Classes at Events (2 Viewers)

[Gregg Pickens]

X2...

Thats your opinion and your entitled to it. In my opinion it is and for many of us its the only way we can afford to race and be competitive. For me I got tired of watching the fuel classes a while ago. Most of the drivers can't see the other car and some put tape over their visors so they don't see them. The same people win over and over and they give the same interview speech every time they get in front of the camera. Give me a good sportsman race where there is genuine competition (with or without throttle stops) and I'll watch every time, when Im not already racing.

Here is a bigger question for everyone. Who needs who more, do the Pros need the Sportsman racers or do the Sportsman racers need the Pros? Drag Racing started and existed long ago without the Professional racers. I think it would go on just as well without them.

 

[clwill]

Thats your opinion and your entitled to it. In my opinion it is and for many of us its the only way we can afford to race and be competitive. For me I got tired of watching the fuel classes a while ago. Most of the drivers can't see the other car and some put tape over their visors so they don't see them. The same people win over and over and they give the same interview speech every time they get in front of the camera. Give me a good sportsman race where there is genuine competition (with or without throttle stops) and I'll watch every time, when Im not already racing.

Here is a bigger question for everyone. Who needs who more, do the Pros need the Sportsman racers or do the Sportsman racers need the Pros? Drag Racing started and existed long ago without the Professional racers. I think it would go on just as well without them.

X2...

 

[SundayNiagara]

Belated Happy Birthday wishes my friend!

I was wondering what you'd call your own quarter-mile trips down a drag strip with someone in the other lane and a dial in on your window, if it's not "drag racing"?

Handicap racing IS drag racing!

 

[SundayNiagara]

What's your point? There are thousands of people who love to do it, they pay good money to do it. Let them do it. You don't have to watch.

I don't watch and I don't like it AND I don't mind telling you, either!

 

[SundayNiagara]

God bless Top Sportsman/Dragster!

 

[vegasnitro]

God bless Top Sportsman/Dragster!

5 years from now TS/TD won't exist, at least in their current guise. It will go the way of ALL OTHER sportsman classes in drag racing history without an index (TAD and TAFC excluded of course). It will either become way too spendy and car counts will go down, or it will be legislated to death. Enjoy it while you can.

 

[Dave]

Lets look at the Jegs Sports Nationals, 1600 Entries for all Sportsmen classes, $488,000.00 just for car and driver, and Yet again: WOWZERS!!! (oh, and before anyone falsely accuses me of anything, this is JUST INFORMATION ONLY that makes you think hmmmmm, I think the Jegs Nationals is a GOOD Competition Event)

Most of my friends that travel to race in the S/C, S/G, etc......Usually have 1 extra guy, so lets say that it's $75 per weekend (I don't know what the crew guy price is right now, but using $75 as a round number) you can add another $120,000 to the 488,000 for a total of: 608 K per event, now times the 3 Jegs races: $1,824,000.00 in entry fees and this is before 1 car goes down the track.

Nancy,

I don't know where you got the 1600 entries but the sportsnationals don't have that many cars in one weekend. It would take a week to run that many cars. The sportsnationals in Hebron had about 500 cars and Belle Rose was about the same, possibly less so maybe the figure you have is for all three races total.

 

[Dave]

.......Here is a bigger question for everyone. Who needs who more, do the Pros need the Sportsman racers or do the Sportsman racers need the Pros? Drag Racing started and existed long ago without the Professional racers. I think it would go on just as well without them.

I'm pretty sure the Pros could survive without the Sportsman racers just as the Sportsman racers can survive without the Pros. The only difference is the Pros would exist off sponsor and spectator money and the Sportsman would continue to pay their own way.

 

[Huge]

This is the same -issing contest that has been going on since before dirt was discoverd. You are trying to compare apples with oranges. They both are fruits, but they both look and taste different. The sportsmans have their place in racing, and the pros have theirs. I feel that we need both.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Nancy,

I don't know where you got the 1600 entries but the sportsnationals don't have that many cars in one weekend. It would take a week to run that many cars. The sportsnationals in Hebron had about 500 cars and Belle Rose was about the same, possibly less so maybe the figure you have is for all three races total.

NHRA National Event Entry Statistics

I just went off of their entry numbers as a reference, it's still big money, either way with the 8 classes represented. Since 200 cars is appx 8 rounds, I could see it as doable, however parking would be interesting LOL


Happy Holidays Dave!!

