IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL

Posted By: robnbird

IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 12:31 AM

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,

Posted By: SRT6776

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 12:46 AM

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)

Posted By: pittsburghracer

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 01:15 AM

Is it February with all these doomsday posts? Wholly crap guys go racing. It will make you feel better.

Posted By: Just-a-dart

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 01:20 AM

Quote:

Is it February with all these doomsday posts? Wholly crap guys go racing. It will make you feel better.

and take a friend with you.

Posted By: Steve1118

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 02:21 AM

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?

Posted By: WHITEDART

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 05:02 AM

DRAG racing should be done on level ground. you ski down hill

Posted By: tboomer

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 02:31 PM

I haven't heard of any tracks closing around here. Granted it is not a cheap hobby. But I am here to tell ya that I will be out there one way or another. Car owner,driver or spectator....I ain't giving up! And John....It isn't winter yet! Have you checked your thermometer lately??

Posted By: Duner

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 02:39 PM

I'm anxiously waiting for my local track to open back up again. We lost both Firebird and Speedworld this year - but Firebird is supposed to be back in business soon!

Posted By: slantzilla

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 03:16 PM

Haven't lost any tracks around here, but there has been a road race track.open for a few years.

Posted By: Duner

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 03:22 PM

I've been jonesin' for some hits - but also haven't missed getting cooked in the staging lanes either.

Posted By: 5spdcuda

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 03:43 PM

I think the "green" you referred to has more to do with the color of money than any environmental considerations. Almost all of the older race tracks [ not just drag strips ] were built in places where the land was relatively cheap. As populations grow these places have more value for other types of development. Also once these areas build up people start complaining about the noise and traffic on race days. In most parts of the country racing is a 7-9 month sport. Track owners still have some expenses during the off season, but no income so it's not surprising that when land values & taxes start rising track owners think about selling out. Another factor is the changing of the public's interests. Quite simply, as a country we have reduced interest in motorsports. We don't have the same "car culture" we once did. I am not saying that people don't care about cars and racing, just that like other activities that were once more popular the interest is declining. One look at most race venues, car shows & cruises shows a rather dispiriting percentage of 50+ people. It's not all gloom & doom. There are still enough of us and places to race to have a good time and who knows maybe the next generation will rediscover the same excitement we did when we first "got into " cars & racing.

Posted By: SRT6776

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/29/13 11:18 PM

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

Posted By: slantzilla

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/30/13 02:41 AM

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.

Posted By: moparpollack

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/30/13 03:45 AM

Going strong in Oklahoma, so good they are racing in the streets.

Posted By: Steve1118

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/30/13 03:47 AM

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'.

Posted By: Kevins493

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/30/13 03:54 AM

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.

Posted By: Steve1118

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/30/13 04:08 AM

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.

Posted By: SRT6776

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/30/13 04:20 AM

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.

Posted By: TC@HP2

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/30/13 03:59 PM

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.

Posted By: SRT6776

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/30/13 06:41 PM

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/

Posted By: Mopar-Al

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/30/13 07:44 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4tKtrrJH4s

back 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.

Posted By: Kevins493

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/31/13 04:03 AM

Exhibit A. BTW this was taken last year. World Cup Finals, MIR

Attached picture 7833943-mir_crowded.jpg

Posted By: BigBlockMopar

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/31/13 10:00 AM

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...

Posted By: slax69gts

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/31/13 01:31 PM

around 20 years ago we lost byron dragway in northern illinois for a few years but has reopened and running strong again. i remember pulling up to the track while it was closed and looking down a weed filled track. hard site to see after doing alot of racing there as a kid in the 70s. i try to make it there a few times a year in support of the track. SUNDAY!! SUUUNNDAY!!!!

Posted By: pinkduster

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/31/13 02:23 PM

I wish it was going down hill... Then my car would be faster!

Posted By: rbstroker

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/31/13 05:44 PM

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.

Posted By: Duner

Re: IS DRAGRACING GOING DOWN HILL - 08/31/13 06:57 PM

When I read the title - the first thing I thought was Cecil County.