Today’s drag racing is not yesterday’s drag racing 

Jeff, if I may so bold to borrow your "Just Wondering" title.

I've started to come to the conclusion that, in light of the numerous pioneers of drag racing that have passed over the past couple of years, it's maybe time to consider that the torch has already been passed on and that what now passes off as drag racing can never be brought to be what it once was. The glory days... (pick your era) for myself began with AA/Gassers, AA/FD "Rails" and the evolution of Super Stock to Factory Experimental to  the original Funny Cars. Three or four national events in a year, and a whole lot of match racing ensured rivalries were abundant with even a couple of fistfights tossed in for good measure.

Not wanting to shed a poor light on today's version of drag racing, I can only say that we no longer have the "personalities"... the nicknames, ten separate drag racing magazines a month, the tracks, or the track announcers that all gave drag racing the "charisma" that it once possessed.

I've been to the "show" as a racer and a spectator and I've also been to the Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield. For me (as maybe with some of the other "geezers"), the nostalgia races are as close as we're ever going to see drag racing's past. Even though quite of few of the "old names" are there, it's in a spectator's role.

So maybe we should quit whining about 1000', the cost of going to a race and who’s covering it on television. Maybe we should just be thankful that we got to see or participate in its infancy and accept it for what it is: today's drag racing!

Jim Millard
Toronto, Canada

A C-note’s worth of fun

Jeff, I went to Union Grove memorial weekend with my thirteen-year-old grandson and had a great time. Grandson even got the twelve-year-old ticket price! Not as many cars as in other years, but still fun. Midwest gassers, jet cars, wheelstander, nostalgia funny cars, Great Lakes Funny Car Association, Zizzo TA/D, Shake Rattle Run ‘57 Chevy, Done And Gone funny car doing short hops every run, Grumpy’s Toy ‘68 Camaro, Warren Johnson’s Camaro, the Sox and Martin Duster, many more. All in all, a GREAT TIME for less than $100.

Jeff Kammes
DeKalb, Illinois