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Hey Blair good to here from ya, I think a lot of the new people you see out today are Drivers not owners, when the OLD owner is gone so goes the driver. Careful of what you wish for, if the new cars get different classes they may not need the old ones. Hope you have a happy holiday and good luck next year.
Dale

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When I was about 13 years old, Dale was getting ready for super stock class and a bunch of us were standing around. Dale rolled down the window of the super stocker and said " I'm going on up to liquor store...ya'll want anything". Then drove up to the lanes for class. I still laugh about that and I just turned 29. You need to get yourself a car again, Dale. Dad says hello!

Ryan Horensky

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There has always been a challenge for S/SS to attract new racers.Maybe more of the problem is the availabilty of such good aftermarket parts has shifted the idea of entry level and low budget away from a class that requires you to run the parts your car came with and toward classes that allow you to simply buy superior parts.You can spend well over 30 grand building even a modestly prepared 12 second class car,but you can run 10's in a street car for $20 grand or less.Fewer racers are taking interest in what it takes to actually build a fast car and more are interested in just getting their hands on something fast so they can get out there and drive.If the E.T and 90 classes disappeared tommorrow,the racers who run them would simply reorginize into a seperate venue.Big payout E.T. races have been attracting 90 class drivers away from divisional races for years,and NHRA or IHRA has no way to control that.Even racers who really want to explore the science of going fast are migrating toward fastest street car type racing.Why spend 100 grand on an 8 second SS car when for 60 or 70 grand you can be running 7's in an outlaw 10.5 or drag radial car?No sourcing for hard to find parts,or kissing up to the engine builder with the best program for your car,just pick a class and buy your bullet out of a book.

NHRA doesnt seem to do much of what the racers want anyhow.Since the no deep stage rule which basically made every slower class stocker seem like nobody cared about them to the current fiasco with late model factory race cars bombing the classes where racers with $100K cars cant even stand a chance in their own class.S/SS racers run class because they love doing it,but there is nothing any sanctioning body can do that will make E.T. racers change their opinion of it.

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:( I'm like Mike, I have been a lifelong fan of Stock and Super Stock since I started as a pit rat in SE Pennsylvania in the early seventies. To me bracket racing and class racing are apples and oranges. Who can squeeze the the most out of a combination within the narrow confines of the rules is class racing. Who can cram the largest amount of pneumatic and electronic crap into a race car is bracket racing. I'll be a footbraker till I die. Ever listen to some of these bracket guys? "Bumped down", "crossed over", "rolled in/out three..." They sound like they're trying to get the Shuttle programmed for reentry.

NHRA is not going to help you, except to continue to take your money. At least three times I've missed Stock or Super Stock because NHRA needed to accomodate the TV people, rescheduled and couldn't care less if spectators knew about it. You're gonna be replaced with Pro Mods, wheelie cars, nitro Harleys, jet cars, frisbee chasing dogs, and some kook on a motorcycle trying to bust his butt. They won't have to pay all those folks who track points, qualifying, teardown, tech, payout, parking etc. Why do you think they keep chipping sportsman eliminators out of national events?????????????

Now somebody help off this soapbox....(bad knees..):rolleyes:

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Mike,103 and dago I think were on the same page just so many don't understand the big change that is so near.

Ryan, hello and tell you dad I sad hello and I will call him sometime soon.

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Any of you guys been to a bracket race lately? Bracket racing is going down the same path. The Test and Tuners, Heads up racers, the Pinks crowd, the ADRL's and the like are whats really taking over.

I agree with Larry on his first post. I also think that cost has a lot to do with it. Face it guys
S/SS racing ain't cheap and unless you or someone in your family is an old "GEARHEAD" you are probly going to do something different.
Chip

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I agree Dale you need to get another car and come out and play with us guys. Just for the record, im 33 and been around s/ss all my life, love it wouldnt have it any other way. Sterling, how long ago was it i was wanting to help change the transmission in your car? Had to be what, 23-25 years ago??? The regular bracket racers dont understand s/ss because its alot easier to run the weekly program. Big tires in the back, little tires in the front...Maybe having more combo races at some of the local tracks will start to put some kind of interest back into it for the younger crowd...

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Duane hello I think your right it needs to be put it front of people besides at a nat. or pts. meet,some kind of a bi-weekly local race,use it as a test and tune everybody throw a few $ in the pot the track match it and go at it, do a track safety tech and police yourself.(or the other guy) that way I think a few more fans may understand it a little better.

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And now an opinion from a Bracket Racer who loves Stock and S/S but is becoming more and more disillusioned about the classes. My first Drag Race experience was at the age of 14 with a guy who ran a new 67 GTX in D/S. Yes, that means I'm now old! I bracket raced a bit over the years but always followed the classes. As it stands now, I can't find much "Stock" about stockers and suspect a new kid coming to the track wouldn't either. S/S get's me wound up and I even like the GT classes but draw the line at FWD conversion Comp cars being called Super Stockers. I also suspect a new person to the track wouldn't understand that either.

I've watched these classes go from balls out first to the finish cars the average person can relate to, become a game of who can manipulate their qualifying spot, hit the brakes, run to 1000', hide illegal modifications, get more and more non stock stuff approved, hide behind a soft index, complain about someone who get's you HP and on and on!! And some of you wonder why or where the new guys are going to come from. A victim of your own success comes to mind in that it's now just too expensive and too much trouble to the average guy. The sanctioning bodies are as much of the problem as anyone else but we'll all be dead and buried before they give a rat's A**

Before the shooting starts, I have everything I need to change my "bracket" car to a legal Stocker for less than $5000.00 worth of parts but can't see any reason why I'd want to. It wouldn't be a killer car but would qualify or I'd do whatever it took. I just have more fun racing with my stick shift friends.

The guy in the near lane is a Legal S/S Hemi stick car. I'm the lowley bracket racer in the far lane.............We both had fun!!

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/973-137_709593.htm

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Dale.....What fans? I havent seen anyone at MIR watching unless they are with a car (Family, crew, friends) unless its a friggin' monkey circus act. Even the IHRA points races dont have any spectators and the "Prez cup" so call National event is lack luster at best and what few do come to watch are there for the Top FOOLERS that usually keep the track from rusting !. Royce lost a ton of money (2 or 3 hundred thousand) at the last race. I go to several circut races that Dave Ley puts on and again.....zip for spectators. Even the Dutch Classic at Maple Grove only the most hard core spectator (notice I said spectator and not spectators) is there. The people in the stands are WITH someone racing with about 10 cars in the spectator parking lot. Very few even care anymore except us old "Gear Head" guys.