Wolf’s Word: Drag Racing – The Sport Of Opportunity

WW-june15

Much as America is known as the land of opportunity, one might say drag racing is the sport of opportunity. Never before have there been as many places to race, as many traveling organizations and sanctioning bodies, standalone events, and sheer numbers of categories to race in or watch as we enjoy today. But that, I believe, is a point that we often don’t accurately take into account when analyzing the overall health and direction of drag racing. To do so, one must take more of a fifty-thousand foot view, if you will, of our sport, looking at where we’ve been and where we’re at.

DSC_1474You see, it wasn’t all that long ago that the National and International Hot Rod Associations really were the sport of drag racing. There simply wasn’t much else. Either you raced with one of those two organizations in their index or heads-up eliminators, you ran match races (or had an exhibition vehicle), or you were a bracket racer at your local tracks. If you wanted to go fast on a working man’s budget, you ran Top Sportsman or Top Dragster. Production-style cars your thing? Stock and Super Stock were you answer.

But then, over the course of a decade — perhaps even less — things changed drastically.

…it wasn’t all that long ago that the National and International Hot Rod Associations really were the sport of drag racing. There simply wasn’t much else.

In 1990, the IHRA introduced a new eliminator known as Pro Modified, born from the popular Top Sportsman Quick 8’s of the late 1980s. From that, as we know, came events all across the United States and Canada, including the American Drag Racing League, the Professional Drag Racers Association, the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association, and many others. In 1991, the Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield held the inaugural California Hot Rod Reunion, which played a significant role in the explosive growth of nostalgia racing — which is still flourishing 24 years later.

In 1992, Hot Rod Magazine contested the inaugural Fastest Street Car Shootout, which directly led to the later foundation of the NMCA, NMRA, NSCA, and other organizations, and even the Outlaw 10.5 and Drag Radial-style categories of present-day. And although without some specific defining moment, big-money, high-stakes bracket racing events became not just a common thing, but a well-paying career for many uber-talented drivers.

DSC_6897In a matter of years, the level of opportunity in drag racing skyrocketed. There was something out there for everyone, and there were a multitude of places one could compete in or spectate that something — often on the same weekend in the same state. One might conclude that the sport simply fragmented, but that would ignore the fact that so many new classes had been and later would come to exist that hadn’t previously. This wasn’t fragmentation; it was growth, and depending on how you look at it, has been nothing but a positive.

From chassis and engine builders, to aftermarket manufacturers, event promoters, and even right down to the media, entire market segments and careers have been made that wouldn’t have had a place in this sport 25 years ago.

In a matter of years, the level of opportunity in drag racing skyrocketed. There was something out there for everyone…

And so, while in years gone by we may have looked to the NHRA, the IHRA, and match races and the participation and attendance at these events to gauge the status of the sport, that’s no longer an accurate barometer. And taking a wider view just might show us that the sky isn’t really falling. Because while yes, Pro Stock may be struggling to put together a 16-car field anymore, how many would-be Pro Stock racers charted an entirely different course in their driving careers and are racing in Pro Modified or on 10.5s somewhere else? To that end, how many former Top Alcohol racers are now behind the wheel of a Nostalgia Funny Car, or potential Super Stock racers running Pure Street in the NMRA? Likewise, how many racers that once traveled the country running Super Gas have since settled into a more relaxed life of bracket racing closer to home?

DSC_7046Fact is, racers and spectators have so many options on any given weekend that they didn’t have two decades ago, that it would be impossible to draw conclusions based on any past barometers. The racers are still out there, and they’re still spending money in our sport. For the vast majority of aftermarket manufacturers in the industry, business is still good. Chassis builders are still building pumping out race cars and race tracks are still opening their gates. The landscape may look quite different than it did a quarter-century ago, but there’s still an awful lot of drag racing out there, and the choices are truly endless.

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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