Drag Racing: A Sport in Peril over Supply Chain Issues!

Drag racing has and always will be a form of entertainment for the fans, but what happens when supply chain issues start causing chaos within the industry? It appears that we are on the verge of finding out.

While it has been no big secret over the last 18 or so months that getting parts to either build or fix race cars has been extremely difficult. Long wait times to get hard parts like pistons, blocks, cranks, etc. have put a huge damper on getting projects done, and thus forcing car owners to sit and wait an indefinite amount of time. This wait time has forced owners and builders to either look at other options, wait, or give up on the project all together.

If you have never built a project car you may not understand the frustration that goes into having to wait for parts. A lot of parts that are bought for a project are spur of the moment decisions. While yes, you have planned everything out, when you are building a project the last thing you want to do is think about how much money you are about to spend or have already spent, only to be told that it might be two months or twelve months before that part can get to you. What’s worse is when you spend the money and then the part is on backorder, so your money is tied up into a part with no firm delivery time frame.

Making matters even worse in 2022 is the shortage of something that all race tracks rely on to have events. That’s right, who would have ever thought that we would see a glue shortage. The one thing that is used to help put cars down the track is in short supply and I don’t think anyone really knows when that will end. Organizations across the board in our industry are scrambling to make sure they have glue for their events, along with damn near every track in the country. I have yet to be able to get a straight answer on when glue will become readily available again. The reason being, I don’t think anyone really knows the answer.

You need look no further than the wonderful world of social media to see how bad this is getting. Races getting cancelled, T&T days trimmed from 2 or 3 a week to only one, tracks deciding to run only 1/8th mile events to conserve on glue use. I’ve seen all of it first hand this season. Now add the glue drama to the supply chain issues, the price of fuel, and rising inflation, and you have the ultimate recipe for disaster. Not only does it cost twice as much to get to the track right now versus what it did two years ago, but you aren’t even sure as a racer what the prep will look like because tracks have to conserve as much as possible.

There are those that will beat their chests and say that No Prep is the way. You don’t need glue for no prep events. Well guess what, there are a lot more drivers that would rather stay home than race on a no prep surface. That comes down to what you are comfortable with, what your race car is built for, and other determining factors. So no, no prep isn’t the answer to these issues at all. There isn’t a singular “fix all” for the situation that we are in!

What this does mean though is that we as a community need to do our best to support the tracks that are open and the events that do occur. Failure to do just that will have a trickle down affect on our sport also. Most track owners in this country are small business owners. They aren’t getting rich off of running a race track. Yes it’s hot out and sometimes uncomfortable to be at the track all day just to support an event, but how do you think those track workers feel? How do you think the owners feel?

The objective of us as a community is to support as much as we can. Without a gate to go through on a Friday night and safely compete, we will all be back out on the streets just hoping for the best. I don’t think that any of us, from any realm of this industry want that to happen. And track owners, if you are having glue supply issues but want to have events, you must think outside the box. Things like street nights and make them events. There are so many different ways to attract people to your facility if you want to.

Overall, the hope is that we get past this “supply chain” issue, along with the other political pitfalls, and get back to the entertainment that is drag racing. I know for me I look at my fall schedule and I am excited. Yellow Bullet Nationals, MWDRS, PDRA, No Mercy, Shakedown, Snowbirds, WSN, World Cup, and the list goes on and on. Finding solutions to these issues is what we must focus on. Shy away from the despair, and focus on what each one of us can do to support the industry. Going through tough times and coming out glorious on the other side is what we do in drag racing.