Like NHL hockey, I haven't really watched a car racing in 3+ decades. In both cases things got too overblown, cartooney, money-oriented, and lost their initial grit.

jmont64 wrote:

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I just spent all day Friday in Pomona watching the Winternationals. Top times of around 3.75 seconds and speeds of around 325 mph on the short track, 3300 feet I think. Everyone should see it once. The ground and the stands just shake. It is a fun day especially during qualifying as there are no breaks whatsoever. Steady racing from 10 to 4:30.

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Top fuel & funny car run on a 1000' track.  It was reduced from the standard 1320' (1/4 mile) about 10 years ago.   Other classes still run on the 1/4 mile track.

I haven't been to Mosport since camping was abolished in the mid-80s.

There's always Russian crash videos on Youtube...

Once thing I would love to see is the Isle Of Man TT.

I have a Motor Trend on demand subscription which includes all sorts of motorsports, live and otherwise. I still don't watch. I enjoy the drags, but mostly the grassroots street legal drags. Drag week coverage etc.

Interesting that Pomona was brought up (Winternationals). Anyone follow Roadkill or Hoonigans? I tend to follow that sort of stuff. So Mike Finnegan from Roadkill (Motor Trend group) built a 55 Chevy gasser about 5 years ago with a Mopar Hemi he got from Dave Freiburger (Loing time Hot Rod editor, and Roadkill partner). He called it "Blasphemi" and it has been improved on and rebuilt endlessly the last 5 years. It's current form is a 8-71 Blower on a 535" Hemi through a Gearstar 6 speed that is shifted clutchlessly. He completed Drag Week 2018 and had a fastest pass of 8.97 @ 151 mph. Then he swapped Blower pullies trying to get a little deeper into the 8's and win his class...and money shifted it completely destroying the Hemi (again)

John Chase from the Hoonigans has a '55 Chevy gasser too. Looked cool, but not a fast car by any means. A year ago(?) he called out Mike Finnegan and Blasphemi to a grudge race. Final details were that it was to be a best of three races, at Pomona during the Winternationals, loser loses his beard right then and there.

Blasphemi:

Kall out Kings:

Vid 1. John Chase trying to get his NHRA license.

Vid 2 More license drama, and engine troubles.

Vid 3  problems all around

If you haven't followed along I won't spoil the outcome. I watched it on Instagram of all things. It'll be on youtube soon enough.

This is the "Racing" that I watch. A bit more grass roots, realistic cars (sorta) with more of a story behind it all.

A friend came up to me in church yesterday to tell me he's going to the Daytona 500 next weekend. This guy is around 67 and his wife going with him a retired  English school teacher. They drive a Subaru and he doesn't;t know the difference between a carburetor and a spark plug. He said they were leaving this morning to beat the storm coming in tonight. His son is the top Toyota/Lexus salesman in out area so I figure Tommy won the trip and gave it to his Dad.

Long time race fan, have watched them all and even tried a few over the years.

Don't watch much these days, though.  Time is the biggest issue, it's tough to find 3 or 4 hours to blow these days - have too many other things in life which demand my time unfortunately.

Also, the top levels of racing have become so corporate, and have been for some time.  Drivers are forced to become advertising associates for the companies that pay their bills, and there's too much effort to homogenize the race cars, so that nobody has an advantage, and all their corporate sponsors feel like they are getting a good shake.

To be honest, I find the lower levels of racing, the grassroots guys ('n' gals) to be most intriguing these days.  The ones that are doing it for the love of the sport without million dollar budgets and tractor trailers to haul their team around.  There seems to be more heart and soul poured into racing done at this level, and not a bunch of corporate guys who wouldn't know a torque wrench from a swizzle stick calling the shots...