how can old guys race top fuel?

only need to be good for 4 seconds. like, uh.....something else.

 

There's what, maybe 5 minutes of acceleration time in a weekend? And most of them have pacemakers, so that helps.

 

5 Minutes?

Realistically, it's closer to 16 SECONDS, maybe 20, not counting any practice runs,
you can add about 12-15 more seconds. Let's just say 60 seconds total for the weekend.

Money - and staring at a christmas tree - I won't say anyone can do it, but if there is ONE sport
'anyone' can do, it's drag racing.

It doesn't take big balls - women are doing it....

 

It's the funny car guys and girls with the big balls, some driving involved there!

 

Now I know I am old - I remember watching Mike Bucher's dad race Top Fuel in the 70's. Fastest chevy powered fueller and last to win a national event - cheering for the underdog!

 

I think it really just shows the aging demographics of drag racing (at least NHRA). their drivers and fan base are boomer centric

you’d think some young kid with quick reaction times would clean up but nobody seems interested?

 

even the women are late 30's/early 40's, there aren't a lot of young people getting into the sport.

John Force's daughters were a big exception, they started in their 20's but that was 20 years ago

 

Well, you don't need to be a Smurf to fit into the car . (Seriously, I'd say that the go-cart farm system of other racing favors small, young people.)

 

And that appears to be wrong, but I agree with your premise.

It's not just drag racing, it's NASCAR too.
Look at all the tracks that have totally removed grandstands, and some that have covered them with tarps.

And I recall reading an article that said the average age of a MLB baseball fan that attends games was something like 65,
but I think it's come down - a little. Some of that is because a lot of the older folk can no longer afford tickets, as those have
skyrocketed along with player salaries the last 5 years or so.

The funny one was the average age of a Buick owner - in 2008 it was 73...

But racing comes back to shop class in HS, or a friends' dad that races - both
of those are largely gone, and kids today can't afford to soup up a 427 Chevy, let alone
a 350, or a Ford 351, or a Hemi, but they can afford to bolt on a supercharger to a Kia or Honda
along with a new ignition chip or big-ass muffler, and also make it into a low-rider.
(They also don't want to tear down a 2.3 liter 4 cyl and rebuild it)

I feel strongly that today, fans don't attend games, they attend events - so they can say they were there.
How many times do we see people sitting in GREAT seats in the background - GLUED to their smart phones, no interest in the game?
NBA, MLB, NFL are the main culprits of that.

 

Cost too. It is expensive to go racing competitively. Old guys have the disposable income and were the kids in the stands when racing was at its peak. I crewed on a pro mod. Would loved to have been in the seat but it was outside my budget.

 

John Force (NHRA Top Fuel Funny Car World Champion 16 times) is 76.

Brittany Force holds the world record for the fastest top fuel run in history (338.48 MPH). The girls have no balls??? It's amazing she can even walk.

EDIT: Brittany set another record, traveling over 300 MPH (302.69) at the 1/8th mile. Cuckoo!!

 

is junior dragsters still a thing? that was big at one point, and got a lot of kids involved. but the ladder system doesn't seem to be there for drag racing like NASCAR, Indy, or sports cars

 

I grew up about a mile from Fremont Raceway in the 60's and 70's. Don Schumacher, Shirley Muldowney, Don "the Snake" Prudhomme, the "Mongoose", "Hemi Under Glass", "Rat Rod", wheelie dragsters, jet cars, etc. It was such a blast!!
I went a couple of years ago (Infineon), shook hands with Antron Brown (he's really 49???). These days those top fuelers will rattle your teeth loose.

 

Yep, still a big thing. What they can do with a Briggs & Stratton is amazing! But again, going fast costs money. A lot of these kids still move up, generally into mum or dads car but even sportsman racing is dear if you want be at the pointy end.

 

Just on cost: John Force Racing make their own engine blocks at about $8 - $10k each. They have around 80 blocks to get them through the season (3 cars I think this year). Then you have everything else.

 

My brother (who repairs top fuel nostalgia funny car blocks for a living, among other machining tasks) told me that the carbon fiber fuel injector hats for those modern top fuel dragsters alone are over $30,000.00 apiece.

 

The only saving part is seat time is short. I race in Top Dragster. WAY off from Top Fuel, but I still pull 3G on launch and neg 3+ when the chute comes out. We are over 215 MPH in 1/4 mile and 60' in less than 1 second. To me the heat is the worst. The 5-10 minutes in the car with full kit on is brutal when its 100 in the shade. Ive had the 458 out and pushed hard in Daytona and Indy. I can say about 30 min is all I can do. Maybe if I tracked more, but in 30 min my mind is toast. I'm 60