This should be the beginning of the end of Street Outlaws (2 Viewers)

[Nick Name]

If that was an exhibition lap the NHRA wouldn't invite them back
.

You are no doubt right, So.....we will always have street racing.

 

[You!]

that was certainly exciting but to me that's not drag racing....Nova should have got out of it after going airborne the second time at half track, and the other side crosses the centerline RIGHT in front of him.....because Nova hadn't lifted he almost ran into the Goat. If that was an exhibition lap the NHRA wouldn't invite them back
Also I wouldn't put over $100G's of my money on an unprepped track no way no how. If people hate oildown time how about racing like this when every other pair is going to skitter into the wall and wreck?

but hey, then again, the Safety crews need practice, so WTH.....

To me, a 54 year old, former drag racer, with front engine injected fuel dragster & alcohol funny car driving experience, that run I posted was 1000% more exciting than any fuel car run at the current big show. This new turbo stuff gives me visible goosebumps and I'm an old fart.

"That's not drag racing",,,,wait, what?!

 

[stitcherbob]

the new turbo stuff is allowing more people to put 900-2500hp into cars that can't handle it, on tires that won't hold up to it, and on tracks/streets that won't put up with it....everyone knows you can't control a full on Pro Mod on a cracked, potholed street
The wheelstands show that with big money bets being placed, balls are replacing brains and never lifting means more balled up racecars ahead

 

[Nick Name]

Bob, is it safe to say you were not around back in the day we were putting 1500 hp motors into cars that really couldn't handle it. And that was how we grew the sport. Drag racing has always been about a little more power than the car can really handle.

 

[stitcherbob]

I was born in 1966....I was too young to see all the famous slingshot drivers lose their lives with alarming frequency. That I learned about later. But I went to my first race when I was about 7 or 8 and was hooked ever since. I know that power was always ahead of car design but most street racing (at least in the 60's and 70's) was done in high powered modified Detroit musclecars (akin to Super Stock in the 70's and 80's) and not Fuel Altered or Pro Mod type machines today that cost what a typical house costs.

BTW I think innovators like Garlits were successful (and still alive) because they sought to make the cars consistent, safe, and tough besides having earth-rotating power

(ps- I think the time Raymond Beadle went off track, through the grass and back on all under power was the end of the all-out never lift attitude that NHRA stopped with out of bounds lines and guard walls)

 

[stitcherbob]

My reasoning behind "that's not drag racing" is that those guys swerving all the way down the track on two wheels hammer down are either dumbasses (their word, not mine) or only in it for the fame, not winning races and saving their equipment. They grew up watching The Little Red Wagon, Evel Knievel, or the other entertainment acts and it represented drag racing to them. Give me a close race between Animal Jim Fuerer and Scotty Cannon or Jim Oddy instead of these antics any day....

I guess what I want is NHRA to televise MORE PRO MOD

 

[You!]

Wow, you're all over the place Bob. Your first paragraph above perfectly describes Pro Mod. ?

Same stuff, different day. Pro Mod has the lion's share of wadded up race cars out there, they just don't use turbos...and often times the drivers run out of talent and put them on their roof.

 

[Reese]

Wow, you're all over the place Bob. Your first paragraph above perfectly describes Pro Mod. ?

Same stuff, different day. Pro Mod has the lion's share of wadded up race cars out there, they just don't use turbos...and often times the drivers run out of talent and put them on their roof.

Something like this. Twin turbo S-10. Saw this wreck, thank God she was ok, could have been a lot worst.

 

[BlueStangGT]

Man, I can't believe she wrecked the truck again, looks like she was shook up but hopefully OK. The Pierces are nice folks and I just hate to see them go through this again. Armand, any clue as to what happened? It looked like something broke the way the truck snapped to the left.

 

[Reese]

Man, I can't believe she wrecked the truck again, looks like she was shook up but hopefully OK. The Pierces are nice folks and I just hate to see them go through this again. Armand, any clue as to what happened? It looked like something broke the way the truck snapped to the left.

Earlier in the day she made a pass and the truck ran really fast and straight. The IHRA pro stocks were taking that lane right before she ran and they made great runs. But I agree that it went left quick. The truck ended upside down about 300' from the starting line so it happened really fast. We had just talked to them before she ran and you are right they are really nice folks.

 

[4g63rwd]

Wow, you're all over the place Bob. Your first paragraph above perfectly describes Pro Mod. ?

Same stuff, different day. Pro Mod has the lion's share of wadded up race cars out there, they just don't use turbos...and often times the drivers run out of talent and put them on their roof.

Plenty of Pro Mods use turbos. 8 out of 27 cars in Gainesville were turbocharged, including Troy Coughlin, Sr and Jr. which both went 5.8's and 250+. Actually.....the only Pro Mods that went 250+ mph were turbocharged.

