Hypothetical situation.....having your own drags

[Roothawg]

Let's say you can rent the track for a day.
A day for you and your buddies and your nostalgic cars at the track.

If you were to have a cutoff date(this is sticky) what would it be? Just to keep out the locals etc. Pre-65?
What about a tire width, would that be more appropriate? Say a 12" max?

Or just have it by invitation only?

[smittyshotrods]

Root I know where you are coming from with this. If you have a cutoff then you might leave out some cool stuff that does fit in but on the other hand you might end up with alot of Mustangs,Cameros and Chevelles(not bad cars just don't belong there). I do think the invitation only thing could work just to weed out the undesirables. I see alot of '66-'69 stuff that gets left out because of the cutoff but really fits in with the pre-65 stuff. Just my two cents.

[Paul]

Me?

that's a tough one..

But I know where!

in the Northwest!

Paul

[carkiller]

I am renting the track. Pre 65, 12 inch rubber, No air/cumputer shifters, No aluminum engines. Invo only. Cal

[Roothawg]

That's kinda what I was thinking.

[fatassbuick]

JUST my opinion, but I would say 10" and '64 and earlier, no pony cars.
And I think you oughta do it down the road from my house.

[BELLM]

I know it varies but what does it cost to rent a track for a day? Would want to make sure get everyone sign some form of waiver so you wouldn't be liable in case of injury. Know it would be friends but ya never know. Sorry, I tend to analyze everything to death with "what ifs" until it is no longer a good idea but it is from too many years of doing what I do for a living.

[Roothawg]

The track's insurance covers liability. As far as the cost goes. I am checking on that as we speak. There are a lot of different variables, track size, location etc.
If we had a 10" tire cutoff the Fly would be out.......

[Deyomatic]

No aluminum engines, that is silly, what about the Buick and Olds aluminum engines from the early 60's. I think you should pick a date and a tire width and be done. If you leave it by invite only, then you might be missing out on alot of cars that you didn't know were around. There were some cool locals at the HAMB drags that wouldn't have showed if it were invite only.

[Roothawg]

See the reason I ask this is.....there are guys in my town who have "nostagia" cars. Only they have 16" Weld wheels and are turquoise. They are steel cars for the most part but to me that is not "nostalgia" or "traditional". Granted they do run very fast, but they miss the point completely, make sense?

[Fat Hack]

Institute a "tech inspection" of sorts. Have your guys look for the obligatory safety equpiment, and also weed out the newer stuff from eligable competition. This would allow some discretion to include....say a 1967 Mustang gasser with a straight axle and a 427, yet it would "catch" the 66 Chevelle with the TPI small block and 700R4...you see what I'm saying?

Otherwise, the invite only, or a pre-registration requirement with photos and application would be the way to see to it that only certain cars can participate in your event.

[hotrodladycrusr]

Easy way around this, "advertise" as traditional hot rods and customs only event, and maybe specifiy what the car can't have, like the PileUp guys did. (no billet, no tweed, no digital dash, no tires wider then.....etc, you get the picture, and the folks reading it will get the picture too). Then have a couple of decision makers at the gate and be done with it. Your car either fits or it don't. Your either in or not. But ya gotta stick to your guns and not let one in cuz he's a bud, but not let another in cuz you don't know him. Went real smooth at the entrance to the PileUp, I didn't see an hassles. The cars that didn't fit parked across the street and the folks driving them still came over to take a look at all the traditional cars parked on the property.

[WZ JUNK]

10 inch tire puts my truck out. I do not like a lot of rules.

Although there were several cars at the HAMB drags that probably did not meet the traditional style, most everything was period correct on the time scale. About all the cars at the HAMB drags that were not exactly traditional were brought there by me and I might not do that again if I could redo the day. I do not think these cars caused a big problem.

I think the Goodguys organization has pretty good rules for nostalgia racing. You might follow these and then change the ones that do not apply to your situation. Keep in mind that some people have to race at different tracks under different rules and still try to be competitive.

[Tman]

What WZ Junk said. Even the locals he brought were fun to watch. Just make a year cutoff, 1963. That way the Mustang guys cant cheat http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Also, keep it low key, invite and HAMB only. Just like the HAMB Drags. If some guy with a fuscia 38 Chevy sedan with 22" whels shows, kindly ask him to park "Way over there!" (like the Bako guys did to the Shifters that first year http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

[beatnik]

I think the biggest thing to consider is making sure you have enough people so It's actually afforadable for everyone. Then you can let or deny anyone you want.

Once a year we get a group together at work and rent the track. It's fun but sometimes we have problems getting enough people, so there has been times we've let in others.

[Roothawg]

I just figured if I advertised it as a "nostalgia race", everyone under the sun would show.
Everyone has a different perspective of what they percieve Nostalgia as.

