Former racer but trying to get back. My problem, I dug myself into a hole at 66 trying to rebuild my 64 Savoy into a Hemi nostalgia car, pro street my 73 Barracuda, street srtip my 70 Duster and install a new gen 3 in my 69 notchback Cuda. I'm running out of time I know but I do love working on them, and I do it all from cages to the paint. I did buy a SRT 392, might take that to the track to keep me sharp. If I die tomorrow I'll still be a happy guy.
Almost forgot, someday I'm going to finish the 69 m-code Barracua too, brain fade! Can you imagine just keeping up with the parts for each one. Wife said I would take up five vender spots a Carlilse just sell the "junk" lol

the girls like to go to the TnT for practice...and I use it to try different things...but we also race the bracket races at LVMS..

I really like TnT. I pretty much suck at racing. a 0.520 light is a great r/t for me. I usually only make it to the second round when the other guy screws ups. I would probably do better with some slicks and not working to not blow the tires off.

so far so good racing, 3 wins and top ten in points at two different tracks. and still had time to run some 5k and 10k races, although i cant put anything together at those money races. still having a good year so far.

Nice thread Al,

I often wonder if racing has really changed that much, or if our expectations are what has changed! Bunch of 50+ year old guys around here who have been on this board for 15 years, and raced much longer.

I still love the sport, and I still love the cars. At the higher end of competition, it seems the cars just become a piece of equipment used to turn on win lights, and I've come to realize that the romantic, nostalgic gearhead in me is turned off by that notion.

You need to haul your junk to March Meet at least once Billy..... I really enjoy that event whether I go rounds or not. So far I'm 2 for 2 for making it to Sunday! There's just so much cool stuff at that race.

street raced alot thru the mid 80's. now just a test&tuner ET chaser. i like just hanging out in the garage tuning or adding something new to the car. its my sanity. got to have it.

I like old cars that go fast. I LOVE metal work, engine technology, and driving a powerful manual trans combo.

My driver's license is essential for me to make a living in my current occupation.

My street pounder is getting a pump gas combo because race gas pumps are drying up and a roll cage so it passes tech at a good track. This way I can drive down to town, beat the car until it either breaks or the weather gets too hot and then off to the river or whatever. Oh, this will also keep me from losing my DL and my job lol. Maybe my involvement will increase if we get some reasonable heads up classes going at the local track in Medford, OR.

I applaud you guys that are hardcore. It gives me something to read about between making money, spending money and sleeping!

Even when I was racing, I would have considered myself a career test and tuner. I started out street racing my 63 Dodge, when I was 16, with occasional trips to the track to test it out. When I was 18 and 19(52 now), I won back to back track championships bracket racing at Green Valley Dragway. This was before transbrakes and delay boxes. Even though I won a lot, I KNEW bracket racing was NOT what I wanted to do. It was boring to me. The 63 just became a quest to see how fast it would go. Then I backhalved it and never finished it...........A few years later, the GTX graduated from ISCA show winner, to more of a track car, although all I did was take it to the track to see how fast it would go. The small tire stuff got popular around here and we had several tracks that jumped in and we had a small tire heads up series at 5 tracks. I won that 3 years. I won the Big Dog series at Music City twice. The NMCA and HOT ROD stuff took off and my car fit perfectly. I then started chasing the points with the HOT ROD series and won the points championship in 96 and finished in the top ten every year until 2000. Then came a two year stint driving an IHRA alky funny car. Have not really raced a car of my own since then, although have driven many types for various people, including a couple blown Pro-Mods, over the years and have had this position with HOLLEY now for 10 years...........So career test and tuner and go as fast as you can guy, is a title I am perfectly happy with............LOL!!!

