Lack Of S/SS Magazine Coverage

[blkjack]

Even if you do find a magazine with a sportsman class car in it there usually are no technical details about the car and engine combination. I really don't care to see another wheelstander either. So basically the article is worthless to me.I guess we are so secretive about our cars that we've become boring. That is the basic difference I see between mags of the glory years and those of today.

[mopar68]

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

Its a sign of the times. Us dinosaures are about to become extinct. The magazines you mentioned havent had anything in them worth reading for about 25 years.

With rare exceptions, X-Tech Man, you hit the nail right on the head!! I can't recall last time I bought an issue of CC, HR or PHR magazine. Okay, I do....it was sometime back in the early/mid-1990s but only 'cause it had a rare Hemi Mopar featured or some resto article, but even back then it was a very rare occurance for I stopped buying Car Craft on a regular basis in 1985 and PHR and Hot Rod a couple of years (or so) earlier. I believe SS/DI was gone after 1996 so that was the last time I purchased it but only after checking out its table of contents.

Man, I remember those misspent, car-crazed daze of my youth when I couldn't wait for next month's issue of Car Car, Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding, Super Stock & Drag Illustrated, High Performance Cars, Rodder & Super/Stock and Speed & Supercar (or some special issue put out by one of the aforementioned) to arrive at my local newsstand, all of which I'd buy without thumbing through the issue first or checking out its table of contents to see if anything worthwhile (read: cool!) was contained therein. I just parted with my 50 or 75 cents and went on my merry way anxious to get home and start reading every word and checking out every picture on every page including the really cool ads that were once the norm.

That was really a great time...

M68

[mopar68]

Originally Posted by Bob Don

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!

Modified Eliminator was my FAVORITE, and to me, the most exciting eliminator to watch back then.

M68

[mopar68]

Originally Posted by blkjack

I really don't care to see another wheelstander either.

Ha, I remember a time when pulling a wheelstand, especially a substantial one, really meant something. Nowadays even a lowly small block stocker can do so...yawnnnn.

M68

[treessavoy]

Originally Posted by Evan Smith

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

You hit it right on the button!

I've raced in all the HRA's and the NMCA and the crowds are pretty much the same size and the new generation's are not interested in old cars or old men like us.

When we race Stock/Super Stock a majority of the people sitting in the stands are our friends, crew or fellow racers.....certainly not the average spectator and I don't think it will ever get better.

JimR