GaryG

Not even close. I will do my best to write something up this weekend and try to explain. I may not say the name but I will explain what happened. Yes, I do know everyone has there own opinion on what killed SC.

2fastGSR

we killed it ourselves . .

People growing old and not being able to put the same effort into racing as they once could. The lack of structure let most people think that they were un fit to carry the torch after the original "crowd pleasers" lives had moved on . .

This coupled with improper grooming of our " future" racers . . .

Think about it, what do 17 & 18 year old kids that are into SC racing have to look up to right now? Fast and Furious movies ?
NHRA has people like John Force that kids can look up to . We have no one.

The only people that will be able to revive it is us . . . That was apparrent at events like Honda day, Shootout, and WCF in the north east this year. These events were packed. These events were fun and exciting. Why ? Because people showed up.
I see people like Tony1 and Miller turning into iconic figures in our scene. . This is what we need more of.
Its a double edged sword but eventually we have to stop looking at others to do it and jump on it ourselves.

bergenholtzracing

Bothwell Automotive??????

turbotypeR@SPEC

Damn right! There is a class for everybody at every IFO. Hot Rod guys too. All you have to do is go. Everybody needs to quit bitching about not having anywhere to race because there are plenty of races to go to as shown above.

SpeedDreamz.com

For me it was when gas prices went up. That made it difficult to make it to events and that hampered my racing spirit. Last year we went to West Palm and it cost me nearly $1200 just in fuel to go there and back. Many of you farther north paid much more. It was not that I could not afford it but I could not justify it. That was about the time that NOPI was getting sketchy and then they pulled the plug. I was left holding a purpose built car that fit no other class anywhere, so I parked everything.

bad93ex

No one mentioned Drifting from what I saw as I skimmed through. Drifting events are far more popular than drag events

crazes

your my hero lmao!!!! TGR ftw






jk you still my boy jake

uglyasscivic

Really? I thought that the Garrett team put everyone in a great situation. They helped a lot of people including myself.

lugnuts

Yeah Ron, I could swear I remember you saying that Bothwell helped you guys out when you started going really fast?

Lots of things changed import racing. There used to be 4 sanctioning bodies and lots of racers.
Street class was bigger than it was today no question. (Things are really looking up though!).

- Some racers went pro,
- some went drift,
- some got older and had life changes, which means you can't dump everything you make into racing anymore,
- some quit out of frustration
- and, not nearly as many younger racers came up and took their places.

- what the heck is it that 20-somethings do today? I don't have a clue.

- All I know is, there is waaaay too much whining. I ran a car that was 2 seconds slow in Hot Rod (although fast for its make and locally), I entered NHRA races and got records set on my ***, I never whined about it. it was fun and I wouldn't trade it for almost anything.

MrParks

gary, as much as i love to air dirty laundry, just let sc racing be what it is, history.

look to the future of the sport and quit reliving the past. lets all move on and rebuild, lets rebuild....

the next generation of racers are waiting. whos building there passion for this sport?

h22 civic

osama bin laden cripled racing and this entire country...he did exactly what he wanted to do, hurt us financially..he is still winning the war as we speak with the resesion...nobody wants to put money into anything...

ok im done venting proceed..

Torque solution

I heard all nscra events are now 2 days now.

integrawow

Hey, I completely agree, but in the end, sport compact racing came about due to a group of "broke dick" racer's. Anyone that doesn't believe this is lying to themselves. When you exclude those that make/made sport compact racing what it was designed to be from racing, then you have a predetermined path for failure.

If you want to see some wet *******, then get a beat meat magazine you perv's. lol

If you want to race competitively, then only race in an organization that makes the rules adequete for everyone. When you win a ***** out race by 10 car lengths, and that ends up being somewhat common, then there is a major problem.

Facts say sport compact got away from the heart of sport compact, which is the broke dick racers. I'm not making this stuff up. You can say it's untrue just to make yourselves feel better, but facts are facts. Disagreeing would be the worst you could do in denying such facts.

The greatest race organizations of all time earned such a standing from being well organized in the rules department. These kinds of organizations decided against ridiculous win margins. They knew that the fans have always been their paychecks. They have always given them what they want, which is close racing action. Simple. Whatever rules that it took to do this is what they did. Hey, these race organizations are still around, and interesting, after decades. Go figure.

turbocivic3337

dam gary g on ht..lol..last time i seen a post it was when you were bonin the **** out in that red thing. you were talkin mad **** like bitches are gonna get ****ed up by this honda...lol you the man. so ya gonna run this 1 big race next year?

