Quote:
Originally Posted by Len Imbrogno
Mark, you are correct in your statement that the overall costs to compete in Stock for a "newbe" racer are prohibitive.
Step one in trying to get younger gearheads involved in NHRA style racing should be to develop a good nationally based street legal program starting at the NHRA member track level. If you think back to how many of us first got involved in the sport back in the early days, it was with the cars we drove to school and work in. Just think about the hundreds of thousands of older model (70's, 80s ) Camaros and Mustangs in the hands of young kids cruzing the streets today. This sport is based on passion and in order for anyone to want to build a Stock category race car (or any class car for that matter) requires passion for the sport as well as dedication. The best way to create such desire is to make it as easy as possible for young racers to first be exposed to the sport.
A nationally organized street legal program with rules close to "pure stock" as you indicated, would be a good first step to give young potential racers a chance to see what the sport is all about
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That is it right there! Spark something within them by just having the opportunity there. Promote it. The heart of our sport is passion for cars and acceleration. The competitiveness comes later. The younger group has to gather a taste for it before they ever decide to build a class specific car. I think that's where it needs to begin and build off of that. Without passion for the sport no one would be doing this stuff. It's usually a very poor investment on money. The passion and genuine love for the sport has to be there for people to continue racing. The competitvness is what forms classes or else we all would just be going to test and tune sessions for a hobby. The classes come later has the people become more and more involved with drag racing.
BTW I'm not young at 29 years old. The CJs is what got me to even pay attention to the other NHRA classes below the Pro classes. Even though I knew of the classes somewhat thanks to Evan Smiths' articles on "Project Stocker" in MM&FF. I was more into the NMRA Heads up cars. I do not have a sponsor yet nor do I come from money. Just good ole hard work and lots of overtime.