Drag Racers really cutting back on racing?

It seems from the lack of racing this year from many guys, Drag racing has slowed down quite a bit.
Car counts are way, way down at each event, week in and week out.
Throughout the year, the lack of cars in the staging lanes are quite noticeable from previous years.
Even the stands are pretty empty.
Beaver Springs was a prime example. Usually there were close to 60 cars in NSS this year 36-38.
Lebanon Valley attendance way down in all classes and Island dragway a Sunday event there were 28 cars total there and 11 were from NENDRA.
Atco was also a shock when the staging lanes were empty all day.

Cars just sitting in the garage collecting dust, guys selling off their stuff. Is this the sign of the times?
I know NHRA isn't making it easy on the racers, nickel and diming us with ridiculous fees.

$$$ is everything

and the so called "government" is hungry! globally too!

Yep ! I have my Micro sprint ready to go but Pit fees and Fuel cost's has it sitting on the stand in the shop !

This is the sign of the times all sports and Hobbies are affected.

Lots of reasons and NHRA is just one of them. I used to could run a 10 second car fairly cheap but now that's a different story. Safety rules alone have added a pretty good expense to it not to mention the entry fee and fuel costs. The value of the dollar is way down too plus some of the parts seem to not have the quality they used to have. The car that I was planning on building for the track is now being planned for street duty and might even make an attempt at the Texas Mile with it even tho it's a boxy car. I have another car that I may build for drag racing since it is already part way there but will probably just go bracket racing and stay in the slower classes for money reasons. I also know several that are putting race cars back on the street and just go cruising.

snakeoil24 said:

This is the sign of the times all sports and Hobbies are affected.

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Scary thought, I seen this in all things automotive straight across the board. Its M&M.... money (less have it to spend discretionally) and millennials (don't give a crap about cars to begin with)

My family and my employment has been very negativley impacted by the current economic state. Stagnent wages, rising household costs, money spent keeping kids out of shitty public schools, etc, etc, etc..... I am not whining for myself, I am fortunate to still own what I do, but I don't spend 5% of what I used to on my muscle cars and racing. I am curious to see the turnout at the Yellowbullet event in a month, my guess is car counts will be down there too, but I could be wrong? People (younger racers) really gravitate towards these modern classes, small tire cars running mid 4s in the 1/8 at well over 150mph. I thank the allowance of traction control, IMO. It's cheap and easy instant gratification, spend money ==== go fast. That was not the case when i grew up, you could throw money at a car all you wanted, if you did not LEARN how to get it to run right and tune it, you went nowhere fast.

So long story short, I don't really care what my car runs anymore bcause there is no class left for me to run it in. I don't belive in nor have the money to build a car around an ever changing rule book. My Hemi is coming out, going from NA to a procharger and will be more sreetable and faster with a mild tune up....

My 2 cents.....

Most here probably know my story already,
I use to race a minimum of 4 days a week, travel all over the country...
Economy downturn, people not spending discretionary income like they use to,
business is really slow... but picking up some

Nobody know what's next to come down the political spectrum, what next will they regulate out of existence,
what next they will have to do or spend just to survive... effected me allot since 2008

Life, family & cash flow gets in the way allot, more money spent than comes in,
my elders, the upkeep of their properties & an aging ol'dog, that needs meds attention,
all this stuff have detoured me allot lately...

Sad to see the sport go down hill, with less attendance in the stands & less car count, is very noticeable...

BUDGET & ECONOMY is a big part of that.... I'm not the only one...

Some people just aren't effected as much as others, some haven't had as much of a change in life,
some people have multiple racecars & some struggle just to get a car running,
with skyrocketing costs & even time...

other reasons possibly;
There's allot of newer technology today, allot of electronics & computer control stuff,
that turns off allot of the good ol'boys crowd, that were use to old school tuning to make performance differences...

Now phone-call or downloaded tune-ups, checkbook cars & big budgets are the norm today,
someone else builds it & tells them how to run it, becoming the norm...

Maybe the aging former participants, who have lost interest or typical life & money issues get in the way...

It's no longer, the common mans sport, where teens & 20 somethings were a big part of the contingent,
every wed, fri & sat bracket races, some big time sunday races, spending time working on cars,
instead of buying some new computer, electronic gizmo, smart phone or tattoo & piercings,
instead of buying stuff for their car, like decades of youths before have done...

IMHFO the car is just transportation to much of the youth today, lack luster interest...

It's breed into the youth today, indoctrination from age 5 y/o on up,
all the electronic stuff & electric cars, Prius, Volts, Tesla's are cool,
& then all the Greenie crap shoved down their throats in schools & on the boob tube...

I honestly think they look at cars guys & old cars, as outdated dinosaurs now...LOL...

Another part is it's turned into cubic dollars, just to go to the track & field a car,
full on computer control & traction aid, electronic shock, centrifugal superchargers & turbo's on everything,
EFI everything, carbon fiber everything, billet everything, just to keep up with the Jones's...

I use to field a car for a season, for what I spend just to get the car built & to the track today,
let alone haul it anywhere, let alone run it & maintain it & be competitive, or why even go...

Anyway I hope you see more attendance in your races, spectators & participants...

