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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: robnbird]
#1492101
08/28/13 08:46 PM
08/28/13 08:46 PM
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 9,719
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SRT6776
I hate internal combustion engines!
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I hate internal combustion engines!
Joined: Dec 2005
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Quote:
yep, no doubt, we keep hearing more and more Dragstrips closing and very few new ones opening. The more green we become the harder it is for the racer and the dragstrip,
Its not about going green, its because the new muscle cars are better suited for road racing than drag racing. I am not sure how true, but Ralph Gilles (CEO of SRT) said over 100 new road courses have opened up since 2007. So thats what they're building cars for. (new Z28, Boss 302, Viper T/A aren't flukes)
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: Just-a-dart]
#1492104
08/28/13 10:21 PM
08/28/13 10:21 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,763
Walton's Mountain, Pa
Steve1118
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master
Joined: Jan 2003
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Walton's Mountain, Pa
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There have been two new drag strips built and added to the IHRA fold recently. I don't know of any that have closed within the last couple of years.
Where are these road courses that have been built? There are certainly none in Pennsy that I have heard of?
"Old age and treachery trumps youth and enthusiasm, every time!" East Central Director / Chrysler Power Magazine www.reasbeckracing.webs.com
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: Duner]
#1492108
08/29/13 11:16 AM
08/29/13 11:16 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 20,176
Park Forest, IL
slantzilla
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
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Posts: 20,176
Park Forest, IL
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Haven't lost any tracks around here, but there has been a road race track.open for a few years.
"Everybody funny, now you funny too."
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: Steve1118]
#1492111
08/29/13 07:18 PM
08/29/13 07:18 PM
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 9,719
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SRT6776
I hate internal combustion engines!
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I hate internal combustion engines!
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 9,719
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Quote:
There have been two new drag strips built and added to the IHRA fold recently. I don't know of any that have closed within the last couple of years.
Where are these road courses that have been built? There are certainly none in Pennsy that I have heard of?
He says it in this video at the 13:00 mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ItYO0LoMU
And my mistake, its not 100 road tracks that have opened....its actually 150 that have opened in the US just in the past 15 years 
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: SRT6776]
#1492112
08/29/13 10:41 PM
08/29/13 10:41 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 20,176
Park Forest, IL
slantzilla
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
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Park Forest, IL
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How many drag strips have opened in that time? How many of the road courses are still open? RT 66 had a road course when it opened, it lasted a couple seasons and was gone. 
"Everybody funny, now you funny too."
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: slantzilla]
#1492113
08/29/13 11:45 PM
08/29/13 11:45 PM
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 15,118
85086
moparpollack
Lil Herman
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Lil Herman
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 15,118
85086
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Going strong in Oklahoma, so good they are racing in the streets. 
56 Plaza 63 D100 step side 67 Coronet, 68 Roadrunner, 69 Super Bees, 69 Coronet 500 convertible, 70 Roadrunner Post, 79 D150 360, and a severe case of Mopar a,d,d
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: moparpollack]
#1492114
08/29/13 11:47 PM
08/29/13 11:47 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,763
Walton's Mountain, Pa
Steve1118
master
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master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,763
Walton's Mountain, Pa
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If the point of this is that road racing is sweeping the nation...that road racing is the new motorsport for the masses...I ain't buyin' it. Gonna be a hard sell to convince me. 150 in fifteen years? That is three new ones per state, in all fifty states. I would think that something like that would be much more publicized than it appears to be. Just sayin'.
Last edited by Steve1118; 08/29/13 11:53 PM.
"Old age and treachery trumps youth and enthusiasm, every time!" East Central Director / Chrysler Power Magazine www.reasbeckracing.webs.com
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: Steve1118]
#1492115
08/29/13 11:54 PM
08/29/13 11:54 PM
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,379
MD
Kevins493
top fuel
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top fuel
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,379
MD
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Steve, Don't get me wrong I'd love to try it but to run NSS we spend about $300 to get to a race and race for $1500. Road racing, unless you are a professional, is more like $1500 to run the car for the weekend and $300 to win if you're lucky. And you tear more equipment up. That said there is a new road course being built in VA about 90 min from me. It is being built alongside a drag strip and oval to help pay the bills for it all, I'm sure. Go to any MD dragstrip on a Friday night and you won't know any of the names of the people running T&T or street type classes. This is a good thing, it means new people are going to the track. I think the oval/road course deal does help get zoning approved, because they are both typically higher-rent (as far as the money brought in by racers and for the oval, fans), but there will always be more dedicated drag cars than dedicated "track day" cars.
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: Kevins493]
#1492116
08/30/13 12:08 AM
08/30/13 12:08 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,763
Walton's Mountain, Pa
Steve1118
master
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master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,763
Walton's Mountain, Pa
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Kev, I agree, I just don't see the groundswell of interest in road racing. Is there a place for it? Certainly. Is it good? Absolutely. Is it financially feasible, for a racer, no for the reasons you mentioned, and even from a promotor standpoint because it would take a lot of land and development to build anything decent.
I also agree that there are tons of cars showing up at T&T's and "street night" at the local track. I know they do here. One could think drag racing is "dying" by watching the ESPN coverage (nonexistent); the empty seats and the big sponsors leaving.
But, what a lot folks don't seem to realize is that Pro drag racing does not necessarily indicate the sport's health. I really think outside of the NHRA Pro show, the sport is alive and well. Pittsburgh had over 400 cars in the pits the other night...there were over 60 dragsters alone.
