Suggestions/solustions to stop the current horsepoop in NHRA top fuel and funny:

So, i'm flipping channels and caught a little lost wages elims on espn. This in itself was a mistake. Apparently, they are still running 1000 feet.

Do you think limiting tire size to 10" or 10.5" wide, 33" diameter and restoring the track to 1320 is a good solution?

Or everything else the same, but restore to 1320 feet AND no superchargers/turbos or nitrous?

What other suggestions do you have and why?

 

I posted this somewhere else the other day, here you go.

What do we like about the old days, say the mid-60's?

Big TF fields, little guys could afford to race, lots of different approaches, blown unblown etc...and tire smoke, lots and lots of tire smoke.

What did the fans respond to, tire smoke, no other sport features a brutally accelerating vehicle with smoke pouring from the tires. Now days, that's why burnouts get everyone jacked up.

With NTF becoming more and more a rich guys deal, the result will be smaller fields and less of a show.

We have lost our way. We forgot that what sells fuel racing is the show...and the show involves smoke, lots and lots of tire smoke.

Here's my proposal. Use what you have. Old ch***is, motor, parts, as long as everything techs and is safe. Make weight breaks so that unblown or non-hemi cars can compete. Add nitro to all this.

What will be the equalizer?

A hard, slippery tire and lockup clutch. Like the old days, car doesn't move foot without smoke. Lots and lots of tire smoke.

Technically there may be another way to guarantee 1320 feet of smoke but these two things are what occurred to me first.

Call it "Fuel Dragster" or whatever. Not an ET cl***, an open cl***.

Turn off the scoreboards except the win lights. Who cares how fast it is, it'll probably be high 6's, low 7's at 230. Plenty fast enough to be cool. But cheap enough that anyone with a bit of money could play. Use the scoreboards for qualifying only, to set the field. You want to run big numbers so you feel more manly, run NTF, RE-TF, or FC. Or go "Big Show" racing. This is meant to be fun, competative, but fun too...and affordable.

Driver skill and tuning would be what's important, not a trailer full of parts, $7000 blowers etc etc etc. Expensive track prep wouldn't be necessary. No carbon fiber brakes etc, trouble with the sanctioning body as dragsters get faster. Lose the canards, front wings have to be old style.

Think about it before you tar and feather me. What do old dragster pics look like, smokey speed. Speed without smoke doesn't photograph as well and isn't nearly as exciting.

You wany Nostalgia Drag Racing to become popular with the non-racers, especially car guys but not drag race guys?

What do we have that no one else has, NITRO. What can we make that no one else has, a fast car pouring tire smoke out that back, as the tuners and anyone under 30 says, it'd be "bad***".

Cheap, exciting nitro racing, with non-cookie cutter cars. Require nose pieces if you want for identificarion purposes. Lets bring personality back to fuel racing, that's why FC is popular, the cars are easy to personalize.

We've got to sell the sizzle, not the steak.

 

How much traction do your pre-65 threads get on the NHRA forums?

 

Speed costs money,and speed is what the fans want.Any one catch Antron Browns 3.84 and 320 mph. Some body has it figured out.

 

7 flat with tire smoke would be just as exciting.

If the numbers weren't on the big board, most people, maybe not you, wouldn't care.

It was loud and smokey...and 1320 feet!

PS I know they'll never do it, even at the Heritage Series level.

 

1:1 drive ratio blowers, max compression ratio, limit the size of the fuel tanks.

And go back to 1320.

 

ONE sealed motor per weekend. You blow it up, you're done.

Can't take credit for this idea, it was Don Garlits'.

 

i have to agree with alot of this, if i miss the mega buck cars runnin on tv these days, im really not upset. bring back the fun.

 

do you think anybody cares what we think?

 

We've had many conversations during our downtime at both NHRA & ANRA events. One thought we had that hasn't been mentioned is to limit engines to one mag, smaller rear tires, and no electronics.

 

Absolutely not. NHRA won't make money if they change things. But then again they are a non profit organization . . . . Man I can't even write that and keep a straight face.

 

RustyRedRam<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_6406290", true); </SCRIPT>

Amen Brother,that IS to funny.

