is it just my imagination ?
 

so for the 50th gator's the legend's of drag racing will compete against
each other in sticker'd up toyota's ? say it aint so.
Garlits has a drag pak, I'll poney up a cobra jet for Muldowney to drive

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Yea I read about that earlier this week and thought it was rediculous myself. Legends of an AMERICAN sport racing each other in Toyota’s. Really !!!!! 👎🏻👎🏻

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Just thank the idiots at NHRA !

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Ha ha ha,are you kidding,NHRA is headed down the same path as NASCAR with this type of stupidity!
NHRA take note if you chase away your core fan base you will never get them back,just like NASCAR did....

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Sadly, there was a room full of executives just outside of Glendora,Ca. that believe Drag racing fans want to see their all time greats competing in Toyota’s....Blasphemy.....They don’t have a clue.....

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Those executives only want to see the check Toyota gives them.
It is always about the money.
Wonder if the All Time Greats get it?
Are they following the $$
Might be a good subject for Competition Plus

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

And even Warren Johnson is participating in this farce? Life is indeed stranger than fiction.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

I liked the Tee shirt NASCAR fans wore when Toyota first started. "Toyota brought to you by the people that bombed Pearl Harbour" I know the war is over , Still funny in a NASCAR kind of way.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

B.F.D. I bracket raced a Toyota Tercel my first year and my skin didn't fall off. It's just 3,000 lbs of metal going down a race track.

They make their trucks in Texas and Indiana, by the way. Be happy that someone is forking over sponsorship dollars.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

You hit it Mike, it's all about the money!

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

It was all about the money for NASCAR as well,ask them how its working out for them now......

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

I think it would be much more appropriate to put them in new Camaros,Mustangs and Challengers to celebrate 50 years of American muscle cars after all they did make NHRA what it is today... just sayin.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

God you'd have to think one of those legends will find this as distasteful as we do here, right?

Here's a visual for you WJ pulls into the beams seething, stages the "Toilet Odor" putting the engine against its limiter in neutral, banzai's the tranny on go, launching it's internals all over the starting line...LOL!

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Well, look at the bright side, WJ won’t be complaining about track prep. But I do miss his top end interviews. Driving Toyotas gives new legs to his old quote about flopper pilots, “even a blind man could drive one”.

Suppose Jim Head has removed the Ray Charles caricature from his cars, a product of fans wondering “what’s up with that” and the PC police.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Toyota has 14 plants building automobiles, three R&D facilities, employing 46.000 in direct jobs,200.000 outsourcing parts in the U.S. I think it’s time for their entry. Lots has changed since Pearl Harbor. Toyota and Nissan have opened more plants in the U.S than GM and Ford combined.NHRA needs the new participation and money they will bring.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Better to go without the money or sponsorship, right?

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Meanwhile, Dodge Chargers and Challengers are built in Brampton, Ontario. The Camaro is built in Oshawa, Ontario.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

All true, and sad, and the reasons for them being able to come here and eat the Big 3's lunch by doing so are great topics of conversation, but not here.

I'm sure the Legends are getting paid, and I doubt they much care what they are given to drive.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

I'm pretty sure the sixth gen is made in the USA......

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

As far as I'm concerned, YES!
None of that money will trickle down to Stock or SS anyway. Giving it to the B-O-D just lets them put on a bigger dog and pony show that pushes us further out of the big picture.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

You are so right Billy. Those legends should be embarrassed to participate in such a idiotic spectacle. Some drag pack cars or copo Camaro or cobra jet mustangs that are race prepped might be okay. I don’t think the fans want to see that crap. They want to see racing.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

just an FYI - 2.5 million Toyotas sold in the USA in 2018


Ron

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

A very astute observation Ron.....and not one of THEM had anything to do with 50 years of racing at the GATORNATIONALS.....!!!

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

And...........how many of them are running Stock or Super Stock?

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Billy, do you mean Nostalgia Bracket racing?
Mike A114

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Billy here are the new "Dime Rockets" for 2020.
Those sporty mirrors up front on the Celica could come in handy while being chased.
MJ

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Are assembled inCanada? half of those cars are built in Canada,all the steel,panels and transmission, motors built in the U.S. This was all part of North American auto pact signed in 1970. Canadians buy millions of U.S vehicles every year. Unlike Mexico,Canada wage structure is even higher in Canada than the U.S. Toyota and Nissan have some very fast cars. Open yourself to something new, if you don,t NHRA will be doomed tp fail in this new era.Don’t forget that kids now aren’T interested in the automobile anymore.CR

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Hmm.........pretty much, sad to say.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

And I wasn't even trying to piss you guys off.

I have no idea - how what you said is relevant.

Complain to Big - he is getting paid.

Give it a rest. I am sure you can not.


Ron

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

And I wasn't even trying to piss you guys off.

I have no idea - how what you said is relevant.

Complain to Big - he is getting paid.

Give it a rest. I am sure you can not.


Ron

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

You didn’t p—- me off Ron, I like you...you used to be the Stagg Chili guy many moons ago..?? I just don’t understand how Toyota is relevant when we are talking drag racing ??

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Oh yea the "Stagg Chili" days - seems like a lifetime ago.

Its all about the money - I have become older and swim down stream most of the time now.

Big is not having a problem so neither am I.

Just glad to have a place to compete on the left coast.


Ron

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Ron, you didn't pi** me off either. I asked a legitimate question.
Here's another legitimate question (or 2 or 3);
In the last 25 years, how much has the NHRA raised the Natl. Event entry fee and how much have they raised the membership fee?
In the last 25 years, how much has the NHRA raised the NHRA CASH purse for Stock and SS?

I don't see how Toyota loaning the NHRA a few cars and handing the B-O-Ds an UN-disclosed amount of monies is going to do anything for me other that force me to enter a Div. Event (which I would probably enter anyway IF I had the time off to do it) in order to race for a Class Trophy that I entered a Natl. Event to compete for.
In all fairness, I am not entered at the Gators, but I could have. I had the grade points.

If Big Daddy and W.J. and Shirley can squeeze a couple of bucks out of the B-O-D then good for them but I'll bet that it's a very few bucks. I wonder if the B-O-D will let them sell non-NHRA sanctioned T-shirts!

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

Remember that Chevy, Dodge and Ford all had the chance to sponsor the same event.

BTW ... Is Dodge okay given that it is an Italian company that makes Challengers in Canada?

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

The fiat company will be closing the plant in 2020.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

And all corporate income and tax dollars go straight to japan.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

It sure ain't goin' to any S/SS Racers.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

I guess you are correct, we have seen an abundance of Toyota’s and Nissans running in stock and superstock lately.....

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

All the Hemis are made in Mexico.

Re: is it just my imagination ?
 

I doubt many, if any of them, are still licensed to drive anything interesting, and the lawyers wouldn't be willing to overlook that.