Thread: I miss real drag racing
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05-02-2010 05:50 AM #1
I miss real drag racing
Call me old fasioned. I guess, I am!!
At 71 years of age I no longer enjoy NHRA drag racing.
I used to attend 6-8 events every year, I loved the competitive spirit, the engenuity, the outright competitiveness of it all.
Now we have a bunch of slot cars with a driver.
Take the body panelling off any top fueler, or lift the body off ant funny car and what have you got??
Identical engines in identical chassis with a little spot to plug in a driver.
I went to my first drag race when I was 13. Sanford, ME on an old airport runway and it was exciting.
Door cars struggled to go 100 MPH, but it was fun. I remember the year an MIT professor announced that it was a physical impossability for a wheel driven car to exceed 150 MPH in a standing start 1/4 mile.
Two months later a weird (by todays standards) looking car called the "Bustle Bomb" went 151.
I remember when BB Chevys, Cammer Fords and Hemis all ran in top fuel competitively.
I remember Mickey Thompsons Hemi heads for Pontiacs.
I remember cars that you could buy at any dealership competing in Pro/Stock.
Is it just me, or has drag racing become to "homogenized"?
I know times change, but I'd really like to see an engine other than a hemi run competitively in the fuel classes.
And how about Pro/Stocks with production V-6's and fuel injection?
17 years ago I went out on a limb and produced an aftermarket block for Pontiacs (it's still being sold see www.allpontiac.com) and we proved you could make HP (2806HP) with a Pontiac.
Think what drag racing excitement could be produced with a serious effort on some of the "non standard" engines.
Or, maybe I'm just "old fashioned"Buying parts I don't need, with money I don't have, to impress people I don't like
In our neighborhood, 2 blocks down the hill was a gas station that (to me) all the cool car guys hung out there. 32 coupes, 33 & 34 Fords as well, a sweet 56 Ford Beach wagon that was setup gasser...
How did you get hooked on cars?