Stealthmode Performance

Ding.

As cool as Papadakis and tube chassis cars are, this is a sport of mostly poor people, including me. For a while there you were nobody unless you traveled the globe with your renegade and tube frame car. If Tony Palos car was as pro (fast) as it ever got, with slower classes for the masses, the sport would be in better shape. Fortunately, it looks like that's the way it's going.

AllMoToRB18c

You got my vote

Drifting killed it. They took our fans and then took our sponsors and eventually took our drivers. You cant blame the drivers for leaving because thats where the sponsor money is now and its not in drag racing anymore.

NativeSon

Totally agree. I would also add that its full of people with unrealistic expectations, since they're new to the sport. Racing heads up is very cutthroat, and that's hard for some people to grasp.

I also feel that it evolved too fast. Not by the performance of the cars, but by the cost to compete in many of the classes. Corporate sponsorship drove up the cost of racing. Many racers were able to make a living just by racing. The buzz died off before there was a big enough base of enthusiasts and fans to keep it going on its own merit. Once the corporate sponsorship left, the guys that were making their living by racing, moved on so they could keep earning money. No one wants to step down to a sportsman class, after they've been at the pinnacle of their sport.
There are also a lot of 20 somethings that are out of work, or had to take a job for less pay than before, due to the economy. Not as much disposable income as before. The ones that are left are more hardcore like Tony Palo, or have a vested interest in the SC industry, like a performance shop. And they are the base of what we have now. SC drag racing isn't dead, its just back to a more normal progression level than before. Without the Hollywood buzz, and corporate influence.

1.5Slowmatic

anyone ever think this site sorta did it? Alot of people now are more focused on being trendy with expensive wheels and JDM parts and such and less and less people are racing the cars; instead they are showing them and making them dyno queens and getting peoples approval over the internet

MFactory

Yes, sport compact racing in general has taken a decline over the past couple of years, but the sanctioning bodies/organizers (both new and old) have learned from past mistakes and are now listening to the racers.

With the economy slowly, but surely, starting to get better again, more and more companies that support our industry are starting to get more involved again.

Will it ever reach the same level as NHRA SC past? Maybe, maybe not, but trust me, with what is being planned at present for the 2010 season, sport compact racing is far from dead!

Be ready for some big announcements after PRI

dragracefan

whining, haters, and kicking gift horses in the xss.

h22 civic

to be honest ALOT of people bite off more then they can chew ,you got the average joe decideing he want to start racing with his budget then he gets the fever and tries to be a big willie like the big dogs and whindes up getting over his head not facing reality and bye the time he relizes it he is to late ..the hobby just turned into a job for him wich is all good if you have the lifestyle and money to do it,,but 99% of the people out their cant afford 15k standalones for their cars...basically the same thing that happens when most people buy houses these days,,,set your budget and stay with it ...old school days you would see the same guys season after season doing their thing and having fun these days you see one hitter quiters that bit off more then they can chew and get fustrated with the sport and leave

ExospeedAMcrx

Alot of us here have been doing this thing for along time. HT may have brought us closer in communication with each other the last 10 years, but many of us have been doing this since the mid/early 90s. If you have followed it since then, its obvious that it all came about from the hardcore grassroots racers. Money came in, corporate sponsorships, etc and it all dissapeared as fast as it came in. But look at who's still around. The people who make it what it really is, the grassroots racers.

It feels like it was back in the mid90s again. Remember when we were cheering on Junior Asprer, Dave Shih(1st in 10s), Tony Fuchs, Myles B(1st in 11s), Andrew Yang, etc in hitting those 12 and 11 sec barriers? It was crazy hype and excitement as it is now with the 9s and 8s.
I was in Etown when Tony hit 8s. I felt the same way that day as I did watching those cars hit 11s and 12s back in the day. Your heart is pumping and everyone is jumping up and down with excitement.

Drag Racing will never die. Its in the blood, the hearts of racers. You can't take that away. Bringing in corporate sponsorships just accelerated the process for many, but alot of people held on and still competed with what they had. The love for racing is what keeps it going, not money.