"Old age and treachery trumps youth and enthusiasm, every time!" East Central Director / Chrysler Power Magazine www.reasbeckracing.webs.com
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: slantzilla]
#1492117
08/30/13 12:20 AM
08/30/13 12:20 AM
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 9,719
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SRT6776
I hate internal combustion engines!
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I hate internal combustion engines!
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 9,719
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Quote:
How many drag strips have opened in that time?
How many of the road courses are still open?
RT 66 had a road course when it opened, it lasted a couple seasons and was gone.
No idea, but the road courses are probably more profitable for them. You can't roll up to them on a Friday night and go lapping for $10 like you can at the drag strip. The one closest to me is something like $180 to lap on a weekday and $250 on a weekend, and there never seems to be a shortage of cars lapping.
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: Steve1118]
#1492118
08/30/13 11:59 AM
08/30/13 11:59 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,388
Pikes Peak Country
TC@HP2
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master
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Posts: 5,388
Pikes Peak Country
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Quote:
If the point of this is that road racing is sweeping the nation...that road racing is the new motorsport for the masses...I ain't buyin' it. Gonna be a hard sell to convince me. 150 in fifteen years? That is three new ones per state, in all fifty states. I would think that something like that would be much more publicized than it appears to be. Just sayin'.
Hmm, that's exactly what has happened in Colorado.
High Plains Raceway, Genoa, Elbert Motorsports Club, a new layout at PPIR, and rumors of several other private tracks going up all in the last ten years.
By contrast, I've seen no news about new drag strips opening, although attendance at the two front range accessible strips seems to be at all time highs and a test and tune night is so busy you won't get more than a few passes in.
A road course will attract street cars, race cars, bikes, even law enforcement training and driving schools. You also can run autocross events every weekend and use it for drivers training during the week. There are as many small road race organizations as there are drag race organizations, they just aren't advertised as widely, so the base is already out there. While it isn't as cheap per visit to go run at a road course, you do get a whole lot more seat time at a road course compared to a drag strip. How much actual driving time do you get at the drags, 60 seconds, maybe 90 of you get a lot of passes in? At a road course, a single 15 minute session will get you equivalent seat time of ten trips to the dragstrip, and you may get several sessions a day. So that $150-200 a day fee for 45 minutes of seat time begins to look like a bargain against the 180-200 trips to the drag strip at $20 a trip to get the same 45 minutes of seat time.
Most of the road course usage going on isn't necessarily all out racing either. As pointed out earlier, the payout for road courses is too low for most to do it for anything but the love of it, but, there are a lot of street cars going there for hot lap sessions. It isn't racing per say, but is still loads of fun running at speeds above what is allowable on regular streets. With the turning and stopping capabilities of newer cars these days, most owners want to feel more than just the acceleration capability of their ride. Add to that the focus on handling upgrades, the proliferation of Good Guys autocross events and you are seeing more traditional dragstrips cars changing suspensions and brakes and heading to an autocross event.
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: TC@HP2]
#1492119
08/30/13 02:41 PM
08/30/13 02:41 PM
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 9,719
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SRT6776
I hate internal combustion engines!
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I hate internal combustion engines!
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Posts: 9,719
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Quote:
Add to that the focus on handling upgrades, the proliferation of Good Guys autocross events and you are seeing more traditional dragstrips cars changing suspensions and brakes and heading to an autocross event.
X2
A mini-tubbed former drag car makes a killer starting point for a road race / pro touring car. They make all the suspension pieces, sub-frames, full frames etc to make an old muscle car handle like a new Porsche GT2 RS.
Its by far one of the most popular trends with muscle cars now...
http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/forumdisplay.php4?f=16
http://www.pro-touring.com/general-1/member-pro-touring-projects-60/
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: SRT6776]
#1492120
08/30/13 03:44 PM
08/30/13 03:44 PM
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,780
Alabama
Mopar-Al
master
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master
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,780
Alabama
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4tKtrrJH4sback when I was just starting to drive. Listen to the et vs mph The small tracks around here are always hopping. It might not always be big money, but the fun factor is going strong. Man will ALWAYS drag race.
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: Kevins493]
#1492122
08/31/13 06:00 AM
08/31/13 06:00 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,575
The Netherlands
BigBlockMopar
master
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master
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Posts: 3,575
The Netherlands
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It's my idea they should incorporate a dragstrip into a race-circuit. You go rounds with your racecar and at some point on the track there's a mile straight. When you come up racing to it you have to fully stop at the redlights at the starting line, wait for green and run the next quartermile in your best time. After the quarter you proceed racing the rest of the circuit again... The first who completes the 20-50 rounds wins.... That will bring the 2 sports together alright I think, Heck, maybe I should patent this idea and get filthy rich... 
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Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL
[Re: pinkduster]
#1492125
08/31/13 01:44 PM
08/31/13 01:44 PM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,139
West Tennessee
rbstroker
super stock
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super stock
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,139
West Tennessee
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It is just way too expensive for the working class sportsman racer anymore. Sure not like it was in the early-mid 60's when I first started playing in the sport. Maybe that's it. Maybe it is not a sport anymore. Look what's happened to baseball and football in the same period. Green $$$ are all that matter. I still love it though.
This is the land of the free
because of the brave
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and take a friend with you.
