Little Leagues

There’s a certain cuteness to Little Leaguers.  The innocents, the fun, the endearing aspects of a childlike naivety to it all.

Know how you enjoy a certain level of sophistication but not all leading up to it.  For instance, football fans love the NFL (it’s the most popular sport) and will eat up almost anything regarding professional football … that has to with the best of the best.  The CFL (Canadian Football League) has exciting games on those very huge fields.  Does it get much notice?  No and in fact struggles to stay afloat, so then how about the other professional football leagues?  Yea, what leagues?  And does the press follow diligently these 2nd level competitions?

When considering drag racing, the NHRA and IHRA get top billing over other series’.  When talking about Nostalgia Drag Racing, believe it or not, we have big leagues and little leagues.  The Hot Rod Heritage Series through the NHRA Museum and to a lesser extent the Goodguys Vintage Drag Racing are the big leagues.  And by adding the Goodguys, therein lies the answers to what makes you bigger in drag racing.  Nitro and head-to-head racing.  Nitromethane to be exact (CH3NO2), is the organic compound which is the key to any popular series in heads up drag racing and their ability to offer fans, fire-breathing, ground-thumping, ear-splitting and nose-running nitro-burning behemoths of the quarter-mile.  Consider when promoters need to get fans attracted to a meet but they don’t have nitro-classes … they bring in (& advertise) a handful of nitro-powered machines for either exhibition runs or match-races – all heads up.

So where does this lead me?  Well, I love nitro and heads up racing, that’s for sure, but more important than I are the rest of the drag racing public – they like nitro and heads up racing too.  Which then brings me to the other Nostalgia drag races.  A few have asked in the past why I don’t talk about or help promote races like ANRA.  Nothing against ANRA as we ran it for years – when they had the nitro classes and were “heads up”.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s a place for indexed bracket racing.  And you can run alcohol or gas to have fun and be successful.  But in ANRA’s case, they don’t have either popular style; no nitro or heads up racing.  And because of this, not a lot of people go to the races to watch these slower classes where nobody knows who won until they check the rules.

Until crowds (& press) start coming out to watch the band and not the football team, I’ll stick with the big leagues.  If something really interesting comes up, that’s one thing but pending these unusual occurrences, we’ll stay with what we like most: heads up and nitro contests.

You can watch cute, but I enjoy heads up racing and the king is nitro – as they say; “Gasoline is for cleaning.  Alcohol is for drinking.  Nitro is for racing”.

Home Of Nostalgia Drag Racing

We Are Family

Although a very catchy tune that sticks in your head, I was never fond of the famous song from Sister Sledge, “We Are Family”.  It might have had to do with disco or the Pittsburgh Pirates but that has a long explanation.  But it could explain a little of what I’m thinking.

Or maybe to borrow from another icon of 30 years ago – Cheers.  You know the place.  Fun, exciting and an All-American comfortable location.  It’s a restaurant, bar, gathering place, church, maybe a hangout at the beach or a favorite spot you go to, where everyones friends.  Ever notice when you go to see entertainment, the hustle and bustle of getting into and out is at the very least, contentious.  Impersonal yet expensive movie theater or how about the open spaces of a Nascar race, there’s an artificial feel with drivers cordoned off and/or not even seen by fans.

On the other hand, there’s not a more cohesive and family like atmosphere than at drag races.  The camaraderie is amazing considering no sport pits one against one (drag racing’s exception is four-wide).  For the fans, it’s the same.  These followers feel more welcome because well, they are.  And then you add Nostalgia drag racing, which is even more fan friendly and it becomes a one-of-a-kind face-to-face relationship not seen in any other sports.  OK, that’s nice, now why do I bring this up?

Maybe this is just a reminder, or possibly to inform but in a day-in-age when everyone seems on pins and needles, there needs to be that place you can go to let out a little steam.  Wow, while watching Fuelers scream bye.  Ooh, in the pits when a Blown Nitro behemoth shakes the ground – while you’re 20 feet away.  Ahh in strolling amazement, looking at the beautiful classic cars that most of these events have (not including the racecars too).  Incredible how young and old alike can get pleasure from the same thing.

So the next time you need a break, some entertainment and a relatively low cost diversion; consider a drag meet or better yet, a Nostalgia drag race event (with 100% Nitro).  NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series’ and Goodguys along with numerous independent happenings, have events all over the U.S.  It’s fun, exciting and as All-American as they come – and always brings a little extra cheer.  And with all that’s going on around us now, also remember, as Sister Sledge sang, “Have faith in you and the things you do – You won’t go wrong”.