 

[SoCal Racer]

that was certainly exciting but to me that's not drag racing....Nova should have got out of it after going airborne the second time at half track, and the other side crosses the centerline RIGHT in front of him.....because Nova hadn't lifted he almost ran into the Goat. If that was an exhibition lap the NHRA wouldn't invite them back
Also I wouldn't put over $100G's of my money on an unprepped track no way no how. If people hate oildown time how about racing like this when every other pair is going to skitter into the wall and wreck?

but hey, then again, the Safety crews need practice, so WTH.....

All I saw was two cars on the verge of crashing and an amateurish job of driving by both. As a racer I wouldn't want to line up against guys who have no better control than that of their car. If that’s someone’s idea of drag racing I suspect they would be happier at a drift competition or NASCAR.

To me the show is indefensible. Like others I street raced before getting serious, but after three dead friends in two separate incidents I wised up, took it to the strip, and never looked back. Yeah there's lots wrong with NHRA, but that doesn't justify street racing even if it is on blocked off streets with lights, emergency crews, and the police looking the other way. The danger is not the racing; it's the message it is sending to viewers that it’s ok to break the law and risk your own and other’s lives by illegally street racing. And the “dumbasses” disclaimer at the beginning of the show will not stand in any court to absolve the producers and others of culpability.

It doesn't matter that they are racing trailered-in race cars with full drag strip legal safety equipment in a controlled environment. And it doesn't matter that the show is fake. What matters is that impressionable kids see it as real and try to emulate it in their street cars with no safety equipment; and do it on public roads that are neither blocked off nor have emergency crews on scene. Do some not remember that the purpose for drag strips was to get racing off the streets and into a safe environment? If these SO guys are so good at racing, take it to the strip and prove it!

 

[robslob]

WELL SAID, MR. PARSONS !!!!

 

[Terry]

David, that's it in a nutshell...thanks for putting that together for us. I've been framing a post in my mind for some time to express the same points you covered so well, and just couldn't get quite right. Now you did it for me. Thanks and well done.

 

[Sleepy]

I finally watched it for the 1st time. I think it was a $12k winner take all or something. Didn't show me much, but I did notice one really scary thing that stood out. They showed the cars at the finish line a few times and there were 2 or 3 rigs with 1 or 2 people standing by them. The distance between the race surface and those cars looked to be about a parking strip wide. I'd swear that's what I saw 2 or 3 times.

 

[BlueStangGT]

Ouch...

 

[CrewMan]

All I saw was two cars on the verge of crashing and an amateurish job of driving by both. As a racer I wouldn't want to line up against guys who have no better control than that of their car. If that’s someone’s idea of drag racing I suspect they would be happier at a drift competition or NASCAR.

To me the show is indefensible. Like others I street raced before getting serious, but after three dead friends in two separate incidents I wised up, took it to the strip, and never looked back. Yeah there's lots wrong with NHRA, but that doesn't justify street racing even if it is on blocked off streets with lights, emergency crews, and the police looking the other way. The danger is not the racing; it's the message it is sending to viewers that it’s ok to break the law and risk your own and other’s lives by illegally street racing. And the “dumbasses” disclaimer at the beginning of the show will not stand in any court to absolve the producers and others of culpability.

It doesn't matter that they are racing trailered-in race cars with full drag strip legal safety equipment in a controlled environment. And it doesn't matter that the show is fake. What matters is that impressionable kids see it as real and try to emulate it in their street cars with no safety equipment; and do it on public roads that are neither blocked off nor have emergency crews on scene. Do some not remember that the purpose for drag strips was to get racing off the streets and into a safe environment? If these SO guys are so good at racing, take it to the strip and prove it!

By FAR...best damn response I have seen yet.

 

[Reese]

Great post Mr. Parsons. Sometime it looks like it is staged because a lot of racers I know and think are crazy would not drive it that far.

 

[Nick Name]

All I saw was two cars on the verge of crashing and an amateurish job of driving by both. As a racer I wouldn't want to line up against guys who have no better control than that of their car. If that’s someone’s idea of drag racing I suspect they would be happier at a drift competition or NASCAR.

To me the show is indefensible. Like others I street raced before getting serious, but after three dead friends in two separate incidents I wised up, took it to the strip, and never looked back. Yeah there's lots wrong with NHRA, but that doesn't justify street racing even if it is on blocked off streets with lights, emergency crews, and the police looking the other way. The danger is not the racing; it's the message it is sending to viewers that it’s ok to break the law and risk your own and other’s lives by illegally street racing. And the “dumbasses” disclaimer at the beginning of the show will not stand in any court to absolve the producers and others of culpability.

It doesn't matter that they are racing trailered-in race cars with full drag strip legal safety equipment in a controlled environment. And it doesn't matter that the show is fake. What matters is that impressionable kids see it as real and try to emulate it in their street cars with no safety equipment; and do it on public roads that are neither blocked off nor have emergency crews on scene. Do some not remember that the purpose for drag strips was to get racing off the streets and into a safe environment? If these SO guys are so good at racing, take it to the strip and prove it!

That is the same reason we tried to get the Godfather films banned. Sure they were fake, but young kids....well you know the rest.

 

[stitcherbob]

when I was a young un' my Mama done tole me to put away those wingtips and guinea tee.....and stop makin tomato sauce