Last month my local track included 6.50, 7.00 and 7.50 index classes at one of their events. There weren't many cars in any of the classes.

That seems like overkill. How much could this possibly pay as it seems to be watered down to much

I live in Northern Wisconsin so I don't see much around here as far as dragstrips go. I go to the Da Grove twice a year and I would say things look healthy there. Not like 25 years ago but still good. According to the Wes Buck show this is drag racings best time ever.

Drag racing is headed in the same direction as golf, boating, travel and other leisure time activities. The middle income racer is going to see a lot more of his discretionary income going towards food, utilities and other necessities. NHRA races and big-buck bracket racing will go on without much change, the Saturday night local races are going to see smaller car counts.

Agreed!

being on a fixed income, [with a disability to boot] i don't know why i'm still playing with cars.
as of now, i'm [trying to] building a 440 to put in my charger to replace the oil leaking [from every place it can leak] lump that is in there now.
while doc, hospital, and med prices continue to rise, i try to re-purpose anything i can that i can buy within my meager budget.
an example, right now, i'm re-tubing a $1k+ set of TTI headers that i bought at carlisle a few years back for $150.00.
three out of the four tubes on each header were smashed in to clear a set of straight plug heads. they are truly of the "heat and beat" design.
so i got a pair of 2" 180 degree bends from Speedway, and i'm in the process of cutting the damaged sections out, then replacing them with sections cut from the 180 degree mandrel bends.
it's tedious work, but i have been a machinist/fabricator for over 50 years, so i know i can fix these pipes.
is it really worth it, considering buying the headers to start with, buying the repair 180 degree mandrel bends, and the time i will have in these things when done versus buying a new set ? [not even considering the cost of having these coated]
probably not to the average guy, but i only have so many dollars to put into play things, while i do have time sitting here [plus the skills necessary to accomplish what i want] i can use to fix things most others wouldn't dream of "wasting" time on.
with that said, there are way more others out there that are WORSE OFF THAN ME, health wise. those guys are the ones that need help WAY MORE than me !
i'm just hoping i can get a couple of my project toys running before i croak.
then the next guy can enjoy them.