Scrappers Parked (3 Viewers)

[MM]

I could live with the slower times and speeds but not without the impact from a supercharged fuel engine. If I had to choose between the two I'd prefer to watch nostalgia AA/FD and AA/FC's over TAD and AFD - no disrespect intended - even though they're a little slower. When you've been watching blown nitro for 50 years it's a pretty hard habit to break. Throw in a dry hop or two and I'm on Cloud Nine.

AA/FC blast from the past. OCIR, 1981. Blue Max sounding really good.

This can't be from 1981, there's empty seats.

 

[sutton]

I could live with the slower times and speeds but not without the impact from a supercharged fuel engine. If I had to choose between the two I'd prefer to watch nostalgia AA/FD and AA/FC's over TAD and AFD - no disrespect intended - even though they're a little slower. When you've been watching blown nitro for 50 years it's a pretty hard habit to break. Throw in a dry hop or two and I'm on Cloud Nine.

AA/FC blast from the past. OCIR, 1981. Blue Max sounding really good.

Yes standing there I got enjoyed more time to smell the Nitro. The young cat in the hat guy. how time flies WOW.
Larry Sutton---

 

[sutton]

This can't be from 1981, there's empty seats.

Mike
The crowed came in for the night time race, not so much for qualifying. later the place was always packed,
Larry Sutton---

 

[TSK]

but the noise and vibration won't be the same. Three things make todays cars attractive to the average fan: speed, noise, and vibration. Throw in danger and you have a show.

I never said anything about taking away the blower or the nitro. People are talking about how to slow the cars.
Taking away a mag means you won't be able to burn as big a quantity of nitro. But, you will still have a blown fuel car with all the great noise, thunder and smell.
Who cares about the e.t. anyway? The first one to the finish line is the winner. I've always thought that is the most important part of drag racing anyway.

 

[TSK]

I wonder if that would be true if it meant full fields at every track??? I think I would be in favor of it. Im going to Epping next month. It would make most fans very unhappy if there were only 12 or 13 tf dragsters

My wife and I will also be in Epping and are looking forward to it.

 

[twostep]

Joe
I have made so many runs in one I can't count. yes more parachute failures then I want to remember. But to ride in a two seater would be the last thing I would ever do.
Larry Sutton---

I agree with mike, the nostalgia races almost always have good crowd's put on great shows and they charge less to get in, In most case's. the nostalgia cars are putting on a great show at NHRA national events. I have said for years that the top fuel type cars will be a exhibition class sooner then later, big money racers are going away.
Larry Sutton---

You might get fussed about your love of nostalgic drag racing, Larry.....after all, old folks like you and I would rather turn the clock back 30 or 40 years to 3 hour delays and long oildowns.

For what it's worth, 2 years ago I attended the Friday night qualifier at the Texas Motorplex and it took over 2 hours to run Top Fuel. I was surprised the facility had enough absorbent in stock to deal with it. There was no TV delay of course because they X'd all of that out. So yeah, at the HP level they're running today, parts attrition including douching the track is still with us.

 

[65 Goatboy]

Poor Mike Salinas, look at what he started.

 

[sutton]

You might get fussed about your love of nostalgic drag racing, Larry.....after all, old folks like you and I would rather turn the clock back 30 or 40 years to 3 hour delays and long oildowns.

For what it's worth, 2 years ago I attended the Friday night qualifier at the Texas Motorplex and it took over 2 hours to run Top Fuel. I was surprised the facility had enough absorbent in stock to deal with it. There was no TV delay of course because they X'd all of that out. So yeah, at the HP level they're running today, parts attrition including douching the track is still with us.

Carl
Being a senior member here, no I definitely do not want to turn drag racing back 30 or 40 years, during that era I fooled the grim reaper many times but so so many for my friends did not. todays racing is so much safer and the equipment they have to protect the drivers including the guard rails has changed racing from "the so called good old day's" I just would like to see the cost and number of racers improve.
Larry Sutton---

 

[twostep]

Carl
Being a senior member here, no I definitely do not want to turn drag racing back 30 or 40 years, during that era I fooled the grim reaper many times but so so many for my friends did not. todays racing is so much safer and the equipment they have to protect the drivers including the guard rails has changed racing from "the so called good old day's" I just would like to see the cost and number of racers improve.
Larry Sutton---

From a safety point of view, absolutely. Crashes that killed people at 230mph are now likely to be walk-aways at 330mph.

 

[Mike]

Mike, packed because they held a lot less people in the stands back in the 80's

 

[John Farce Racing]

so which would you rather have, 12-13 top fuelers running 3.60s-3.70s or 20+ running 3.90's-4.00s? I know what I would want to see. The higher car count. Qualifying would actually mean something. More passes down the track. At some point, the cars will run up against the laws of physics and not be able to go any faster. I think we are getting close. Then what?

 

[John Farce Racing]

What it would take to reduce the cost is where the problem lies. The racers make a valid point - if you reduce blower OD, blower size, smaller fuel pumps, etc it'll only cost a black land farm to convert everything but it'll only be a matter of time before they figure out how to get the performance (and the expense) right back where it is now. 1000' racing was supposed to reduce expense and reduce speeds along with the safety benefits and now they're running 340mph and parts attrition hasn't been reduced one dime. They're not interested in neutering power to the point they're running nostalgia combinations, a class that's not exactly overwhelmed with sponsors, either. And with all the tariff-this and tariff-that still in flux, lots of companies are taking a wait-and-see attitude until everything shakes out.

