I know how old he is, but I won't say anything because I love the guy.

The sport is changing, and is going to change. I get that. It's unavoidable. Everything changes, and it's totally unavoidable.

Bob is right, there has always been 8th mile racing around. Always. But, it was never really the 'standardized' version that defines what the sport is. Now it seems to be moving in that direction, and I'm not convinced that it is good. But, I realize that Hemi or wedge 1965 B bodies are not going to be mainstay of drag racing for much longer.

My issue is this....where does the track operator fit in all of this? Everyone speaks as if having a drag strip, either one, in your back yard is a given. It's not. It's a business. It runs on money. If the operator can't make a decent living, the gates will not be open. That is a hard fact.

During the course of the year, a drag strip has to pay payroll, insurance, utilities, taxes, Workman's Comp (that is required by law) which is incredibly expensive, advertising, maintenance, promotion and on and on. Probably a mortgage. During that time, in the northeast, one might have 50 or so race dates to make that up. The expenses do not stop when the track is closed.

We sat down with a well known promoter (not Greg, for those of you wondering), and did the math. For every hour the track is open, it costs about $3000 to operate, and that is conservative. That is breaking down the annual cost vs hours of operation. This operator told me that it was closer to $5K an hour. The promoter loses a day or so to weather, and he/she cannot make that up. It's gone.

Local bracket racing does not draw, and does not make the operator money. It is a break even deal at best. He has to do things to bring different types of cars and customers into the track. That's why so many operators are taking the emphasis off of brackets and into all this other kind of stuff. Like any business, you've got to find where the money is.

Watching specific built bracket cars race 8th mile on a quarter mile track is not even a spectator friendly operation. The cars are as specialized today as the class cars that they were built to replace. The distance may not make a difference, though, and I get that, too. It does cut down on the operator's cost, and that is a good thing. Now, I don't like 8th mile for the reasons mentioned. I just don't like it, at all. Some of that is personal preference, and I realize that many disagree. Some of it s generational, and I get that, too.

Look at some of the pics from Keystone (or anywhere else) of bracket racing in the 70s and 80s. The cars were more varied, and there was definitely people in the grandstands. Folks would pack a cooler and make a day of it. I see some of that in the grandstands at our nostalgia events, which amazes me. I never in a million years thought it would draw a modest gate, I thought we were just a bunch of old guys screwing around. But, it's caused me to really put some thought into this.

It is changing, and it will survive in one form or another. Just my thoughts.