What direction is the Drag Racing World Headed?

Curious what you guys see in the other parts of the country....

Observations from NE:
-Not that many younger folks into Drag Racing or Cars at all
-Bracket Racing is still king
-Gasser classes are shrinking
-Tow vehicles have gone to outrageous prices
-Payouts are still the same as they were years ago
-Prices of parts are getting ridiculous now
-Gasser classes are letting in more electronics now than they ever did
-A lot of the same folks win over and over
-Very little NT events here anyways
-Very little in the way of NP racing, roll racing , etc

I agree on drag racing getting smaller, I saw the same thing on private pilots and flying small aircraft when I quit drag racing NHRA class in 1988 and took up flying.
I do see more younger racers coming in from the junior dragster classes to bracket racing and some in the NHRA classes as well as in some of the NHRA index classes

Not dying out down here at all. No prep and N/T racing is king and happening almost every weekend. Lots of tracks down here compared to other areas though.
Bracket racing is dying out. More and more tracks doing away w/ their bracket programs.
Tow vehicles aren't that bad as long as you don't want to drive something new that comes w/ a mortgage payment. Down here you can still find a 10+ year old truck that hasn't rusted away though.

Drag Racing has been on it's death bed since the 70's... just ask every old timer. Another 50 years and it's going to be gone.

the only thing going around here is "airport drags", and they are only happening three or four times a year, weather dependent.
however, with that said, the outfit that runs the airport drags have presented outstanding donations to the little airport for allowing this to happen. [over 20k EACH year for the last several years, according to the local newspaper ! ]

Locally, I've not seen any drop off in attendance .. place is still packed 3 nights a week . trk mgr had something like 2200 time cards turned in over Labor day weekend

The million had just shy of 500 cars last week

Most of you guys be-itch and moan about drag racing dying but are you doing your part??? I just worked my butt off for three weeks fixing my wrecked car to make a local 2 day make up Halloween race at keystone that with Pa weather was a good chance it wasn’t going to happen. The place was packed for a 70.00 to enter 2000.00 payout race. With the cold it had my knees filling like ground up glass but I wouldn’t give it up for the world.

Ohhhh and just wait to hear what the turnout was for the Halloween Classic. It hasn’t been released yet but I’m guessing in and around 1200-1500 entries.

Well, lets see.....I have both of my engines in the shop in pieces right now, and purchased a third all while running my engine builder's car which is also now in the shop in pieces....So considering I screwed myself over by selling my 543 and not being at all ready for this past season, I made it out to a lot more events than I thought I would have. And by the time October comes around, I usually need a brake anyways, so I would say, yeah, we supported them....Rented two pit spots all season that only got used at the one track occasionally.

But, I will have two cars ready for next year and a third in the wings for sure....I wish it was more Nostalgia legal, but it is what it is, and those guys are a tad strict anyways....

Seems solid around here. The Grove is holding events almost daily during the year, and the turnout of people under 30yrs old is pretty strong.

I have just done NSS index racing and match racing for several years. I see decent car counts at most races I attend. Spectators are hit and miss for the tracks. Events where no prep and outlaw style cars were also in attendance drew many more spectators than nostalgia stuff only. Tracks like the noprep stuff, much cheaper for them to host. Weather is everything for a good event, with the internet nobody plans to come if even a chance of rain. Lot of my races are 4 to 6 hours from the house, and with the price of fuel, I will not take the chance to drive that far and sit in the rain. Drag racing is not dying but it is getting so expensive that it limits the people who can afford to participate. The new Dodge Challengers, Mustangs and Camero's are getting some new blood to the strip, if they have a class for them it always has several cars in it.

^^This!!^^

My local track runs a weekly bracket program, there is usually several cars there but not many spectators. They also run small tire races, a couple of street car classes, one is a daily driver deal, the other one you better be able to run mid to high 5's to be competitive. They also about run what they call beyond 660, with the starting line out just past the finish line, they race in the shutdown area. it's a flashlight start, no prep run what you brung, heads up racing that absolutely packs the place, same with the small tire no time stuff. Mostly young people will be at these events, the brackets, not so much.