Wonder if  we ever will be able to watch television, to show our events to bigger audiences?  Na, you can’t get that up close and personal feeling.  But remember to bring ear plugs; and the runny eyes and nose?  We can live with it.  😀

Home Of Nostalgia Drag Racing

3840 inches missing

When it comes to racing and numbers, I can get fixed in my line of thinking.  I’ve loved numbers for a long time and numerology is fascinating if sometimes beyond my pay grade.  As far as racing, sometimes I can be a downright bigot – although not necessarily in a bad way (my opinion).

I understand all about the advances in technology and I’m all for it, for the most part.  Where I don’t always agree with is when these advances infringe on what I’d called purism.  I’m also a purist as far as racing is concerned and when it comes to drag racing, well, obviously from my love of Nostalgia drag racing, I’m enamored with the sports beginnings.  Which is where those missing inches come into play … I want them back.

Luckily for me, Nostalgia drag racing and in particular, my true love Top Fuel Nostalgia drag racing, run a front engine, blown, 100% Nitro behemoth that spews a lovely sound, smell and when you can clear your eyes, a sight to behold.  And besides running a dragster that is somewhat like (though technology-wise much advanced) what they smoked the strip a half a century ago – the races are run at a quarter mile.  Yes, 3840 inches (320 ft.) further than the current crop run now in the NHRA Pro ranks.

I have a tough time getting exited when talking about races and circuits who run 1/8 mile (let alone 1000 ft) – same thing happens when I watch indoor football.  My other love in sports is football but when you shrink the field in half to fit it into a smaller stadium, well its not football to me.  And how about this?  Why should they run around Charlotte’s mile and a half circle track when they can just run the tiny 1/4 mile track inside it.  Yea, it doesn’t work for you and it doesn’t work for me either.

So, whats the answer to the conundrum that is NHRA Pro Nitro racing?  Why not extend to 1/4 mile where it’s possible and leave it at a 1000 ft where no additional extensions can be made.  We need to keep the history of the sport and while, not every track will be 1/4 mile, we bring it back where possible – drag racing the way it used to be.  BTW, they could also slow the cars down dramatically but …

Now, I’ll be on my way to the next Nostalgia meet where real men (& women) drive front engine dragsters … at 1320 feet.

Home Of Nostalgia Drag Racing

FAN OF DRAG RACING BACK IN THE OLD DAYS?  CHECK OUT THIS GREAT BOOK – “Snake vs. Mongoose: How a Rivalry Changed Drag Racing Forever”

History Of The March Meet

The March Meet is historically one of the biggest and most famous meets in drag racing.  Its history really goes back long before the actual race began.  The Smokers, a car club from Bakersfield Ca. that started some 60 years ago, acquired the lease at Famoso for drag racing.  Famoso, like many early drag strips, was an abandoned WW II airstrip.

Factually, The March Meet wasn’t the “March Meet” but rather the “U.S. Fuel and Gas Championship” – held in March.  It’s designation as The March Meet didn’t officially begin until about 10 years later.
Don Garlits was instrumental in the March Meets’ beginning as the Smokers wanted an East vs West race to decide who was fastest.  Plus, the nitro ban had limited fuelers from running at many races. Art Chrisman won the first March Meet (1959) and Tommy Ivo won the gas portion (BTW, Ivo never beat the Bender & Hier car, as hard as he might try – that’s Ronnie Hier in the picture).  By the early 60‘s, the race had become truly a national meet.  These early years had huge entries with 64 car fields.  Garlits eventually won more March Meets than anyone else.

The years after had many highs and some lows but without national ties to the major associations, independent events such as The March Meet lost entries and luster.  The event ended in the late 80’s but started up again in the mid 90’s with the advent of Nostalgia drag racing and Goodguys VRA (Fuller & Dunlap winning in ’94).

Thanks in part to the Bowser’s, who run Famoso, The March Meet now is one of the largest drag racing events in the country – certainly the biggest in Nostalgia Drag Racing circles.  With Nostalgia Drag Racing’s fast growing popularity (internationally too), The March Meet is all-the-rage with people more interested now than ever before as ONE OF THE ONLY SPORTS THAT CONTINUES TO GROW!

Now if they’d only figure out some parking and seating additions … Just get there early.

Home Of Nostalgia Drag Racing

Want to know more about the history of drag racing?  Check out these two books: