The end of class racing....again...
Here's some posts from 2007;
They have given all our pit area to Motor Homes on both sides of the track, consession trailers, all sorts of tents, passenger cars, golf carts, Pro Mods with lots of room for each, and Alcohol Funny Cars with lots of room for each. There's just not any pit space left for us and the track just won't spend any money to make more. Now I'm sitting at home with no transportation and my truck, trailer, race car sitting in an old rice field with 6" of water all around and piles of dirt in front of the truck and no telling when I'll be able to get it out, at least I'm not hundreds of miles from home like some. Nhra took a day of racing away this year and charged us more money to get in and some wonder why the car count is down? I believe it maybe even less in the future. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They wonder why racers are quitting, after more than 30 years of racing, it just was not fun anymore, miss the racers, don't miss NHRA..... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHRA= NOT HELPING RACERS ANYMORE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHRA needs to stop the insanity. How did we ever let it get this far? The only thing we S/SS have ever stuck together on was the mufflers and a lot of you didn?t want to sign the petition back then, but Dan and I with a hand full kept pushing the issue. A great division 3 tech man told me it was a done deal, but we did defeat them on that issue, the tech man remained neutral on the issue. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Just curious with all these problems with the mistreatment of sportsman racer's at NHRA national events why not just stop racing at them and try racing IHRA instead where stuff like this never happens." when I can run at least 5 IHRA races within a 8 hr drive then I will consider it ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 minute search and I can find the EXACT same "the sky is falling" threads from 2007 or farther since this has been going on since what 1972??? When smog stuff hit everyone said "8 to 1 compression, racing is done" Then FI "racing is done" Then imports and the exploding fwd's "these are the new muscle replacing the dinosaurs" Then gas went to $6 per gallon "that's it, racing is done for now" Then the "RPM Act" "it's all over now" So what is "todays" reason for the end of racing?? Just curious as I don't have a crisis to panic about today, lol...... I see it as getting better. Perhaps it is just locally, but our local S/SS association went from about 16 cars when I tech'd in 2008 to about 40+ cars now (Thanks Jeff Kempton) and we have a series with real money thanks to John Scotti. We lost one track (PEI) but gained a new one. (Cape Breton) I view drag racing in general and S/SS in particular as Henry Ford said "if you think you can or if you think you can't...you're right" In other words, I won't be joining the "woe is me" crowd. So, any GOOD stories about racing to talk about??? |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
As I’ve stated before…
This is going to die, the only question that remains is when. My guess is the final curtain call happens in 10-15 years when you'll have less than half the class racers you do today. stock, super stock, comp will be decimated due to the large loss of racers. What little new blood is interested in drag racing, are going bracket racing where at least they have a chance of winning money that will allow them to be more competitive. Further they don't have to deal with NHRA's rules nor take a week off of work to compete at a 3 day event where you spend most of that time doing no racing. This has been a long time coming. America fell out of love with their cars, no longer has a car culture. Young men and women no longer dream of the day they get their driver’s license much less dream of buying or building a hot rod. It’s no longer cool and the reason why auto shop no longer is a curriculum in high school. Without the youth of America loving cars, there is no future for drag racing except maybe on a screen gaming. |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
A few years ago it was Pro Stock and Fuel classes that were dying with low car counts. Now in this supposed horrid economy I've been listening to people moan about all of those classes have new teams and new drivers. Drag Illustrated has promoted races and so have others. Seems every week I hear about a lot of renovations at tracks all around the country and even new tracks being built. I guess I don't watch enough TV or play on FB.
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Re: The end of class racing....again...
1320,
Yes, you have commented on this topic, before and before and before... The problem with your long winded, repetitive statement is; you are a former .90 racer who pretends to think you understand class racers. You DON'T. Your time would be better spent commenting on something you are actually participating in. You know, sitting in your garage, staring at the race car that you don't race |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
El Douche is back again, aka imakehp aka Dave Kemblowski from DRR a pathetic old man that ain't ever done shyt on the track and no longer races, he had a reputation of being a hack with 1 reviewer referring to him as a "churlish slob" when he owned The Balance Shop in Cali and his only reason for posting on Class Racer is to bait me, having joined this forum on 1-14-24 with 22 of his current 25 posts commenting about me/my replies while he attempts to hide behind a computer screen, scared to own his comments. He's a self proclaimed billy badass that never got respect in the racing community and clearly was bullied in school with that last name.