It'd be nice for NHRA to up the prize money so some more 'little teams' could come out and play but beyond that, competitive supercharged nitro racing is always going to be a sport for the well-healed going forward. Just no other way around it. I'm sure Salinas has a good business but what does it cost to campaign a TF car on the level he does? 3-5 million $$ a season? How much ROI does he get from racing a car sponsored by a San Francisco scrap business in Gainesville, Florida? Epping, New Hampshire? Not much, I would think, and after a while TF racing gets expensive when the funding comes from the Ass National Bank. All that car is to Salinas other than the personal pleasure of racing it is a big tax writeoff and that only goes so far.

Someone once said the best way to campaign a top fuel dragster for $1 million a season is to start with $5 million. No one knows this better than Mike Salinas and now it's down to "either we find a primary sponsor or we go back to being spectators."

If they limited fuel pump size, they absolutely could so the cars down and they wouldn't ever be able to go as fast as they go now. Limited fuel = limited HP.

 

[sutton]

If they limited fuel pump size, they absolutely could so the cars down and they wouldn't ever be able to go as fast as they go now. Limited fuel = limited HP.

There is no need to have everyone get new fuel pumps to meet your idea. I ran a injected big block chev on fuel. thanks to my buddy Dale Armstrong I ran a restrictor in the main fuel line in let. more fuel pressure and less fuel volume into the engine. it ran much better. Have NHRA approved restrictors probably $20 with serial numbers, just a thought to your idea Duane.
\Larry Sutton---

 

[Marchboom]

A while back when there was talk about how to slow the cars down (only one mag, smaller blowers, less overdrive allowed, smaller fuel pumps, etc) no one could come to a solid solution. There was one idea and I think is was brought up by Jim Oberhofer (I think, not sure). And that was decrease the diameter of the intake valve. Less fuel and air in a given amount of time equals less power. Like a restricter plate. Not sure if anyone has tried it but I'm sure Mr. Sutton would probably know.

 

[sutton]

In all my years in racing there has been so many ideas to improve drag racing in meetings that I have attended at NHRA,UDRA,AHRA,IHRA, with all the racers attending they could never get more than 20% to agree with the others. any changes coming will have to be mandated by the sanctioning bodies. it will upset some but needed.
Larry Sutton---

 

[Nick Rienstra]

I would like to see a TF and FC engine combination that puts the cars right at 300 at the 1/4 mile and capable to be serviced by 2-3 people or less at a manageable cost that would promote so much interest that we need regional and national championships. We already have 90% of that combination with the Afuel classes. Priorities would be 1/4 mile, 300mph and massive participation.

 

[MHayes]

Mike, packed because they held a lot less people in the stands back in the 80's

Exactly! No one seems to be taking that into account!

 

[twostep]

Exactly! No one seems to be taking that into account!

I agree but on the other hand, the Texas Motorplex seats 41,000. For years, on Friday night and Sunday you couldn't drive a 10-penny nail inbetween the fans it was so jam-packed. The 1986 premiere, which I attended, was absolute bedlam. They still draw a good crowd but it's nothing like it was back then.

Times have changed and interests have changed along with it. The interest in performance cars and auto racing in general among millennials is but a fraction of what it was in the 80s and 90s, before the advent of the internet and the cellphone which today take precedence over everything, and I mean everything. I have quite a few grandkids I've taken to national events at the 'Plex and while they enjoyed the day it was obvious they couldn't wait to get back to their phones and none of them have ever expressed interest in attending a drag race since. Most of them were either facetiming or watching Tik-Tok as the nitro cars were making passes....sheeesh...after all, a wiggling, jiggling little teenage TT influencer cutie with 5 million horny followers is a lot more important than Austin Prock at 340, right?

Even kids at school nowadays don't give a crap what kind of car you drive. Don't show me your car; show me your new I-phone. I wouldn't know how to change that and it's not really worth trying or even possible. Trends change; drag racing has now settled into the niche sport it will likely remain for the foreseeable future. So we roll with what we have and do our best to see that what remains stays alive for enthusiasts who still love the smells and sounds of 11,000 horsepower.

 

[mick]

just think back in the 80's nobody received a cel phone bill, much less direct tv, dish tv, or any of the present day streaming services.
and other monthly subscriptions for electronic services that supposedly enhance our lives. how many drag races could you attend if you had
all that disposable income?

 

[T.Smith]

If they limited fuel pump size, they absolutely could so the cars down and they wouldn't ever be able to go as fast as they go now. Limited fuel = limited HP.

Limit to what? I know of a Funny Car Chaos car that doesn't have a big pump on it and I wouldn't be surprised if that car runs in the 4's @ 320mph this year. Nothing against them, but they're just hobby racers having some fun. What happens with that combo with a max effort budget?

We ran 4.60 @ 324mph in 2004 with a 75 gallon pump and we qualified in the bottom half of the field.