Thread: Things That Ruined Drag Racing!

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ive thought about just makin an injected alkie car i mean at least with injected you dont have the problems a blown one does, as my old friend fred always says once you smack a blower on it the price goes up 10 fold!

Loved the show!!!!!!!!! A "HOT"!! woman and a fuel funnuy car in one shot.Oh ya, thats Raymond Beatle(before the Blue Max) driving for Don Schumacker ,1974.Check out www.draglist.com for tons of old photos.

I have to admit that the cost of racing had an effect on my feelings about the sport. When I graduated high school in '66, some of the nationally competitive teams were made up of several working guys, and they could field a competitive pro car. For the level of competition today, you need a major corporate sponsor! A young man would dream of Top Fuel or Funny Car racing, but the cost to be a contender will squash his dreams before they start.

Talk about "the show" and babes..........................
Gotta bring up one of the best teams out there.........Jungle Jim and Jungle Pam, they were animals! The closest today is Force when he's in high gear, but Coil ain't no Pam!

Bob thanks for the photo! Now thats one hell of a show

A few more favorites from the archive.....

Originally Posted by deuce3wcpe

A few more favorites from the archive.....

I have been looking for the picture of that blonde for months...Can someone tell me who she is and what racer she was associated with?

As for ruining the sport...No Way!

Things will always change, some for the better and some not, but there is still no greater spectator sport than drag racing. For a few buck you can spend the better part of a day watching demon fast cars, see some pretty girls and drink a few beers. No other sport I know lets you get so close to the action or interact with the drivers like drag racing.

I loved it back in the 60’s and I still love it today and one day when then my dependents are grown and out the door, I hope to be on the track myself. (three children = no time or money for racing! )

I just browsed through this whole thread, and am surprised no one has brought this up.......

What ruined....or is ruining drag racing?

Pinks.........

Or is it?.........I think that Rich Christianson is a total jerk....who stands out there waving his arms like a fool....basically taking the credit for what the racers are doing on that show.....The tracks have all the electronic equipment that was invented just for this purpose, and he insists on grand standing out there with his little army of drones to say if a race was proper or not..........Drama that is not needed and by his actions, condones street racing, as that is what it is intended to duplicate.........


However......the show does put drag racing back on TV....which is a good thing........


Opinions...................

I dont feel that drag racing has been ruined.

i never got to experience drag racing as you knew it. i was born in the late 80's. but what really irks me is that they keep closing racetracks. where in the hell are we supposed to go to race? the closest dragstrip is infineon raceway, and i have to drive an hour and a half to get there. of course this is probably alot closer than some of you have to drive, but it is alarming at the number of race tracks are closing. a couple months ago we thought we had lost our local dirt oval, petaluma raceway, because the city wanted to build baseball stadium and bring in a minor league team. we had a minor league team, the sonoma county crushers, and they folded because they couldnt give tickets away. what would make more sense to the property owner? a race track that is JAMMED every friday and saturday night, pr a white elephant of a baseball stadium?

Originally Posted by Mike in Motown

I dont feel that drag racing has been ruined.

My heading was a referrence to the differences in what a spectator saw, cheered for, and dreamed about on the "Golden Age", versus today's experience. Those guys who are now in their 50s, or older, stood along the dragstrips of the '60s, and know what I am talking about.

You had to listen to Ronnie Sox shifting a hemi with a crash box, so violent dirt would fall out from under the car each time he shifted, watch Jackson's Scratcher /SR stand up on the rear bumper, then smash the oil pan when it came down, hear a CC/GS launching and shifting at about 11, 000, and pulling the wheels four times before the finishline, watch Jenkins brake an axle so bad, the wheel came out from under the car, or watch two blinding chrome and blue metalflake cars roll up to the starting line, in the Top Fuel final in '65 or '66.....then you would see the difference.

The numbers are better today, and the television coverage is vastly better, which I think has a lot to do with the continued success. Today I root for my heros, and love to see the bad guys lose. That is a result of watching them on TV, and getting to know their personalities.

I grew up 90 miles from Indy, and they didn't even mention the largest drag race in the world, on the local news....until that camera man was killed in the late '60s by an ejected blower!!!

Back in the day, we generally didn't even know what the racers looked like. We were actually cheering for our favorite make, cars we recognized, or what the magazines made us perceive as heros.

While the numbers were not as good, the show was better. Tire smoke, violent cars on the edge of control, fabulous chrome, and metalflake made the cars glamorous, and you could tell the classes, because certain bodies were used for certain types of racing.

Today, the cars of most classes seem to be generally the same chassis, engine and appearance. A Pro Stock may look the same as a Pro Mod or Sportsman car. the cars usually make nice straight smokeless passes, without any unnecessary motion, and the race cars very often look like a bottle or box of some product.

Things change, but they don't always get better. That's what I'm talkin' about. :-)

The way I see it, two things are leading to the demise of race tracks drag and oval. Property values and insurance. Property that only generates revenue one or two days per week is not as attractive as property that generates revenue every day... Our local dirt tracks are $20 a head to get in the infield now, promoter sez that $16 of that is for insurance,,.. (Promoters don't lie, do they???)

