Life Support?
 

Here's two posts from a recent thread here:

First guy...races .90's and brackets ..The board lights up!
Second guy races S/SS, and gets a pass.
Third guy, who doesn't race at all, lights the match.

What does this have to do with the subject brought forth?
Not much , as far as I'm concerned.

Is drag racing on life support ?
My opinion is..not anytime soon.
Demographics and environmental issues aside for a moment, I contend, as long as there's a quarter mile NHRA dragstrip, people will go there and race.
If a fast 396 approaches 100K , racers will buy them and show them off, in search of a Wally. The contingency money is insignificant
Same goes for 305's @ 50 K !

Let's say Charlotte becomes the only NHRA National , east of the Mississippi, plenty of racers will show up, still.

If EVs are the only thing available , people will still race them against one another..
It will be a different clientele, of course.

What say you ?....and if you want to name call anyone, send me a PM.I can take it

Re: Life Support?
 

Mark, as I stated in another thread earlier this month…

Re: Life Support?
 

My personal view is that drag racing as a whole is fine. Some classes are hot, some not so much, but overall the outlook is good.

I first started hearing the NHRA was going under in the late 80s, but it's still kicking.

Re: Life Support?
 

The American love affair with cars was diminished by what Americans were offered since about 1974. For the most part, throw away junk.


What few performance cars are offered now are exorbitantly expensive.


Even the Camaro was stupid expensive, and it was a barge. Never mind that GM forced you to add all sorts of stuff you didn't want in every package. That's a perfect example of poor leadership in the corporations and government interference in the market.


People lost their love for cars because the government and the OE's gave them nothing at all to love.


What's being promoted to today's buyers, especially the youth, is the "fast and furious" crap.


NHRA only promotes the nitro circus. Even Pro Stock is barely hanging on, and only because a few are willing to spend stupid money to compete.


What Stock and Super Stock need is a Roger Brogdon, like Comp has. It's really sad that NHRA can't seem to take the cue that Brogdon has given. He's single handedly revived Comp.


Interest in grass roots amateur motorsports is cyclical, and it's taken some hard hits with the economy, marketing, the OE's, and some of the sanctioning bodies. It's not dead, but it's not real healthy, either. It will survive, in some form. What forms will that be, and how healthy will they be? Good questions, and the answers depend on the economy, marketing, sanctioning bodies, and to some extent the OE's.

Re: Life Support?
 

NMRA / pro media is gone that is why I came over here. We have a local class that is doing well and growing. Looking for a heads up solution. Looked at 9.90 class but when it says a 1000-1300hp car is needed to run 9.90 I am out. My car runs 9.70s with 500 hp. I would look to the sanctioning body to get things under control!

Cheers and happy new year!

Re: Life Support?
 

Yes a go number of years ago people with $$$ come along and decide higher MPH was the way to go, and now it is all about who can run the lowest et from 1000 ft to 1320 without going under. So years ago I had some one ask me to do some simulations for how much HP he needed to run 9.90 in the 153-155 range.



Stan

Re: Life Support?
 

This is no heads up class in the NHRA for your car. The 9.90 class is known as Super Gas and it’s a throttle stop class dominated by open cockpit roadsters. Look at the 10.90 class aka Super Street which is typically a backed halved ladder bar or 4 link car but it too is a throttle stop class with many competitors running at least 135mph and many running a bbc making 800-1100hp. In both of these classes, a transbrake and a delay box are the norm. That said, my honest opinion is your car as it’s currently powered won’t be competitive in super street as well.

Re: Life Support?
 

Ed is correct, sounds like Super Street would fit your car well and there is plenty of competition, some would say just as competitive there as in Super Gas. I thoroughly enjoyed the class before jumping into Class Racing.

Re: Life Support?
 

Just some quick rough calculations. You weight around 2600 lbs car and driver and run around 9.77 @ 136.

If that is the case I get

1000 Foot ET = 9.2043
1/4 Mile ET = 10.9021
1/4 Mile MPH = 133.5387

Stan

Re: Life Support?
 

Super Street minimum weight is 2800 lbs.

Re: Life Support?
 

It's a lot harder to run the X.90 heads up classes with a lower HP, lower MPH car, but some people are having some success. Those are the hardest working guys in the classes, though. You really need to be able to drive the stripe, and you need to have your car capable of being deadly consistent.

Re: Life Support?
 

OK add some lead 2810 lbs on the stop for .25 less time



1000 Foot ET = 9.1797
1/4 Mile ET = 10.9024
1/4 Mile MPH = 131.6549


Stan

Re: Life Support?
 

Bingo! That's about as accurate as it can be.

Re: Life Support?
 

Mark
I answered the question asked
I?m a truth teller if you haven?t heard
By the way ?still racing stock

Re: Life Support?
 

Mark ,
always interesting to hear how others see racings future . I race here in Oz so there are certain differences . Biggest being population so the pool for racers is smaller by far . However in saying that Willowbank Raceway holds the Winters which is in top 2 sized races outside USA . I dont see racing going away in my life/race time . It ebbs and flows but seems to maintain a reasonable average of entrants even if it is down a little over the last 20yrs . We also tend to lean more to just bracket racing rather than class again imo due to entrant numbers and cost for sure , I do think we may have too many classes sometimes .. Heck I race a dirty old street car in the low 10s .
Looking to the USA from afar I do have a litlle chuckle . I watch the pit areas full of motor homes and big tow rigs , and hear racers moan about doing it tough . I watch the big $ racing see similar tow rigs and people moan about costs .
You should try racing here . At my local track it costs more to enter a bracket round than I can earn from winning . At national rounds I can cover entry fees normally, but got to win . Contingency , whats that ? :D
These facts dont stop people racing , it really only affects whether people will travel , I have to travel 10 1/2hrs to my next closest race track . Towing an open trailer and camping @ the track like a lot of other racers here .
Ouch Im off next Thursday to Willowbank to race , I must be crazy :confused:
But will enjoy it while I can do it .

Tex

Re: Life Support?
 

There is 10.0 index. Heads up with a breakout. Pretty popular in north mid Atlantic regions like by Cecil county. Among other tracks. But you should check rules to make sure you fit. Like anywhere of course.

Re: Life Support?
 

The is no 10.0 class contested at NHRA LODRS divisionals, rather some NHRA member tracks run an 8.50, 10.0 and 11.50 index class.

Re: Life Support?
 

I think that's what he meant. There were a ton of those style cars at the last D1 divisional at Maple Grove this past year. No t-stops or delay boxes I believe as well. A great alternative to the big mph t-stop racing of the .90 classes. I enjoy running the outlaw 6.0 index stuff that is popular in the Carolinas with my dad. Delay boxes are ok, but no roadsters or throttle stops. Timed nitrous is ok as well, that's how I get to 6.00.

Re: Life Support?
 

agreed. From a guy running 9.90 @ 139, it is so much more difficult to be competitive in the class than if you're in the race at 165-170. I have no margin for error on tune-up because I cannot see 30 mph difference. When I run super street, its the same crap, but not quite as bad.

Strangely though, I've found that I have more success in SG than I do in SST. I'm not sure if it's because I have lower expectations so it feels like I'm doing better in SG, or if I'm just genuinely harder to race against because my opponents are dealing with the same MPH difference that I am and it's a much different look.