HybridMT

PRO Import racing may be dead, but not the Import drag scene in general. It's bigger than ever! The scene has gone back to its origin... grassroots/sportsmans, not mainstream/corporate/FnF.

Looking through this thread, I notice most everyone saying the scene is dead is posting from a state that Import Face-Off does not go to. Come to an IFO and you'll see the scene is definitely alive. If you want an IFO in your state, call us! You'd be surprised how many events have been set up by some average joe who pointed us in the right direction to set up an event at their local track. Ex... just 4 days ago someone called us about Michigan, 2 days later it's on the schedule!

www.ImportFaceOff.net

2010 IMPORT FACE-OFF SCHEDULE (tentative)
January 17 - Houston, TX - Houston Raceway Park (6th annual) *100th event since 2001!
January 24 - Gainesville, FL - Gainesville Raceway (2nd annual)
February 21 - Tucson, AZ - Southwestern International Raceway (3rd annual)
February 28 - Belle Rose, LA - No Problem Raceway (10th annual)
March 14 - Shreveport , LA - Thunder Road Raceway Park (7th annual)
March 21 - Commerce, GA - Atlanta Dragway (2nd annual)
April 11 - Crandell, TX - Dallas Raceway
April 18 - Oklahoma City, OK - Thunder Valley Raceway (7th annual)
May 2 - Kansas City, MO - Kansas City International Raceway (6th annual)
May 16- Montgomery, AL - Montgomery Motorsports Park (8th annual)
May 23 - Epping, NH - New England Dragway
June 6 - Martin, MI - US 131 Motorsports Park
July 11 - Crofton, MD - Capitol Raceway (2nd annual)
August 9 - Wichita KS - Kansas International Dragway
August 29 - Columbus, OH - National Trail Raceway (5th annual)
September 5 - Kansas City, MO - Kansas City International Raceway (7th annual)
September 19 - Tulsa, OK - Tulsa Raceway Park (4th annual)
October 3 - Baton Rouge, LA - State Capitol Raceway (6th annual)
October 10 - Gainesville, FL - Gainesville Raceway (2nd annual)
October 17 - Las Vegas, NV - The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
November 7 - Montgomery, AL - Montgomery Motorsports Park (8th annual)
November 14 - Ennis, TX - Texas Motorplex (5th annual)
December 12 - San Antonio, TX - San Antonio Raceway (6th annual)

ExospeedAMcrx

You must live in hotels most of the year, cuz thats one busy schedule. LOL.

integrawow

Agreed. There has to be a remedy for this problem though. If NHRA pro stock let the teams have any naturally aspirated combination they wanted, then the class would be at least ten times more out of control as far as cost and stress. There needs to be more restrictions and guidelines in these import classes. As a racer and affiliate for decades, I can assure that when I first took a look at the NHRA sport compact rulebook, I immediately knew that it wouldn't work. Sure enough, it didn't. I'm not saying i'm some sort of genius, but the key to it all is really simple. That is, when at least two broke dicks' salaries can't afford it, then it's not going to last very long, OR there may not be much participation involved.

What does that mean for small import sanctioning bodies?

1) Turn the scales on, and set weight minimums. (all tracks have them)
2) Hire a couple of "no bs" tech men.
3) Segregate the particular engines by way of potential in each class. (additional weight,etc)
4) Have separate weight breaks for different combo's. (nitrous only, turbo only, etc)
5) Don't let an AWD, RWD, and FWD car have the same minimum weight.
6) Have stock classes that are ACTUALLY STOCK. (any engine modifications is not stock)
7) Have cubic inch rules and weight breaks per cubic inch in more diverse classes, and a set cubic inch limit in professional classes. Use an engine pump gauge to test cubic inch displacement when there is a suspicion of cheating or when there is a protest.
8) In some classes, don't allow stand alone engine managements. In pro classes, go for it.
9) In the stock classes, have "no porting allowed" rules, and check from time to time. Hey, NHRA does it, IHRA does it. Racers are still showing up when it comes time to race. These rules haven't changed anything for the stock classes. They have their combustion chambers and intake ports measured for volume. They have their heads inspected for modification and adherance to the permitted modifications. They simply have rules not allowing modification that isn't accepted by the rules. Simple.

These are just some examples of control. There is alot more to it. You have to realize that when you just cut a bunch of racers loose when it comes to rules, then you'll see that cost goes through the roof, and participation suffers. This is fact.