Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

Some interesting comments and views from David Rampy

http://competitionplus.com/drag-raci...-racing-future

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

I still don't know how to fix that young people thing. The money, time, and money involved in racing makes it problematic for most.

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If you look around the track in any division, how many young new faces are there that ARE NOT second generation drivers that either race on the 1st generations budget, or race the family's car? Its too expensive to just start racing on your own and NHRA doesn't help. I've been racing 13 years with my Chevelle in Super Stock that was once my fathers, and he covers all fuel and entries. If it wasn't for him, my car would be parked in the garage. I can see the progression of where NHRA is going over my tenure and its literally gotten worse every year with how they treat the sportsman racers. Rampy nailed it when he said "“I’ve raced in the best of times; I truly have.” The days he speaks of, was like when my dad used to race and sportsman racing was respected and appreciated (20 years ago). Now it costs $340 to enter a national and NHRA could care less if we're even there or not. Not to mention trying to wrangle up contingency payments if you win a race. I raced the Keystone nationals in October and after raining all week, I started to think that maybe NHRA forgot we were even there. 1 time-shot and 1st round on Monday morning. I was there 7 days, made one time run, and lost 3rd round, and I couldn't honestly say that I enjoyed myself. I had more fun going out to dinner every night just to get out of the track (which I can do at home). I digress..... this is just years of frustration I'm expressing for my generation of racers. We didn't exist in the "glory years of NHRA.." All I've seen is the decline of car counts and the increase in racers frustration. The most frustrating part is NHRA isn't going to change for the better. They've proven that. These full time Sportsman racers like Rampy and Tommy Phillips, there is a reason that they are deciding whether or not to race full time anymore. Both saying that they're going to race full time one more year? Seems to me that they see where things are going.

- JF
SS/STK 1230

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

I'm pretty much in the same boat as well. Me and my brother are second generation bracket racers and if not for my dad teaching us we would not be racing. We are lucky enough to be able to afford it and we love it. I know we will expose as many people as we can to the sport but the only way I see this thing being accessible to people going forward is shelving your pride to team up with someone. Otherwise, the disposable income probably isn't there.

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

I totally agree. I would never have gotten into drag racing had it not been for my dad. Now that my son is in junior dragsters, we are on our 3rd generation.

What Rampy said is the truth. NHRA is driving sportsman racers away with the lack of respect and ridiculous cost of entry. Take for instance what happened at Noble at the division race in October. Comp was called to the lanes for a qualifier. Everyone was in the lanes and ready when Trey decided to run alcohol instead. At the point he made that decision, every Comp car was in the lanes and not a single, I repeat, not a single Alcohol car was in the lanes. Noble had a total of 15 Comp cars so running those cars would have taken maybe 10 minutes. His reasoning was sticking to the schedule. After a pair or 2 of the alcohol cars, all of the comp guys headed back to their trailers. Trey never once came out to the lanes personally to explain why he made the decision. Instead, he made the staging lane guys tell all of us what was going on. Not a single one of those guys was happy about it either.

I am to the point that a national event is not worth the time and effort either. I will go to a couple close ones maybe but other than that, I do not really care to go and be treated like a red headed stepchild. Not any fun!

Michael Compton
SS/BS 5016

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People may talk poorly about them, but IHRA Pro Ams are ran great and the racers are treated with great respect. Some tracks are better than others, but for the most part if you want to race your vehicle with other class cars in a highly competitive environment, there is nothing wrong with Pro Ams. You get the same cars that race NHRA and the entry is half the cost and the environment among the racers is the same. And sadly for the NHRA, the payouts are pretty comparable.


And like the few previous posts said...I'm building a super stock 86 Camaro, ONLY because my father has the necessary parts laying around and I was able to find some good quality used parts for sale. AND he has the all the knowledge and expertise. Now, if I can only find better driving skills for sale I'd be good to go, HAHA!! Me and my brother wouldn't have 2 cars each if it wasn't for our father, but its a bummer that no one in our circle of friends really have an interest in this stuff. Which is why a weekend at the racetrack with like minded people is so great.

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

That's exactly the kind of treatment that's been getting worse every year. It takes the fun out of it sometimes. I remember the days that we barely had enough room in the motorhome to put all the stuff that NHRA national events gave us. Anyone remember the blue Powerade coolers that were full of stuff? Or how the divsionals used to sponsor cookouts for the racers? I believe one year at Numedia when they used to have D-1 divisionals there, they had semi-pro wrestlers show up, after a crew of guys built a wrestling ring between the stands and the guardrail at the 330' just to entertain the racers. NONE of that stuff exists anymore.


- James Fontana
SS/STK 1230

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

You may want to wait till PRI and IHRA releases it's schedule before investing in a Crate Motor combination, with NHRA picking up tracks all the time a legal NHRA may make more sense....just saying.