( non profit organization . . . . )<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

 

NHRA has become a huge enterprise (close to NASCAR in $ value and attendance). The excitement is in the close racing, not so much the top speed or ET... Look at Pro Stock with a spread of .08 to .10 seconds between first qualifier and 16th. I fondly remember funny car and top fuel fields of 32 several times a year at Irwindale, Lion's and OCIR...good racing and good fun...unfortunately, that didn't draw the corporate $$$ to the sport to make it grow. I wasn't racing pro cl*** at that time but had several friends that did...contingency money did not pay the bills. Safety issues were also prominent in the 60-70's as I personally witnessed several drivers killed in top fuel dragsters (usually clutch explosions between the legs)...enough ramblings, the sport needs to maintain it's safety record of late and the compe***iveness we all expect.

 

I catch myself NOT caring if I see it or not .

Use to be if it was on I would be watching....

Not so much anymore.....

I believe theirs a lot more folks with that kind of thinking.

If NHRA stops raking in the big bucks for their wallets something will change,

May take a long time before it happens.... you know,Being a Non Profit and all....

 

No they don't. The people that I still know close to NHRA say for know this is 1000' It is all about money.

The insurance company likes 1000' because they think it is safer with the extra stoping distance and price their rates based on that.

As long as the big Corp.and TV money is there NHRA wil not change. As long as they are drawing people to the races and TV is covering it, they are afraid to make too many changes that will rock the boat. They have a big group of younger people now coming to the races who only know 1000' and 300mph and that is what they want to see. I guarantee that if they took the speed and et boards down the attendance would go down mainly with the young people and they are looking at the future. With video games and other action sports it is hard to slow things down and go backwards. How many video games would they sell if they were like they were 30 years ago.

I would like to see them go back to 1320' and slow the cars down a little bit, but I don't see it happening. Going back to 6 to 7 second is unrealistic. You have Pro
stock run that know. If nostalgia FED and funny cars started drawing huge crowds of 10,000 to 20,000 people and outdrawing NHRA national events that would make them think about it, but until that happens forget about it.

 

Just like anything else, when given enough time, technology and money anything can and will be ruined.

 

I have to agree with Surfrider. I'm all about the tire smoke and sizzle. Everyone has their own opinion, but I know that I've spent a ton of money on nostalgia drag racing, and, to-date, I have spent $0 on a large-scale NHRA sanctioned event.

When I do go to the track, I want to see two guys from the neighborhood put a Ford up against a Dodge or whatever else they've built and drive. I'm also a case-in-point in regard to Surfrider's comment on FC racing. Love them. I could watch nostalgia F/C all day.

 

Mike Dunn had a rant on this subject during today's broadcast. If things are limited to 1000 ft, the Crewchiefs will push the ***emblies for 1000 ft and they will still blow up. Mentioned you could limit the track to 100 ft and it would still happen.
Not sure how he felt but NHRA needs to run 1/4 mile. I can't relate to the 1000 ft times. not sure if a posted time is fast or slow compared to the 1320 time. I'd like to see NHRA put limits on wings, tires, engines / blower size etc. I long for the days when a Funnycar still looked like a production car Ya, I know. Those days are long gone.

 

I will not watch 1000' racing for any reason. Go back to 1/4 mile. Dont touch a thing in the driveline. Add a bunch of safety measures. Maybe add some weight. Let 'em go out and let them try to blow themselves up. Thats the way its supposed to be.

 

fuel cars shut off 1000 foot by wire-remotely still timed to 1320

kinda like supergas only backwards

they launch thendog it to not break out

the fuel cars will go then coast to finish

 

IF you do not like the SHOW ...

STAY HOME !!

Low attendance is the only thing ( which = no money ) that NHRA cares about.

When the paying spectators quit coming ... they will change the show.

Problem solved.

 

I can't see going back to quarter mile racing for Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Cars without some major rule changes for both cl***es. When you start changing rules it's automatically increases the cost of going racing because you have to by new parts, that really affects lower end teams who can't afford to change. Plus you know it's definitely going to upset a few people who are successful under the current set of rules, which affects higher end teams who don't want to lose their compe***ve advantage. That leaves a very small minority of mid range teams who can both afford to change and want to change as the only voice of reason telling the sanctioning body to make the necessary rule changes to get Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Cars back to racing a quarter mile. I personally, can't see the NHRA making rule changes for a small minority of people who are not helping bringing in the majority of money for the sport anytime soon.

