hows drag racing down south ? it feels like its dying up in the north ...car counts ect

bottom line is the dollar just don't go as far as it used to....and it really shows

If you think the inflated economy is bad now, just wait until Bernanke stops funneling money into the stock market and raises interest rates. The Great Depression will look like a goal to reach.

nhra street legal drags at brainerd was packed, lots of domestic new and old, imports it didn't matter. must of been 250 cars there. got a few runs in my self. fwiw bobn

Anyone got an idea of how many events have been rained out? It's been soggy around here this spring and summer...

Glenn M. wrote:Anyone got an idea of how many events have been rained out? It's been soggy around here this spring and summer...

A BUNCH down this way

69F100 wrote:

Glenn M. wrote:Anyone got an idea of how many events have been rained out? It's been soggy around here this spring and summer...

A BUNCH down this way

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The bad economy, NHRA getting excessive with a few rules, fuel prices. Those things lead to street racing. Another reason for decline is work schedules. Monday-Friday jobs seem much harder to find.

Lem Evans wrote:
"Also as was said earlier, at $100 for entry fees, that is pretty stiff ask someone to shell out each week, and people just don't have it. It seems to me that inflation has far outpaced incomes. That is why it's taking me so long to get my turd done. To many things taking what little free cash I have available, so I am trying to find a pt job to generate some extra cash."

Maybe that's the biggest componet. $100 entry fees...where else does the "player" pay to put on the show? Anyone think The NBA players gotta pay $100 and hope like hell they win to break even?

 [/quote]
We had a track operator in Florida who expected to pay his bills by selling tech cards. He whined about low car counts...but wouldn't spend any money to prep the track. As such, he expected people to crowd his bleachers to see a bunch of 7 and 8 second cars, since nobody with any sense would try to stick a fast car on his dirt road.

Fast cars draw crowds. Crowds pay the bills.

"Fast cars draw crowds. Crowds pay the bills."

When it comes to crowd draw, There is no truer statement.

When it comes to getting peoples $, you have to provide a thrill and seeing the slow stock classes just don't cut it. Doesn't matter if it's drag racing or truck pulling.

Bracket cars just do not draw a crowd.Been that way for years. I love racing as much as anybody here,well except maybe Dan, but I don't watch bracket racing.It is boreing to watch,I even get bored doing it.This is why I do more grudge racing. They took a good concept 6.0 / 7.0 index style racing and ruined it by letting back half and chassis cars in it. Now it is just another boreing bracket race. It was a challenge to get a street car to run that number.
When you go grudge racing there will be people pushing their cars to the limit. No matter what that limit is.
It can as exciting to watch two 6.5 cars going at it as long as that is all they can do. Bracket racing is like watching a football game when everyone is at 3/4 speed. Fun if your involved in the drill but like watching paint dry if watching.
I think tracks would be ahead to go back to a fast 8 That is intagrated into the bracket program.It would bring out faster cars. Could do it in pro and foot brake. Not complicated, low cost, don't see why somebody try it. It was a big draw at a local track around here for a long time.

dr's wife racing wrote:Bracket cars just do not draw a crowd.Been that way for years. I love racing as much as anybody here,well except maybe Dan, but I don't watch bracket racing.It is boreing to watch,I even get bored doing it.This is why I do more grudge racing. They took a good concept 6.0 / 7.0 index style racing and ruined it by letting back half and chassis cars in it. Now it is just another boreing bracket race. It was a challenge to get a street car to run that number.
When you go grudge racing there will be people pushing  their cars to the limit. No matter what that limit is.
It can as exciting to watch two 6.5 cars going at it as long as that is all they can do. Bracket racing is like watching a football game when everyone is at 3/4 speed. Fun if your involved in the drill but like watching paint dry if watching.
I think tracks would be ahead to go back to a fast 8 That is intagrated into the bracket program.It would bring out faster cars. Could do it in pro and foot brake. Not complicated, low cost, don't see why somebody try it. It was a big draw at a local track around here for a long time.

the fast 8 deal does work.we had it a few years ago and it did draw a little more crowd.it worked so good a few put the hose on to run in it,lol.it started to die off as the parts got broke.

bbf-falcon wrote:I very seldom attend a reg sat night race anymore even as a spectator.Most of the races I do attend are all Ford events or All Nostalgia events. The Nostalgia events are always jammed packed w/guy's between 45 and 70 yrs . They are usually accompanied w/family . I think most of the problem is mostly because of what Lem's comments were. 

