kept getting bigger and more crying about payouts?? Go figure?

Just like dirt track racing the same thing there except not as much

Just my opinion

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Define how drag racing is hurting? Is this based on fact or opinion?

There are more registered Stock and SS racers than in years past, new tracks have recently been built, the aftermarket is strong and all three major American automakers are involved in drag racing, not only as sponsors, but as car builders.

It's true that less young people are into cars, but overall, the industry of racing is strong.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I base it on fan base and track closings a more then car count.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I think there's some merit to this, but more specifically it's possibly hurt drag racing FAN attendance. It's cool to see race cars being transported on ramp trucks or open trailers. I still love it myself. Who knows, maybe seeing the cars out in the open on the highway would get some new people to the track. Probably not too many, but maybe a few.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Randy,
I do like seeing cars on open trailers... my boys both point them out when they see them on the highway, if I dont first! LOL
Not sure that had major impact on the tracks and sport, but probably did not help any.
I am old enough now to say I remember when (45)... tracks had good car counts and good crowds in the stands. Was a cheap night out when I was in highschool to go to the track. BS with friends, watch the cars, no cops to worry about if I was drinking beer until we left... etc. Some good reasons, some not so good... LOL
Less cars hurt the track. They raise fan prices, trying to make up for it, and then lose that also. Not making any money, so dont want to gamble on paying for show cars to come, for bigger purses, etc. BAD spiral.
I dont have the answers. Just agreeing and sounding off I guess.
Have a good weekend.

Ken
Stock 412

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Rising costs and poor economy . I was looking at the Super Stock class winners at Indy and thinking where are all the young people !
Even Stock is filled with older people, Most of the young people you see today have
Mom and Dad paying the bills,,, It just cost to much for a young family to build a car and keep it up.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Thanks guys. Just thought I'd throw that out there. I just remember going through K.C. or Eddyville, or Omaha, (Cornhusker) or Detroit dragway, (I worked up there in 73) and see open cars on the trailer, and if I had the opportunity I'd head for the track. I remember my first time at Eddyville in 77 to race, (I did not qualify in GG\Hot rod, formula 2) pulling in behind a pinto, a monza, a 48 ford pickup with a small block in it, an altered with an injected hemi, a 55 chevy, a 65 chevelle, etc. and just the excitement. 64 car field in SS, and a 64 car field in Top Street, (Comp). Full field, with 86, count em, 86 non qualifiers, with standing room only.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

My 18 year old Son has no interest in driving my Super Stocker.

However, he is about to get a Subaru WRX, and likes the idea of hopping it up and running it down the quarter mile.

The customer base is changing.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I think we "dinosaurs" are the problem, as we are unwilling to adapt to change. Let the XYZ generation and the cars of this generation let the motorsport we love evolve.
Pro stock needs to be about today's Muscle cars.

Muscle cars of the sixties and seventies are of my era and should have a place in NHRA drag racing forever.

PS; I love open trailers and haulers too.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Hey ken count me as a youngster. . I let my dad take the class winner pic instead of myself. He has never had his pic in the national dragster and I thought he deserved too..

On another note the young people are not interested in spending the amount of money we spend to race a class car. . They can run an outlaw car far cheaper , alot quicker and faster and run races every weekend at a cheaper entry fee and if they win get paid a good amount...

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

DRC has posted the class winner photos and I thought that was very cool to see your Dad holding that trophy, well done. And agree that it must be pretty intimidating to see many class racers with the stackers and and rigs that represent such a huge investment. No wonder that they stick with the local 10.5, heads-up and brackets.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

When we started to race jr dragsters we had a jr on an open trailer and a mini bike ( kinda like the Clampets going racing) :eek:Every time we stopped someone would come over and ask about the car. We then purchased a new enclosed and when we would stop no one ever asked what was in the box.:confused: When the girls finished jrs we then put my street cars in the box and again no one ever asked what was in the box. We purchased a new open trailer last year and if I stop for gas or food someone asks about the car. BUT if I die my daughters would have a toterhome and a stacker:D

Kevin

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Watch out you will be eaten alive on here by those who never personally attack anybody on here who state their opinion.

"Adapt to change" - how preposterous .. OMG .. what heresy

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Kevin just explained it better then I. What made me think of this was today I took the Cobalt down to a good friend of mine I do tractor pulling motors for to look at the brake drag problem we have. We plan to make another blast with it to get people interested in the car that is for sale. I just put it on my open trailer, and whenever we stopped, a crowd came over. When in an enclosed trailer, not one interested person even spoke to us.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

You mean it's finally cool to be myself? :cool:

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps821d085b.jpg

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Half the field at Indy this year was 2008 and newer. How much change do you want?