If you're a fan the only voice you have is with your pocket book, spend your time and money elsewhere and make sure you tell the NHRA why you're not spending your money with them. Then maybe the powers that be will start to take notice. In my opinion the closet drag racing you see in person today, to the way it was back then, is at a Heritage Series race.

I just got back to my friend's house in So-Cal where I've been crashing at for the past three weeks while I was crewing on a Nostalgia Funny Car at the March Meet, rescheduled March Meet, and NHRA Las Vegas national event, here are the reason I like a Hertiage Series events over a national event:
The race cars in every cl***es look like real cars or closely resemble the production model.
The cars aren't completely covered in contingency stickers or corporate logos.
You can have a conversion about a particular car based solely on it's nickname.
Every racer I've meet is very friendly.
Everyone usually hangs out at the track after the racing is over for the day: barbecuing, drinking, hopping from pit to pit bench racing and visiting all night.

 

Either way, it's cool with me, for the fuel cars. As long as they don't change all of the cl***es to 1000'.

 

NHRA wont change as long as they have the TV money rolling in. Even if the crowds at the heritage series get big, they wont change. They will just put up the ticket price over there and **** your wallet some more.

I think you need a second series/sanctioning body that has exciting 1320 racing and tv time and excited fans, and then, and only then, NHRA may change their ways.

At the moment they ARE the show as far as they are concerned

 

NHRA drag racing has pretty much lost me. For a long while I tried to care, but a couple of seasons ago I just realized that I don't. So I haven't watched or attended since. It has strayed so far from what I was turned on by as a kid in the 70's, that I can't even relate to it anymore. But, I can also pretty much say the same for all types of pro racing as it is nowadays. It has all gotten too slick, too corporate, too expensive and most of all- too boring.

 

NHRA and NASCAR both need to adopt some of my ideas.

1 - Total cost limit spent on cars. Drivers build what he/she wants within budget.
2 - Driver is the only mechanic. You built it, you race it. Still gets inspected for safety.
3 - No electronics of any kind.

Get rid of that "may the wealtiest team win" **** and make it about the driver's skill and abilities.

 

What I'm saying is, give a guy say, 10 grand to spend. They have certain safety criteria to meet. The rest of the budget is driver's discretion after that.

 

Not much fun watching a 16 car field full of team cars.

I was watching a show on Speed that said one team uses two transporters per car they field (?).

 

Back in the 60's and 70's they used to have "claiming" to try to contain costs, but the problem is EGO. Racers would spend the money to win, even if they knew there was a chance their engine could be claimed. That kind of at***ude doesn't change. I don't know how you would enforce a strict price limit, and if drivers were the only mechanics, it would not only unemploy 80% of the racing industry, but there is no way even in the old days that one guy could run a nitro car- or hell, even a bracket car, unless it's a street/strip deal. It's the same in circle track or road racing no matter what the cost. That's not a practical solution.

If you are going to limit cost, I would think you need to do it another way- say, go back to only prepping the first 100 feet of the track so it makes it useless to make more power than the track can handle, or have a setup that is totally dependant on having a 1/4 mile of VHT and a perfect track. They could also go back to mandating a single magneto, 6-71 blower with no offset and limit the fuel pump size. In funny car and pro stock, take the aero package away and mandate stock body measurements with limited size on wings and spoilers. That kind of thing could make a difference, btu there is never any political will to make those kinds of changes. Racers would rather **** in the sandbox and just complain about the smell than sacrifice performance.

Generally, you can't agree to get those guys to go backwards- drag racers especially. They are convinced that people are interested in big speeds and ETs, even if it means racing that ****s with blobby cars and entire drivetrains that last 1 run. You even see it with the so-called nostalgia cl***es, and as we speak the front engine nostalgia nitro dragsters that were originally concieved as a cl*** that brings nitro racing back to "two guys with decent jobs" are screwing the pooch and cl*** participation is dwindling down to a few deep pockets hobbyist guys.

Time has proved over and over that you can't save racers from themselves...

 

the whole point of drag racing is to go as quick and fast as you can, blow everything to smithereens, go back and figure how to do it even bigger and kill yourself in the process.

let racers race.