Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Is it me or has anyone else noticed a decline in modern stock & super stock features in magazines, or even bracket racing? Another disturbing trend is the disappearance of Hot Rod, Car Craft, and Popular Hot Rodding from our local drug store and supermarket news stands. Has class racing become that narrow of a market? Or perhaps the focus on drag racing has been watered down to the few professional teams? Economics can't be a player since the import-tuner-heads-up and "pimp my ride" magazines fill the racks these days.:eek:
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
it seems that the racing focus in the magazines is on the outlaw street and muslecar stuff. I dont know i dont care for it much. the restoration magazines will do features on s/ss cars but only touch on the history of the cars and the racing class not anything about current stuff
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Quote:
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
This is right in my wheelhouse so I will answer.
First and foremost, it's not 1970, there is a lot more cool drag racing going on than just NHRA/IHRA Stock and Super Stock. The heads-up stuff, not just 10.5 Outlaw, is awesome and exciting racing. Go to any NMCA or NMRA race and you will find guys having fun, racing heads-up. The rules are just as strict as NHRA and it is very professional and competitive. Events are two and three days so it's easier to do for many people, and you can build a car using new parts and go very fast. Plus there are car shows, which is another attraction to magazine guys. With that, both Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords and Super Chevy, two books which work on, have done NHRA Sportsman coverage. In fact, the July '10 issue of SC, which is about to hit, will feature Jerry MacNeish's Z/28, and SC has done tech and feature stories on the Ficcaci's, Steve Calabro/Joe Fasano, Aubry's 409, all in the last few years. In MM&FF I've done stories on John Calvert, Travis Gusso, Jeff Swanson, Grace Howell, John Presing, Indy coverage, etc. Have any of you contacted editors and requested an article? Editors are always looking for ideas, so be proactive and propose an idea, with a photo or two and a well-written email. Terry, I'm sorry you feel that way about those magazines. I can't speak for the other editors, but it is our job (as editors) to follow trends and keep our publications current. If all you care about is what happened in the '60 and '70s then that is cool, but you can't expect the rest of the world to linger in the past. That is not a dig on you, you are entitled to like whatever you want, but don't degrade a magazine just because it doesn't suit you. I don't care about street rods, but that doesn't mean what's been printed is meaningless. Obviously, there are many people reading our books, or we'd be out of business. While I love Stock and SS racing, you couldn't sell enough advertising or magazines to do a book just on those topics these days. The racing world is just too segmented. Because many of put so much passion into racing we expect that the things like racetracks, magazines, sanctioning bodies, etc. should be perfect and the way WE want them to be. But there is also a business end of things. Most people would crumble at the knees if they knew our printing and publishing costs. It's amazing that we can still offer a product providing as much information as we do for just a few bucks. http://www.superchevy.com/features/c.../photo_01.html Evan |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Quote:
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Thanks for your input Evan. Honestly I was searching for support on some of the stuff I've said about class racing's future. I also was hoping you'd step up in order to get a publisher insider viewpoint.
As I've said many times that in order to sustain what we like we must be willing to roll with the times which doesn't stand still. I had assumed the subject of magazines has been a no brainer in regards to direction but opted in making it questions instead of broad statements in order to let the subject draw other opinions. BTW I've tried contacting Dave Freiberger at Hot Rod about doing something with my late father's '65 Mustang but have yet to receive a response. Not sure if it was lost in a shuffle or fails to meet current reader criteria (they seemed to be focusing on nostalgia stuff as of late). |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Terry, I can appreciate and respect your love for early muscle and your history as a racer and tech guy. Who doesn't love those cars? They were amazing in looks, power and performance. They had character, that certainly lacks today, and there were many more cars and options to make them more personalized from the factory.
But new cars rule in terms of drivability, performance, economy, comfort and safety. A new Camaro or Mustang can run 12s stock and 11s or 10s with a few bolt-ons. They last about 100,000 miles longer than any old car and to the contrary, you can work on them, even though you can't twist the distributor and change jets. And with all do respect, just because you hate them and don't accept them, doesn't mean you have to have such negativity towards them and the state of racing today. I don't know what year your Vette is, but we see a ton of cam and head swaps on LS cars, gear changes, intake and throttle body upgrades, stroker kits, carb conversions, etc. There are plenty of modified LT and LS GM cars. |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Quote:
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
If in fact we are dinosaurs, and about to become extinct, all we can hope is that with the interest being shown in the Nostalgia Fuel and Gasser classes, some of the hype will "trickle down" to us. Drag Racer and Drag Racing USA have had a few decent articles on class racers in the recent past, as well as National Dragster every once in a while. :)
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
I have to comment on this one....I was an old car kind of guy too...certainly loved old camaro's....chevelles and vettes....owned, raced and worked on many.....and I loved them....I had no use for fuel injection and overhead cams....and all this new stuff....but being kinda open minded.....I said why not ...lets try it.....