Further El Douche has never been a former competitive racer in any class much less S/SS nor .90. Further yet, he is wrong as usual as I am not a former .90 racer.:p |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
[QUOTE=goinbroke2;706427]Here's some posts from 2007;
They have given all our pit area to Motor Homes on both sides of the track, consession trailers, all sorts of tents, passenger cars, golf carts, Pro Mods with lots of room for each, and Alcohol Funny Cars with lots of room for each. There's just not any pit space left for us and the track just won't spend any money to make more. Now I'm sitting at home with no transportation and my truck, trailer, race car sitting in an old rice field with 6" of water all around and piles of dirt in front of the truck and no telling when I'll be able to get it out, at least I'm not hundreds of miles from home like some. Nhra took a day of racing away this year and charged us more money to get in and some wonder why the car count is down? I believe it maybe even less in the future. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They wonder why racers are quitting, after more than 30 years of racing, it just was not fun anymore, miss the racers, don't miss NHRA..... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHRA= NOT HELPING RACERS ANYMORE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHRA needs to stop the insanity. How did we ever let it get this far? The only thing we S/SS have ever stuck together on was the mufflers and a lot of you didn?t want to sign the petition back then, but Dan and I with a hand full kept pushing the issue. A great division 3 tech man told me it was a done deal, but we did defeat them on that issue, the tech man remained neutral on the issue. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Just curious with all these problems with the mistreatment of sportsman racer's at NHRA national events why not just stop racing at them and try racing IHRA instead where stuff like this never happens." when I can run at least 5 IHRA races within a 8 hr drive then I will consider it ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 minute search and I can find the EXACT same "the sky is falling" threads from 2007 or farther since this has been going on since what 1972??? When smog stuff hit everyone said "8 to 1 compression, racing is done" Then FI "racing is done" Then imports and the exploding fwd's "these are the new muscle replacing the dinosaurs" Then gas went to $6 per gallon "that's it, racing is done for now" Then the "RPM Act" "it's all over now" So what is "todays" reason for the end of racing?? Just curious as I don't have a crisis to panic about today, lol...... I see it as getting better. Perhaps it is just locally, but our local S/SS association went from about 16 cars when I tech'd in 2008 to about 40+ cars now (Thanks Jeff Kempton) and we have a series with real money thanks to John Scotti. We lost one track (PEI) but gained a new one. (Cape Breton) I view drag racing in general and S/SS in particular as Henry Ford said "if you think you can or if you think you can't...you're right" In other words, I won't be joining the "woe is me" crowd. So, any GOOD stories about racing to talk about???[/QUOTE As I hear, racing is a way to make new friends and bond over issues |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
Pleople don't ride horses and buggies like they did 150 years ago, but as far as I can tell, there is still a pretty active equestian community hanging around. I think auto racing is going to outlast most of us.
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Every time there is a slump in car counts there is always a rebound. |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
A big slump in car counts is coming in the next decade :D that there will be no rebound from!
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Re: The end of class racing....again...
The old saying;
Hard times create strong men Strong men create good times Good times create weak men Weak men create bad times Bad times create strong men... Ray Dalio also has a book on this called "the fourth turning". I've always loved Stock but just bracket raced because there is no way I could afford a stocker let alone afford to race a stocker...then I saw the 302 2bbl refactoring and thought, it won't get any easier than that! Just as "everybody is leaving and it's almost gone"...and then I and several other start new builds.... It will never "go away" because there is the demand for it. Will it be NHRA or something else? Who knows but there will be some form of class racing in the future. Maybe A/SE for A/Stock Electric? LOL!! |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
Well I can afford to buy a top shelf stocker and race it but chose not too. I rather take that $100k plus and build another dragster or former super stocker that can compete weekly for 5 and 6 figures and race everyday, all day at an event!
That said at some point, sooner than later this will end and before that happens, sponsors will continue to part ways with the NHRA, the contingency program will continue to erode, entry fees will continue to rise while payouts will remain the same or be cut. If this survives beyond 2040, it will be very different than what it is today. Doesn’t matter me, I’ll be be bowing out no later then the end of this decade. |
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Re: The end of class racing....again...