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I'm just getting back into racing after being out of it for 27 years but I remember I always thought the change from open to enclosed really changed the sport. I raced in modified for years and remember the nights in the motel lots changing motors, rear ends, etc. It would be like a car show with locals cruising the lots. Lots of fun. I suppose now the same happens but it is just the competitors around that stay in the pits. Of course by the time I got out we were using a big, at the time, 5th wheel trailer too.
When we started on the new car last year I swore it would be with an open trailer but for practicality and security I suppose we will end up with an enclosed trailer but I still miss the open trailers.
The other thing I remember that really cut down the spectators around here was when the gas prices went up in the late 70s or 80s. Our local track went from many spectators to hardly any. Cars and racers used to come hundreds of miles and then they just stopped.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Ya know, I think there is more than a little something to the open trailer thing. After pondering for a day or two I realized I missed the thumbs up going down the road and the occasional enthusiast that would strike up a conversation during a fuel up. As a track brat kid, it was cool to see my dad be a hero 10 or so times on the road and now as a husband and father I know what he felt. Very great times and free mobile advertisement too!

But the thread name was "part of what hurt drag racing."

It also made me think about why I haven't raced at all in the last 3 years and really in a limited fashion before my hiatus. Granted there are other personal factors but I just got tired of going to the races and not racing. Too many trips where there was a 300-500 mile tow each way and three runs over two days. The value wasn't there for me at the time, which is not to say I discount the value others experience. Maybe a self fulfilling prophecy, I don't know...

I would like to return but have a hard time getting my arms around the idea that I should spend more $$$$ to purchase a motor home to pull my enclosed trailer so the family is comfortable and "entertained" while not racing at the races. Hmmmm

Couldn't we just pack our runs into a 3 or 4 hour block per day and then call it a day to allow for some freedoms for those in our families that sacrificed their trip to Disneyland or a voyage on a cruise ship to support us? I don't hate the idea of hitting six flags in the day and arriving at the dragstrip at 4 ish and racing til 10 pm. Some might scoff a bit at some of the local Friday night drag and round track guys, but they get a whole lot of racing in with multiple divisions done in a night and are able to better capture attention for that short time than the whole weekend format. IMHO

Racers should race more at the races and the families that support them deserve more consideration. They are the ones who will make or break the thing. I don't think the class type and car type changes going on now will move the spectator / participant needle as much as we may think or hope. I hope I am wrong.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Yes, lot's of little things have hurt the spectator side of drag racing. There ain't no magic pill that's going to fix it. The rumor of changing Pro Stock back to more original body styles, and engine combos is a bit too little, too late. Cars people are used to seeing go 6.40's slowing to 7.50's ain't gonna cut it. Now, Pro Stock is too expensive and will die on it's own, and I believe the new class will take off, but be careful and not call it Pro Stock. And the following for the new class will fade after the new wears off. People today just ain't that interested in it anymore.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Classic!

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Yeah, don't know if enclosed trailers is what hurt drag racing. Even back in the 80's before we quit. There were more new crew cab dually pickups and enclosed trailers than you could shake a stick at. This was just at the local bracket races. I opined then that many of these guys had more money in their tow rigs than we had in our whole operation. Back then the tracks were full as well.

As far as spectators, honestly, they just aren't interested in cars anymore. Here again, in the 80's, friends and coworkers would occasionally show up at the track. Guys at work would always ask about the car. Fast forward to the modern day. Other than my buddy's that have cars themselves, nobody even bothers to ask.

At the track itself. I love the fact that tracks now SELL pit space. I know it produces a revenue stream for the track. I just love going to a track and having to park out in purgatory, then see rows of open spaces that are sold to someone not there.

Another issue, this regards local tracks. Practice passes? Unless you have so many cars that you need to institute control. Why do tracks limit the number of passes? That really galls me to sit around all day waiting to make two passes. Of course some tracks will SELL you a third pass as a dial in race! Just fill up the lanes and let the guys run. I fully understand why T&T's and street nites get crowds, guys get to run their cars.

The new cars in STOCK. I love'em. They're not stockers! Like was said, half the field at Indy were new cars. There will be more next year, even more the year after that. I would say the old traditional stocker is going the way of Modified Production. Add to this the cost of these new cars. What $200-250K to build one of these beasts? I have a pretty modest job, imagine a lot of you guys on this board pay more in taxes a year than what I make. Now relate that to some kid making minimum wage or the $10-11 an hour that most places want to pay these days. Without deep pockets, you won't be building a new car anytime soon. I know by bringing this up, a lot of guys will say "I'll just quit". Stock appearing eliminator or Nostalgia Stock are just around the corner. How long before you see ads with cars for sale, because guys will be saying " can't afford to bracket race this car "? Saw it with MP cars for sale in the early 80's. Most of the stockers today are tricker than a majority of the old MP cars were 35-40 years ago.

I know people have been calling for the demise of drag racing for years. I remember reading an opinion column in one of the magazines when I was teenager, about how, without changes, " drag racing would, instead of being the sport of the 70's, was the sport of the 60's "! I thought the 70's-80's were great. Back to an early point, we were still a car culture then.

I remember when everyone that ran a stocker or SS car in Division 3 looked forward to Indy. Didn't mean they would all be there, that was what you aimed for. Now you have a whole slew of cars that run the points meets and the local combos, don't even concern themselves with the national events.

Enough blathering from an old man. I have work to do.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I'm empathetic to your concern, but as I said there is also a place for old school muscle.

Factory Experimental, Junior Stock?