And of course now its pretty neat.....a tremendous amount of work but a lot of fun also....the new engines are really well developed from the factory probably because of guys like Terry that worked on those old combos for years and many of those things are standard on engines today......We done many things to our cars to make it much easier to work on....which I think scares a lot of people away....I know I was...but all in all when you get it the way you want...its no different than the old cars.....just a few more wires for fuel injection......lol...some of you old timers would be experts in no time...and probably love it....try tuning cylinder 6 only in 2 minutes.....with a couple of keystrokes..... I still enjoy driving my 170 mph super gas vette.....but the 08 CJ is a blast..... Rock Haas 323 SS/DA 302 S/G It was in Drag Racing Action Nov 09 issue..... |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Terry, it's not the 2.0 gear sets that make them last. I have customers with trucks showing well over 200,000 miles, with 4.10 gears, and still use no oil & run like new. One of my heros, Bennie Osborn (Used to run Top Fuel) made a real good living over hauling 100,000 mile Chevy pickups. Cleaner running and less oil contamination with EFI is a big contributor to that.
Thankfully, Bennie has retired. He would be like the Maytag repairman now. :D |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Quote:
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Quote:
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Quote:
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
I worked for the late Steve Collison from '81 to '93. Most of my articles appeared in Super Stock & Drag Illustrated but I also wrote articles for Car Craft, Bracket Racing USA, and Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords. I tried to highlight class racers whenever possible and did features on Dave LeBrun, Alan Peters, and Jim Barber to name a few. I love seeing magazine features on class racers. My friend Johnny D is doing a pretty good job at Drag Racing Action (When was the last time you saw a A/SA on the COVER of a national car magazine?) and I have seen some nice pieces in National Dragster.
I too love the old muscle but I also see a great diversity of combinations in other classes as well (like Art Leong's SS Neon). In a utopian world, I would like to see a resurrection of SS&DI but I realize the audience would be limited. Evan is right in that the bottom line is the bottom line. Selling magazines is the goal which means presenting a product that appeals to as many people as possible. (BTW Evan, I am semi-retired now so if you're looking for a writer, let me know.) |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
If you want to see more articles to your style of racing, and an article appears on the news stand, buy the magazine. Don't just read the article you care about with subscription inserts dropping on the floor and placing it back on the rack when your done!
Send the editor a letter and let them know that's the kind of stuff that made you pay $5.99 for an issue that you could subscribe to for $1.50 per issue (the profit margins are huge on rack sales). Better yet, order a subscription at the same time. Ask for more articles. Send a picture of your own car, they may make a feature on it. I did that once with my A/FS Daytona and HPM did a full feature on it. You may even get a sponsor because of it. I admit I want to just grab the mag from the rack and read only the interesting article. But I just bought DRA because it had 2 Pontiac SS'ers in it (Petersen & Angeles). I'll follow my own advice and send a thank you to the editor. |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Quote:
In fact I still have many of those mags packed away!! Jeff I agree. In todays world of instant gratification and short attention span many readers fail to provide quality positive input like they did during the days of Car Craft All Stars etc. |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Personally I really like the new stuff in race configuration. Like was said earlier, once you get the engine compartment layed out like you want it and all the added junk removed they aren't bad to work on at all. I have to agree with X-TECH though. If you took the 350/300 and put it at 250 hp. it would be one BAD and under-rated combo even if it is old technology. Same deal only in reverse. It all comes down to the factoring as was noted. Got to remember that the 350/300 was a mid level performance motor as offered. Not a tricked out L-88 or LT-1 with domed pistons, flat tappet cam, aluminum intake and a Holley.