El Douche is back again, aka imakehp aka Dave Kemblowski from DRR a pathetic old man that ain't ever done shyt on the track and no longer races, he had a reputation of being a hack with 1 reviewer referring to him as a "churlish slob" when he owned The Balance Shop in Cali and his only reason for posting on Class Racer is to bait me, having joined this forum on 1-14-24 with 23 of his current 26 posts commenting about me/my replies while he attempts to hide behind a computer screen, scared to own his comments. He's a self proclaimed billy badass that never got respect in the racing community and clearly was bullied in school with that last name.
Further El Douche has never been a serious competitive racer in any class and the fact that his only reason for posting here is me says everything about his character. |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
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Personally I am not, so I'll keep that 500-800 bucks and race NHRA or locally for a few weeks instead lol. And have fun doing it. |
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But...IF I had the money?...I would travel, a lot. Run all my divisional's and take in races all through the south for winter. New motorhome/trailer/car load up the gaskets and spare parts and stay warm all winter! lol! And if I HAD that much money, I would certainly be out there with something nicer than what I've got... but I'm not into shiny so a nice clean rust free car from the south would be all I need. As far as which class? I like being chased and the lower cost of maintenance for a slow car so maybe a clean slow car? (win a couple million in the lottery and buy a nice clean escort stocker that's currently for sale? (that's me, shooting for the stars, lol!!) |
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Re: The end of class racing....again...
To be honest, I'm not sure when class racing will "end" completely. Toyota has announced that 2025 will be their last season in the Pro categories. I would be more inclined to believe that the Pro classes are going to fizzle out before the sportsman classes. We don't really need manufacturer support to continue racing our classes, but they do. I would think that in the next 10 years, if NHRA politely tells us to "piss off," I'm sure there will be a surge in association races around the country. I am also concerned about the amount of Stock/SS drivers that are, for lack of a better term, going to "age out" in the next 10-15 years, but I don't think it will cause sportsman racing to die instantly. Me personally, I just want to go racing. Whether that means running Stock, Super Stock, Pro ET, No-Box, I'm going to race as long as I can. For what it's worth, even with a Q-jet, a 3 speed, and running C11, the few times I've 1/8 mile raced the nova, it usually repeats within .01 all day.
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That said, .015 package and better every round will win a lot of races! .020 - 025 packages will win rounds. If you have a car that is deadly, then all you have to do is let go equal to or better than your opponent. Knowing how to drive the strip is advantageous;) That said 2, I don’t ever have to leave my home track to race for more $ weekly in a single day competing in the Summit ET Points Series. than a national event pays after sitting there for 4 days or longer. |
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That really doesn't matter, if he still shows up here regurgitating the same Bullshyt. :eek: Stan |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
Says mr. desk top dyno, a nobody, a computer programmer, an old man who never raced and that no one here with a clue gives him, nor his malarkey the time of day and no surprise once again, he only replies to this thread to comment about me.
Pathetic fool who won’t be around in 2040! |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
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Interesting how for the rest of us the end of this decade is 2030. :D Stan |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
Stop wasting what little time you have left on this rock! No one with a clue here, cares what you have to say, you’re not a racer and never have been.
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Re: The end of class racing....again...
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If this is so why do you continue to post on Stock and Super Stock page? Frank |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
Because I can!
Where I chose to spend my $ has nothing to do with my opinion as to when class racing as we know it today will end. |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
There?s nothing like putting your son in a fast car and watching him win. I?ve done it and I wouldn?t trade it for nothing.
However ,building a stocker has its rewards also. I love to do fabrication, suspension , motors and tuning. Stock is just plain cool! Ed, I think you would have a blast in stock and it would serve the purpose in Brackets too. Or Superstock? you are at most events there running SC anyway? |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
No, We haven't class raced in 2 years. Don’t know yet if we will in 2025. We only want to class race IF we can commit to the full schedule to run for a championship. If not, we have no interest in showing up for a few events.
That said, IF I was to run stock eliminator it will be in a COPO. |
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Re: The end of class racing....again...
