Why the Focus on the Past? (1 Viewer)

[mw6789]

Hey Bill you sure you werent at the 1062 Nationals---didnt you and Bill Massey crew for Fred Flintstone???? Seriously, Chris I agree with you that if the sport does not attract a younger demographic it will probably die. As for NHRA grasping the past, I think they are trying to grasp anything that will turn a profit---and I cant blame them for that. I personally think the prime days of drag racing can never be re-created. Cost is certainly a factor. If you arent wealthy, have a wealthy family, have a family already in the business, or bring buckets full of sponsor money, you cant play in the upper classes. And as many of you on here well know the sportsman classes are no bargain either. A local customer of mine just told me he has $50K in his new STOCKER. And he did all the chassis and body work himself---only farmed out the engine. Our current economy certainly is playing a part in it also. You can blame lots of factors---legislation, costs, other things to do---on the slow death our car culture seems to be dying. I see the same thing in my business because the average 25 year old cant give ten grand for a 69 Camaro that you can see the ground thru the floors to restore. I dont think Honda Accord parts are going to be searched for like we searched for NOS GM parts for LS-6 Chevelles. I feel very fortunate to have been in on the tail end of the muscle car boom and the glory days of drag racing and envy guys like you Bill Dedman, who had a ring side seat for the whole deal. I see lots of reasons for the causes, but unfortunately I cant contribute anything for the cure.

 

[TooTall999]

Why are we so stuck on the past? For fuel fans that's easy...who can forget the barnstorming,match racing funny car days of the 70's-80's. I grew up near Connecticut Dragway. I have a poster of their 1973 season on my wall here. They would have a "big show" usually featuring 16 nationally competitive fuel funny cars or a combination of funny cars and pro stock cars 10 weekends of the racing season, which ran April -October. The atmosphere in the pits was different then, more laid back. You didn't wait in line to talk to a favorite driver,you could walk right up to them and many times they'd accept an offer of help in prepping the car. I enjoy walking through the pits now, but everything is so different, the mega teams with their blocks of pit row acreage, only the privelaged allowed into designated hospitality areas. Just not the same friendly atmosphere. Yes I'm one of those that truly misses the way it was, and I'm glad I got to be a part of that history.You don't think kids are attracted to our sport? Watch how many out collecting hero cards and autographs at every national event. NHRA tried the sport compact thing, and you saw how far that went.

 

[clwill]

I thought your daughter drove the dragster.

Actually we both do. I built a new car this year that we can both drive. The dash moves, two different steering rods, the pedals move, swappable poured in seats, etc.

Also, it's a fully EFI car, all state-of-the-art electronics, with a Hilborn individual runner system. One of only two IR EFI cars running in SC and TD that I know of in the country.

 

[nick name]

I'd say that the emphasis is on the past because it will never be that good again. I'm not sure how that should measure up as a marketing campaign, though.

Racing in the 60s and 70s was a wonderful time, and unfortunately I don't see any way that it could be recreated. Anyone could go to their local showroom and buy an interesting performance car, whether you had the money for a 427 Corvette, a Hemi, Cobra Jet Mustang, or not.

You could take your bone stock car to the track and have lots of fun. You'd get to test your horsepower against Chevies, Buicks, Fords, Mopars, Pontiacs, Mercurys, and even a few quick AMCs.

Then began the process of stepping up. You'd scrape and save and get a bigger set of rear tires or maybe some slapper bars. When your income tax refund came there might be room for an intake, carb, or camshaft. Thus you could work on achieving your goals - "I'll get by that Nova no matter what!".

Sure, you can still take a showroom car to the track today but it's not even close to being the same. It's all about hitting your dial in. While that's an admirable talent, it just doesn't carry the same pride of accomplishment I'd get from finally beating a long-time rival because of what I had planned and the improvements I'd made.

I feel sorry for those who missed it. But honestly, it was a special place in history and like Tom Wolfe says: "You Can't Go Home Again".

 

[mike]

I am 51

Are you for real Joe? I never would have guessed that. I thought you were in your mid 40s.