 
I'm an old, old fart and love the nostalgia races. I'm not a fan of 1/8 mile stuff, would much rather see 1/4 mile A F/X or B F/X races. I was at an all-Ford meet at Budd's Creek, Md a couple of years ago, very impressive (For me) to watch what 422 Motorsports was doing with their iron. And it was gettin' it on, too... I may have to go again this year, think they have a meet in October sometimes... That is, if it will ever stop raining... Bracket racing -

Its ok up here but there's too many organizations and rules to keep up with. The heads up stuff is dead because if it.

Thre are no rules in grudge racing,or the fast 8 deal I was talking about. That was art of what I was saing. Cheap simple and easy for tracks. Any one who hasn't been to a grudge race should go. It's even fun to watch.

10 gal fuel 200+10lb of nos 40ea x10 bottles=400....600.00 before you pull out of the driveway!150-200 in fuel for the truck 50 to get through the gates 100 to enter 50 for eats 25 for drinks and water you brought with you.1000 dollars roughly to play for a few hours  

I seen to have a depressed cash flow that's why I am only going out once n awhile  

Went to the track today for a 275 and 315 race. 10 275 cars 6 315 cars. Couple of guys packed up before after 1 pass. Pretty dismal turnout. No real spectators. Too many rules and too many sanctioning bodies for heads up racing. It doesnt help when the rules are ignored. No foggers in US 275 but half the cars in the class are running them. I want to run with these guys next year with a NA car but I get the feeling its going to be futile. Only a handful of guys really have the cash to run a real hard core program. Its hard to compete a $15k car against a $150k car. Most of the 275 guys were in the 5.20 to 5.40s. Then one firebird lines up and goes 4.99. Its disheartening to know that you're 4-5 tenths from even being remotely competitive.I went to my first no time grudge match a few weeks ago to watch Billy Glidden run,and the place was packed at $25 a head to get in. It was a circus,but was a lot of fun to watch. There was a bunch of money being traded on the starting line too. It would be great to see tracks throw that kind of show on once a month. It was also nice to see a few young kids out there with their new Mustangs during T&T. These are just my personal observations.

Barney wrote:Its ok up here but there's too many organizations and rules to keep up with. The heads up stuff is dead because if it.

I can't agree enough on that statement

We run some local x 275 races with my another car .Don't say much about it here due to the small block power plant. It's best run is a 5.12 but is always in the teens. It is always competative. Never the fastest but it is about getting down the track at most races. We've never won a race with it but runnered up with it this spring at holley springs. It lost a little wt. and the NOS had a tune by induction induction solutions. So maybe next time. It's to get any grudge action with this car now. We've run too many timed events. These are the races I find fun. You may see 7 sec. cars or 4 sec cars but if it is grudge racing they are pounding them trying to grt every last hundreth out. That is what makes it a blast.

N/T P/T for life.......

kim wrote:the insurance for track owners is killing it.  If it weren't for lawyers, there would be the same track count and sport vibrancy of the 50's. Tracks are closing left and right because of the liability insurance the owners have to carry. Waivers be damned, doesn't matter what you sign, its always someone else's responsibility to ensure you don't hurt yourself. With NHRA all but killing the sportsman "importance" and making PRO the only division that gets any coverage, mention, etc... The ability to attract dollars to fund a car is tight. The crap economy that our wonderful President keeps burning into the ground, sure ain't  helping the independent guy make it work.Most tracks have the die hards, that tend to run off the newbs, teens, etc, because they mess up protocol and staging, and wet the track, or oil down, or etc.......The cycle is coming around were most exhibitions of speed will happen on streets again, instead of someplace where the risks are controlled, medical personnel are standing by, and grandma aint going to back out her driveway into the path of a car coming at her at 200mph.

