Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

[oldrustycars]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3h3aS1zmdg&feature=related

Is it just me? I watched Super Gas at Joliet a couple years ago, it must be way more fun to do it than to watch it. The cars, for the most part, are way cool. But the launch, then blahhh, as whatever electronics they have kicks in, then they go on down....I just don't get it. I love watching bracket racing, but I'll watch 12 second foot brake cars any day.
Just my opinion, if NHRA needs to move the show along faster, they can put these classes at divisional races. At Rt. 66, there was about a dozen spectators watching.

[stage1scott]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

FROM A SPECTATING POINT OF VIEW, THE SUPER CLASSES SUCK. I will pay extra to watch stock and super stock anytime, but the throttle stops just lose me.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

we ran a small block nova in S/G in division 1 , late eighties
throttle stops were for the top end
john asta showed up with a 1000 hp reher morrison motor in 91 , he sputtered off the line for 8 rounds to victory at the summernationals
I am a drag racing junkie , I worship sportsman racing , I like U/SA all the way to A/FD , and spent hours explaining throttle stops and breakouts
it can't all be heads up

[dieselgeek]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

it can't all be heads up

Throttle Stops: making winners out of slow crybabies since 19xx

(too lazy to see how long these gay devices have existed)

[Schtauffer]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

Yes. It is very boring to watch. I was a teenager the first time I saw it; I had to ask someone to explain to me what was happening out on the track. I thought I was the dumbest thing I had ever seen once I understood it.

That being said, I think it would be enjoyable to try run the number. The challenge of trying to run exactly the same time is in my mind no different of a feat than attempting to go quicker every time. Its just a different goal, that's all.

But its still boring to watch.

[Brad54]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

My favorite classes to watch are the nostalgia classes... gassers, front engine dragsters, etc.
Nostalgia Super Stock
Outlaw 10.5 tire cars in the 1/8 mile. It's heads-up in class breaks...

When you're watching a drag race, you watch it off the line, you follow the cars to about mid-track, and then everyone looks to the board to see which lane gets the win light. With the 1/8 mile, you see the whole race and aren't killing time watching the board--you see the launch, watch to half track, heads up to the board and see who won.
Plus, the cars cycle through a lot faster, and there's a lot fewer oil downs.

I didn't think I'd like watching 1/8 mile, but I really dig those cars.

Throttle stops, delay boxes and other electronics... at that point isn't it really just a very, very expensive video game? Couldn't you get the same level of competition by lining the cars up and running them by remote control with drivers in the tower?
-Brad

[Schtauffer]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

Checking tire pressures, oil & water temps, and the myraid of other details that will throw a car off is the part that I would find challenging-- attempting to prep the car identically every time.

Not to mention dealing with weather and track condition variables.

[Fordplay0621]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

I agree the First time my Wife saw them run , She thought they both stalled.

[BigDad]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

Most forms of drag racing can't compare with participating

8.90 at 180 is full of excitement for the driver and crew / freinds , you get in winners circle at a div or national event
Its damm fun !

Been there , done that

[yellomalibu]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

it can't all be heads up

Throttle Stops: making winners out of slow crybabies since 19xx

(too lazy to see how long these gay devices have existed)

Try it some time.

I'll agree it's boring to watch unless you know some of the people in the event... hell, I can't stand to watch baseball or bowling, but one is our "national past time" and the other is actually a lot of fun to do! Golf, Puh-leeze... how boring can a sport be to watch !?!? Yet it's challenging and enjoyable to participate in.

Throttle stops, delay boxes... these things only make the field more competitive, which makes being successful that much harder.
Don't knock it... we all can't afford to run heads up, where the racer with the most money wins.
Sportsman racing is the backbone of the NHRA... the pro classes draw crowds to a track once a year; the sportsman classes are what keep the tracks busy week after week.


...although... who came up with the idea making a class where everyone has to run 10.00, 9.00, etc... seriously... wtf were they smoking. Sportsman, Pro, Super Pro... THAT'S what I like. Pick a number... run it... if you cut a better light AND ran your number, you win. Sounds easy, but we know it's not! ...although it would still be boring to watch if you weren't "into it".

Now that I think about it, ANYTHING that you aren't into is boring to watch on TV. Not into Survivor, watching it would suck. Not into politics, watching a political show on tv would suck. Not into cooking, watching Food Network would suck. etc, etc.

[yellomalibu]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

Most forms of drag racing can't compare with participating

Dammit, I get all long winded and before I can hit post, this guy sums it all up in one sentence... :-\

[ls7gto]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

i helped on a super gas car (top 20 in the nation) back in the mid to late 80s. and when every body was running hard it was fun. then the electronics came in and it got BORING. I would rather hang out at test n tune nights now. or do a track rental. Doug just my opinion.

[mlcraven]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

yellowmalibu and BigDad: well said.

While watching drag racing (at the track and on TV) is OK to enjoyable , I'd much rather be doing it. Thankfully, it's something a lot of us CAN do even without the high tech gizmos. For myself it has boiled down to deciding how fast I can consistently and reliably afford to go (hint: not very fast but still loads of fun ;D), balanced with all the other (non racing) demands on my time and money.

My first preference is for low-tech cars I can recognize and NOT cookie-cutter machines with different paint jobs and cockpits straight out of Future Shop. And if the underdog beats the faster car, so much the better

[dieselgeek]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

Try it some time.

I have. I've worked on cars that use not only throttle stops and delay boxes, I've done "custom" electronics jobs to work for even more accuracy than what's commercially available. And you know what? I still say, this kind of racing exists so the whiners and crybabies feel they have a better chance at winning. You know, the guys who often try to claim:

heads up, where the racer with the most money wins.

I get so tired of hearing this line. I've been helping broke guys kick ass in all kinds of racing. The most winning racers, are NOT by necessity the "richest" - but it's an easy thing to say to bring down someone whose put together a winning combination requiring funds, creativity, mechanical competency, planning, hard work, etc. etc.

I'm not meaning to belittle your opinion on the subject, I'm just sharing mine. I agree with you that the bracket guys keep the tracks busier, and that's a good thing. But to me, drag racing that's not heads up - isn't racing.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: Anyone else find Super Gas/Street/Comp boring?

Definitely not a casual spectator friendly part of the digs....BUT...

Sit or stand at the stripe and watch guys really drive the snot out of those cars at 180-200 mph.

Scott, I disagree with the whiners and crybabies comment. There are people who have tuning and driving those cars down to a science and anyone who can wade through a national event field of 100-200 cars in Super Comp where nearly every race is decided by way less than a hun at the stripe has proved that they are a heck of a driver/tuner/what have you.

I'd never wage an agrument that it's a blast to watch super comp because frankly, in comparison to everyone else, it isn't, but I can't say I agree with the crybaby stuff.

Brian