 

[mick]

what d. keech and others have said about what was and how much fun,
friendly & more laid back it was...... am i the only one (i'm 45) who drools
every year when guys like les mayhew,paul flores & others post pics & video
from the famoso events? it's not just the cars on the track, it's the whole
atmosphere of these events; it's cool, sexy, a little counter culture, if you
had to explain it to an average person, a little 'james dean'.
and you can watch a nitro funny called 'tiki warrior' do a half-track burnout.....
and nitro, well enough said..... the cars don't even need to be
on the track.....
2011 HotRod Reunion,Famoso Raceway 012 - YouTube

IMO you can bring back some of the 'cool' factor and mesh it with
today's version.... nitro @ 95% or higher.... limit or lessen the fuel volume....
run @ nite whenever possible.... encourage 'wow' operations like salinas' scrappers TF'r....
everyone emulate mike neff & jeff diehl

 

[Rajunz]

............IMO you can bring back some of the 'cool' factor and mesh it with today's version.... nitro @ 95% or higher.... limit or lessen the fuel volume....
run @ nite whenever possible.... encourage 'wow' operations like salinas' scrappers TF'r....
everyone emulate mike neff & jeff diehl

I like these ideas. While you're at it, take the dump truck beds off of the back of the funny cars and make them look more like production cars.......

 

[DrRocket]

Are you for real Joe? I never would have guessed that. I thought you were in your mid 40s.

Careful there Michael. Don't get Joe's head all swelled up.........

 

[Paul]

. . . No embracing of the rice-burner categories that the kids all drive today . . .

I think this goes on the list as one of the top blunders the NHRA has made over recent years.

They had a great opportunity to attract a whole new young generation of racing enthusiasts and associated youth market sponsors and totally blew it and are now stuck primarily with an aging (and shrinking) audience and its associated dwindling sponsors.

This would have pissed a lot of the old timers off but when import racing was taking off they should have either added a Pro Import class or allowed imports to compete directly in Pro Stock with a handicap.

Yes, there would have been a lot of pissing and moaning about setting the engine rules and handicap but that pissing and moaning actually helps build viewer interest, and the interest and emotions in seeing whether an import could knock off a domestic car would be tremendous. Its a great rivalry and great rivalries drive strong interest and viewership.

NHRA needs someone with more vision on the board to move the sport into the future but since the members have let the board get away with hijacking the company there is currently no way to force new members on the board.

Until the NHRA members band together and fix this issue by reinstating the election of board members the sport is going to continue to decline.

I actually do believe that eventually members will get fed up enough to band together and take some action, maybe not in my lifetime but I think it will happen.

 

[Mr. Fix It]

I'd say that the emphasis is on the past because it will never be that good again. I'm not sure how that should measure up as a marketing campaign, though.

Racing in the 60s and 70s was a wonderful time, and unfortunately I don't see any way that it could be recreated. Anyone could go to their local showroom and buy an interesting performance car, whether you had the money for a 427 Corvette, a Hemi, Cobra Jet Mustang, or not.

You could take your bone stock car to the track and have lots of fun. You'd get to test your horsepower against Chevies, Buicks, Fords, Mopars, Pontiacs, Mercurys, and even a few quick AMCs.

Then began the process of stepping up. You'd scrape and save and get a bigger set of rear tires or maybe some slapper bars. When your income tax refund came there might be room for an intake, carb, or camshaft. Thus you could work on achieving your goals - "I'll get by that Nova no matter what!".

Sure, you can still take a showroom car to the track today but it's not even close to being the same. It's all about hitting your dial in. While that's an admirable talent, it just doesn't carry the same pride of accomplishment I'd get from finally beating a long-time rival because of what I had planned and the improvements I'd made.

I feel sorry for those who missed it. But honestly, it was a special place in history and like Tom Wolfe says: "You Can't Go Home Again".

X 2

Yes I remember those days! Uncapping headers, changing tires, messing with things after each run. I race in foot brake dial in class, no trans-brake, delay box, two step, ect. Have to shift on time and cut a light without the aid of a box.