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
I have no affiliation with them, but "Drag Racing Action" has at least 1 sportsman feature a month. Past 2-3 years have had David Rampy, Gary Richard, Iggie Boicesco, Shawn Langdon, Jim Boudreau, Darren Smith, Tracy Dennis, Frank Maiolo, Will Hatcher, Dave Layer, Brian Browell, ETC. Worth checking out in my opinion.
Jason |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
I guess I have a legitimate reason to post a response. Some of you know, (and most shouldn’t care!), I wrote for Super Stock & Drag Illustrated from 1977 to the bitter end of its final incarnation. Although I eventually carried the title of Senior Editor, I usually contributed event coverage and vehicle features. I would imagine the only articles under my byline which the regulars on this forum would recognize would be my annual coverage of SS/AA class eliminations at Indy from 1983 through 2000 which maintained enough focus on that class to eventually warrant the creation of the Hemi Challenge. When the magazine died, I devoted my energy to getting Indy’s SS/AA class eliminations on television and achieved that goal in 2001. However, that’s another (unpublished) story.
I’ve been editor of three publications and have had manuscripts, (concerning drag racing), published in sixty-two titles over the past thirty-five years. The point made by Evan, even in his attempt to make it more palatable for folks on this board, is critical for the survival of anything in life. It’s not 1970 anymore. In fact, the world is now two full generations removed from that era. If that’s impossible to accept, the world has already passed you by….decades ago. Forty years ago, the sport embraced only two segments. If you weren’t racing in one of four professional divisions, you were class racing. Other than test-and-tune events at a handful of tracks, that’s all there was to drag racing. There were very few tracks offering a bracket racing option in 1970, (even as a singular entity), and most of the few which did have a bracket program presented it in what now would be called “index form”. We all know what happened to class racing so I won‘t bore you with a history lesson. The fact remains that, because of what happened to class racing, enthusiasts devoted their energy to new types of drag racing. Bracket racing, index racing, and a trillion different new heads-up classifications helped drag racing progress. Forty years later, the only viable market for the intricacies and complexity of class racing are the same folks who were watching and competing in class racing forty years earlier. The world moved on. Consider the basic concepts that no school has taught carburetor science for the past two decades and that automotive sales are based on every person's desire for the latest technology, peformance and convenience. Currently, I spend a huge amount of my time with racers between the ages of seventeen and thirty. They have no use for traditional class racing much in the same way a racer in 1970 had no desire to spend time thrashing a forty-horsepower four-cylinder 1930 Ford Model A. The technology was forty years advanced and the power could be bought and tuned to unimaginable performance levels. However, everybody here knew that so where’s the news? The original lure of class racing was never in winning the eliminator; the objective for the construction of any vehicle was to win class…period. As the focus shifted toward winning the eliminator, the emphasis to most novices became placed on bracket racing. In fact, there were very few places to compete with a sportsman machine in a heads-up, no-breakout format, (outside of contemporary class eliminations in Stock and Super Stock Eliminators), from (roughly) 1980 through 1995. When the resurgence in street car racing came to the forefront of the media fifteen years ago, a rudimentary group of three classes in the original National Muscle Car Association led to a wave of new heads-up categories under a variety of rules and sanctions which blossomed into a huge change in the sport’s basic complexion. …or so it would seem. In fact, nothing ever changes. The racers who are involved in “class racing” in 2010 are still building cars for heads-up competition in a variety of classifications which are just as diverse and technologically demanding as any niche in Super Stock Eliminator. They’re doing it at almost every track in the country and they’re racing for decent bucks. Most of the folks on this board, (and, for that matter, most traditional class racers), just don’t see it. As Evan noted, there are dozens, (maybe hundreds), of associations which present heads-up competition every week of the year at hundreds of tracks. Whether it be cars with 10.5-inch tires and stock firewall locations, naturally-aspirated stock chassis cars on drag radials or 3500-pound machines with no modifications but nitrous oxide injection on 8.5-inch D.O.T. rubber, they’re all racing in a “class” and they’re doing it heads-up with no breakout or index. THAT is modern day “class racing” to the majority of the drag racing enthusiasts out there in 2010 and THAT is where the market for magazine readership is “hiding”. They’re right out there in plain sight. The incredibly restrictive options of competing in either NHRA or IHRA Stock and Super Stock, (including, but not limited to, number of events, basic payout and opportunity for recognition), simply become a deterrent