Everyone has the right to an opinion but there are some uninformed ones here regarding no-prep racing.
For starters, the kids that are packing drag strips are not attending to see people crash. That's what YouTube is for. They are attending these races for all the reasons other areas of the sport would KILL FOR. The drivers have names, the cars have names. Birdman, Swamp Thing, Shocker, Death Trap, Grim Reaper, White Rhino, and the list literally goes on halfway until forever.
The drivers talk all kinds of smack on each other both in person and on social media. There are memes, videos, jokes, and jawing constantly whether there's a race that weekend or not. The stuff is genuine chops busting greatness, not something contrived.
As far as the wrecks go, there is no proof to this point on a "pound for pound" basis that there are more crashes or worse crashes happening at no prep events than at traditional races. There are videos galore on both sides of that argument. The other thing is that just because you do not see a sprayer or tractor running up and down the track does not mean that there is no "prep". Unless we are talking a bare concrete race (of which there have been some), you still have a track that comes around very quickly. Why? Guys are allowed to use their own traction compound, pimp juice, whatever in a designed area and as each pair goes down, more and more of it applies itself to the track. Knowing guys who run this type of stuff I can tell you point of fact that they are able to hit the tire nearly as hard at the end of an event as they can on a dressed up and prepped track.
Lastly, no-prep racing has proven a few very important points about drag racing to anyone who is actively paying attention to it. Firstly, these races are run with the clocks off and a win light only. No scoreboards, no elapsed time, no numbers. Why is that important? People are there rooting for drivers and named cars, not for records or blazing performances. I am NOT saying that there's a problem with that in any way shape or form, but it is an incredible message that's coming from the no-prep scene that the entire sport should be paying attention to.
I'm a bit of a heretic when it comes to drag racing. I love every weird inch of this sport. From diesel trucks to Radial vs TheWorld, nitro funny car, and Wednesday night test and tune. I get to see a spectrum of it every year that few people do. I get having a favorite thing and a favorite form of this sport, but to dismiss a rising one as something which should be mocked or ignored is foolhardy on a lot of levels.
Basically you do not have to love it but you should respect it.
Brian