I ran a 16 car street car race weekend before last, the field was supposed to be low mid 6 second cars. I was only one of three n/a cars in the field but made it down to four cars. My Dart and three supercharged late model Mustangs, I had a blast even knowing I brought a knife to a gun fight. There are some younger guys that now have a some respect for old guys in n/a cars. LOL

Finding very little of any of the above to be true..at least here in Michigan.
My local trackUS131 for years paid 1000 to win in the bracket classes, with an occasional 1200 “ special” night.
Now it’s 1500, with the occasional 2000 to win. 50 to enter when it’s 1500, 60 when it’s 2000.
Fri night test and tunes are packed with tuner kids and newer type street cars and trucks. Nice summer nights, lucky to get more than a couple passes it’s so busy. 35 dollars to test and tune. Wednesday night test and tunes tend to be less well attended and primarily more hard core racers( but it’s a weekday night..so…)
Had never heard of roll racing, but the last few years a whole weekend is devoted to a series that comes in that does it now. Not my cup of tea, but is what it is.
Junior dragsters are very popular, run in 3 different classes. Many of the kids have moved into race cars. Been cool to see.
Radial/ no prep/ grudge type events are now commonplace on the schedule, never were at all just a few years ago.
Not much gasser racing around here, so there is that, I guess. Unless they are booked in for a show.

One point I forgot to mention, bracket events are now 2 complete separate races on Saturday and Sunday. This has had the effect of having less weekends tied up in the points chase, as with two races many weekends, less weekends are needed to get this done. Which allows for more dates on the calendar for grudge, booked in shows, motorcycle event , snowmobile event, VW event, Yada, Yada.
Car counts for typical bracket weeks can range from 60 to over 100 in both box and no box, 40-50 in street , and roughly the same in juniors.
In fact, car count is so strong , it’s been taking 2.5-3 hours to get everybody through a time trial, which has resulted in 1 time trial most of the time, vice 2 like it used to be

I watched that shootout on FB three or four times and heard your name quite a few before I put it together that that was you from here…lol. Your Dart moves, I don’t think I’ve seen it in person but will next year.

Dennis

It is dting a slow death. Unfortunately out here where arguably it all began its has 1.5 feet in the grave alrrady

X2!

The remaining drag strip out here in Arizona after March '23 will be Tucson Speedway; it sucks we're losing Wild Horse Pass. Then there's Vegas or what remains in CA within a days driving distance.
There are off-track (old airport runways) No Prop events popping up from time to time here, but I have zero interest in that.

Down South.......stands & lanes are FULL! Their heads-up N/T and Grudge game is definitely keeping the track bills paid and money in racers and spectators pockets......and NOT the type money that jingles - its the type money that folds..and A LOT of it!

Thanks Dennis, I was in the left lane for the semis and made a shock adjustment that I shouldn't' have. It wouldn't have made any difference if I'd hit the shocks dead on as I was late on the tree. It was the first time I'd ever raced on an "instant green", it's different for sure. I need more power or a lighter car, LOL.

I agree with Don. Racing In Michigan is pretty good. Track prep is good. Variety of different types of events. I run Brackets, Great Lakes Stock Super Stock, N/SS. Next year some Open Comp as well. Milan runs run what you brung with many heads up classes and Open Comp 1st Friday every month. Lapeer has has plenty of grudge and no prep. Mid Michigan Motorplex, Milan, and 131 all have brackets that pay close to $1K or more most weeks. Ubly and Northern Mi have weekly bracket programs as well. Ohio has plenty of events as well. But with expensive fuel and events that are pretty good here, the travel has been less than in previous seasons. Hard to travel 5-9hrs for $1500. As far as the same racers winning. Easy answer. Become better then they are. I run foot brake, no rpm chip, 10.5 tire in trans brake classes with air shift. I don't feel overwhelmed against that stuff. As far as rigs. Still using my 95 Cummins purchased years ago for $7500 along with a trailer that came in a trade for sidework. Just have to be resourceful.
Doug

I was at the DuckX race at SGMP on Saturday, and what a show. Pits were packed, stands were full
Lots of vendor support.
The that night, we went to Gainesville. Exactly the opposite. Almost no crowd,
low car count. And the promoter dropped the ball when he called the race on account of heavy dew on the track.
Split the purses,but no rainchecks for the tickets.
If it's a good show, the people and racers will be there.

and money in racers and spectators pockets......and NOT the type money that jingles - its the type money that folds..and A LOT of it!

i had to quit drag racing because of the price of everything.so all i do know is cars and coffee,car shows and cruises

Well I would say its almost dead in Texas, Houston Raceway Park will be gone soon, it has been sold, San Antonio closed down , Sealy raceway shut down, the closest 1/4 mile to me is Ennis [Dallas] 4 hour drive. although I will go to a Trac Rental Jan 7 2023 at Houston R P to see if I fixed my fuel problem in the Charger.