to racing when compared with the ability to race as the featured attraction for a sizeable reward in a heads-up format on a weekly level at the competitor’s choice of tracks. In other words, traditional NHRA/IHRA legal class racing appeals to almost nobody but traditional NHRA/IHRA legal class racers in the tenth year of the twenty-first century. In reality, it’s just the same thing over and over again. Modern heads-up “class” racing is no different than B/Gas in 1954, C/Stock in 1965, D/Modified Production in 1976 or SS/HA in 1987. It just looks different and has younger people doing it. Fans still pay to watch. Track operators still present it for the that reason. Racers still show up to enter in it because it’s all about winning the class. Magazines still publish results and features about it because it is currently what sells magazines. If you don’t see it, you’re not watching. If you weren’t watching, you got left behind. That’s life. Bear in mind I’m a “traditional” class racer and past NHRA National Record Holder. I’m not typing this to cause a riot. I’m typing it because it’s the truth obscured by the trees deep inside the traditional class racer’s forest. |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Bret, nobodys ever said it better THANKS
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
I think that both Evan and Bret said it all best, so I don't believe there is anything I can add. However, we (Drag Racing Action) have constantly tried to keep all forms of drag racing (SS & S included) in the pages of our magazine. Just look at our issues for proof. I'm not only a sportsman racer myself, but I have long felt that all sportsman/bracket/heads-up racers (i.e. the "little" guys) get the short end of the stick when it comes to press coverage. If you don't think we have succeeded, then by all means, let us know, regardless of whether it's myself, Evan or any other editor. My e-mail is johnd@dragracingaction.com. Write. If you have the time to read and post on the Internet boards, then send a note to a place where it will count. I've always preached that when you have an issue with someone, go directly to that someone first. Magazines included.
Jeff Lee's post about purchasing the magazine was great. Thanks Jeff. If you don't do that, then it's going to go the direction of the late SS&DI. The magazine business as a whole is in the same condition as any other business today. Blame it on whatever you'd like, but support is the key. If you don't purchase/subscribe, then the reader numbers won't add up and the advertisers won't advertise. Next step is the coffin. I can tell you that while our subscriber numbers are okay, they are short of where they should be considering the amount of racers there are in this world. Why? Good question. As editors, and I think Evan alluded to this, we have to balance the needs of our readers and advertisers. Which is not exactly easy. Do you see pro cars on our covers? Yes, because it sells on the newsstands. By the same token though, we've had our share of sportsman cars on the cover too. We've always been sportsman oriented because there are literally tens of thousands of them. But our powers-that-be need to see the sales to that group. Gets back to support. And if you don't like what you see between our covers, then... Write! That's your... right! Like I said, johnd@dragracingaction.com. |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Oh and I have to thank my long-lost buddy, Bobby Don for his compliment. Sorry we never hooked up at the "Beav". I trust though that Billy Nees took care of you and gave you the $2. tour.
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Quote:
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Well Billy, I was trying to give you more credit, but...
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
John DRA is certainly the exception these days. Yes, they could always do more sportsman material, but it's way more than any other magazine. Sadly though it's not found anywhere except our local Barnes & Noble news stand.
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
This is not competely true
The original lure of class racing was never in winning the eliminator; the objective for the construction of any vehicle was to win class…period. As the focus shifted toward winning the eliminator, the emphasis to most novices became placed on bracket racing. In fact, there were very few places to compete with a sportsman machine in a heads-up, no-breakout format, (outside of contemporary class eliminations in Stock and Super Stock Eliminators), from (roughly) 1980 through 1995. When the resurgence in street car racing came to the forefront of the media fifteen years ago, a rudimentary group of three classes in the original National Muscle Car Association led to a wave of new heads-up categories under a variety of rules and sanctions which blossomed into a huge change in the sport’s basic complexion. …or so it would seem. This is not competely true, In those days you Had to win class to run the Elminator. Case in Point 1977 US Nationals B/SM 39 cars in class. If you were at SS& DI it was your car that won Class & Elminator. [ |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Arlen Fadely won B/SM that year with his SS&DI Project Car (Maverick). Back then, they had class runoffs in Modified and Comp as well as SS and S. Imagine that! Now you've got me all nostalgic about Modified Eliminator!
