Today is my 50th birthday, and as I contemplate my life as a racer and a gearhead I have to wonder where our sport is going to go next. We've seen this sport go from a bunch of good old boys and farmers building cars in sheds and barns to multi-million dollar corporations with billion-dollar sponsorships. NASCAR is finally getting fuel injection - 35 years after it was introduced on passenger cars. The cars are no longer "stock" - instead of buying bodies in white and working with what the manufacturer gave you for that particular model, we have "progressed" to tube chassis cars that are all the same. Very little opportunity for innovation. Everyone has to be politically correct or you get fined for having an opinion. No more "Run What Ya' Brung". Pretty boring stuff anymore - at least it is to me.
Down here where I'm at on the racing totem pole, it seems that we as racers and organizations have forgotten where we came from to some extent. The RACERS were what made the show - that, and who had the fastest cars, and who could outdrive each other. Characters in their own right. Guys like Cale, A.J., King Richard, The Allisons - and innovators like Tiger Tom, the Wood Brothers, and Smokey Yunick. Bend the rules, bend sheet metal, rub each other till a fight broke out, and if you have to, slide 'er upside down across the finish line - as long as you won - and didn't get caught bending the aforesaid rules in the process.
I think there is still a lot of real racing to be had in this sport - we just need to look at our alternatives. As for me, I'm a firm believer that front wheel drive cars are our next logical step in the progression of the sport - both in terms of mini-stocks and real stock cars. There seems to be the impression that cars like my little Nissan are just "toys", and that they aren't really "race cars". Sorry to say, nothing could be further from the truth. My car in particular has a full cage that would pass any sanctioning body tech inspection out there - including NASCAR's. It's as safe as you can make a race car. It took me ten years to build this thing, but I did it right - because I wanted it to BE right. It has a fuel cell. It has rear jacking bolts. It has all the stuff that a big stock car has in it and more. But because it's a four cylinder, many sanctioning bodies and some racers think it's a joke. But it's not. I really want to race this car someplace like Daytona or Talledega. I get laughed at when I say that, but that is the purpose I actually built this car for - superspeedway racing.
I know NASCAR had a class for four bangers years ago - but they had to be a tube chassis car - not something that someone built at the house and took racing. I think we need to get back to the basics of this sport and let the little guy back in. A front wheel drive class on the superspeedways and places like Martinsville and Bristol would be a good primmer for some of the younger people in this sport to get a little experience under their belt before they move up. And let some of us who can't afford the big money toys to go race and have some fun too. So if anyone is listening, my birthday wish is to be able to take my FWD mini-stock to Daytona in February and run it flat out so we can see what it will do. And innovate some new stuff along the way. And bring racing back to it's roots!!
Happy Birthday Santus. Very nice post, most of which I agree with. The only exception to total agreement, I think, is the front wheel drive cars. Never liked them on the street and I just can't imagine a front wheel drive will be as exciting in a powerslide. But good luck to you and Happy Birthday a hundred times over.
PattyKay, Tim, I appreciate your input and comments. My blog post was not meant as a rant or a question - actually I was just making a comment about where I see the sport going in the future. What we have to realize is this - the future generation of racers that we are trying to get involved in the sport have all pretty much grown up with modified Honda's, Toyota's and the like, and they know these cars and how to make them perform. If we are to keep this sport alive and have good car counts and outstanding young drivers, then these kids are the ones we are going to have to draw into the sport with car classes they understand and can afford to race.The biggest reason we have "ghost tracks" now is the fact that whenpeople try to get into this sport they find that there is no "affordable entry point" for them, and so instead of building cars and competing they lay up on the couch and play video games. That is why I am so determined that this is what we need to do - and why I promote front wheel drive racing whenever possible. I agree with Tim that powersliding a front drive car is no fun (LOL!!), but then again, you have to understand that we are dealing with a different breed of animal here, and these cars can be made to handle if properly sorted out. If you'd like to see some racing video ofthese cars in action, then allow me to give you a couple of links to my YouTube channel videos: Riverview Speedway: Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway: Granted, they aren't late models or sportsman cars, but there's a lot of great racing action here, and that's what makes this a great sport.