Has Drag Racing Changed?
- Thread starter CarMichael Angelo
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The funny thing is that the people who build houses near the track are the ones complaining and ultimately shutting it down.
stangboy
Founding Member
I like heads up racing. I never did like bracket racing. I've never actually competed in any of the races at the track. All I do is test-n-tune. Me and my buddies normally settle our grudges then too.
pats91
15 Year Member
KCIR is what came to mind for me too. "Noise" complaints, greed and dirty Jackson County politics.
KCIR was great. It had TestnTunes every Wednesday and Friday night, and on Saturdays after the racing season was over. It is a lousy park now.
Yep same at Speedworld too, Wednesday and Friday nights, Saturdays mixed in when ADRA and/or PSCA were not racing.
Facilities were poor, stands were scary, pits were seperated from spectators, staff new what was what, cars rolled through and the track hooked.
Speedworld is a wasteland now... owner will not sell keeping money out of the city pockets, or so I am told.
drone video...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjndkHSJtQg
Facilities were poor, stands were scary, pits were seperated from spectators, staff new what was what, cars rolled through and the track hooked.
Speedworld is a wasteland now... owner will not sell keeping money out of the city pockets, or so I am told.
drone video...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjndkHSJtQg
HotFox
15 Year Member
Bracket racing... I participated for 1 season... at the "sportsman" level, aka no electronics, foot brake, radials, licensed and insured... the very lowest basic/entry level.
At that level it's not just about running the same every time.
You have to watch the weather and the track, you have to know how both effect your car, you have to change your dial to suit the weather/track, and you have to change your launch to suit the track, which again effects your dial... Anyone that thinks this is easy and boring has never done it competitively.
Back home d/a could swing 3000' in one day, and could go up and down and all around. Moisture could swing in. You might be put in #8 position behind a bunch of street tired cars in in elimination (try finding a grove after treaded cars have been peeling the rubber up), next elimination you might be #1 leaving right after a hard hitting slicks class (hot track, lots of rubber).
Knowing what is happening on the line, how to gt your car off the line, and how weather is going to effect your car, and, changing up launch/dial to suit round after round is far from easy.
It is more about knowing your car and how it is effected than it is simply putting it into "D" and standing on it.
Yep, on a perfect day when the weather stayed consistent, the newbie in the mini van had a chance... any other day and I wanted paired with that minivan.
I've had days where I was running 13.2's in the morning leaving hard and 13.7's in the afternoon feathering it out.
You are not just racing the guy in the other lane, you are racing youself.
Anyone that thinks that's easy to keep up with and predict is... well... better than me.
Finished 4th on the season, and missed 2 races, had one of the faster cars in "sportsman", and, yes, that has advantages too...
After all that, I prefer heads up.
At that level it's not just about running the same every time.
You have to watch the weather and the track, you have to know how both effect your car, you have to change your dial to suit the weather/track, and you have to change your launch to suit the track, which again effects your dial... Anyone that thinks this is easy and boring has never done it competitively.
Back home d/a could swing 3000' in one day, and could go up and down and all around. Moisture could swing in. You might be put in #8 position behind a bunch of street tired cars in in elimination (try finding a grove after treaded cars have been peeling the rubber up), next elimination you might be #1 leaving right after a hard hitting slicks class (hot track, lots of rubber).
Knowing what is happening on the line, how to gt your car off the line, and how weather is going to effect your car, and, changing up launch/dial to suit round after round is far from easy.
It is more about knowing your car and how it is effected than it is simply putting it into "D" and standing on it.
Yep, on a perfect day when the weather stayed consistent, the newbie in the mini van had a chance... any other day and I wanted paired with that minivan.
I've had days where I was running 13.2's in the morning leaving hard and 13.7's in the afternoon feathering it out.
You are not just racing the guy in the other lane, you are racing youself.
Anyone that thinks that's easy to keep up with and predict is... well... better than me.
Finished 4th on the season, and missed 2 races, had one of the faster cars in "sportsman", and, yes, that has advantages too...
After all that, I prefer heads up.
im building my car to just be fast... not going to bracket race because it bores the 
out of me. im not building it to fit any class rules even though it should be ultra street legal.
im still planning on street driving it... even with 4" open headers and a 15" drag wing and chute hanging off the back of it.
out of me. im not building it to fit any class rules even though it should be ultra street legal.im still planning on street driving it... even with 4" open headers and a 15" drag wing and chute hanging off the back of it.