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Bret,
That might be the best post ever written on this board. It really sums up the state of NHRA/IHRA Class racing and shows that there other options if you want to race, no matter what "style" the eliminator. Evan |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Bret,
I understand were your coming from with some of your info, But im just curious to know when you say that the 10.5, 8.5, and all the other heads up classes with unlimited rules on power adders and mods is the MODERN DAY CLASS RACING, Have you guy's that write all the article's ever done any type of statistics on how many of those type of car's actually are out there as opposed to a NHRA. IHRA type S/SS car throughout the country? |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Stock and Super Stock will still draw more spectators than a bracket race {test n tune draws more than them}.Stock and S/S still have rules to follow,like making it fast with what you have and allowed within the [bent rules]....So before you put us out to pasture,be careful what takes our place,it might be the demise of Drag Racing as we know it!
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Bob,
I have not done any calculations. There are far too many sanctioning bodies with heads-up Class rules to count them, but believe me, there are a lot of racers racing in various Class formats, who don't run NHRA or IHRA. In fact, many NHRA racers have done quite well racing in some of those classes. That is not a knock on our type of racing, or NHRA or IHRA, but our classes are built around factory vehicles with factory combinations. There is an allure to what we do, but it has its limitations. This is coming form a hardcore Stock racer. And even the purist in me thinks that we might need to think outside the box for our form of racing to survive. Bart, I beg to differ, I've been to many NMCA and NMRA racers and they get as many or more fans than a typical points race. If you want to see, get up right now and go to Atco, the NMRA is there this weekend and you will see great racing with RULES and TECH INSPECTION and TEARDOWNS. You can even race your Cougar. The cars are current, they represent what people are driving and doing with street cars today (which is where the majority of performance parts is sold, contrary to popular belief), it's what they read about in magazines and see on TV, plus there are cool car shows, vendors where they can buy actual hot rod parts and ticket prices are generally less than NHRA. No one is putting us out to pasture, NHRA Stock and SS will be around for a long time to come, but we have to realize that many of us race OLD cars that younger generations can't relate to. And quite frankly, the new stuff is exciting, the cars are very fast and fun to watch. Evan |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Evan, .re read my first line, talking about bracket format only and spectators. I like NMCA ect......,as long as it has rules especialy HP to weight ,.....Hell, even crate motors !
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
[QUOTE=Evan Smith,...... And quite frankly, the new stuff is exciting, the cars are very fast and fun to watch.
Evan[/QUOTE] Its ALL a matter of opinion ! Like basketball....I wouldnt flip the TV remote to watch any of it. |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Terry,
You may not like the styles of the cars, but no matter how you slice it, wheels-up, bumper draggin', side-by-side racing is exciting. Evan |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Heads up,no break out will always outdraw shoe polish. Unless your in the car shoe polish is boring to watch.
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
If you want to see how current-day magazines compare with the titles that existed in the heyday of Super Stock, do yourself a favor, get on ebay, and buy some old copies of Hot Rod, or Car Craft from the '62-'70 era, particularly the earlier stuff.
I believe I have owned a copy of every ("Petersen," et al) "Hot Rod" magazine published since about 1954, and the editorial content of that magazine was peerless, to this day, during that '62-'70 era. They had Jim McFarland, Ray Brock, some guy named "Racer" Brown, and a few other really good writers who would devote several pages to EACH NEW ENGINE (such as the new 413/426 Max Wedge Mopars, the 409's, and the S/S Ford FE motors [406/427/428CJ]), when they were released, and would take an example completely apart, and spread the (sizeaable) photos out grandly, showing the special, new-design heads, manifolding, bottom end mods, and anything else that was significant in the power-making department, for each engine! When is the last time you saw an article with such an extensive technical explanation, including beaucoup photographs of a disassembled new-design engine, with pertinent comments from the elite racers of the day, RE the imagined potential of these new engines? I could not WAIT to get my hands on those issues!!! Petersen didn't need to put Garlits on the cover to get ME to pay newsstand price (although, to be fair, I always subscribed... still do) for an issue!!!! During the forty-plus years since that scenario was the norm, has the reading audience "dumbed down" to the extent that they can't appreciate or, even, understand technically-oriented editorial content such as this? Has the attention span of the average 20-year-old drag racer deteriorated to the extent that all this technical information would be wasted on him/her? It was exciting as hell, back in '62.... Has the ensuing 48 years resulted in the demise of