Inliners International Forums General Discussion Bench racing NHRA and the little guys.

I don't know if anyone here follows NHRA drag racing, but it sure is different from what it was back in the 70's. I grew up in New Jersey which was a hotbed for Junior Stokers in the 60's and 70's. I started racing in 1969, and did pretty well in the 1972 season with my 65 Bel-Air with a 230 and 3 speed in O/Stock with less than $1000 invested in the car. The O/Stock record was 17.40 back then and I ran a best of 17.60. A little over a year ago I thought I would get back into racing. Well what was O/Stock in 1972 is now W/Stock with an index of 16.70. Okay they allow headers now and .060 over, maybe it's doable. But then I found out that only 4 cylinders can run in W/Stock. So, I thought I would build a car to run in V/Stock with an index of 15.55. I bought a 66 Chevelle and played with it, running a best of 19.07 with the original, tired motor. Doing more research I found that a 69 Chevelle with a 230 can run with a four speed while I could only use a 3 speed in the Chevelle. I found a 69 Camaro and had a friend replace the floorboards, trunk, and other sheet metal. So I now have over $6000 tied up in the Camaro only to find that the NHRA has adjusted the index down to 15.25. I thought that 15.55 was just barely doable, with the index at 15.25 I'm ready to give up on drag racing. It seems the focus is all on the Pro Classes with little regard for the lower classes.

To campaign a competitive car in any NHRA or IHRA Eliminator class takes deep pockets. And to be competitive nowadays you have to run 7 tenths to a full second or more under the indexes just to qualify for the field.

If NHRA drag racing did not require a six-figure budget I would have done it years ago. Instead I chose to build the best bracket racer I could and have fun locally. I can do this on one tenth the budget of a NHRA Class Car. I'm sure I'm having more than one tenth as much fun. Consider bracket racing or the many nostalgia drag venues available. Because all competitive Stock, Super Stock, and Comp cars run well under their respective indices those Eliminators have essentially become glorified bracket races anyway.
Good luck with your ride.

Strange, I was just on another BB and was lamenting that it is a shame that under the guise of safety sanctioning bodies have squeezed the life our of all the kinds of racing our Founding Rodders enjoyed. NHRA killed drag racing as we knew it. SCTA is doing it to Bonneville. It's not totally their fault they have to deal with the Feds, environmentalists, and lawyers. Just sad that "safety"costs more than speed.

Its not any fun if it isn't dangerous!

Speaking as one who has had occasion to use many of the safety-mandated devices, which in many cases I would have not voluntarily employed on my own, I think me and several others owe our very lives to the fact that those rules were in place. Nobody complains that those rules were in place after they have wrecked their car.

Beater -

What's a shame is that some people don't realize that the safety sanctioning bodies have a lot more knowledge and experience in keeping racing of all kinds as safe as possible for competitors and spectators.

I got involved in NHRA racing in 1964 and although I haven't enjoyed alot of the changes (bracket racing and other class changes), I realize safety is the number one concern. The sactioning bodies have arrived at these rules from many years of investigating mishaps. They might be better informed than us. If it wasn't for these organizations, there would be no organized racing today.

There's an old saying - if you have a $5 head - wear a $5 helmet!

Bob

Scott -

What kind of racing do you personally do that isn't fun without needlessly putting your life or someone else's on the line when getting in the seat?

Bob

Greg -

Sounds like we've been in the same place a couple of times!

Bob

I don't have an issue with the safety equipment required. In fact, I was planning on using a Lakewood bellhousing even though I don't have to. My big complaint is they arbitrarily lowered the index by .3 seconds.

Bob,I was being facetious. I think the lure for a lot of people to racing and dangerous activities is the risk of it. The adrenaline rush....like skydiving.

Flyer do you see a discrepancy here?
"If NHRA drag racing did not require a six-figure budget I would have done it years ago. Instead I chose to build the best bracket racer I could and have fun locally. I can do this on one tenth the budget of a NHRA Class Car."
"Speaking as one who has had occasion to use many of the safety-mandated devices, which in many cases I would have not voluntarily employed on my own, I think me and several others owe our very lives to the fact that those rules were in place."

I realize that as we go faster safety concerns increase, but who is responsible for your safety? I submit that I am not. Beater

Bob,

[/quote]

Beater -

What's a shame is that some people don't realize that the safety sanctioning bodies have a lot more knowledge and experience in keeping racing of all kinds as safe as possible for competitors and spectators.

I got involved in NHRA racing in 1964 and although I haven't enjoyed alot of the changes (bracket racing and other class changes), I realize safety is the number one concern. The sactioning bodies have arrived at these rules from many years of investigating mishaps. They might be better informed than us. If it wasn't for these organizations, there would be no organized racing today.

There's an old saying - if you have a $5 head - wear a $5 helmet!

Bob [/quote]

I think '64 is about the time I let my NHRA membership run out. When they and Hot Rod Magazine began to turn drag racing over to muscle cars and factory race teams I lost interest. It was dirt track for me. Bracket racing is not drag racing. Speed is the number one concern. Getting there safely is some other number. And yes, I have seen my life flash before my eyes somewhere between turn 2 and the wall. You need read no further than the first page of the Bonneville rule book to know that the rules are just guide lines to be applied as the representatives of the sanctioning body see fit. Just a few years ago there were actual exceptions to rules that sounded like they were written by the US Congress.
Unfortunately I agree that without these groups there would be no organized racing today, but that is more about tort law and liability than safety. The members of these groups work tirelessly and thanklessly to preserve their particular racing forms. The shame is, as I said before ,the fun is squeezed out and the price increases beyond the reach of many. Beater

Sometimes you just have to realize that your racing sanctioning body (or your speed equipment manufacturer, or your government, or your church, or your school principal) may actually know more about your personal welfare than do you. I have arrived there.

I once asked my local head of tech, "Why do I have to replace my belts every two years? Do you replace the belts in your daily driver every two years?" He explained that he has seen belts abraided by dragging on the pavement up the return road, saturated with fluids and grit, and so faded by harmful UV sunlight rays that you couldn't tell the original color." Unless he be accused of arbitrarily rejecting cars for belt condition it made sense to have belts updated regularly.

I am also a card-carrying member of The Church Of The Holy Statistics, Probability Synod. If you race every weekend, year after year, decade after decade, sooner or later your number is going to get called. I choose to be ready for that day.

Thanks for starting the first paragraph with "Sometimes". As a retired teacher that school principal part is tough to swallow. You, from your experience, are pointing out the realities of racing as safely as possible. None of us wants the guy in the next lane to be driving a grenade. And the only way to protect us is by safety rules that everyone must follow. The belt thing is so true. And you are absolutely right about probability. I know it is necessary every time I see someone walk away from a terrible crash. I'm just wishing it wasn't so costly, and wishing that it didn't have to be so complicated, and wishing the rules didn't take on a life of their own. If wishes were hot rods then beggars could race. Sounds like an interesting Church. Beater