Interesting...Jon Asher on Pro Stock and Factory Stock

[Dwight Southerland]

Originally Posted by House of Darts

It is very interesting that this article is brought to the forefront in the S/SS section. Ever watch the stands at a divisional meet or national event when S/SS race? For the divisional which speaks with more clarity than a national event,. some wives and girl fiends, volunteer pit helpers an friends are the only ones in the stands.Do you see all the double stackers that show up for S/SS? Pretty crazy for the lousy payouts. A FS car ain't cheap. Do you think that the FS cars becoming Pro/FS will help the sportsman racer? Isn't racing supposed to be a show? Horse, bike and all the various permutations of all motors ports is about the fans coming out to see racers race.If you pull the FS and AH cars out, what does S/SS have to show? To work on your car and get it in the trailer, get to the event and spend 1-4 days at an event that doesn't draw enough spectators that out number the number of people in the pits is that death bell. Someone here, started to do something. Not sure if it was Jack Matyas, got a bunch of teens to show up at the track and they got to see the cars up front and got a T-shirt and more personal face time with racers that they would at a National event with the pro's. That's action. I watched when a dad, grandfather and son stopped by in the pits to look at the cars. The father stopped to talk to me and I could see his 9 year old son looking apprehensive at what was going on to the pits. I walked up to the boy and asked him if he wanted a close up look at my car. Before he knew what happened, he was in the car with the helmet on and his dad was taking pics. They kept coming back after each round just to talk. This class racing isn't going to last unless we as racers, promote the sport ourselves. Don't look to NHRA to do anything constructive. If a bunch of reckless street racers can gain national attention, what will it take to get sportsman racers to do the same thing(popularity)? Is NMCA the answer? Ground roots class racer wave? Save the sport. Racer independence. Patriotic?

Good perspective. While it may not be THE answer, it certainly can add life to Stock/SS. It is basically what John Force did when he got started. Not only did he promote himself, but Funny Car racing got a real shot in the arm. Many racers need to get over their grumpy, introverted, negative, selfish, self-righteous limitations and promote their own stuff.

[House of Darts]

Dwight, I glad you said it since I don't have enough class racing credits. I looked at the efforts of Michael Beard and his S/SS promotions only to be thwarted by lack of participation. Everyone that I spoke to was pleasantly surprised by those events. I can never figure it out. A day of drag racing definitely beats anything else as a pass time.

[ALMACK]

Originally Posted by House of Darts

Dwight, I glad you said it since I don't have enough class racing credits. I looked at the efforts of Michael Beard and his S/SS promotions only to be thwarted by lack of participation. Everyone that I spoke to was pleasantly surprised by those events. I can never figure it out. A day of drag racing definitely beats anything else as a pass time.

^^ I agree.
I missed the first Class Nationals but had a great time at the 2nd one in 2015.
That was the first time I ever got to run in a C.I.C. race

Lets see, you want to kill the class that has lead development for how many years? Big Three has benefited from their development. Did they have spec carbs before? No. Let PS have any injection they want and lets see some more development. RPM limit, why? Its their money...Wheelie bar limit? Didn't change anything. Hood scoop, they are still pulling air from the front.. They want in on the muscle sale. OK, your cars are very cool, go run them in FS. I like the new cars. I don't care for them trying to replace Pro Stock even if they are; using PS technology. And you know how I feel about STOCK!

[SSGT Mustang]

Hate to piss in everyone's Wheaties, but there is more support these days for drag queens than there is for drag racing. And the majority of the support that still remains for drag racing ain't for stock, super stock, comp or pro stock. Anyone paying attention knows that. And anyone with kids certainly knows that.

I gave my kids kickass Jr. Dragsters five years ago. It was fun a few times, but now they just sit in the corner collecting dust. I'll be lucky to get ten cents on the dollar for them. I have a stocker project in the works for my son. Guess what? It's sitting there too. Hard to convince kids that drag racing is cool, exciting and fun when they have to wait the entire day in the heat to make only a few passes. We call it relaxing, and a time to hang out with friends. They call it boredom.

The bottom line: There's no "fixing" the situation. The drag racing we know and love is withering on the vine and has been for a while. You can't live in the past, and you can't recreate the past. For those who do, it's called nostalgia.

The only thing you can do is enjoy it while we can. Nothing lasts forever....