Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

Many race tracks are having a tough time surviving. There are many reasons. I don't want to talk about them all but i think kids don't have alot of options anymore for building a race car like older guys did. All the cool old cars are rusting away and getting hard to find. A kid has to "RESTORE" a car before he can race it or build it into a race car. Also the new stuff isn't that fun to build, modify or work on. Plus its exspensive.
Here is my idea. Its allready being done to some degree in stock car racing.

Somebody should design a dragster chassis thats accepts common JY parts. So a basic frame that would accept a rearend out of some common vehicle, a front suspension off some common car and an engine thats easy to find. It might not look like the dragsters we all know and love but who says it has to ? As long as its safe and affordable it would allows guys who want to get into the sport of drag racing to do so easily. It would be fun and easy to build the race car once you had the chassis. It would allow people to start slow and work their way up.
What do you think ?

Brian

Thoughts, your idea is like that of a "spec class" which, has many forms in all types of racing.

not really looking to create a specific class, just an affordable chassis. Where I live all the race car candidates (2 door muscle cars) are rusting away or beyond affordability. Even G-bodies and mustangs are drying up and rusting away.

If i could buy a dragster chassis for $2000 and put a rearend in it from a chevy half ton, and a front suspension form a pontiac sunfire and a 5.3 LS from a chevy half ton and start racing without having to "RESTORE" some rusty old muscle car for tens of thousands of dollars, might make it much easier to get into drag racing.

Perhaps a t-bucket?
That's be pretty cool

I always welcome new ideas and of course, low cost is a good thing. The problem I have with your vision is how it would look. A dragster chassis with wide rear and wide front stance, that sure would be funny looking.

Maybe a better thought is as posted above, some style of fiberglass body, roadster, etc. with body lines and size that would complement the track width of your suggested components.

doesn't matter what you call it.

Roadster, dragster, drag racing vehicle.

Ford Ranger and CHev S10 have nice Frames . Both make great race car chassis if you stiffen them up .

https://www.chrisgreenphoto.com/Events/ ... -skgK674/A


Here's my Ranger. Cab moved 14in, Frame Z'ed , notched, , rear springs inverted. rear radiator under wing .
1991 Vette engine on Micosquirt , Muncie M22 .
The door gap feeds the radiator ducting. The only stock item is the windshield ,and the roof is chopped 3 1/2 in . (Tipped back.)
This truck races Chumpcar endurance races and glass is good for long nights.

https://scontent-mia3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=5E8CDB40

Go look at the IMCA Modifieds. You can get a chassis for under $5K
They're setup for circle track, so you would need to make something similar, without the offset.

news is bad.....the hip and cool kids have all moved to drifting.....lots of smoke, moonbeam rpms, crazy angles, dropping brakes, battling door handles and hot chicks hanging off their every move......drags is for old people with a smattering of youngsters who stay a year or so then move on.....

I would have thought a short dragster would be a good idea?
( I have one of course, 180" long )

When Junior Dragsters started there were a ton of new kids getting into racing.
Dads who previously had no racing experience put their kids in JD.

Well, when they turn 18, where do they go?

If there was a good supply of short wheel base dragsters they could upgrade?
Otherwise they spend a ton of money to go Top Alcohol or some other expensive class.

If they could go fast and still be inexpensive, maybe they would stay in racing?

My short dragster is easier to run and turns good unlike a long dragster like 220/250" ones.
No suspension to worry about. Run alcohol so usually no heating problems. Can get to everything to work on it.
Can use any engine, rear end, transmission wanted. (I run a Pontiac engine, Ford rear end and PG)

I would think that the chassis' cost is irrelevant compared to the expenses of maintenance, the engine, the rest of the drivetrain, the trailer, the tow vehicle, the property you have to own or rent to store all that...

If you want more people doing an expensive sport that requirs a significant amount of free time, do something to keep more money in the middle class instead of funneling it all directly to the 1% like we are doing now. The erosion of the middle class with tax cuts and killing unions is the reason for the reduction of people in motorsports in general.

John Wallace wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 8:31 am I would have thought a short dragster would be a good idea?
( I have one of course, 180" long )

When Junior Dragsters started there were a ton of new kids getting into racing.
Dads who previously had no racing experience put their kids in JD.

Well, when they turn 18, where do they go?

If there was a good supply of short wheel base dragsters they could upgrade?
Otherwise they spend a ton of money to go Top Alcohol or some other expensive class.

If they could go fast and still be inexpensive, maybe they would stay in racing?

My short dragster is easier to run and turns good unlike a long dragster like 220/250" ones.
No suspension to worry about. Run alcohol so usually no heating problems. Can get to everything to work on it.
Can use any engine, rear end, transmission wanted. (I run a Pontiac engine, Ford rear end and PG)

small dragster chassis is an excellent idea. the where do 18yrs olds go after jr dragster? probably like most things, when mom and dad quit paying for it, 99% of them quit participating.

I have been thinking about this concept and what I have come up with is that there is no easy way out.

The short dragster is an excellent idea and most likely about as inexpensive base a fellow can do. Yet, it still requires all the support equipment no matter what chassis is attached to it.

My age is 73, I have drag raced since high school days, thus, 55 or so years of experience. I have built many, many, cars through those years. Some would be rated as relatively inexpensive. But, I have always had all the required support equipment, tools, shop, access to engines, trans, rears, etc

the idea is that the chassis ( frame that all the parts bolt to) would be able to accept commonly available parts. A rearend out of a pickup from a wrecking yard instead of a $4000 aftermarket rearend. Front suspension from some common little car rather than high dollar aftermarket unobtanium. It doesn't need to be fast. A stock 5.3 chevy truck motor would probably run 11's in a 2000 pound machine. Its like building LEGO ! Kids love it and its a way for them to afford to race. Where i live all the muscle cars are long gone rusted away or really big money, The G-bodies are mostly gone and the CORE race car material is tough to find. Maybe i'm beating a dead horse here. I was recently at a race track AGM and they were looking for ideas to get more young people into the sport.
Brian

I love including the next generation to join in. One thing is a fact, they have to want to do the work. The second fact is if they want it then they will find a way. I can buy a $1000 s10 blazer and strip it out and bolt a wrecking yard sbc in it and if I can’t get it into the 14’s solidly I don’t deserve to call myself a racer. Now the safety equipment might cost as much as the vehicle originally did. That is a concern. Now how do you get it to the track? Another concern. There are a thousand issues to overcome what ever route is taken. My brothers and I have been trying to help my nephew racing. He bought a late 90’s camaro and decided that having a job was just too hard for him. He loves the idea of racing, but is not hip on actually working for it. (I am not saying all are like that, but it is an issue to overcome).

To the kid that is bracket racing his Toyota camery, I hate camery’s, but I love that he found a way to the track and that he is making it happen. It is better than the kid that spends mom and dads money, shows up once and lost and never came back. I would rather have the staging lanes half filled with camery’s and kids/people excited to come back the next week than people that are flakey. That means that we will have the entry fees of those same camery’s helping to keep the track open. If that is what it takes to get the fire fueled to further themselves in racing then I am all for it.

Paul