 

[SoCal Racer]

I’m another one of those mid-fifties gone grey guys, so I guess I’m part of the problem rather than the solution. But the focus on the past is probably because the 60’s and 70’s were the glory days of drag racing. There was a race car in every gas station’s garage, and anybody with some basic skills could weld up some pipe and build a motor and go racing for reasonably little money. Even showroom stockers were fast.

As a kid I lived on a street a mere half mile long that had a bad ’32 3-window with an injected Chevy small block. Two doors down was a ’66 Mustang with a straight axle and 406 tri-power. The Mustang owner’s brother had first a ’57 Chevy that I witnessed pulling the wheels in front of his house, and later a ’67 Chevelle SS. At the gas station at end of the street was a ’64 Chevy II A/FX running an injected 427, and less than a mile away was a successful Top Fuel team. How could I NOT grow up loving fast cars? It was the golden age of Sunday! Sunday! ads on the radio and cars were an integral part of American culture. It seemed like everyone was into cars.

Now there is none of that, and as another poster said, there are tons of other distractions for kids. Car culture is all but dead except to us older guys, or 30-somethings like my son who grew up in the sport. I’m fortunate to still have a muscle car in addition to the race car, but with ricers all that’s affordable for the younger generation and racing costs completely out of reach for them, it’s easy to see why they are not as interested. As far as the general public is concerned, it's as B.B. King said, “The thrill is gone.”

 

[mike]

maybe it has something to do with this:
1969 median income $6200.00
2010 median income $42000.00
1969 BOSS 302 $3500.00 (56% of a year's income)
2010 BOSS 302 $41000.00 (97% of a year's income)

I KNOW there are many, many reason for the relative price increase, but the bottom line is in the past young regular working class people could afford to get a performance car that was well suited to drag racing, and they had lots and lots of places to race it...these days most younger guys are looking at FWD econo boxes; and while some guys do extraordinary things with them, they aren't great cars for drag racing (the physics of FWD and all)

So to me it is no surprise that drag racing looks to the past so much...it was just a time better suited to drag racing...

 

[glofria]

The notion that the young folks don't want to get involved is utter nonsense. Next Wens. several of my competitors will be going to Pomona for NHRA's annual Career Day for the area's High School Auto Shops here in Southern California. They are opening up their cars (A/Gassers running on a 7.60 index) for the students to see, feel, and ask questions about. I am certain that guys with other types of cars will be there too. Later they will be able to make a pass down the strip.

One of the members of our team has a son who just enter into high school (Camarillo) and found out that they are opening a Auto Shop Program there next Semester and the program is already filled up.

And If that isn't enough, here is a little story about the Santa Maria Saints Motorsports Team Stories These kids have the highest accumulated GPA of all clubs and teams at that school at 3.85. Why? Because to be on the team and travel to the track, they have to have at least a 3.50 GPA.

Earlier this year this year this team made it to the finals at the ANRA Season Opener. Unfortunately, they kicked a rod out in their semifinal win. There was a local video news clip highlighting a visit from Del Worsham and Jeff Arend in which Del proclaims, "These kid's really know their stuff."

And let us not forget how popular the Jr. Dragster program is doing.

Sometimes teenagers need to go out and find themselves in this confusing world. But as I stated before,what made them happy as kids, will make the happy later on as adults.

 

[clwill]

I think SoCal is a special case. Not sure the auto culture is so strong everywhere else...?? Is auto shop even in most high schools?

 

[yoda]

I think SoCal is a special case. Not sure the auto culture is so strong everywhere else...?? Is auto shop even in most high schools?

Auto shop is alive and well in Arizona, with a couple of schools campaigning cars at the track in Tucson, and I'm pretty sure they are in Phoenix as well. My son's auto shop class is a great balance of modern automotive (with a few apprenticeships being offered by some of the larger major dealerships), as well as giving the kids a bonus to get hands on some hot rods as well. The skills taught in these classes are the foundation of our sport, and will allow the sport to have at least one more generation of enthusiasts.