the intellect of potential drag racers? Is that why we don't see articles like that any more? God knows, the '08 CJ's, the DP Challengers, and the recently released efforts by Ford have surely contained a ton of exciting, new, technical information that is ripe for dispersal to the information-hungry racers among us. Where is it? I don't mean a few self-serving, "factory" press releases; I mean the articles like Hot Rod used to generate.... pages and pages of tech data and photographs of components. What we called, "the good stuff!!!" On a different tack.... I need confirmation from someone who was there, or who knows: What I heard was that in its final weeks/months, Petersen Publishing (if, in fact, it was still "Petersen" at that time), dispatched Johnny Dianna to Alexandria, VA to shut down Petersen's recently-purchased Super Stock and DRAG ILLUSTRATED. I'd like to know of that's true. Was the little SS& DI such a threat to the mega-conglomerate "Petersen" machine that they couldn't stand the competition???? Un-f-ing believeable, IF that's true (that they bought it in order to shut it down.) If they had done that and replaced it with a similar title (RE: content,) that would be one thing.... but, they didn't. They just left us hanging. We're still hanging,. Thanks to John D. for his efforts to give us a hand. I'm gonna give HIM a hand by sending in a subscription, this coming week. Look for it, John.... Can anybody confirm or deny this Dianna story? I noticed that Johnny left "Petersen" shortly thereafter... probably with a bad taste in his mouth. He was, after all, a Stock Eliminator racer before he took up writing for a living. Terry mirrors my thoughts and attitude totally; we must have the same astrological signs. LOL! I am showing my thoughts and feelings for NHRA and the way they treat Sportsman racers by letting my membership lapse (first time in over 40 years) and building a hi-boost '64 Valiant Slant 6 car just to have fun with. I know; Uncle Tom won't miss my money.... |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Yes Bill.....The average younger male has no interest in the older generations car culture. The majority prefer the s##t boxes with fart can mufflers or a 4 wheel drive pickup jacked up so far as to make your nose bleed. . Just about the only younger guys drag racing a stocker or super stock car these days is the off spring of an older car guy like us. I doubt you will ever see a "Magazine" car like the 413 Plymouth Ray Brock ran in 1962 for Hot Rod Magazine. Can you imagine Super Ford Magazine competing with a 2010 blown Mustang and they even have a good stocker racer on their staff. Never happen in todays world. It is what it is today. Thats why I subscribe to Corvette Fever and Rod and Custom mags today.
|
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Quote:
There are several sanctioning organizations that sponsor racing events comprised of several heads up classes of bodied cars along with handicap racing classes for those wanting that sort of thing. The heads up class rules reflect what the younger crowd wants and unfortunatly (or not) i is not nhra classes. They like power adders and modified suspensions and stock appearing bodies. If they ran some races nearer the middle of the country I would join them. I prefer running all motor but I can adapt unlike most of my fellow old farts. I have to admit it would be a lot easier building a car to their rules because it does not require innovative interpretation of the rules (cheating) to be competitive, Just to be clear, I do not think most of the class racers are cheating but I am sure some of them are, I know what to do the make a pair of "stock" cylinder heads cost thousands of dollars and go faster than most but I choose not to go there I have seen some articles about the new class engines but they are not very in depth, probably because there is not a lot of interest in NHRA style racing among their readers. Then there is Mustang racing. There is even a sanctioning body just for mustangs. You GM and Mopar guys don't wat to see this so you dont. |
Re: Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage
Here is another spin on NHRA Sportsman Racing. Although sanctioning bodies like NMCA and NMRA a very cool and offer an alternative to NHRA, they do not bring as many cars at a typical national event. They may bring as many fans but with 12-15 classes to choose from at a NMCA or NMRA race they usually bring in about 200-250 cars. Most classes average 10 cars per class excluding the brackets, that will have 40 plus cars.
I have been to these races and there are cool, but the atmosphere is totally different, not a in a bad way, just different. NHRA will typically bring in about 300-350 cars with only 5-6 classes. Although some may think NHRA sportsman racing is doomed with all the new cars and strict rules, they still command a good part of the sportsman racing. Chrysler and Ford getting involved NHRA sportsman racing shows me they feel there is a market for their products. They have access to all the demographics like any big corporation would have and they feel its worth getting involved in. Magazines only offer one part of the exposure for racing and we many not get the coverage we should, but there are other places to get exposure. I think the internet has opened up more avenues and has giving sportsman's racing more coverage and helps keep sportsman racing alive and hopefully growing. |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:53 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright Class Racer.com. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.