 

[Draw 3D]

5 years from now TS/TD won't exist, at least in their current guise. It will go the way of ALL OTHER sportsman classes in drag racing history without an index (TAD and TAFC excluded of course). It will either become way too spendy and car counts will go down, or it will be legislated to death. Enjoy it while you can.

There is a 6.00 index in the NHRA version, that is, you cannot run quicker than 6.00.

 

[vegasnitro]

There is a 6.00 index in the NHRA version, that is, you cannot run quicker than 6.00.

I had no idea ... thanks for the info.

 

[Bill]

What's your point? There are thousands of people who love to do it, they pay good money to do it. Let them do it. You don't have to watch.

It's not that inoccuous; the cars that populate that type of class displace real race cars... there's not an unlimited number of spaces on NHRA's dance card. If that doesn't bother you, then you simply don't understand drag racing.

 

[Bill]

I was wondering what you'd call your own quarter-mile trips down a drag strip with someone in the other lane and a dial in on your window, if it's not "drag racing"?

Bracket racing.

Thanks for the birthday wishes!!!!

 

[Draw 3D]

I had no idea ... thanks for the info.

Some of the money-endowed teams want NHRA to remove the index because they say it is too much like bracket racing and is an embarrassment for them, even though TD/TS are based on Advance ET which IS a bracket class.

If they succeed then your earlier post WILL come true!

 

[cone]

Bracket racing IS index racing, you just pick your own number. As far as the electronics doing the work for you, most people on here should try it and see if they are successful since the electronics do the work. I agree that watching class racing is not the best, especially if you do not understand what is happening, but the stands clear out for Pro Stock now so I don't think throttle stops are the problem!

 

[NYNitro86]

I'm glad to see Stock, Super Stock, Super Gas and Super Comp back on the schedule at every national event. I would like to see Comp (my favorite class) put back at every event.

As to the .90 classes being boring for spectators, I guess I was lucky in that at my very first drag race as a spectator, I was with a friend who was very knowledgeable about the sport. I wondered why the cars sorta stalled after leaving the line (and why cars in some other classes could lose when they crossed the finish line ahead of their competition). My friend explained all of the classes and the reasons behind fixed indexes and shoe polish dial-in racing. We went to the end of the spectator-side grandstands at Bandimere (close to the finish line) to watch those classes race. Seeing how tight those races were at the finish line made it real easy for me to appreciate those racers and the skills needed to win rounds in those classes.

Contrary to what some people might think. Sportsman class racing IS drag racing. It is much, MUCH more affordable than Pro drag racing. That means more people are actually racing, which means more tracks are still open and available to provide a venue for the sport. Also, the Sportsman classes supplement the Pro purses at national events. Without the Sportsman classes, there wouldn't be Pro racing, national events or drag strips in many places.

when I first started watching Drag Racing, I liked Comp Eliminator, I also liked Super Stock to an extent when I was little because of the Late Lou Vignogna, Super Comp and Super Gas for me is not boring especially when I gotta announce those categories at the Divisional in September.

 

[Gregg Pickens]

It's not that inoccuous; the cars that populate that type of class displace real race cars... there's not an unlimited of spaces on NHRA's dance card. If that doesn't bother you, then you simply don't understand drag racing.

Define "Real Race Cars" and exactly how are they being displaced?

 

[Jeff]

Nancy, I think that is just the way they show that there really is no quota. 500 to 600 cars for the whole race is about right.

As much as everyone likes to complain about the money in drag racing, I really don't think there are many people getting rich in the sport. Most are largely involved because they love it, some because its the only way they know to make a buck. Nothing wrong with either.

When I look at my annual racing spend, almost every other number pales in comparison to fuel spend (and I'm not talking VP fuel).

I think fans are important to keeping racetracks open. If it weren't for them I think the noise police would have more success closing more tracks down.

 

[clwill]

I'm pretty sure the Pros could survive without the Sportsman racers just as the Sportsman racers can survive without the Pros. The only difference is the Pros would exist off sponsor and spectator money and the Sportsman would continue to pay their own way.

You are probably right, in that most sportsman races happen without the pros (all the divisional events, the national open events, a bazillion local races, etc.). And they run just fine - not a lot of spectators, but they do OK.

But a national event with just the 3.5 pro classes would be like watching paint dry. You'd have maybe 70 cars at the track, and hours of idle time between rounds. Even add in 30 or so for the Alcohol classes and you're still running an event with about 1/4th the cars and passes you have at a typical national event.

Despite all the haters for Super classes, having a few hundred other cars there for people to see, to hear, to wander amongst, adds to the spectacle of a national. Without them, it'd be a pretty small happening. Hard to justify $80/ticket for that...