Samuel,
RE: "Well being I was born in 1982...."
I have socks older than that.... really.
For me, the absolute best drag racing ever, was done in the 1960-1965 period befor the advent of "all Hemi" nitro fields, when there were still Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, Fords, etc. running in competition (engines, that is) and when the Stockers were still basically "stock," without acid-ported heads, Pro-Trans trannys, and electrically-driven water pumps, etc...
You could build a competitive car without taking out a second mortgage on the homestead.
National events were far and few between, so they were especially well-attended.
What we have now, with cookie-cutter T/F, F/C and P/S cars, is basically a driver's contest, whereas back when "Ingenuity in Action" was the by-word, it was a contest of engineering one-upmanship, and in that vein, much more interesting for the gearheads (and, most drag race fans are just that. or, were...)
With no handicaps (EVERYTHING WAS HEADS-UP!!!), no breakouts, no indexes or .90 classes, no Christmas Tree (flag starters are fun to watch!), and no throttle stops, it was a very different ballgame; it was DRAG racing...
Even though speeds have escalated over the years, and e.t.'s have plummeted, racing was (to me, anyway) a lot more exciting to watch back then, if only for the variety of rolling stock. Twin-engine blown Hemi Top Gas cars were a later innovation, but were awesome to watch run.
The sameness of what we now see, from month-to-month, year-to-year, with so little change in the appearance of the cars, is borderline stultifying.
But, I watch.... After 53 years and 46 different drag strips, what am I going to do; watch roundy-round cars? I don't theeeeeenk so...
Bill, in Conway, Arkansas