Bracket guys seem to get upset with me when I say I don't like bracket racing and find it boring. I can't help it........I didn't really even like it when I was doing it and was good at it. It was just the only thing to do around here, until I decided just to "play" and have fun. I come by it honestly though. My dad had a SS/GA Challenger that was a national record holder for a couple years. He loved class runoffs and cared little for the "eliminator". We traveled to smaller tracks every weekend that still ran SS "classes" on a weekly basis. A legit NHRA super stocker was a terror on the smaller track scale and he won, a LOT. As those car counts got low and those tracks moved to "eliminator" type racing, or just bracket racing......he parked the Challenger and it never went down the track again. So I guess I got the mentality from him. Go as fast as you can, beat the other guy.......he despised "breakout" racing and as I said, elected to quit instead of do it

I am basically a test & tune guy that also likes to race in the Nostalgic Superstock races when I can which is nowhere near as much as I would like. Since most NSS races are basically bracket races its easy for me and my car to fit the class. But I have to live within my means and money and health problems limit my dragstrip time to about once or twice a year right now. But I built my car as a street/strip car so I can take it out for a drive anytime I have gas in it. And I really enjoy driving my car to and from the track as I dont own a trailer. Back in the 70's and 80's I did bracket race and would go out most weekends in the good weather. I believe muscle cars were built to run hard alot and the drag strip is the legal place to run them hard which is where I run mine hard as I will not street race. I would race alot more if my health and funds would let me as I love drag racing. Ron

I started racing with some friends in 1984 and loved it.
We would go to MCIR and race cause it was a smaller track and it was more of a family atmosphere there. Had a couple wins but usually was happy if I made it past the 3rd round and got money back. We always went as a group, we went as often as we could, and stayed till everyone was out.
I like to TnT more but still like to compete at the mopar type events. I Won't do the track points races as I don't want to race that much or live at the track that much. It's a Hobby for us.
I raced till 2011 when I sold my race car to start my restoration on my A12 RR since I couldn't afford to do both, race a car and restore another. Janet still races the blue RR and I am her pit crew and transporter.
I DO miss racing some as I haven't raced since I sold the car in my sig photo.
I plan on racing the A12 some when it's done, probably next year
but still as a hobby. I am 51 and maybe when I retire I will get back into it more but not real serious. I have plans to build a blown hemi 36 Ply coupe street/strip car in a couple years. I am rounding up parts all the time.
David

FWIW I am 50 years old and just became a grandpa! So we will be junior shopping in a few years for our Grandson KJ. I am sure that will be a whole new world for us. But looking forward to it already

I clicked the T/N/T type. I don't have time to run every weekend, so I hit occasion test and tunes and occasional bracket races.
25 bucks, knock out 6 passes, load up..


You need to add Just watches Screet Outlaws to the poll .lol

I'M SO CONFUSED.!!!!!



Chris...

Serious racer, test and tune, and fan.
Having a family crest that is Family Tradition Racing and having a Grandfather in the Texas Dragracer's Hall of Fame, along with growing up at the track with the majority of my family puts drag racing in a special place. At any given weekend I will either be at a IHRA/NHRA Divisional or National running Stock and Super Stock, or at a local bracket race or big money bracket race. I also like to get everything out of my combos because I am also a builder and tuner. With the Stock and Super Stock classes being a different animal if you aren't looking for extra ET all the time you will get passes up, but you also have to make it a reliable bracket car. I know a lot of people give the bracket races crap saying they are boring to watch, but they are the participation driven part of the sport. It's the type of racing that is supposed to get people into the sport.

I would put you in the 1st category, active racer. Just not points.

I agree, you don't have to be the driver to be in the 1st category of active racing. Active builder, crew, etc.

Just retired from Law enforcement. Going BB. Looking to be ready to go in 2016. Consider myself a T&Tuner. Sometimes I just like to get out there make a few passes and back to home to my wonderful supportive wife. If she hasnt went along. 66 and still tinkering.

#3
Just build the engines nowadays.
Not that I wouldn't like to go back racing, just NO time !

my tombstone will read
"worked himself to death to make everyone faster than he was"

or "working while others are racing"