How competitive are you?

[D.Johns]

More rules just means more expense to try other things. You can't regulate and police it enough. Also more strict rules will also mean less interest from new guys and spectators who don't want to watch "homologated jelly beans" to quote someone here.

As for the cost of NHRA Pro-stock and Comp. Here is what one comp racer who is trying to make a go in Pro-stock told me.

"Car $130,000 Do not buy used,it's being sold for a reason....

Trans and clutches, $40,000 you need two of each and at least 7 or 8 sets of extra trans raitos.

Rear ends, $5000 a piece and you need at least 4 raitos....

Two or three sets of tires and wheels with different rollouts, $7500

Various spare parts and tools, $20,000

Engine lease program, $500,000 min but prob more.

Build your own engines? 2 million to get started...

Truck/trailer... Whatever you want. Mine was bottom dollar cheap and it's 19 years old. I have $100,000 into the truck and trailer.

Cost to run the tour for a season? $500,000 plus what ever you do for engines...(Lease or build your own)

In Pro Stock your gonna spend a million a year min if you want to do the tour. Thats what we are trying to come up with now(1 mil) and all that will do is lease the engines and get us on the tour. It will not be enough to be competitive or do any testing. We will be a bottom of the pack car.

As for comp? All depends on what class. But about $250,000 with engine ready to run and about $50,000 a year running it."

[Ed Wright]

Affordable heads up is an oxymoron.
Kinda like "military intelligence".

[randy wilson]

Affordable heads-up is what the roundy-round guys are doing. Unless they are dialing in there laps, and breaking out during eliminations. Might be, haven't been to one in a while. That being said, the hard working guys would still win, just not as wide a margin. What, pray tell, is going to bring spectators back to local strips. If you remember, the stands didn't empty when mod ran at Indy, and the most talked about class, was the most restricted, Super Mod. Are the circle track boys that much smarter, and gutsier then drag racers? They're still bringing in the crowds, and todays local strips could sell all their bleachers, and put up 3 or 4 lawn chairs, and have a chair, or 2 to spare. Why is spec working on the circle, and why haven't they folded those classes. Just like in roundy-round racing, have classes, (which we have now) that they can spend a $million on, but have the cheaper one to. I think what stops spec from happening, is it don't cost enough, and that scares people away that can't outspend the competition.

[KRatcliff]

Speaking of intervention.....

[Rich Biebel]

Right now drag racing doesn't need any new classes or changes nearly as much as it needs MORE participants at the grassroots level.

The biggets issue facing the decline of drag racing as us old folks knew it is numbers of people interested in participating. And making it MORE affordable not less affordable..

Selling $100,000 dollar stockers is not a recipe for a healthy sport.

NHRA loves to promote these new carsbut how do you keep a sport alive when there are so few people that can afford to participate...or own and race these cars

You can't keep driving the cost of racing higher and higher and expect it will survive past the men of my age that have been doing it for many years and can afford it....

NHRA and many of you Classracers don't seem to recognize your dealing the sport a death blow by welcoming the new cars that come with rediculously high prices.

Local tracks are closing....and without grassroots level drag racing our sport will die.....

[Ed Wright]

I ran a roundy round car on dirt through the '80s. Non Of the guys I ever ran onto we're the innovators we race. It is more car than engine. Most everybody had cookie cutter cars, store bought engines. And usually two, many had as many as three, spares in the trailers. It wasn't hard to make all the power you could put on the ground. It's dirt, remember. Two and three 50 lap race nights a week, reliability and car handling and drivers are the big deals. We had winged sprint cars (World of Outlaws rules), usually 1/4 mile or 3/8th mile tracks. How fast it would go around the corners had much more to do with lap times than straight away speeds. Driver and car meant more than the engine. I always did my own engines. Never had had a problem keeping up with the money guys. Hiring the right driver was the really big deal.
People in the stands were mostly locals coming out to see if Bubba was going to beat Billy Bob this week, or if Jim Bob was going to sneak in. The local points chase was a big deal. My car won three championships in a row at Tulsa. Finally got so expensive car counts went in the dumper. Saw the same people about every week. That track has been closed for several years now.
Can't really compare it to what we do.

[Jeff Lee]

The only time I see the stands full, or at least mostly full, is when I turn on "Pinks"

[Rich Biebel]

"Finally got so expensive car counts went in the dumper. Saw the same people about every week. That track has been closed for several years now."


Sounds familiar and this is exactly what I am talking about is happening to Drag Racing .....

[D.Johns]

Ed

That was right in lines with what I was going to say. I have a few friends who race and some even own shops dealing with circle track. Some spend a ton of money while other spend little in comparison. Most money is spent on repairs from trading paint. Circle track is very popular around my area. Somebody is related to or friends with someone that races. The little town has nothing better to do other then go to the races usually for entertainment.(I live in that town lol).

In drag racing we spend gobs of money to find 5hp or gain less then a tenth of a second in one straight acceleration burst. While the circle trackers don't care about 15 HP has it can be made up easily in one corner.

In the end circle track is different then drag racing and attracts different fans. Spec engine classes aren't a terrible idea but its not the end all solution either. I don't think the NHRA needs more classes. If your looking for local stuff look for what is happening in your local scene that's going to get racers and their friends and family in the seats.

[randy wilson]

Everyone relax. It'll never happen. Drag racing will continue down the path it's on, and die a slow, painful death. I'd say SS and comp will be dead in 10 years. I hope I'm wrong, but in the next 4 years, we'll be lucky to afford going to a race, let alone competing.