[Mikeys69]

Ok..I understand the costs involved with 1/4 mile track vs a 1/8th mile track.
But other than that why...I would have thought racers would have boycotted the 1/8th mile track and it would have disappeared by now.

The 1/4 mile has been a standard for over 60 years.
This is like bikes wanting to race with cars...Apples and Oranges..
Covert 1/4 to 1/8th covert 1/8th to 1/4...:wacko:

I don't get it....Please help me out here...

 

[Wooderson]

A local track went 1/8 mile after being 1/4 mile for years. People started racing elsewhere, so the track went back to 1/4 mile. 1/8 mile is over too fast!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BillK]

Mike,
Personally I hate 1/8 mile but ..... you would be amazed at how many racers love it. Seems to be a regional thing. It has been around almost as long as 1/4 mile racing by the way.

 

[Mikeys69]

Mike,
Personally I hate 1/8 mile but ..... you would be amazed at how many racers love it. Seems to be a regional thing. It has been around almost as long as 1/4 mile racing by the way.

I don't ever remember hearing of a 1/8th mile here in western Canada, maybe there is one in eastern Canada...But not here..Never know I maybe wrong..

 

[aukai]

It's like a nascar thing short tracks and super speedways

 

[Georgia69]

I personally much prefer 1/4 mile. I think several things are contributing to the move towards 1/8 mile racing. Seems like a lot of bracket racers are more interested in racing for money than actually driving and enjoying their cars, so 1/8 mile keeps cost down. It also seems like Super Pro cars are much quicker/faster on average than they were a few years ago, and I think the higher speeds on the 1/4 mile frankly scare people at times. Also, as speeds increase, tracks with marginal shutdown area get to where they can no longer safely host 1/4 mile racing.

 

[2k3Chevelle468]

I have several racetracks of both lengths within an hour of my house. Arguably the best being an 1/8th mile track about 10 minutes from my front door. I find the track great for testing. Many of the really fast pro mods and outlaw 10.5 cars seem to like it because it tends to mean less wear and tear on expensive parts. Often times most races are decided by the 1/8th mile anyway. With obvious exceptions including turbo cars.

 

[Mikeys69]

Sounds a little like when I used to race roundy round. They out lawed 4bbl carbs and 2bbl carbs were maxed at 500cfm...in order to make a more even playing field with costs and speeds.

 

[engineguy]

My guess is that most of us would prefer 1/4 mile dragstrips . . . . .
But there are several factors that are involved. First, the race track may not have enough property available for the longer track, so they have to make do with 1/8 mile. Liability insurance is a major expense for any racetrack and the insurance companies charge less for a policy on an 1/8 mile track.

An 1/8 mile track is somewhat useful for testing/tuning, because most of the important stuff happens in the first half of the track anyway. I say somewhat useful, because a car that is competitively run on 1/4 mile track will need to be set up with proper rear end gear ratio to go through the traps at the optimum RPM.

The idea of "boycotting" shorter dragstrips is not a good idea. We don't need any more tracks closing down and the 1/8 mile tracks do serve a purpose. Like Bill K noted, the 1/8 mile dragstrips have been around as long as their 1/4 mile counterparts have . . . .

 

[jbird]

Plain and simple. Bracket racing is bracket racing. Whether it's 1/4 mile or 1/8th mile. 1/8th mile = less fuel burned, less wear and tear, safer speeds,+same prize money. No brainer.
Bracket racing is a business for most who participate regularly. Most don't do it just because they enjoy going down the track. They enjoy the competition and winning some prize money, as well as it being good advertising for their respective businesses and sponsors. 1/8th mile lowers cost and risk, but has the same rewards as 1/4 mile.

 

[curley8788]

1/8 mile is over too fast!!!!!!!!!!!!

i agree. 1/8 mile is boring.

 

[flink69SS]

I have an 1/8 mile track about 15 minutes from my house and a 1/4 mile track 1 1/2 hours away. The local 1/8 mile is great for practicing and working the bugs out. It's really nice because I am launching with a 4 speed and I need all the practice I can get...:yes:

 

[rianbechtold]

1/8th mile is for guys who don't wanna work hard to get the single digit time slips!

 

[chevy kevy]

all we have around my neck of the woods is 1/8 so I dont know any better.
By me having more of a closer to stock set-up I actually think I am more competitive in the 1/8 mile. most of my power is made in the low end so
I usually have a better 60 ft time which helps me win alot of my races, but
not by much My small block actually beats some big blocks in the 1/8.
I dont think I would win too many races on a 1/4 mile track.

 

[70 beater]

There's a few 1/8 mile tracks close by,the 1/4 mile tracks are a bit of a haul.There's a new 1/4 being built in Crandall but the opening keeps getting pushed back.Once upon a time Kennedale was a 1/4 but the cars got too fast to get stopped in time,heard a rumor last week that they were buying some of the property at the end of the track and going back the 1/4.The Denton 1/8 is supposed to do the same thing.The 1/4 down in Ennis can only run 1/8 some of the time,like when it's too windy,something else about insurance on some events though I'm not sure on that one.

I don't mind the 1/8,lets you get more passes in,use less nitrous if you're using it,less wear and tear.I can run my 4.56s on the 1/8 when they're in the car,winds it up a bit in the 1/4 for a stock bottom end.

 

[Mikeys69]

I never really understood the 1/8th but now it's making more sense.

So for a street car that drives to the 1/8th track and home again. Your unit much really suck the fuel. But is a killer from street light to street light.

It would seam to me a 1/4 mile car would have better street manners than it's counter part running a 1/8th mile car. Am I correct?

 

[Harold Sutton]

The nitrous cars around here have gotten so fast that they can't hardly afford to run quarter miles distances anymore. The spectators don't understand the change to an eighth mile but you'd understand if you tried to race one of these cars for a year. You don't usually hurt parts the first eighth mile but a full quarter will kill "lots" of very expensive parts. The first race had 10-14 cars, by the next race six of them were broken. Besides that the driver becomes much more important in an eighth mile race. At an eighth mile race the little guy stands a chance of getting some of the prize money too and lots of cars in the area were already running 1/8 mile and 1000' distances exclusively.

 

[driver]

:thumbsup:Last yr was my 1st try at a 1/8th mile track and I really liked it.WHY? It was easier on parts and it is safer and there was some really fast bad a$$ car's there.I was running 6.10 in the 1/8 which wasn't to bad. For me the safe factor is the big one.There seemed to be more car's at the 1/8 mile race than a 1/4 mile race and the pay-out was better.

 

[69 Ratt Vette]

I like either, but in cars like mine 1/8 mile stuff is easier on parts. Like Harold said 1/4 mile kills parts a lot more frequently.....miss the tune on a big nitrous hit and it will likely survive an 1/8th mile pass. The same bad tune in the 1/4 will have holes in the pistons at 1000 feet.

As far as 1/8 mile being boring, take my word for it 5 flat in the 1/8 at 137 mph ain't boring.

 

[sleeper]

I would guess that the most that don't like the 1/8 mile are running no faster than the 10's and less than 130 in the 1/4. If I were running a street car I would not like the 1/8 either.

In the past I have run both, the 1/4 being the dominant track in the 60's and 70's and then as speeds increased and insurance premiums went out the top the 1/8 began to gain favor.

Our local track runs both 1/8 and 1/4. The 1/8 is for the bracket cars and comp cars, the 1/4 being for the trophy and street crowd. This works for everyone.