Drag Racing Is Dead

[GUMP]

"You read about hot rodding and how it is dying. You read that drag racing is dead. You read about drag strips losing money every week and shutting down."
(Joe Oldham editorial March 1968)

I have a large collection of magazines from "The Good Old Days" that I love to read. This quote is one I came across this morning.

It goes on to talk about a guy with a 1959 Pontiac G/SA that is getting pushed out...

[Larry Hill]

That was the 1960 and newer rule to get rid of the pesky sedan delivery with the FI V8 with a different trans and the wrong hood,Twin H Hudson, and the supercharged Fords

[brian schuetta]

I too have a large collection of old car mags that I read from time to time. It's interesting to see the rise and fall of the economy and regulatory actions that contribute to the opinion drag racing is going to die over the past 50 some years. Will we be aware enough to see the real threats when they come?

[Billy Nees]

Originally Posted by GUMP

It goes on to talk about a guy with a 1959 Pontiac G/SA that is getting pushed out...

I'm very surprised that the NHRA hasn't "slimmed down" Stock and SS by getting rid of the slower and less populated classes yet. I'm ALSO very surprised that they haven't realigned the Super categories by dropping their E.T.s by at least a second or even more.

[joe huestis]

Drag racing in some form I believe will live on but our traditional stock/SS as is has a conclusion date in our lifetime. No tech. lower quotas, no newer model cars in the guide except COPOS, Drag Packs. and Cobra Jets. Maybe a few later model Camaros and Challengers. Plus the tech officials capable of proper enforcement of the rules are waning and many aging out in the not to distant future. I was watching a tape of a past sportsman race where they showed the age of stock/SS active drivers and I bet 80% were over the age of 50. Many younger racers are more into this no prep, twin turbo nonsense than us seasoned racers. Enough rambling.

[Jeff Stout]

Originally Posted by joe huestis

Drag racing in some form I believe will live on but our traditional stock/SS as is has a conclusion date in our lifetime. No tech. lower quotas, no newer model cars in the guide except COPOS, Drag Packs. and Cobra Jets. Maybe a few later model Camaros and Challengers. Plus the tech officials capable of proper enforcement of the rules are waning and many aging out in the not to distant future. I was watching a tape of a past sportsman race where they showed the age of stock/SS active drivers and I bet 80% were over the age of 50. Many younger racers are more into this no prep, twin turbo nonsense than us seasoned racers. Enough rambling.

Drag racing is drag racing g. Should not matter if it's no prep or a twin turbo car. The current glue situation may make you tune for low prep or no prep in the future. No prep is packing the stands so what's wrong with that making a track owner money. Owe I'm 61 and race stock, bracket and heads up no prep. To be honest stock and no prep are equally fun.

[Spyphish]

Lemons BABY!!!! It's a hoot..Phish

[PozQB14]

Originally Posted by Spyphish

Lemons BABY!!!! It's a hoot..Phish

Youre onto something here. I had to install new brake lines and rewire an entire Lemons/endurance car because he kept getting black flagged for having brake lights out. From what the owner was saying, it sounds like a bunch of fun. You could build a competitive car for under 10k. Charge 1000-1500 per seat for a race. Youll need 3-4 drivers. Best part....there is ZERO dollars awarded to the winner. And why is that? "it lessens the incentive to cheat". Winners get free stuff like tires and fuel ect.

[67 Post GS]

Originally Posted by joe huestis

Drag racing in some form I believe will live on but our traditional stock/SS as is has a conclusion date in our lifetime. No tech. lower quotas, no newer model cars in the guide except COPOS, Drag Packs. and Cobra Jets. Maybe a few later model Camaros and Challengers. Plus the tech officials capable of proper enforcement of the rules are waning and many aging out in the not to distant future. I was watching a tape of a past sportsman race where they showed the age of stock/SS active drivers and I bet 80% were over the age of 50. Many younger racers are more into this no prep, twin turbo nonsense than us seasoned racers. Enough rambling.

I would consider myself a younger racer and you are correct from what I have seen. Everyone is into LS, drag radials, twin turbo wanna be street outlaw stuff. There are a few still into odd ball makes, traditional muscle cars but not many. For myself, I'm trying to get my car back out as a stock eliminator car and am collecting parts needed for my engine. I'll gladly accept sponsorship too! This stuff ain't cheap to do!

[Doug Hoven]

Personally, I don't think drag racing will ever completely die out, at least not for quite a long time. Class racing, specifically Stock and Super Stock, are definitely in trouble. While the numbers look good now, the elephant in the room is that I would say more than half of the racers in these classes are over 55. The issue at hand is not only that young people aren't getting into cars, but the cars they are getting into are not very friendly to these classes. Predictably, us young stock/super stock racers communicate regularly through texting, social media, etc. One of the things brought up by multiple fellow racers is the alienization of import cars in class racing. The import car following is huge, especially here in New Jersey. We hear the stories our parents tell about project cars, and most realize the prices are way too high on the sought after muscle cars someone like myself would dream of owning. Instead, they go out and buy something like a Mazda miata, Rx-7, Honda S-2000, Infinity G35,etc. and they "Hot Rod' it. I'm not talking about the typical Atco Dragway Tuesday night "rice burner" crowd with 25 year old civics they put mom's hair dryer on top of, but it would be interesting to see someone be able to build a more modern import street car for stock eliminator, and run against something like a 396 375hp Camaro. I've been told by many adults to just "save my money" and "you'll have plenty of time to go racing when you have a good job 10 years or so from now." The time to go Stock and Super Stock racing is now, so for the past 2 years I've nickled and dimed and begged and pleaded my way into doing as much racing as I can now, before it's too late. Just some food for thought.