Re: Within Stock rules???
 

In my opinion this is why the class racing will die out as the population gets older. Kids don't have the interest, money or knowledge to jump into any kind of class unless their parents have raced. Just my opinion, yours may vary

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

I like what Mike Keener said a couple pages back. Top Stock was a great class before the 502 Vegas and stuff polluted it.
It looks like the Factory Stock class is headed to oblivion too. Deja Vu? I was just reading some old Drag Racing Magazines, in 1966 they are still calling the altered wheelbase Dodges and SOHC stretch-nose Mustangs "stockers" even after they were running injected nitro.

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

I think they will class race, (because they already are doing it) just not in the current NHRA classes. There are lots of younger (20's-30's) guys racing in the heads up, radial tire-type venues. Stock and Super Stock are cool, but are basically "nostalgia" classes, with mostly old cars raced by old men. (I'm old too, so not pointing fingers, just stating the obvious). And while the Factory Stock classes are sort of a step in the right direction, most younger people that do decide to class race, and can afford to spend $100k plus on a racecar, are going to build something much quicker than an 8 second car, since even most of the slowest radial classes are quicker than that.

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

Spot on.

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

Factory hot rods…..one word …..cool. Heads-up drag racing….real drag racing…..Glad I sold my Hudson! Complain about the crate motors in Top Stock? If you weren’t a natural A<B<C car at Norwalk racing Top Stock…shut up! Sorry, too many Busch Lites…

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

I'm 29, I'd agree with this. I've yet to meet anyone in my age group that has the desire to put 50k in a car to run 9's or have a desire to put 50k in a racecar period. One of them builds his own racecars and just started his own shop. I'm the only one that ultimately has the desire to race Super Stock, Comp etc.

Another problem is that the "cool cars" in Super Stock and Stock are 30 years old. That makes those cars rare and there no such thing as cheap with buying replacement parts for old cars. The other thing is that the newer cars that are relevant and are "cool" to run don't leave you with vary many options. Pretty much your stuck with racing a Camaro, Mustang, Challenger, Charger, Magnum, and maybe a few others for natural classes. It would be GT classes for any other car and most of those aren't even in the guide.

Regardless, at the end of the day, my age group is more concerned with going as fast as you can as cheaply as you can. Super Stock, Stock, and Comp are classes that simply don't allow that to happen. Outlaw Classes and Bracket Racing do however and that's where most of the generation is going with the added bonus of big money races being put on all over the country.

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

I have had young guys that run those cars tell me they could not deal with all the rules we have.
That, and, it is easier to add more nitrous, boost or cubic inches, or make the car lighter to go faster, than to constantly test camshafts, headers, intake manifolds, header collectors, etc, like many of us do to get faster.

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

Excellent point here Ed. Not to mention how expensive testing parts like this really is. In the 70's and 80's Merc and I got lot's of free parts to test and the manufacturers valued the feedback. Free parts today are quickly becoming a thing of the past and are just about extinct.

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

Most of the young guys that run cars today can not understand how we get our cars to run as fast as we do given the rules we have to follow. They just cant believe a 3200 lb all steel Camaro with a flat top 350 and a Q jet with a power glide can easily run high 9 second runs. Most cant run that fast with a nitrous big block in a car that heavy.

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

I've never met anyone like that and I'm around younger racers all the time. High 9s is a bolt-on c6 zo6 on motor.

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

I wouldn't sell these guys short. Spend some time with some of the current heads up racers and you will find that is not true. They have minimum weight requirements, cubic inch requirements, etc. Nitrous and boost are not infinite, and no different than a naturally aspirated motor in the respect that you can only add so much of either before you have to start finding power in the rest of the engine combo. And then they have the challenge of putting down 2000 or more horsepower on a 10" tire, so they have to become chassis experts too.

Re: Within Stock rules???
 

I do know several locals. Helped a couple.