88LXSleeper
Active Member
- Jan 6, 2016
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Seeing abandoned tracks is sure sad. Not drag track but local road course near me was getting really bad and there was talk of it shutting down. Luckily some guy with deep pockets who liked to drive bought it and is on his way to bringing it back. Before
View: https://youtu.be/ldrDFD59NQU
After
View: https://youtu.be/GGa1F9rk4zo
View: https://youtu.be/ldrDFD59NQU
After
View: https://youtu.be/GGa1F9rk4zo
I quit bracket racing when the winner was either the 22.9 sec Vega that would run that number on Ice or at 120*, or the guy in the Malibu wagon that would leave the car in 2nd gear and make the entire run against a rev limiter set at 4K rpm. Both those guys cut a excellent light and their cars would run the number every time. They were the 2 slowest cars that showed up every weekend and the win always went to one or the other. They both had shoe boxes full of time slips to look at and compare. I seriously doubt that their times varied more than .002 for the whole weekend.
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stangboy
Founding Member
Yeah, bracket racing is more calculating than racing...in my opinion. That's why I like street racing or no class heads up racing. The only calculation is "run what you brung and hope you brung enough."
i think the rules of class racing and the amount of time and money it takes to run up front and stay there and just how boring bracket racing is has really caused these no time shoot outs to get popular. the grudge racing stuff is cool and all but it seems like mostly trash talking and not a lot of racing. ive been seeing a few stock block shoot outs around here the last few years. maybe i'll go some of those guys up. from the few guys ive talked to most of those guys run mid low 9s. guess i'll bring all the X275 tech to that and really piss them off
some of those guys up. from the few guys ive talked to most of those guys run mid low 9s. guess i'll bring all the X275 tech to that and really piss them off100%, your opinion is exactly what my experience was, and is the point I was trying to make, thanks for making it crystal clear.
See, that's the thing about heads up racing... $$$... and class racing is even more $$$.
That's no po-dunk track... didn't they used to run SCCA events there... or IMSA? Pretty sure I've watched several sports car events from that track.
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as ive told everyone who has asked... the money is only half of it. everyone knows its a lot of money to do heads up class racing
not everyone knows how much work it is. there is no real off season. after our last race last year we started pulling everything apart between the 2 cars to make the transition to the cooper car getting the big nasty windsor motor. he havent stopped working since we started running heads up.
I din't mean that all you needed was $, sorry if that was implied... yes commitment is huge from what I've been told... if you want to be competitive, it becomes "your life".
So, having said that, even if I had the $, I sure as heck would not commit like you guys do. hats off.
So, having said that, even if I had the $, I sure as heck would not commit like you guys do. hats off.
nah not how i took it more of an add on to reasons its dying... people come in for a year thinking its easy and just takes money. money will only get you so far unless your pockets are deep enough to pay someone to do everything.
guys get in and think dont understand how many hours it takes to run the numbers we do under the rules we have. to find 2-3 numbers is HUGE! you'll spend thousands of dollars and tons of hours and LOSE numbers. you have to be prepared for that and most guys arent. once the guys who are committed to finding every little bit of ET run off the guys who just arent willing to work that hard and keep going back to the drawing board when things dont go as planned, classes die off... once classes die off people stop coming to watch. which is where the tracks really make money! SPECTATORS!!!! which is why as much as i cant stand what its doing to racing the street outlaw guys have been great for the tracks. they pack the stands and get people out to the track.
guys get in and think dont understand how many hours it takes to run the numbers we do under the rules we have. to find 2-3 numbers is HUGE! you'll spend thousands of dollars and tons of hours and LOSE numbers. you have to be prepared for that and most guys arent. once the guys who are committed to finding every little bit of ET run off the guys who just arent willing to work that hard and keep going back to the drawing board when things dont go as planned, classes die off... once classes die off people stop coming to watch. which is where the tracks really make money! SPECTATORS!!!! which is why as much as i cant stand what its doing to racing the street outlaw guys have been great for the tracks. they pack the stands and get people out to the track.
stangboy
Founding Member
Yeah, even in street racing it takes money, a lot of time wrenching and testing, and dedication. There are a lot of guys that practically live at "Tha Pad" here in NOLA. They make and spend a lot of money out there. I don't have that kind of money or time. But I will make an appearance occasionally just to see where my car stands with the local competition.
I like everything about this thread. I guess quite a few of us have been left in the outfield when it comes to drag racing. I haven't put my car down the track in over a decade. I am not even sure why I lost interest. I guess it's just so slow compared to everything out there, it doesn't even matter anymore. I have no doubt I could put down a 10 second pass with a little bit of work, but I can't be bothered. I was never into bracket racing. I just don't see the point of it.
Kurt
Kurt
88LXSleeper
Active Member
- Jan 6, 2016
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I know SCCA and others have run there, stopped due to condition. Been there since early 60's, lot of history. I'm pretty sure with repave will be racing there again.
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