Change is coming by NHRA, but who knows if it will be a viable solution for all.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Well, I stick by the fan base, and track count falling. Normally, you go to your local track, they have seating for 5,000 people from memories of their glory days, and there are 5 people in the stands. Also, in the 70's, there were 7 tracks within 180 miles. Now, there are 2.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Also, where in the hell did the kids come up with $250,000 to buy a stocker. I need to get out more.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I don't know if Drag Racing is hurting or not,but i sure do miss seeing cars on open trailers. If I see one it makes me want to go follow the guy to the Drags. I also miss using the return road that comes up past the tower.That is where you get to feel like a hero if you've just won. Also if you/re in the stands by the tower you can hear cars idle while they are in line at the tower getting time slips.
None of this really has anything to do with the health of our sport,it's just little parts of it that i always thought were cool that I miss that's all.

P.S.-Oh. and dry hops

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I've been toying with the idea of breaking out the tow hubs for one event next year. How cool would it be to pull thru the gates next year in Bowling Green for the Hot Rod Reunion with our car in flat tow?

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I'll go you one better. I dumped my trailer budget under the hood of my 68 Mustang coupe for GT/JA and have it licensed, insured and street legal so I can drive it to the track. Lucky I live within 40 miles of two tracks so I can make it on a tank of gas ;) I'll let you know how that all works out it I get it on the street before the Fall rains set in.

Dale

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I know that you can not go backwards. But I remember as late as the mid 70's that at divisionals and national events every racecar had to leave the property every night. Indy 1973 there was top fuelers and funny cars at every motel working on there cars. Large parking lots were like a car show. Race cars starting up and excitement in every town. Could not be done nowdays but to me that was the good old days.:D

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

I saw the Class Winner pictures; that was a real classy to let Horace take the picture.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

^^^^^^ This.

In the shop, when you have a young racer looking around, they're stunned at the work involved, not to mention the expense. They do not want to work that hard, spend that much, or learn that much, never mind stay within a tight set of rules. It's just not giving the instant gratification they seem to need.

Further, as a society, we're rapidly drifting farther away from rugged individualism, and from an enthusiastic automotive society in particular.

We have maybe 20%, at best, of the youth population to draw from, as opposed to 60%, and of those 20%, maybe 5% of them, probably a lot less, are interested in the sort of racing we do, or older cars, most that are, are children or relatives of current participants.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

That is true, my kids had zero interest in driving junior dragsters, but were at the track day one with their drivers licences and parent wavers..........my 17 year old after proving she could drive a gremlin(tougher than you think) drove my dragpak...then raced it a couple of times this year....after a bracket truck.....the 16 year old son after experiencing that "red button thing" on the gremlin, thinks everthing should have a linelock, and has zero interest in racing a street car....He wants a linelock in the one ton farm truck he drives to school, and would like it to have headers and a freeflow exhaust just like many kids or all ages....Of course they have been exposed to this since 06 or so, so they likely have more interest in it than others.

Their friends at school may have the pimped out turbo this, and turbo that. But there is only one iconic "farm truck"

My daughter and I will never forget our trip to Indy to pick up the dragpak and tow it to Bristol on the featherlite open trailer for its first event for us. Many asked at gas stations, etc, it was very fun. Its much nicer to look in your review and grin, than look at the front of your enclosed. It went to epping, and lebanon this year for the divisionals and the national event that same way.

Eric

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

As much as we long for those nostalgic days of our youth, the stark, quaint simplicity of an open trailer and pick 'em up truck has been sacrificed for the security and anonymity of a "box". There was a time when we would welcome a chat with the crowd of curious folks surrounding the race car at a roadside restaurant or rest stop. Now, that scenario comes with fears that it may have been vandalized, stolen, or marked for future collection as we take a break from the highway. Also hard to argue that our aging group is less likely to be happy with a few relaxing hours in the cab of a half ton while the heavens dump their anger in our lap. I don't know where the milestone in the evolution of race haulers occurred, but someone saw the opportunity to move up and thought, "Why not?".....blame him. :cool:

Not sure if others have noticed, but I see quite a few youngsters trailering their entry level cars to events in my neighborhood and they use stuff that looks very much like my first rig. Lots of them destined for competition other than drag racing btw.

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

These are all very good answers and certainly right on target especially the costs
involved, the economy, and how the new generation enthusiast wants to enjoy his
automotive experience.

Randy, I DO know what you're referring to though...that the "WOW" factor is miss-
ing when you haul a race car in an enclosed trailer instead of an open trailer or
ramp truck...back in the day, we used to check out race cars when they pulled into
a gas station or restaurant...or out on the road too.

Remember when "TV Tommy Ivo" had that truck rig with the windows so you
could see the race car? Think a Corvette rode on top too...he'd use that to run into
town possibly to get parts and stuff...Certainly a bit of "showmanship"...perhaps
some of that is lacking today? Maybe the open truck/trailer could provide a little..

Today we live in an ever-changing, complicated world, with so many forms of
entertainment to take up our spare time...many of the younger generation are
used to the "push-button....quick, easy, and cheap." Future drag-racers???
Probably not....

Re: Part of what hurt drag racing
 

Not interested in American cars anyway. Jim

.