Where do we go when all the tracks close? Back to the streets and backroads where we started. Except now there are too many people living everywhere and spectators and participants alike wind up dead... But nothing will ever stand in the way of the allmighty $$$$... Besides, there's enough cops around that they'll be able to write a ton of tickets and city revenues will go up from the fines. It's a win-win deal, unless you happen to be a racer.....

JOIN SEMA, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TRACKS, LET YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND LOCAL POLITICIANS KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT IT!!!! Or, just sit on your butt, do nothing, and watch it all go away.....

I always wanted to go check out a race at Petaluma. Stockton 99 speedway closed at the end of last season. Much of my youth was spent at that track. Im worried that Sacramento raceway will be the next to go as the houses are getting closer and closer. The proposed motorsports park in atwater has passed preliminary approval but word has it that lawsuits from several fronts will keep it from ever opening. 'Environmental' concerns from liberals are at the root of most evil when it comes to racing automobiles. I wonder why some of the major sanctioning bodies dont take steps on their own to cut down on pollution so as not to give ammo to the left. Ive been a Nascar fan all my life but never understood why they let gallons of raw fuel to spill on the ground. Now the post race celebration burn outs. Wait until the 'enviros' get wind and make a stink about that.

[QUOTE=Mike in Motown] 'Environmental' concerns from liberals are at the root of most evil when it comes to racing automobiles. I wonder why some of the major sanctioning bodies dont take steps on their own to cut down on pollution so as not to give ammo to the left. Ive been a Nascar fan all my life but never understood why they let gallons of raw fuel to spill on the ground. Now the post race celebration burn outs. Wait until the 'enviros' get wind and make a stink about that.[/QUOTE

The "liberals" and "environmental concerns" have little if any effect on track racing, maybe a little on off road racing. Don't blame liberals and the left for everything!!!! Especially the demise of race tracks. Noise ordances have been passed by many city and county governments, the folks we all elect. Most tracks that I have seen closed where closed because of noise that the RESIDENTS complain about and the ELECTED OFFICIALS take action on... I am an environmentalist, lots of folks are.... and we are not "after" race tracks. Pollution is not even a concern with a race track, not 1/10 of 1% of what the big money folks plants pump into the atmosphere.... The "enviros" could give a rip less about a burnout and a bit of fuel on the pavement (that does get cleaned up). Put the blame where it belongs.... MONEY is the reason tracks close---not us liberals,,,,,,BTW, what is a liberal anyway??? Never mind with the definition... Just don't blame everything on those of us who think our environment should be a cause of concern..... Us environmentalists can be blamed for a lot of things, though. National Parks, State Parks, game preserves, natural habitat preservation including grasslands and wetlands. Yup, we sure are an evil bunch!!!!

[QUOTE=Dave Severson]

Originally Posted by Mike in Motown

'Environmental' concerns from liberals are at the root of most evil when it comes to racing automobiles. I wonder why some of the major sanctioning bodies dont take steps on their own to cut down on pollution so as not to give ammo to the left. Ive been a Nascar fan all my life but never understood why they let gallons of raw fuel to spill on the ground. Now the post race celebration burn outs. Wait until the 'enviros' get wind and make a stink about that.[/QUOTE

The "liberals" and "environmental concerns" have little if any effect on track racing, maybe a little on off road racing. Don't blame liberals and the left for everything!!!! Especially the demise of race tracks. Noise ordances have been passed by many city and county governments, the folks we all elect. Most tracks that I have seen closed where closed because of noise that the RESIDENTS complain about and the ELECTED OFFICIALS take action on... I am an environmentalist, lots of folks are.... and we are not "after" race tracks. Pollution is not even a concern with a race track, not 1/10 of 1% of what the big money folks plants pump into the atmosphere.... The "enviros" could give a rip less about a burnout and a bit of fuel on the pavement (that does get cleaned up). Put the blame where it belongs.... MONEY is the reason tracks close---not us liberals,,,,,,BTW, what is a liberal anyway??? Never mind with the definition... Just don't blame everything on those of us who think our environment should be a cause of concern..... Us environmentalists can be blamed for a lot of things, though. National Parks, State Parks, game preserves, natural habitat preservation including grasslands and wetlands. Yup, we sure are an evil bunch!!!!

No offense Mr Severson but in Cali LIBBIES ARE a threat to most race tracks. They use a liberal/envirinmental agenda to stop development of almost everything they dont have interest in. Thats why so called 'enviros' lack credability because they use trumped up 'facts' cited as enviro concerns to help/hurt causes. Thats why when something legitimate spills out nobody will listen. I really think you need a california view before saying that enviros are no threat to race tracks here. Just look up the problems the park in atwater ca is up against and tell me that enviros are one of the MAJOR players thats fighting to stop this particular track. OBTW i dont think many arent concerned about habitat preservation but rather dissagree on whats considered 'habitat', 'wetlands' etc.