This is what a Nostalgia Funny Car SHOULD look like

[my friends call me Zappy]

It doesn't have to cost any more. Just open the fields up.

 

[Buns]

Bernie, I'm with you, dry-hops are nostalgia. Darr says 37 cars, yet not one dry-hop....... I would have been very let down.

Exactly. Take away the dry hops and long burnouts and what are you left with? A slow funny car. Not that nostalgia isn't cool because it is but the nostalgia class is about harkening back to the golden days of racing and dry hops were definitely part of that.

I'm not trashing on Nostalgia cars in the least. I went and saw them at Route 66 in Joliet this year and they were very cool. The Chi Town Hustler car was there and did long burnouts and dry hops. I would not have enjoyed the experience as much if they didn't do that.

Since the cars aren't running huge sponsorships and there isn't as big of an emphasis on each race, the Nostalgia cars need to not forget what people come out to see - the racing and all the rest of the entertainment. People are there to see both.

 

[glofria]

Love the long burn outs and the dry hops, just glad that I don't have to pay the bill to run a N/FC.

As a fellow competitor in the nostalgia scene and a often spectator, I don't like the two hours + time it takes to run 32 cars. On the other hand, it giive me time to visit with other competitors back in the pits.

 

[none]

Where did you get that picture of the Eastern Raider? Every time I have ever seen the original Eastern Raider it was on fire and parts were falling like rain from under the engine.
Revelle made a model kit with the Eastern Raider, each kit came with a book of matches.

 

[T.Smith]

Last I heard, racers did dry hops to get a read on the clutch, tires and track surface. Not to entertain fans.

 

[Buns]

Last I heard, racers did dry hops to get a read on the clutch, tires and track surface. Not to entertain fans.

And the unintended consequence of that is fans associate dry hops with nostalgia cars. They're one and the same now and you can't deny that.

Fans love to see dry hops and when they don't, they're disappointed.

 

[MM]

Dry hops and long burnouts are casualties of performance based payouts. We only do them at match races where everyone is getting paid the same and the goal is to put on a show. At open qualified shows, you aren't going to see dry hops and long burnouts because the way the cars and tracks are setup now, they actually hurt performance.

 

[T.Smith]

And the unintended consequence of that is fans associate dry hops with nostalgia cars. They're one and the same now and you can't deny that.

Fans love to see dry hops and when they don't, they're disappointed.

Sure, then lets double the ticket prices so the racers can pay for abused and broken parts.

No matter how much some would like it to be 1972 again, the technology of today makes it not necessary to do so.

 

[Silly Savage]

When you build your own N/FC you can do dry hops and 1/2 mile burnouts, until then there wasn't one funny car dry hop by the 37 nitro funny cars on the track at the recent California Hot Rod Reunion and I would guess that 99% of the spectators didn't miss dry hops, they just enjoyed some great nitro racing!

Typical.

 

[Silly Savage]

Who's going to pay for the difference between 16 and 32 cars? You must have missed the 2010 March Meet with a 32 car field Nitro Funny Car field.

Amazes me that people build a hobby car and expect others to pay for it. I think I'll build a nostalgia f/c, take it out to the track and and tell the track officalls they better let me in for free and then pay me $1000 for each run I make, because I am the show! Oh wait, it's not a "show", it's for the performance!?!?!?!?

 

[Buns]

No matter how much some would like it to be 1972 again, the technology of today makes it not necessary to do so.

I agree. I love nitro the way it is today and I'm glad it's advanced as far as it has. The cars look cool to me and they're a ton of fun to watch.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Lets face it, we all know they were not necessary then just like they are not necessary today. But, they are fun for the driver, and the crowd likes them. It's part of the "show".

 

[Dougster]

Very nice!! Time for some dry hops and 1/8th mile burnouts!

Dry hops would be nice to see - I know they're not needed anymore but it warms the cockles of this "old fart"'s heart to see them. I could live without the 1/8 mile (+) burnouts however. Takes too long and slows down the whole show. I come to see cars race, not back up...

 

[MM]

Lets face it, we all know they were not necessary then just like they are not necessary today. But, they are fun for the driver, and the crowd likes them. It's part of the "show".

who says the weren't necessary then?

 

[BaldyLochs]

****; Force did one in a Mustang at the last race. What more could you ask for?

 

[mick]

the funny cars in the mid-late 70's were the best funny car show ever.
- burnouts were great
- fuel pump/fuel system that allowed nitro to lick from headers at idle and while
backing from burnout was spectacular
- dry hops were great
- actual run was great

you can take all today's technology, et's and speed and it doesn't hold
a candle to the entertainment value of yesteryear's funny cars.
maybe it's all tied to memories of childhood?
just my .o2

 

[Kansas Stan]

Couldn't have said it better, Mr. Larson. Everything with the modern cars is so orchestrated, by the book, generic. Give me the days when a couple of nasty Vega/Cuda/Mustangs came to the line snapping at each other with dry hops. There is no more theatre in racing. so sad.

 

[Nunz]

I, too, miss the flames at idle, the long burnouts, and the dry hops. But remember, this sport was built on performance, and the never-ending search for a lower ET. How about when TF dragsters carried the front wheels a long ways, and smoked the rears the entire 1320? How about the way Pro Stockers would carry the front wheels vs. today's cars? As much as I miss those things, they only went away because they were not the most efficient ways to go from A to B.

 

[fat paul]

with all this dry hop talk you guys need to check out a clip on you tube, unfortunately i cant post the link .maybe someone else could do this
(from the barn harlan thompson 1987) this will put a smile on your face:

 

[Toejam]

That's what all funny cars should look like instead of these things they race now.

They did until Kenny Bernstein and Dale Armstrong started wind tunnel testing bodies around 1985 and making sweeping changes hence the Batmobile of 1987! And since NHRA didn't want to Piss of Budweiser.....you guess who won that argument!