Bracket racing is alive and well here. I did both big money races and tried running for points at 41. Points races usually had 150 cars, the big money races had almost 300. It can't be too bad, at the big races and even the points races you could count the open trailers on the fingers of one hand pretty much. Stackers, toters, motorhomes everywhere.

Like Jerico said, I've been hearing drag racing and the NHRA in particular have been going under since about 1979.

Had a shooting at Yello Belly on Sunday. Some things never change....

Still big in the East and Midwest. Over 120 Stockers at the Dutch, Indy points meet was nuts. Stock, Super Stock, .90, Top Sportsman and Top Dragster are all popular.


Drag racing is still big. If you think you see fewer Super Pro or class cars or whatever, just remember. Back in the 70s and 80s, there was NHRA & IHRA class racing, match racing and local brackets. That's it.

Now there's NHRA, IHRA, PDRA, NPK, NMCA, NMRA, NEOPMA, MWPMS, Duck X and the whole drag radial scene, SFG, Fling, and other big money bracket racing groups, SBRA and other regional bracket groups, NT organizations, Pro Stick, No Prep, Cash Days, Nostalgia/Heritage Series, no less than 20 regional S/SS and dot 90 organizations listed on Class Racer, plus the local tracks are still running their weekly shows.

That's a lot of cars and big variety of cars. And a lot of money being spent.

Doesn't sound like it's dying to me. The popularity of some of it comes and goes. Sport compact has fizzled out.

From what I see, the younger crowd is big into no prep and anything involving the newer cars like LS, Gen 3 hemis, and coyotes. I'd say the no prep stuff is probably 75% or more made up of people under 40 years old.
The 28x10.5/275 radial classes are big around here to...kind of a mix of older and younger people doing that.

I’m gonna guess over 50% of the kids racing JR dragsters move directly over to mom and dads full size dragster then they update to a new chassis.

I think that number is closer to 5-10%.

I'm under 40...have raced 17 different tracks, Everything from unsanctioned 1/8th miles to national events. I tow with a 20 year old dually, and a 38 year old trailer. My newest race car was built in 1981. It's a mixed bag as far as attendances and crowds. Depends on the area/event. What I can see from this thread/website in general is that some of you don't get out enough, or venture far from home, so you just talk out of your ass. You can't accurately judge the current state of drag racing when you go to the same track 6 times a year.

When those kids came over to the big cars with 9 or 10 years of experience and 18 year old reflexes and hand to eye coordination, they would flat out embarrass an old guy if he wasn't on his game and paying attention.

I can speak for myself only( but I know DVW who posted in this thread races lots of places too)
Last couple years, I have been to Norwalk, Ohio Bowling Green Kentucky, Mid Michigan Motorplex, London, Kentucky, and US131 Motorsports Park racing.
I would say that is getting around enough to draw a pretty accurate conclusion as to at least the Midwest regards health of dragstrips. Next year I will add Dragway 42 to my list. And very likely US41 as well
Regards getting far from home..yea, I like racing at my local track, it’s one of the best in the country, great prep, and good payouts..why wouldn’t I, it’s 30 minutes away.

I admit, I have never liked having the Jr's at the tracks I race at...due mainly because they make all cars stay in place when running them...Not all tracks do that thank goodness, but I built up a little bit of distain when they made us shut eveything else down to run that class....But, if that is what gets the younger generation into this sport, I would definitely support it more. Our Jr classes are rather small, so I don't see it having a big effect on getting younger folks involved near me.....

I am heading 2 1/2 hours south this weekend to Cecil County to run 11.50 index at their Final SSCS race of the year. ...starting with testing Friday night ...the last two years the place was crowded both days

Our track's last event of the season was a trunk or treat style event with lots of things for the kids like bouncy houses, candy and Powerwheels races.

They did 5.80, 6.50 and Daily Driver classes and, despite another track an hour away putting on a full bracket program with big money, they attracted a LOT of people.

Every time a no prep or back of the event event is held here, there are a lot of people that show up!

The Youtubers like Street Race Channel have something going most every weekend and the crowds at the races they attend are huge! Lots of little Mom and Pop tracks making a comeback due to this form of racing. It puts everyone on a much more even playing field. Guys like Beater Bomb, KCMaxx The Firebird, and Billy the Kid are making big money off these races and selling merch! Chassis shops are busier than ever building this type of car.