I was talking to a guy at the swap meet that has a son that races in the VRA points deal.
He sold a full bodied beautiful drgaster, "The rolling stone" to be exact, then went and spent another 17,000 dollars on a "new Nostalgia" rail dragster frame and a Milodon aluminum stroker motor. The guy was just baffled at why his son had this kind of motivation. It's all about competition. The point is missed once again....

[flamedabone]

I have absolutely nothing to contribute to this post except.. The HAMB Drags was the coolest thing I have ever done. I had so much damn fun, I needed plastic surgery to remove my fucking smile.

Sorry..just had to butt in..-Abone.

[wingnutz]

So I guess this means that "Magnet" won't be able to "Race" the rental car down in Texas...! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Sorry Mike http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[four-thirteen]

Yeah, nostalgia.
I go to some of the mopar meets to race my '62 savoy super stocker in the "nostalgia" classes. The rules are car must have a full interior, all factory splash sheild must be there, 11" tire max, big block and 2x4 crossram intake. Apparenly this means $30,000 stroker motors with aluminum heads, indy inline crossram, billet wheels, 13.5" of real rubber(they say 9.0" on the tire). Just about anything will pass for nostalgia now days.

I hate to say it, but the only way to get the right cars is the old "greet and toss". It sucks to tell people their car can't come in, but its what you've got to do. Pre-register and make them send pictures.

Don't do a tire requirement. I'd run old style M&H slicks on all my rides if they still made them. But they don't. and they are too hard to find to be burning up at the strip. I think anyone who races is going to run a more modern, wider tire.

Put this thing together. It sounds really neat. Dave

[WZ JUNK]

So, if I interpret this correctly, most everyone thinks that it should be true nostalgia, according to what you want that to be. You are going to allow some changes and equipment but not allow other modifications or parts. It means you are rewriting history. To me it seems like you are just setting up another set of rules for the way that you want to play. I guess that is all right but I do not think you can call it nostalgia. Do not get me wrong as I do not want to run by the rules of the 50’s and 60’s, but I get a little hot when people distort what that era was like. It was an interesting time to be alive but not necessarily all that great, today is much better.

[Roothawg]

I am not trying to say that my way is the only way but....
The only "true nostalgic races" I have EVER attended is the Hamb drags, The Kontinentals day and the old NDRA races. 53' Semi trailers and 175,000 dollar cars take the fun out of it.
VRA even has a tire limit.
Sure, I would love to see some of the great legends show up but more than likely they would only show th cars anyway. The cars don't have to be 100% built with nostalgia parts but they should be close.

The only things that are modern on the Fly are the torque convertor, with no trans brake and the roller rocker arms. The rest of the car is pretty much 1965 and earlier.

WzJunk,I wouldn't have a problem with your style of truck because you pretty much stayed true to the traditional theme.

What I am talking about is the "pro mod" and the "pro street" styling. I have buddies that have narrowed and blown cars but they know they are not nostalgia.

I am not trying to start a pissing contest, just trying to see what would work best in my application.

[WZ JUNK]

Sometimes I play the Devil's advocate. But, I pretty much like anything with a pre 64 birthdate.

I like the idea of letting the entry be the judge as to what class they fit. Lets say at Mokan the true nostagia cars would park on the side of the pits near the track and the kinda nostalgia and newer style or streetrods would park on the side of the pits near the highway. When you enter,you get a definition of the two types of entries and you figure what group best suits your car and that is where you park.

I like people and I do not like to exclude someone because of a small detail when actually they have much more in common than those little things that make them different.

[Roothawg]

I agree that you shouldn't shun people for what they drive, but........

It's kinda like the old NSRA debate on the pre-49 cutoff. Ya gotta stop it somewhere.

But the businessman in me, says that you have to pay for your rental and the more the the merrier but if you just let everyone in, then you call it....... ........bracket racing. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Roothawg]

I actually wish someone would start a class for 340 inches and under with steel blocks only. No Aluminum heads, no stroker cranks. Build a small block and go.

[hotrodladycrusr]

I just wish there were more bitchen events just like the HAMB Dags and the PileUp within a days drive of Detroit.

[Hot Rod To Hell]

AMEN Denise! Although my 62 would still be too "modern" for you guys! But screw you! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I wanted a FAST car the was SAFE and RELIABLE, and that IS NOT POSSIBLE with pre 65 parts! I'd still come too hang out tho..... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[four-thirteen]

Yeah things took a big change in '66. Cars quit breaking down all the time and became reliable. People could finally drive them instead of just sitting in their driveways all the time. All sorts of people got hurt in them. completely unsafe prior to '66. Cars starting going fast, too. Car were really slow back up until that point.

Seriously though, Junk has a good point I didn't think about before. Everyone wants "true nostalgia" rules, but wants them bent alittle to fit this or that. My thing about the tires fits into the catagory. If you let in new tires, you bend the rules.

In the capitalist sense, if you went for the 100% true nostalgia rules, you would maybe get the thirteen or fourteen cars in the country that actually fit.

Maybe you could skip the nostalgia bit and go for a differnet name for it, something like, but not a crappy as old time drags. Dave