The Way Things Were

*****Please note - Rubber Duck wrote this BEFORE the 2013 Street Racer championship***

Things are not the way they used to be. Shows have moved, gone, and been replaced many times over. Our hobby is in fact the one escape from the hum drum of everyday life. I was at a show a while back and the topic of conversation was how our scene has shrunk over the last 10 years, but on that note I would have to say I disagree completely. Over the last few years at shows I have seen many times where it has only been big money cars winning, over and over again, but when they say the scene is not as big as it used to be, they are just talking about the show and shine side, because if you lump ‘Our Scene’ all into one group - drag racing, show'n'shine, 50s retro and all that together - I think in fact you will find it's growing. I don’t see it as a “them and us”; we are all part of the same thing, whether your angle is parking on a field, or running the nuts off your motor down the quarter mile. It all comes from the same roots.

New blood is picking up spanners all over the country and attacking old bangers and turning them into drivable, streetable, road legal cars and popping down to the local drag strip or nearest show. The cars that are being run now are usable, everyday cars. The only problem I see is when these cars and young people turn up to shows, they don’t get the credit that’s due to them, with such big money cars always winning, and I’m not saying they shouldn’t, but what can we do to give them a boost? I have never been to a show and seen a trophy given out for Best Effort, or Young Restorer. Times have changed, not everyone can point at a crusty rod dumped in a bush and say, “build that for me, money is no object”. The one thing I love about drag racing is that you see a 18/19 year old, foot to the floor in a Pop or Prefect they are working on, but people still go round and look at it, talk to them. The Street Racer challenge at York raceway is a perfect example, you can have a 9-second road-legal car, but would it stand the challenge of constant runs next to a Pop with a 2-litre motor that can do a 300-mile trip in one shot with only fuel stops? Now that sounds like a good event to me!

We are all part of the same thing, when you see a half-built rod or yank, just think: you were at that stage at one time. Give them some support and let’s keep the flow of our hobby the way it was, the way it is, and the way it will be in years to come, FUN.

RubberDuck