I'm in agreement with what has been said so far but I'm also thinking about the generation that's been racing for the last 40 years, give or take. We are getting older and Im wondering about the youth that might be getting into this type of racing. It's hard enough for the younger generation to financially survive these days, not alone trying to get into such a sport.

khryslerkid said:

I'm in agreement with what has been said so far but I'm also thinking about the generation that's been racing for the last 40 years, give or take. We are getting older and Im wondering about the youth that might be getting into this type of racing. It's hard enough for the younger generation to financially survive these days, not alone trying to get into such a sport.

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Very very true, but i'm seeing a lot of 40 to 60 year old guys cutting back drastically because of NHRA raping the weekend racer to a point where they said screw it,i'm done.
Also Race gas has become ridiculously expensive. I'm spending over $100.00 a weekend just on race fuel, that plus entrance fee, and diesel to the track at over $4.00 a gallon

For me its the price of fuel. And the overall increase of prices in general. Some of it my schedule. Forces me to miss some weekends alltogether. Or leave early Sunday morning to race on Sunday. Come home late Sunday evening tired. Dont like that either. I still get out 12-15 times. When I first started I had a street car I bracket raced & I kept my stuff in the car. I would jump in & drive to the track. Get a hotel & race the next day at the same track or a nearby one. I would race 25 plus races a year back them & had a travel/points card that helped with those expenses. Now towing with an open trailer I'm not about to stay at a hotel just to go out & see my stuff gone or vandalized. When I have a good day at the track & I'm driving good & win some rounds I feel like I'm 15 y/o. And that feeling last for days. Thats what motivates me to do it. Yes something is wrong in the sport. Car count is down. No fans to speak of around here at least. A lot of guys I use to see & race against every week are gone. I ask & no one has heard from them.

You all are right. Money I think is the source of the problems. We are getting nickeled and dimed or I should say $100.00 - $500.00 to death. Starting with travel expenses, Hotels raping people during special events, gas and diesel north of $370.00 a gal. food is out of site... especially if you eat at the track. Race gas $8.00 - $11.00 a gallon depending on octane.

Let's look at something else, The promoters have killed a lot of races. They either get greedy or they get stupid and want to run races at huge venues like Indy and Chicago that cost $35,000 + to rent. Then there is the slightest smell of rain and they don't get the turn out... again because of the travel cost. But once this happens they start jacking up the entry's and gate fees and lowering the pay outs. There has been a lot of racers who have parked the car because this.

The one promoter who gets it is Bill Bader and Bill Bader Jr at Norwalk. That place is packed every weekend with cars and crowds. He understands he is in the entertainment business, and he gives people there moneys worth. But with that being said , he doesn't gouge the racers or the spectators. He even has a Night Under Fire that he gives free tickets away, they tell me it's standing room only that night. But you know what he's doing??? he's priming the pump. He knows that there are people who either have never been to the track OR who haven't been to the track in years, and there's a good possibility they will come back and spend some money.

You know what sux? Last weekend in mile high Bandimere raceway it was all mopar and mopar was the star, this weekend mopar had a presence somewhat, but instead of celebrating all they wanted to do was highlight the force family, sad really so much Mopar to see and love and have to hear interviews and stage crap from Brittany force sad.

Last Weekend they had The CEO doing burnouts in the hellcat, they had Richard Rawlins drag racing the hellcat, they had the big M flying high all over mile high mopar sponsored event, here in NorCal we got nadda squat a booth of three trying to get us to sign up for email alerts about when we might buy our next new car, no ******* hellcat!!! I was pissed didn't even go back today for the finals too pissed off.


Had just about enough force family stuff for a lifetime, was a fan at one time and have a lot of respect for their team but man this was a rip off for mopar addicts like me

Things May Change Somewhat When Force Loses That Ford Financial Backing!

65 Plymouth Satellite 426 said:

Things May Change Somewhat When Force Loses That Ford Financial Backing!

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I heard Castroll was leaving him too. At least as a major backer. He was clearly worried about it early in the season. Now he appears to be back to normal. I guess he has a deal allready signed with Toyota...LOL

cbodybob said:

I heard Castroll was leaving him too. At least as a major backer. He was clearly worried about it early in the season. Now he appears to be back to normal. I guess he has a deal allready signed with Toyota...LOL

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He no doubt got someone or multiple sponsors, because he's not sweating at all.
The Force show is really old and they really need to put a top to it, it's a big turn off watching the same bull at every race.

When it's not fun and is a big pain people loose interest... it should be real fun with one guy Competing...

One of the problems is that some of the tracks are shutting down. These tracks may be a half-way point for some racers. I live 20 minutes from Island Dragway. I go there often when they have family night on wednesdays or street legal night on Friday. I know those are not big money or serious races, but it does get me to the track. Last Summer, Island shut down and left me with Englishtown as the closest track. That is almost 2 hours away. Now, competing with Nendra, LVD is almost a 3 hour ride for me. Too much to do all in one day. SO, racing for fun, I need to rent a trailer for two days, get a hotel room and drive three hours each way. Probably a $600.00 weekend for me. MONEY,MONEY,MONEY!

all the fun of local racing,for me anyway,was the comrodery with the other racers.that seems to have gone by the way side in the last 5 years or so.so much so here,that i decided to stop going to the track and build a crazy street car.i have much more fun with the people at shows and cruises then the new clowns at the track.race car has not seen any care in a while now.