Originally Posted By: morris
yes i haven seen the emty stands. but all that noise only draws people that dont understand drag racing. but like i said a fuel car coasting at 200 mph across the finish line is NOT drag racing. i really think the fuel cars will only slow to the low 5s, thats still very fast. at one time that was very interesting. but what do i know? i have only been watching drag racing since 1955.
I respectfully disagree that "all that noise" only interests those that don't understand drag racing. Most of my colleagues are only interested in racing in the Fuel classes. Why?, because there is simply nothing else like it.
There are already penalties for oil-downs. I can tell you from experience that teams absolutely do not want to oil down the track. First of all, it's expensive monetarily. Secondly, it's a black eye for the team that has oil escape from their engine. For the teams that don't have major corporate sponsorship, the cost of oil-down penalties can mean the difference between competing at events, or not.
If you are a team that's in contention for the Championship, it could also ultimately mean the difference between winning the Championship, or not.
I can also tell you there are teams that have already lost interest in racing a Fuel car, simply because of the ever increasing regulations.
At one time, the Fuel classes were all about ever increasing performance. Running in the low 5's was exciting at one time, because the cars had never gone quicker than that. Now, it would be a major step backwards. The teams know it, and perhaps most importantly, the fans know it, and would likely decide that their entertainment dollars are better spent elsewhere.
The poor economy has already knocked out some teams from competing. It has also reduced the fan attendance at races. Intentionally seriously slowing down the Fuel classes which for many people are the incentive to pay for admission, would likely be the final nail in the coffin of NHRA Drag Racing.
I personally would love to see most of the regulations removed from the Fuel cars, and see what they could be truly capable of.