Fellow racers,

Assuming you need some form of a hobby, what would you do if you were not drag racing.

To help with the discussion, I am age 75 and struggling to find the former fun. My son Jeff and I have had a great run. For the last 30 or so years, we have been very competitive and generally capable of winning at any track.

Jeff and I talk about this often, and both struggle to understand what happened to our competitive edge. At 75, have I run my course? In earlier years, if our race car had a problem, I considered it was challenging to find and correct it. Now, it just makes me tired and discouraged.

Your honest thoughts, please.

Only you can decide if you're done or not. As far as I'm concerned, if racing or maintaining the racecar gets to be a "job" or chore and no longer fun, it will be time to quit.

Started in the early 70's. It consumed my life.
Raced to live and lived to race.. Sure it's a consuming job or a sport if you want to call it that. But with age, things change. We all know that..

I had quit for a while and decided Kart racing was in the cards. Like 10 years worth. Talking about getting beat up is an understatement.. Well what's Next?
Got back into the drag racing. Mentally still there, BUT with age, you know the rest. Had one of my friends drive. Still enjoyed it sitting in the Golf cart.

I had to cut way back on drag racing. Well I didn't "have" to, but I decided to. It consumed my first 30 some years of adulthood. Biggest thing was the financial hit. It consumed my bank accounts. Mind you I don't make much money, so I don't have a big operation like many of you do.

A few years back I bought a tiny flat bottom fishing boat and a while later discovered a great place to use it that relaxes me more than any drag racing ever has. Last year I bought a guide license and that has been my livelihood. Had a client yesterday from Germany that absolutely loved the experience. The two I had today were both from around here and have fished there before, so the few that we caught weren't a huge surprise, at least not like it was with the german man. In itself, it is still work, but nowhere near the work that drag racing takes. The difference is, even though not all clients are perfectly satisified, most of them are and you meet all kinds, similar to drag racing, but "most" of the time there is little to no competition-and that part is what I miss about drag racing. And-at least I get a little money back every time out, which is more than I can say about bracket racing. The money I spent on the boat was paid back in under 8 months. 4 days a week guiding, sometimes doubles (2 different clients in a day). Yes it's early up and early bed, but seeing a kid's smile when they catch their first fish is worth everything. Last Summer I took a dad and his special needs son. The boy couldn't cast, but he could hold the rod. When a 8 lb Rainbow blasted his bait, it was all he could do to hold on with his one working arm. I reeled while he pulled. Landed it in the net and let him "pet" it before we released it back into the cold water. Makes it all worthwhile. But there's also been clients the other way, "we ain't catching enough" or "they're too small", or "why did you take us out in the rain". I worked retail for over 30 years so I kind of got used to being "the bad guy just taking peoples' money".

Still got the drag car, trailer, and truck but don't go nearly as often as I used to. Few times a year at the most now.

In 2019 my wife and I lost about everything. I follow racing but do not have a race car. WE have put some time in refinishing furniture purchased at thrift stores or found on the curb . It is really low key but we enjoy the time together , Yes I miss racing.

My other hobby is Amateur or Ham radio. I have been able to enjoy it even when at the track. You can spend as much or as little time and money as you want and just like racing, you will meet some very nice folks.

There is a lot of things here. It is hot and getting harder to handle that heat. It is also getting more expensive, rumors of cheating does not help matters. I do enjoy racing but will be doing some things different in the future. Things to make it more comfortable at the track and relaxing.

Still if it was not fun any more I would not continue to race. If I was not racing I would do more fishing.

quote:

Assuming you need some form of a hobby, what would you do if you were not drag racing.

Funny this topic comes up Larry , I have too many hobbies !!

Fishing both freshwater and saltwater have always been a passion of mine. Owning a decent size seaworthy boat opens up alot of cool opportunities to catch some cool stuff, Texas has awesome fishing !!!
I have a 15k gallon Koi pond between my house and shop, more enjoyment than you would imagine !!! Great hobby !!!
Aquariums ?? At one time I had over 30 tanks going, it's an addiction for sure be careful LOL
Obviously car and truck restorations consume me. Never enough time in the week to work enough on our few projects cars always lurking. I'd rather build them than show or race them personally.

It's hard to compete with a solid weekend at the race track, but I find myself really enjoying the few weekends a season we have off more and more each year. Shyt, with gas prices on the rise and hopefully a little less traveling races we may actually fish the spring striper run this year

Only really have two hobbies, drag racing and shooting/reloading. I only recently got to doing competitive shooting. I did a little bit years ago but now I do two matches a month. An AR-15 precision match the first weekend of the month and then the regular bench rest precision match the next weekend. If I ever quit racing I’ll just do more of that.

