Deconstructing Stock

[Andys dad]

I guess you guys don't count the sons and daughters of existing OLD racers new blood. They start out with a 21st century perspective because the parents earned them a better starting point and taught them how to race

[D.Johns]

There is truth to your statements. Generations are changing. They are absolutely into electronics/gaming. My 11 year old son and nephew are prime examples.

They don't want to go outside for very long and seem to have withdraws if they aren't playing a video game. They have had very little interest in drag racing. My son has asked me questions about engines in the garage off and on. He is starting to get into going to the race track with me. It's bonding time and he's getting into cars more and more now that he's around it more. My nephew who had zero interest in drag racing until uncle Daniel started building a CJ like he saw up at the US nationals. Now he's beginning to be more interested in it because racing at that level appears important and special.

My 5 year old daughter on the other hand. She is MAD if she doesn't get to go drag racing and can't watch it on TV. She loves cars. She always wants to be in the garage with me. When mom says its ok, and she is ready I'll build her a JR to go racing also. (I would my son also if he comes around to wanting to drive instead of watching/learning)

My 23 year old brother is into racing since he hung around me and my friends from 10yrs ago. I got into racing(driving at the track) from hanging out with my friends that were a few years older then I was. My dad raced in his youth(A Chevy none the less). However never raced after I was born so I wasn't around the sport unfortunately. My 35 year old brother is and has been into cars his whole life but never went to the drag strip till I convinced him to take his car to Test and Tune night at Indy when I was 18. He likes drag racing, but he is not a drag racer. He dislikes the political stuff of the class world and doesn't like how confusing the rules are in some classes on runs.

I see a reoccurring theme here. It took someone to get another person into the sport. To expose them to this world that many have never experienced and it started at the grass roots level most of the time. A class can not be designed to ignite the spark in new people to inspire them to build a car. That's like having the tail wag the dog instead of having the dog wag the tail. If the sport is waining in popularity, I think the proper question is what can we as racers/enthusiasts do to help our sport. IMO new classes and big revisions will not do that(maybe with very limited success with flavor of the months). Exposure and Relationships will. Perhaps I'm way off base in others eyes but that's the way it has been in my experience.

[cicero819]

Originally Posted by Bret Kepner

Sorry, Ed; no beatdown today. There is absolutely no question what you said is true but the folks on this board will (apparently) never understand. If they did, they'd realize exactly how the sport has reached its current state...and why.

Ed's is correct but the sport is still popular and for one, I don't want to see it vanish because some people are greasing their pockets and has the band wagon hitch up and ready to leave town. Bret could you elaborate your quote, because I feel that I'm having trouble following the trend you seem to be eyeing. If you mean that people are way too much in the now and not enough in the future than I agree. Anyways, we need Pure Stock at a Divisional entry level, to help bring new blood and let the old fart like myself run. For the people who say leave stock alone, if you have to pay $5.000 for heads than it's not really stock, is it? Bring Pure Stock or even a form of Crate Motor with a claimer program, problem solved. Claude Ruel

[Emmett Mikolajczyk]

I think we should run Ken Bugaj for President !!!---Keep it simple stupid!!! And glad to see Len still keeps up with Stock--later--Emmett

[Robert Swartz]

To get participation in Stock or any class, you either need to make it appealing by either low costs or a venue that breeds excitement. Stock in it's current form does neither for todays youth as a general rule.

So, you either need more classes, which the NHRA purists say no, we already have too many as it is. Or, you need to kill the costs, remodel the class on the original stock of the 70's. I believe IHRA does have it right, just like the old days of the AHRA, they have a variety of classes that give you a lot of options. On the other hand, they aren't filling the lanes with new racers either.

I can rant about this because, it's really funny. I hear people talk about how terrible it would be for NHRA to allow crate motors. Those same people are running high end aftermarket blocks, aftermarket carbuerators, some are even running aftermarket heads of different variations. Then have the gall to tell us how crate motors tarnish the purity of the class. My point, the crate classes and pure stock are a less expensive way to get involved with the eliminator.

Maybe a "claimer" class would be an idea. The oval tracks do something on this order and it seems to be a successfull concept. Enough of my rambling.