Wagner’s World: Stop Buying Into The Myth That Drag Racing Is “Dying”, Because It’s Better Than Ever…

Contrary to what social media and some questionable media outlets have said, drag racing isn’t “dying.” The sport we love has evolved and will continue to grow. I’m going to give you my point of view on what’s changed, and why that change is a good thing.

The “Back in the Day” Mentality Needs to Go Away

I was raised in a drag racing family. My dad raced, we went on family vacations to races, and anytime a drag race was on television, we were watching it. I remember seeing the big moments from the late 1980s through the early 2000s unfold in real time. Things were just different “back in the day.”

Now, sit back and let me paint a picture of back in the day. The NHRA was the biggest thing around for decades. Yes, there were other sanctioning bodies and events, but the NHRA was king. Naturally, if you look at footage from old events or talk to people who were there, they’ll fondly tell you how many people attended any given event.

As much as we may not want to admit it, the world has changed since back in the day. How we consume everything has evolved, including drag racing. You don’t have to attend an event to see who won, that information is delivered instantly thanks to the internet and social media. Heck, you can watch pretty much any event in real time thanks to professional and amateur livestreams.

The result? There are fewer people in the stands at times, and some try to claim the sport is “dying.” In reality, there’s more access to watching every form of drag racing than at any point in history.

Yes, back in the day, there may have been shirtless fans five deep along the fence. But thanks to technology, you can now enjoy drag racing from literally anywhere. We need to stop comparing modern racing to back in the day. Bury it alongside disco, answering machines, and Palm Pilots, the world has changed.

Drag Racing Has Changed, Deal With It

Now that I’ve stirred the pot and the people with pitchforks are lining up, let me explain why I believe drag racing has changed for the better—and isn’t dying.

I’m a fan of all forms of drag racing. I bracket race one of our Dragzine project cars, I’ve crewed on small-tire cars, and I love everything the sport brings to the table. It’s my job to be a fan of the entire sport, so I try to showcase all aspects of it on Dragzine. That broad mindset has allowed me to cover everything from the NHRA U.S. Nationals to bare-concrete no-prep racing. I’ve seen firsthand just how much drag racing has grown and evolved over the last 10+ years.

Drag racing has become an interesting tribal culture. You’ve got people who are exclusively into bracket racing, big-show nitro cars, no-prep, radials, or no-time racing, just to name a few. When you live within a tribe, you sometimes miss what’s happening outside of it. That’s what has fueled this epidemic of people thinking the sport is dying, they simply don’t look beyond their own corner.

Here’s some evidence I’ve witnessed over the years. I was at Lights Out when they had to shut the gates because it was so packed, that’s not fiction, it was insane. When Outlaw Armageddon was at its peak, I remember being at Thunder Valley and standing in awe of the massive crowd gathered for that no-prep race. The place felt alive, and the fans were having a great time.

Then there’s the World Cup Finals: Import vs Domestic, which sold out in 2025 at Maryland International Raceway before the gates even opened. Drag-and-drive events are now filling the stands and have created a new ecosystem within the drag racing world. Don’t forget the countless big-money bracket races that pack the pits with racers. And then there are major one-off events like Night Under Fire at Summit Motorsports Park, which fills the facility with 50,000 fans year after year.

You also have the IHRA growing and offering something different compared to how it operated in the past. The car and fan counts weren’t massive to start, but by the end of the 2025 season, that had changed. That growth brought more fans out to events that hadn’t been held before and encouraged more racers to hit the track. Its growth and proof that drag racing is doing just fine.

That’s a wide range of events covering every style of drag racing. Not everyone likes the same flavor of ice cream, and the same is true for drag racing. As fans of the sport, we need to push the positive narrative and not allow negativity to dominate the conversation. Is everything perfect? No, nothing is. But some people push negativity for clicks and clout, truth be damned.

So, how about we stop writing drag racing’s eulogy and sharing cherry-picked images of empty stands? The sport has changed, it will continue to change, and we need to do everything we can to help it grow.

This is just how I see the world, take it for what it’s worth.