[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by nhramnl

I'm old enough to have witnessed firsthand the slow, but constant (and continuing) decline of Sportsman racing. It has long been my opinion that the prime cause for it is drag racing's own version of "Creeping Socialism". Years ago, Stockers were essentially stock and Super Stockers were Stockers with bigger back tires and any camshaft you thought would work. Then came the ported heads conflict, where cheaters got caught running at first, acid ported heads, then ground-up and re-welded heads. What was the "punishment"? Make ported heads legal. And a few bucks-down, deep-thinking, do-it-yourself racers (the founders of the sport, BTW) said "I haven't got the money for a ported heads and intake setup" and they quit or went Super Gas racing. Fast forward to 2018, and Stockers are now Super stockers with skinny back tires (like tire width matters anymore anyway, with today's tire compounds), and Super Stockers are Comp cars with small carburetors or funky, stock EFI systems. And still, the same racers who complain that the class racing is dying ask for more and more exotic and expensive technology. "Car counts are way down!" Sure they are; fewer and fewer people have $40,000 for a top-tier SS motor, and no matter how much cash you've got, you can't outspend GM, Ford and Chrysler. The reward used to be, you did your own deal and then put it up against the other guy's deal, to see who was smarter and worked harder. Nowadays, it's just a check-writing contest, with rich guys in golf shirts posing next to their store-bought Super Stock car.

You nailed it dead on !