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

Jim I cant disagree with you, but the super stocker will be an NHRA car and were building a 427/425 69 Camaro as well. The crate motor is an easy and affordable way to go drag racing. Being in NC, there are plenty of IHRA tracks as well as surrounding states.

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A lot of the younger generation races the import races.

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Damn we missed out. Dad said he used to get oil, spark plugs, etc. when he ran the Keystones and Etown back in '90-91. We didn't race again until 2009. I'm hoping that since I read TV ratings and viewership went up so much this year that maybe just maybe more contingency sponsors might step in if NHRA doesn't fleece the **** out of them.

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

That's why I stopped over 10 yrs ago. The fees where going up and at the national events they were starting to rushing you in an rushing you out. I can remember back in the mid to late 80's when you had to buy tickets in advance to go to Maple Grove points race, cause of the crowds. An yes I remember the first thing that you did when you got parked at a National event was to go to whatever oil company that was the sponsor, for your case of oil and go over to get your pack of spark plugs. You got 4, count them 4 time runs. The fees went up and the services went down. As a businessman I thought that if you are successful than you stick with what got you to that point, but you also have to be able to adapt to your changing environment or you won't be in business for long. This is something that NHRA needs to learn. Most of the young people I have talked to don't watch class racing, because they don't understand the rules and aren't willing to learn; when they can just go watch heads-up racing pretty much anywhere.

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

Those were the days. I hope for our sake Bobby, that it improves, or NHRA is going to end up in the toilet.

- James Fontana
SS/STK 1230

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

Its sad to see our sport in decline. My observation is that the TV coverage is doing absolutely nothing to improve our sport. Back in the hey day of drag racing there was no TV coverage and the stands were packed full and there were lots of race cars both pro and sportsman. Now NHRA has decided to severely cut back on the number of sportsman entries at the nationals and pretty much do away with tech for the sportsman categories. All of these actions are for the TV coverage of the pros. The pro classes are almost dead now but the heads cant see that. I really don't see that the path is going in the right direction. I had some hope when Peter Clifford took over but we went from the frying pan to the fire with him. He doesn't have a clue.

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I met and spoke with him in Pomona last year. I made the comment then that"he is going to make Compton look good!". My thoughts on the subject haven't changed.

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Exactly. And there are a ton really nice, fast cars.

If NHRA made a few classes for them, and gave it a chance, they'd pull in an entirely different genre of cars and fans.

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Appreciate your comment Cary, and while your car created a lot of interest when it first appeared at Indy the ensuing hassles with NHRA are probably indicative of just how receptive they would be to trying to again build a following with that segment. Do you think 'traditional' class racers would welcome more classes while Stock and SS quotas keep shrinking? Also wonder where the 'tech-less' direction (=cut qualified staff) would fit in with new classes. Think the import racers would put up with the hassle of running NHRA when they can attend so many Import Races that fill the stands? Afraid NHRA has completely drank the DSR/JFR/COPO/CJ kool-aide and they will probably ride that horse into the ground meanwhile giving lip-service to Class Racing, Comp and Pro Stock.

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

I seem to recall NHRA did just that a few years ago, with the NOPI series. Between very few race cars in each class, with drastic spans between qualifying positions, constant breakage, no shows, and singles, very few "races" had many runs with 2 cars running together, even fewer where the 2 cars ran within 20 feet of each other.

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

We used to get stuff like that at all national events. I used to use Penzoil, the rep (very nice gentleman) used to bring a case of oil by at every race. 24qt cases of oil. Free ACCEL spark plugs, and Fram filters. First day was making the rounds, loading up. Never asked, given to us.

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Interesting observations Mike, but its easy to see why NHRA has regressed...no board members or bean counters ever raced....they haven't a clue.....

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Great post Mr. Rampy. I was just getting into racing when David was driving the High Times opel and Nova . I not only agree with Davids post but with everybodys post. I severely cut back my racing about 10 years ago because of the kid thing. Always God and family first. I have been saying for about 8 years that NHRA has been trying to seperate the pro racer from the sportsman racer and only run the professional catagories at national events and the sportsman guys only run the points meets. In my eyes the TV money for the pro classes is the only thing keeping NHRA afloat. The future doesn't look good for NHRA. IHRA and NMCA and a couple others are much more fun to run. The future of all racing is very uncertain right now. I wish Mr. Rampy could get with some of some wealthy people and start a grass roots drag racing organization that truly thought the sportsman racer was the back bone of the sport. Mr. Rampy will always be an ambassador for the sport of drag racing. Happy Thanks giving to everybody.

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Ed . Remember the 3 "Participant" tee shirts that Eldebrock gave out for everyone of the racers ... I was just a kid hanging around with Terry Lynn ( he ran D-Gas Class), but those T's were cool

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

I got hassled pretty hard one year at US Nationals for sure. To the point of not allowing me to race. It was really hard for me to come back to NHRA after that, but I wasn't going to let 1 bad apple spoil my fun. I'm glad I came back because I've been treated well since then.