Lem Evans wrote:The economy, fuel & food prices, depressed wages are very much part of the equation. What may be bigger is the generational divide of interest. 1st there was the ricer generation and now there is the "I can't take my hands off of my smart ass phone long enough to do anything else". All sports need new blood to have a future....the teens and 20's group by and large do not know about racing & if they do they do not care. For all I know....the USA may have a sever decline of population if the male and females are just sitting on the couch texting each other.

Well wrote gentlemen!

This past week end at Bowling Green, Comp Eliminator had only 20 to 25 entries, S/S was populated near normal and Stock Eliminator had over 120 entries. Naturally the upcoming Indy race will or should provide a large population of entries in all categories, although it seems a few categories are diminishing!

As for Lem's comment of today's couch potatoes, I agree intelligence is an asset although our country as we know it didn't get to this point on intelligence alone, plenty of back breaking labor was part of the equation! Sitting on the couch won't keep the wolves away, although viewing suggestive video and/or texting suggestive material while sitting on the couch makes one wonder, does the "couch texter" wipe his dick on the curtains or remove his fat ass from the couch to cleanse himself?

Dave.

Is the fix to this malaise returning to Muscle Car Heads Up events where Fords, Mopars, Pontiacs and Chebbies are welcome but not the Ricers?

One problem around here is 13 tracks within 150 miles, most trying to run on Sat. night. With job insecurity, fuel costs, etc. just not enough cars to go around. One track has a problem with pit area getting wet and taking months to dry enough to get in and out. Could be remedied with some fill dirt and gravel or with pavement. Tracks with increased entry but same payout for years or sometimes less payout. Payout too top heavy.

Then there are the car owner/drivers that once were glad to have a place to race but now their car is "too fast" to run at the "podunk" tracks that supported them, so they have to go to the "big" tracks, although much faster cars than theirs have run there. Many nowdays look down on bracket racing in favor of so called headsup type racing forgetting that the cost of the headsup to be competitive is what made brackets popular to begin with. More classes that thin the car count in each one.

Just a few observations of approx 50 years in and around racing, it is not one thing that can be singled out as the problem, but a combination.

LovesDemCubes wrote:Is the fix to this malaise returning to Muscle Car Heads Up events where Fords, Mopars, Pontiacs and Chebbies are welcome but not the Ricers?

Excluding ricers is no way to fix the problem, kids need cheap cars to soup up to go to the track, you get rid of the rice your getting rid of the essence of hot rodding. You may not like them but they are the cars that kids can afford to screw around with. No kids = No Future to the sport.

dfree383 wrote:

LovesDemCubes wrote:Is the fix to this malaise returning to Muscle Car Heads Up events where Fords, Mopars, Pontiacs and Chebbies are welcome but not the Ricers?

Excluding ricers is no way to fix the problem, kids need cheap cars to soup up to go to the track, you get rid of the rice your getting rid of the essence of hot rodding. You may not like them but they are the cars that kids can afford to screw around with. No kids = No Future to the sport.

If you do a bit of research to learn who is running the show (and making the parts), you'll find that GM is now technically a "ricer".

bcr466 wrote:Then there are the car owner/drivers that once were glad to have a place to race but now their car is "too fast" to run at the "podunk" tracks that supported them, so they have to go to the "big" tracks, although much faster cars than theirs have run there. Many nowdays look down on bracket racing in favor of so called headsup type racing forgetting that the cost of the headsup to be competitive is what made brackets popular to begin with. More classes that thin the car count in each one.

Just a few observations of approx 50 years in and around racing, it is not one thing that can be singled out as the problem, but a combination.                          

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