Silly Savage
Nitro Member
So your saying that the shows/events have got better over the last 20 years?
If one of the cars is to loud, should they be forced to shut it off? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Randy
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So your saying that the shows/events have got better over the last 20 years?
Depends on what you define as better? I can remember in 1984 TF Dragster was dying, about 3-4 rces that year had less then 16 cars! They credit Don Garlits for saving the class! Now I don't know how NHRA could do anything about the Multi-car teams of today! Even had they told John Force he couldn't have two cars, who's to stop him from sharing Tune up info with another team? Or DSR for that matter. As for the racing, dont know about you but I have seen some damn good racing this year!
Ugly one
Nitro Member
Silly Savage
Nitro Member
Absolutely!!
Totally disagree....
rckymtn3
Nitro Member
not to drag (ha ha ha ha h....drag, get it?) subject back to the top, I was catching up on some threads, and I can't believe I missed this one....David IMHO nailed it with this post....everything from the performance gains hitting this plateau (I don't count 1000 ft performace, it's a different game once they knocked a football field off the track....like a magical BS record book reset...)...anyway, thought I would at least give Kudos
I agree. To me this lack-of-excitement issue is the crux of drag racing’s lackluster appeal to the general public – and even some race fans. For anyone who has been directly involved with drag racing whether as driver, owner, crew chief, wrench, or gopher, there is simply NO sport that’s more exciting than drag racing. But some of the key ingredients that made drag racing more exciting for fans in the past are nearly absent nowadays.
One was innovation, and as a result, racing was exciting because performance was always improving, and fans never knew who would win on race day. People have an intrinsic interest in new ideas, and drag racing’s history is built on ideas – some good; some not so much. But innovation (in certain classes) has been largely squelched, leaving us with cars that are homogeneous except for the paint job (or vinyl wraps).
Another thing that kept the excitement alive was match racing. Local tracks could book in a show and radios everywhere blared Sunday! Sunday! and billed it as though it was the most important race happening. Was it? Of course not, but there was local exposure to all the “name” cars and drivers. Today, if you’re lucky, there will be one big show event in your market where you can see the “names” run.
Real rivalries – not contrived-by-ESPN ones – kept the excitement alive in the past. Racers were justifiably proud of their ability to constantly bring something new to beat the other guy, and weren’t afraid to let it be known. You don’t have to go that many years back to revisit those, but the public perception is that the rip-their-throats-out competitive spirit is waning.
I suspect the popularity of nostalgia racing is in part because it hearkens back to those days and “the way it was” and conjures memories – real or imagined - of better times. I guess you could point a finger of blame in many directions for the changes, but that‘s not my point. I’m just saying drag racing has become something different and lost its appeal in many people's eyes.
But at the end of the day I still love it, still participate, and still watch.
