Hey, Al - I've only been around it since the '60s, including fab work & my own cars. I just don't like 4-wide because I prefer to study 2 cars & how they get downtrack. If you were to read my previous posts here over the last several years, you'd see I've been pretty damn dedicated to the sport, though admittedly always wary of the NHRA.
I'm dead-set against anything like "trophies for everyone", and other marketing gimmicks.