I’m 71 now and two weekends of racing and traveling took it’s toll. My knees are killing me, probably time to have them replaced. I go see the doctor today.

I retired at the end 2019, basically because of a torn rotator cuff I had been living with for a few years and couldnt be totally productive anymore, I decided to get that fixed early 2020. I was going to race after I got released, but covid had other plans,as we all know. So all I did the remainder of 2020 was sit around and gain 15 pounds. The bowling alleys were still open so I got back into that hobby as the race tracks were closed. I bowl in a league and do 3-4 tournaments a long with that a year. I found that I could get the about the same percentage ROI that I was getting from racing, which is about a break even endeavor. I only went to a couple of specialty races in 2021, and now with gas the way it is, the rigged might just stay parked.

Oh the joy! I am 81 in 3 weeks and raced this past weekend at Darlington, SC. I have pretty much raced all my life since I was 16 with a few breaks here and there for military, over seas work, etc. and as long as I can I will. I quit worrying about the reasons not to go and think of the reasons I want to. If I want to go I have to buy fuel,$166 this past weekend + entry, + race gas. Maybe $250. The friends old and new make it all worth while + I even won a couple of rounds. In 2 days we head for the beach for a week. What else would I do?, there is nothing else.

quote:

Originally posted by "The Bender":
Only you can decide if you're done or not. As far as I'm concerned, if racing or maintaining the racecar gets to be a "job" or chore and no longer fun, it will be time to quit.

THIS!

Take care. Tom Worthington

Didn't race in 2020 found plenty of other stuff that I enjoyed. Spent time hiking, kayaking and fishing. Racing still fun but it doesn't have to be the only fun.

Is a to each his own question. I had a not great weekend racing. Lost 3rd round in both races on tree. Usually slow on tree early then getting better. Am I too old or am I chasing issues again?

Have a lot of checking to do, car did not seem to be energetic on 2 step. Tach keep resetting itself to 3600 shift point so used digital tach display shift light. Not sure if something electrical of fuel. Sore as hell after a lot of passes this weekend.

For off time from racing (both thinking and physical car work) I do house stuff and have learned to cook. For hobbies I play world of warships over PS4 with son/grandsons over internet and bought a small boat.

I like a challenge, whether racing, fishing, fixing stuff or playing team game online with the kids where targeting and tactics do not require youth.

Wife will sit on couch heckling me with "your ships on fire again!". I try to get her to play as she is very competitive and has heart of a warrior.

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Woodfin:
For the last 30 or so years, we have been very competitive and generally capable of winning at any track.

Jeff and I talk about this often, and both struggle to understand what happened to our competitive edge.

Larry, when the winning stops so does the fun and I suspect that is why you are tired and discouraged too. Only you guys now why you are struggling. If it’s not mechanical related then it’s either you have changed your winning strategy or the competition has gotten better or they have figured out how you race. Get back to winning and the fun will come right back.

I'll keep racing as long as I can, but it's not nearly as important to me as it once was. I've got thousands of miles of mountain trails to explore on my quad, fishing and hunting to do, camping, and getting closer to nature like I used to be in my youth...As I get older, my biggest thing is I want to get away from the crowds, the chaos, and the craziness and get back to something a lot more simple. Many won't understand that, but right now I actually find more enjoyment sitting on my deck, listening to the breeze blowing through the woods around my house, watching the deer graze in my front yard, and smelling the pine trees in the air than even racing. I'll take a campfire and the woods with some solitude over just about anything....

If you still enjoy going to the race track, consider modifying your program to a car & associated operation that's simpler and easier to maintain.

I'd be at the ocean or around water. I race with guys that are older than me. When they are done, I'll probably scale way back. There is more to life than racing. No one remember the points champion 2 years ago. Your relatives don't care if you lost in the 3rd round or the final. Make memories trying and experiencing things others enjoy, and that's what they will remember when you're gone.

Target practice is fun. I tried RC Planes but had neck problems and could not do it. A friend let me try his. I bought a brand new plane and the junk that goes with it and never put fuel in it. Some really like doing it. RCA cars can be fun too.

With advanced age I found racing was more of a grueling ordeal than an enjoyable hobby.
Couldn't take the heat or the 12-14 hour days at the track, hard to justify spending every spare minute working on the race car to fix it, make it more predictable, etc. Finally tapered off, only going when I wanted to, not when I felt I 'had' to.
Eventually turned my entire racing operation over to grand daughter and her family and now I feel free to do what I want, when I want.
I bought a modern muscle car (Cad. CTS-V) and race it on Friday nights only and drag racing has become an enjoyable hobby again.