Drag racing isn't dead or even dying, it's evolving!

My comment wasn't directed at you or DVW...I see enough posts on here to know who gets out and who doesn't. Just a few that like to comment with no relevant information because of what they have or haven't seen at one place. I get it, some people enjoy running only Mopar races, Nostalgia races, or (insert here) races...but don't try and tell us what's wrong with the sport because there wasn't anyone at their backwoods home track's $400 to win gasser race. Another good reference to this thread would be the "Why aren't there any Mopars at big money races" or something like that from last winter.

I like racing at local tracks too, I'm fortunate to have a half decent selection within a couple hours of me. I don't travel because I have to, but because I want to. Test and tune nights are huge out here. Go to Maple Grove on a Friday night and you're lucky if you get two passes. I've been there twice, and was only able to get one pass each time. Capitol had a huge crowd the last time I was there. I made 5 passes and could have easily gotten more. Shy of an NHRA national event though, I don't remember the last time I saw so many people at the track just to spectate. I ran a UNSS race at Cecil County this year, I think there were 70 or so cars there? At least 25% of the racers were under 40 and closer to half under 50. As far as the NHRA scene...most of that is a family deal. Not too many people stepping into the ranks there without some form of prior family involvement. Very cliquish group for the most part, but there are a few real down to earth people I've met.

I think if you want to look for doom and gloom about the sport you can find it real easy, especially on here lol. But if you go out and race and attend events it doesn't appear to be a concern.

Is it changing? Yeah Sure. Is it dying off? I don't think so.

Look at the drag and drive stuff, it is MASSIVE. Drag Week, Sick Week, Rocky Mountain Raceweek 1 and 2, all events that sell out and populate massive wait lists in a matter of minutes.

These tracks are all jammed with spectators ON WEEKDAYS for five straight days as well for the Drag and Drive events. As I recall, Tom Baily has another event later in the year in the works as well but hasn't released dates/tracks.

I’m not doing my part…. I’ve come to the conclusion that my last “race season” was 2016. We ran the Hot Rod Heritage Series which was an absolute ball! I think the top 15 in points pretty much hit all the events, and for the most part became the best of friends. Phoenix, Bakersfield, Salt Lake, Sacramento, and ended at Bakersfield. I ended up finishing in 3rd. Packed a ton of miles on the old pickup that year and tons of laps on the car. It was fun going to different tracks. After that in 17 I made my first trek back to my old stomping grounds and hit 2 tracks in 3 days. The sleep was minimal, the fun factor was off the charts. 3300 mile round trip. It seems since then I just pick 3-4 fun events a year and have fun. In two years we’ll be relocating and I’ll be 20min from an 1/8th mile track. Maybe that’ll be a game changer for me. Right now the towing expense weighs pretty heavy too.

If it’s a nice track for sure it will be a game changer for you. You are a bad azz racer when you get out there more often.

Well it’s a track. I haven’t been there in 24 years and I don’t think they’ve improved much. Gravel pit areas.

Racing is interesting….. a few years back they ran a Mopar/Chevy/Ford brand specific race at Famoso. It was geared towards clubs and enthusiasts to come out and race. The mopar crowd probably had 2x the cars of the gm and ford class combined. It was really pretty sad. I think there were like 6 fords. Wasn’t much to enter. You could have put a ton of passes in. Race against like branded cars + an all run. I actually won mopar and $500 cash.

Last year I went to an ANRA race there. I didn’t know much about that organization other than it’s a “nostalgia” type deal. I was basically using it to put some laps on the car and get some seat time before March Meet. Think it was like $100 for track entry and class fee. There were 110 cars in my class and I made it to the finals where I red lit……. and it paid $150 if I’d a won it would have been $250. Now I don’t race looking at payouts, but I found that ratio to be quite laughable. Apparently there were 110 racers there to just have fun. Just our class netted the organizers $11k…..

My intention with this post was to see where I might change my car to be more class flexible. Not to look for gloom and doom....Right now it seems big tires knock it out of a lot of the higher paying classes when they have them here, which isn't often. Just looking to see where everyone else is headed in relation....Should I change the build this year, or leave it? So I think I will buy a set of rims and a set of 315 radials for my one car to hit a couple of those if I can fix the Hemiroid.

One thing nobody mentioned was Index racing....They are trying that here a little bit for some faster cars....They run a 4.70 class about once a month. I have no chance, but curious where this might lead.

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.