 

[SoCal Racer]

I think SoCal is a special case. Not sure the auto culture is so strong everywhere else...?? Is auto shop even in most high schools?

Well it was Ohio only a few hours from Detroit the "Motor City." Very industrial and car culture thrived. Those influences made me the gearhead I am but kids don't get exposed to them now. Plus there's a whole generation that has been indoctrinated by the "greens" to believe that the automobile is evil and the cause of all of society's ills. It's good to know some kids still want to get involved though. We'll have to support them any way we can if we want our sport to survive.

 

[mw6789]

maybe it has something to do with this:
1969 median income $6200.00
2010 median income $42000.00
1969 BOSS 302 $3500.00 (56% of a year's income)
2010 BOSS 302 $41000.00 (97% of a year's income)

I KNOW there are many, many reason for the relative price increase, but the bottom line is in the past young regular working class people could afford to get a performance car that was well suited to drag racing, and they had lots and lots of places to race it...these days most younger guys are looking at FWD econo boxes; and while some guys do extraordinary things with them, they aren't great cars for drag racing (the physics of FWD and all)

So to me it is no surprise that drag racing looks to the past so much...it was just a time better suited to drag racing...

DING DING DING DING*****WE MAY HAVE A WINNER HERE. This post hits it on the head. A dear friend of mine who passed in 1989 once told me a story about auditioning as a top fuel driver for a couple of guys in Kansas City that owned a gas station in about 64 or so. It only took one full quarter mile smoker at about 175 to make him decide on a different career path. But my point is, as he told me, at the time you could build a fuel dragster for about $10K. Now I know 10 large was a lot of money in the sixties, but not nearly as much as the several million it would take to start a top fuel team now. I split my pay check in high school and college between Honest Charley and RHS while driving my "race car" to the strip on Sunday. After the races, I would cap up the headers, unbolt the slicks and throw them back in the trunk, and drive the "race car" back home to work and school. Probably a few kids that may still do that, but I dont think as many as did in the 60's and 70's. As this poster ended---"it was just a time better suited to drag racing". And nothing NHRA can do will change that.

 

[Bob]

The past combined with the present is very alive in sportsman drag racing. I attended 21 events this year and only 2 of them were national events. Some 60's muscle cars today are running quicker than Top Fuel dragsters were 50 years ago.

I love going to divisional events. Not only are divisional events an example of some excellent drag racing, they are also car shows that any motorhead can appreciate!

 

[Bill]

The past combined with the present is very alive in sportsman drag racing. I attended 21 events this year and only 2 of them were national events. Some 60's muscle cars today are running quicker than Top Fuel dragsters were 50 years ago.

I love going to divisional events. Not only are divisional events an example of some excellent drag racing, they are also car shows that any motorhead can appreciate!

Bob, I agree with everything you said... The Sportsman racing is a link to the "good old days," when the kind of B.S. that permeates national events, particularly in the Pro catagories, didn't exist, yet.

I think, one thing that could be done to improve the visual experience for the fans of this type of racing, would be to exempt ONE round of qualifying from the ravages of the A.H.F.S.(automatic horsepower factoring system,) that would allow the drivers of these cars to run them out the back door with their footfeeds flat on the floor, to see just how fast and quick these cars can actually go.

That's not possible, now, with everyone shutting down at 1,000-feet, to avoid the A.H.F.S. horsepower increases awarded for a "too-quick run."

There has to be a way....

 

[Ma Green]

Two things: No one is having fun now days, least of all the Pro crews. There is so much pressure to do good for the sponsor, put on a good face, be professional, etc. With my son being in his 29th years on tour, he can remember when they had lots of fun and he really misses that. He's said for years that it's not fun anymore. That said, though, they make good money, which is hard to duplicate in todays economy.

Second: At the recent CHRR, there were lots of young people there. Either with their dads, uncles, etc., or with groups of friends. So at least they seem to enjoy that kind of drag racing.

IMO, the cost to attend the big races is one major stumbling block to young people attending the races. One of the biggest mistakes NHRA has made in the last couple of years is not lowering their prices. I know I certainly can't afford them!