UKDRN

Discuss anything to do with modern day drag racing here

Moderators: timetravel, ukdrn

 #39365  by ahensman
 
Yeah, real drag racing!!!!
Quarter mile from start to finish, two vehicles with the first one to the finish line is the winner.
Simple, but effective for over 50 years, and before the fiddlers got involved and started to mess things up.

A little history lesson for the young 'uns.
Drag racing evolved from egotistical young men putting their money where the mouths were and racing for bragging rites.
One young American buck bragging about their hot rod being able beat the other guys rod.
To put the argument to rest, they arrange to race each other from one red light to the next.
Since no race tracks were available, the race occurred on a popular straight road (known in the US as "the local drag") somewhere in town and over the distance of a block.

Remember, apart from a few really old cities (like Boston) most American towns and cities street plans (known as plats) are laid out in a grid pattern. Avenues run North-South and Streets run East-West.
The grid is precise in its measurements with the distance between intersections being 1320 feet or quarter of a mile.
The square that is the area between four adjoining intersections is known as a block.
With red lights at each intersection , it is not difficult to see the origins of REAL drag racing.

Two hot rods sitting at the red light and racing to the next intersection, one block or 1320 feet away with the first one there the winner.

So why the heck do we now have to endure 1000 foot Nitro racing and today's Four Wide Fiasco?
As a fan given the choice of spending 50 pounds to watch one of the two alternatives, which would you choose?

EITHER
7 races for each of the four professional classes that is all done with in about 2 hours (25 pounds for each hour of racing)
OR
15 races for each of the same four classes and taking 4 -5 hours to complete (10 - 12 pounds for each hour of racing)

And NHRA is scratching it's head trying to work out why their fan base is shrinking at an enormous race.
Here's a hint, NHRA.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
If 1320 foot drag racing was good for your dad, then it's good enough for you young 'uns too!!!!!
If the tracks need upgrading, then upgrade to accommodate todays super powerful race cars.
Don't restrict evolution, because that's the quickest way to fail.
Every time the NHRA restricts a class (like gear ratios, boost pressures, fuel pump capacity, etc.) it exponentially reduces the fan base. Fans want to see the next fastest speed ever from a dragster, not dragsters that all run within a micro-second and 5 mph of each other like Pro Stock cars.

Bring back good old quarter mile, two racer, traditional drag racing.
 #39504  by ahensman
 
As if one four-wide fiasco isn't enough, now ultra rich, mega-track owner and promoter (Bruton Smith) has got his way again with his second track (he owns both The Strip at Las Vegas and Z-Max Dragway plus Bristol Drag Strip and a number of NASCAR circuits) and as a result NHRA has announced that the Spring race in 2018 will be a second four wide event.

I understand that money talks, and God knows that (even here in the States) professional drag racing needs every penny it can muster, but there comes a time when enough is enough.
Bruton Smith is a very rich and powerful individual who has a serious hold on motor sport in the US. He has goals that clearly include taking full control of the motor sports he promotes, including drag racing.

He's tried in NASCAR, but he has a very powerful nemesis there in the form of the founding France family who have no intention of letting anyone else take over their cash-cow.
He has been known to purchase competitor promoter owned tracks, close them down and turn them into housing estates if they cut into his market. For example, a decade or so ago, a state of the art NASCAR circuit was built and opened south of Denver (near Colorado Springs). A couple of National events were staged there such as Indy Cars and NASCAR races. Then all of a sudden, it was no more. News finally broke it had been sold and closed down, and guess who by? Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) struggles to exist under the threat of being re-zoned for residential dwellings. A bit like Shaky Raceway in England.

Now Smith has flexed his muscles again and once again NHRA bowed down to the mighty dollar and we will have a second four-wide fiasco.
What would put an end to all this would be if fans boycotted them and the four-wides became a financial burden to both the promoter and NHRA.
Unless Worldwide drag racing is happy with being forced (by one very powerful individual) into rebuilding their tracks to accommodate four lanes, this one-man effort to take over drag racing needs to be curtailed.

NHRA already has a financial headache on it's hands with the Pro-Stock car class. I don't believe there's been one meet this year that has a full, competitive field so NHRA is mulling over how to proceed with the class.
Even the most financially ignorant folks can see that Pro Stock is the "low hanging fruit" primed for the picking. I'm sure Smith sees it too and to him, it's a great bargaining chip. Who's to say that Smith isn't promising to financially support the ailing Pro Stock category in return for more control of the sport in general???

Politics almost killed UK drag racing in the past and it could be a factor in the future of US drag racing.

Please be aware that this is just one person's opinion, but having experienced the 70's an 80's UK racing political wrangling, one tends to become a little wary of changes such as this and who and what eventual goal is exactly behind them.
Comments please?
 #39509  by mattymate
 
hi i have been going to the October meet in Vegas for the last 10 years and totally agree i can put up with a 1000ft racing. But four wide not buying it and also the Vegas track your close to the action good family atmosphere just like the pod although its only going to be four wide at the spring meet and not October but now your going to be further away from the action due to two extra lanes not impressed see how it goes and see what feed back i get from the American friends i have met who have been attending this track for years and hopefully it wont be like a building site come October could be returning back to Pomona