"It's the economy, stupid." James Carville
As with many hobbies and avocations, the economy and disposable incomes has a lot to do with who participates and at what level. We've been stuck in the mud for the past 4 years. I see attitudes, outlooks and reasons to be optimistic getting better every day. I see people with that "let's roll up our sleeves and get busy now" frame of mind. I'd like to think fuel will come down and travel not be so expensive. Inflation not be such a killer to budgets. Business pick up. Now that we know what the next few years won't be, we can be optimistic about what they will be. As we get into 2025, I think people will feel more able to spend some money, get cars back out, and get out of that bunker mentality. When things get tight and uncertain, often parking the race car is the first thing that happens for many people. |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
Buddy of mine has a small transmission business he's run for almost 30 years. In the last 4 years he has seen his business see-saw up and down. The week before the election his phone had pretty much stopped ringing, not even any tire kickers. He was afraid if things didn't change he was done.
Saw him the other day and since the election things have picked up very well. He's guardedly optimistic he's going to make it. |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
I don't really agree with the notion that class racing is dying. At least not anymore so than other types of drag racing, save for the street outlaw, no prep, no time, drag radial, Pro Mod stuff. At least in this part of the country.
Eight grade points to get into most national events. 130 and over 100 cars respectively at the Dutch. And the notion that every one involved has gray hair? Plenty do. But I see plenty of younger and young people involved in the lanes as well. Granted, it's not easy or cheap. It's not for the guy who wants to drag his stuff out Saturday morning, go to the track, get done and get home Saturday night, and leave it sit until next Saturday. It's not for the guy who wants a minimum of rules to pay attention to. Too many people eat and sleep this stuff to declare it dead. NHRA could do a lot to increase car counts as well, if they wanted to. Increase the payout beyond the humiliating levels they are now. Revive the contingency program and reduce the costs for companies to participate. Open the Big Shows to more cars. |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
who is in the white house has nothing to do with class racing as we know it dying.
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This was thankfully slapped down with the recent Chevron deference reversal. In simple terms, the EPA was writing the regulations when it is the job of congress to do that. The EPA is the enforcement arm under the Executive branch. They cannot write legislation and enforce it which was what they were doing more or less. Fortunately the RPM Act never proceeded which would have included race cars which the EPA Act specifically excluded. The RPM Act would have included them. That would definitely been headwinds for our collective interests. Who we vote for is somewhat like the butterfly effect. Good and bad. |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
simply stated it aint as much fun as it used to be
nhra enhancements costs me more for less fun getting too old to race by myself, so my days are numbered damn car won t slow down so i can quit capt |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
Since drag racing is an "entertainment" or "hobby" to 99% of us we focus on the economy and OUR interests. However, my wife has her pilots license and is involved with "fly NS" or whatever it's called. Guess what? It's "discretionary" funds that are spent in the flying hobby too. Guess what everyone in the hanger or canteen is talking about? How expensive it is for landing fees, gas, rental hours, all have gone up and "the writing is on the wall for small planes"....sound familiar???
Ever talk to the guys running mud trucks in competition? We have "thunder in the valley" here and one of the biggest 460 guys who builds engines for them goes on about how there is "might be the last year, not sure how much longer it'll be running". Of course he's said that for 8 years I've lived here........ The only way ANYTHING "goes away" is if the people who enjoy it stop doing it. Period. Can't afford it? Broke everything so it'll take a year or two to get back? Getting to old to spend weekends at the track working on stuff? Lots of potential reasons, but all are a moot point if there is anyone with a desire and do not fall into one of the aforementioned scenarios. Love it? Yup! Can afford it? Yup....it won't die. Or you can not race but **** on everyone who does, and enjoys it. Imagine going on a flying forum and tell them (as a non pilot) that all their small engine craft are all gone, done, nobody will be flying in 5 years... what do you think the response from those who are actively flying would be?????? |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
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The way this hobby goes away is by death, both of the participants, racers and staff that work these events and car culture which has already died with late Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha. You can't deny the inevitable. |
Re: The end of class racing....again...
I'm sure that in 1924 someone else calling himself 1320racer was writing letters to his friends predicting the demise of quarter horse racing . . .
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Of course you can’t and I do :D
I’m a realist, nothing last forever. |
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