Motorsports Industry: Are We Losing The Battle?
/I got to thinking lately about a lot of things regarding the motorsports industry and it made me start to wonder if we are losing the battle.
Over the last couple of weeks I have seen that multiple dragstrips have closed their doors for 2023. We have battling sanctioning bodies. Younger kids aren’t getting into cars like we did growing up. Add to that, mounting government overreach and bullshit laws & regulations that make it exponentially more difficult for people to modified their own car to their liking.
Dating all the way back to the 60’s and up through the mid 2000’s Friday and Saturday night cruising was a way for automotive enthusiast to get out of the house and meet up with other like minded people. It was a way to show off the new upgrade, or even just sit around in an empty parking lot and tell stories about cars and create memories. It certainly seems like those days are long gone, a thing of the past. Some of that has to do with getting older and having responsibilities, but a lot of it has to do with some local law enforcement not wanting people out cruising for hours at a time. We all know that the added cost of fuel now doesn’t help either.
It’s not just drag racing that I worry about though. I worry about all of the automotive enthusiasts aspect of life. With all the ride sharing apps, smart phones, video games, etc. it seems that the younger generation is so much less interested in even getting a drivers license, much less modifying a car. While there are plenty of internet “influencers” in the automotive industry that create content for the younger generation to watch, how much of that is translating into kids wanting to be the next Travis Pastrana, Ken Block (RIP), Cletus McFarland, etc?
The government doesn’t want you to modify your car, your parents don’t want you to be involved, and then you have “old heads” that want to gatekeep the entire industry because they have apparently forgot what it was like to be that 17 year old kid a long time ago. Everything now seems like “bubble kid” mentality. A mentality where we keep these kids wrapped up like they should live in bubble wrap and never experience anything.
In an era where kids and young adults have so many other options when it comes to having something to do, or not to do, what are we as an industry doing to get these kids and young adults interested enough in hot rods and vehicle customization to keep the industry moving forward for generations to come? Are we making it affordable…NOPE. Are we making it attractive…KINDA. Are we making it relatable…NOT REALLY.
When I was in high school we had shop classes, now that seems to be gone, replaced by social things. I remember a time when you weren’t a gearhead unless you owned at least one Chilton or Hayes manual. Instead of learning to work on your own stuff, everyone takes their stuff to a chain shop for even an oil change. Where did we go wrong in this process?
This scares me:
American teens are less keen to get behind the wheel once they come of age. According to numbers from the Federal Highway Administration analyzed by news website Green Car Congress, only approximately 61 percent of 18-year-olds in the U.S. had a driver’s license in 2018, compared to 80.4 percent in 1983. While age restrictions vary by state and not all 16-year-olds can be license holders, the number of 16-year-oldlicensed drivers has also significantly decreased from 46.2 percent in 1983 to 25.6 percent in 2018.
Despite the holdups, the number of older adults holding a driver’s license in the U.S. has not decreased significantly. In 1983, 94.9 percent of 35-39-year-olds had a license, compared with 90.9 percent in 2018.
According to PBS, tougher rules for younger drivers as well as the availability of ridesharing and ride-hailing apps in many places are reasons why teenagers delay getting their license.
The EV push if you will has got all these kids thinking that EV is going to change the planet because that’s what the media tells them and they do no research into precious metal mining that is required for EV batteries and their affect on the environment. Nor do they research the lack of recycle and disposal of EV battery cells. Yet numerous companies within the automotive and hot rodding industry are jumping on the EV bandwagon in hopes of making a buck, instead of actually helping educate people.
I’ve heard from social media influencers that “people are watching my content” and that must mean they are going to become part of the community. Well guess what, I watch those winter tow truck shows, that doesn’t mean I want to be a tow trucker driver (by the way, thank you to all you tow truck drivers that risk your life everyday!). Social media numbers don’t directly translate into people participating in the industry that those of you reading this article probably love like I do. It just means you are putting out entertaining content. Though I do have an appreciation for you, because it’s better to be seen by a wider audience than not seen at all.
At what point do we stop allowing our elected officials to have the power to destroy our industry with their propaganda or extreme overreach? Look at the EPA, while I think they have a job to do, they have proven time and time again to be overreaching to put it mildly. They tell us all that it’s for the good of the planet, yet according to numerous outlets including https://www.visualcapitalist.com/carbon-emissions-by-country-2022/ China and India account for almost 40% of the worlds carbon emissions, with the U.S. accounting for 13.5% of it. So those two countries alone almost triple the carbon emissions output in 2021 versus the U.S. and yet the EPA thinks that your new high flow exhaust is going to make the oceans rise and the polar cap melt.
All of this leads me to this question…what is SEMA, the lobbying body of the enthusiast world actually doing to lobby the federal government on behalf of all of us? Apparently not enough in my estimation. Are they on Capitol Hill on a daily or weekly basis fighting any and all measures that restrict our ability to modified our vehicles? Are they combating all this propaganda with actually facts? I don’t see nearly enough from SEMA. I certainly don’t see sponsored ads on all the social media channels and a grass roots pound the pavement to get people involved movement. I see the “pay us $40 to attend a tradeshow” but how does that raises awareness or get things accomplished?
Lastly, stop being part of the problem and start being the solution. Ask your kids school district about bringing back shop classes. Support your local dragstrips. Vote against people who do not have any interest in our industry. Educate yourself on so many different things so when someone comes at you and tries to attack the industry, you have the knowledge and facts to put up a valid fight. Continue to fight the good fight and hopefully we can have an industry to love for decades and generations to come!!