There are certain things that keep me up at night and I ponder upon. First and foremost, on my mind is where we are at within the motorsports industry, and where we are going for years to come.

Obviously, this isn’t something that a lot of people dwell upon. Even those within the industry don’t necessarily lose sleep over trying to figure out where we are headed in the long run. I personally don’t understand that thought process, or their lack of, but each to their own when it comes to what weighs on their minds.  

You may ask yourself why someone like me, who is certainly known to not wear the “rose colored glasses” most of the time would tell you that we are headed in a good direction or down the right path. The answer is quite simple though, all you must do is open your eyes and look around. Look at trends, look at schedules, and other factors that I am going to talk about.

We all know that I have at best what could be described as a contentious relationship with the National Hot Rod Association. The NHRA is what most would look to as the pinnacle of drag racing. It is the organization with all the money, power, and television. While I certainly don’t think that the NHRA is the end all be all in drag racing, there is also no argument from me regarding their significant importance within motorsports. Nowhere else in drag racing will you find drivers that are getting paid millions of dollars to fund race teams. They are and have been the king of drag racing for decades. They manage to overcome all their shortfalls and near sightedness by simply being the “big kid” on the block. Everyone needs the big kid on the block though, as they become the standard which others use to strive for.

Many of you have been worried about tracks closing. While it is certainly an issue that any track closes, what you always must remember is that drag racing is also a business. If you ask most track owners, they will tell you that you don’t own and operate a track to get rich. Most track owners are in the industry because of their love for the sport and their love of their customer base, which eventually turns into extended family. When you attend a race at your local track, most of those owners and managers know a lot of the fans on the property and not just the racers. They understand how to build relationships within the community as well. Small, local tracks make up a great percentage of the dragstrips in North America. There are a lot more small local tracks then there are large facilities.

Times have certainly changed over the last 20 years as well. The explosion of no-prep & limited prep events at tracks have helped to minimize the cost to the tracks as well. No longer are you seeing every track worry about going through a pallet of glue a weekend. They are able to minimize cost, while packing the stands to watch exciting “street style” racing. This style of racing isn’t something new, but it has found a huge boost in popularity due to television shows like Street Outlaw, No Prep Kings, Mega Cash Days, Fastest in the South, etc. I have never made it a secret that I am not a huge fan of the television stuff, but I also acknowledge that the exposure has been great for track owners and operators.

Shootouts every weekend it seems like. I don’t know about you, but when I go on my social media feed it feels like there is a new shootout of some sort being announced all the time. Whether it be a small tire, big tire, no prep, mild prep, grudge, 4.84, etc. If you live in the south, chances are you can and will be able to find some sort of shootout every weekend for about 75% of the calendar year. I love, as a content creator, going to these type of shootout races. You are there for a day and a half or two days and the action is unreal. From beginning to end you have the opportunity to see excitement.

One of the most important things in all of drag racing is that of the organized series racing. I can’t remember a time in my 30+ years being involved with drag racing that I have seen series racing as healthy as it is in 2023. NHRA, IHRA, Mid-West Drag Racing Series, PDRA, NMCA, NMRA, SNRA, NEOPMA, Radial Outlaw Series, Outlaw Society, & many more. These are organization that people come to not only to race, but to be around friends, and make new friends. Certainly there are ups and downs with series racing, but if you look at these series, you will find that some of the drivers in these organizations have been with them since the beginning. Structure avoids chaos, which in turns brings the corporate world into the fray, which in turn brings financial support into the fold.

Without a doubt the most important part of drag racing is bracket racing. Don’t for a second shake your head or roll your eyes at me. Fact is that bracket racing programs are what keep most tracks from having to close their doors. It is a fun, safe, and affordable way for anyone that wants to go racing to do so. You don’t need a $100K engine to go bracket racing. Bracket racing, along with T&T nights are absolutely critical to the success and well-being of a track’s success, along with the success of drag racing as a whole.

 Another trend that I am seeing and that I truly love when it comes to drag racing is the growth of “big events”. These are events outside of series events, outside of NHRA, and they are events that have or are building history with them. Events like USSN, Lights Out, YellowBullet Nationals, Norwalk’s Night Under Fire, World Cup, World Street Nationals, Snowbirds, No Mercy, No Guts No Glory, and more. Twenty years ago, as a Ford guy, the go to event was World Ford Challenge. Now I get to attend so many events each year that have that same feeling for me.

Lastly, the topic of why drag racing is great and will continue to. There was never a time that drag racing wasn’t great, so making it great again…well that’s kind of an oxymoron. Drag racing continues to thrive because we are “woke” more than any other sport. You want to know why I say we are woke? We are woke because in drag racing we don’t care about your skin color, your religious affiliations, your age, your sexual orientation, or 99% of the bullshit that they, the mainstream media, wants to use to divide us. We are woke in the idea that we are one big dysfunctional family when it comes to drag racing. We can disagree, we can fight and scream, but at the end of the day, we are there to compete as family. No other sport do I see competitors leading a hand to their next round of competition like I do in drag racing. Boys face off against girls from age 6 to 86. We break bread together at the track and at the 3am Waffle House. That’s why drag racing never needed to be great again…It always has been.

I hope that you all continue to support your local tracks, your local racers, the businesses that support the drag racing community, and everything that goes with being a part of this dysfunctional family. I’ll see all of you at a race track soon!