I don't know if others from my genre of racing would've came back or not. But there are a lot of really nice cars that could definitely put more buts in the seats and develop some rivalrys as well!! :)

It was like 10 years ago, and it was dissolved way too early to even know whether or not it would've worked. GM and Mopar money pretty much drove every privateer away! I raced in that series and sold my car in 2003. Pretty sure it was dissolved in 2006. Yes, there were definitely breakages, major discrepancies in qualifying times, you had factory backed teams and privateers, but you need to realize that the cars we raced had ZERO aftermarket support, unlike the factory teams....which was why there was such a wide gap in ET/MPH. We were basically making due with OEM parts. It was probably like 60 years ago, but I would imagine there was a time where you guys didn't have the beauty of just opening up a catalog and ordering parts that wouldn't break. Things are a lot different now. A ton more cars, and much better aftermarket. So the racing is a lot better, and the parts are a lot stronger. So those 2 items have been addressed.

The cars I'm thinking of wouldn't be stock or super stock. They'd have to fit into some sort of Comp class or even a class of their own. It could work and be successful if implemented properly. There are a lot of 6 second, well built imports, and a handful in the 5's now.

I'm obviously just spit balling, but I hear people say things like the younger generation isn't in to racing. They are, but unless they were born into class racing, most lean towards import/sport compact, heads up racing.

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

Thanks Fred for sharing the very candid interview with Mr Rampy.
Would not have seen it without this thread. Would like to make a comment
on the fact that is nice to feel appreciated. Much to be said
about that. While our home track is not perfect this past friday
we had our annual awards banquet in downtown Denver.
Very nice venue in downtown Denver and the Bandimere family
always works very hard to create a memorable night with lots of
pictures, video , and audio. Food was good and it was a very nice
evening. Kudos to the Magna fuels super gas racers who shared the "superman" award for their outstaning sportsmanship.
The Bandimere family and staff always thank the racers and family for their support. It seems like nearly every year the track and or facility gets
some kind of upgrade and is well maintained.


Thanks again to all the Bandimere and Crispe family's as well
as the staff. Happy holidays and Merry Christmas.

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

Yes sir. I had forgotten about those. Always ended up with 2 or 3 hats as well.

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Well it's pretty obvious that Comp could use some of these cars to help before it flatlines.

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I agree.

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NHRA already tried the lice lockets and it didn't work. As I recall, the fans hated the cars, also.

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I have an idea, but we get beat up every time we bring it up.

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Yeah. Looks like the fans hate us. :D

https://youtu.be/r-Q0rEnhgAQ

The 10 people in the stands that are there to watch Stock and Superstock probably do hate us though. Lol

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

In My opinion I think that the Ricers should be able to run in Pro Stock, Super Stock,and Stock. It would create a new form of excitement in all classes for the announcers to talk about imports or what ever a track wants to call vs the domestics ,The problem is how to classify them, which I am sure some one smarter than me can figure this out

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Sheer Lunacy......I'd quit in a NY minute.....

Don't care if a million people showed up at the track....

I wouldn't be one of them.....

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

You scared or something? :)

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This I agree with !!

The Drag Racing scene has changed a lot.
Time to invite the whole community!

D

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

NO...not at all...

I could see your type car in Comp but not the other classes....

Maybe Pro Stock but that didn't go well back when Buddy Ingersol had a Turbo car.....

How do you make a fair set of rules for non boosted cars to compete against a boosted ride....

The Import series did not go well from what I recall....it was very short lived....

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Rich, I chimed in about the NHRA Sport Compact series and it's issues earlier in this thread.

It's also been 10 years since it was disssolved and a lot has changed.

It wouldn't be hard to police, but it would require people knowledgeable about the types of cars.

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And there's a big problem, even with traditional cars that are racing now. What happens to Stock and SS when the group of tech people we have now age out? Not disrespecting them but most of our tech people are of advanced age now so I wonder what's going to happen, this may be why we hear all the rumbling about safety only tech in our future.....

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James, that is and would be a legitimate concern for sure.

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The tech situation can be handled easily by NHRA it is not their first rodeo
. People who attend drag racing events are interested in all classes .All classes just have to be promoted out side the racing event in many ways i know of. Also a racer has to realizes sportsman are the minor leagues of sort ,unfortunately The Pros numbers are dwindling because the minor leagues have not been promoted .
__________________
Don Kennedy 7701 SS

Re: Interesting Comments from David Rampy
 

Although obviously not legal in Pro Stock, it has been legal to run imports in SS for quite some time, there have been Mazdas, Hondas, Toyotas and VWs among others running in SS/MX and SS/Mod stock classes ongoing for years. Also, numerous cars in Comp Elim.

Jim Caughlin
SS 6019