Since there seems to be millions available for stick and ball sport facilities in Winnipeg, I, on behalf of the drag racing community in Manitoba, am requesting $1M so that Gimli Dragway can get their quarter-mile drag strip resurfaced. Since the sport of organized drag racing first appeared in Manitoba in 1964, the sport has received a grand total of $50,000 in government money for facility improvements. It's our turn. Thanks.
In our day and age, drag racing is the last thing that is going to get public money. Imagine how "Green" Gary Doer would look like to a group supporting fuel consumption for consumption's sake.
I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but it won't happen. It looks bad.
I feel your pain Winky. We too, (by 'we' I mean, those of us in the yachting community), have never received a dime from the government and that's unfair. I hope you get it.
I agree with Dean. I still go to show and shines, Pony Corral, etc. The people who love their cars have a certain passion for them that goes beyond worrying about the price of fuel. This really applies to many hobbies, as most aren't ever really practical, but its what a person enjoys spending his/her time and money doing. I'd lump street racers into this category. ( drag racers too, but they aren't doing anything illegal at a track ). Street racers will always exist, high gas prices or not. However, having a well built quarter mile strip maintained will likely grab the attention of many street racers that are on the cusp of finding a safe , sanctioned area to drive.
It would be good to resurface Gimli but I think you need something closer to the city to actually cut down on street racing. People race on sundays to show off their cars and have some fun but not everyone will drive to Gimli to go in an actual competition. It has been years since I have been to bradey road so I don't know if people still go there at all but making that a little more regulated and legal could have probably helped. Rather than sending the cops there so that everyone dispersed and ended up racing in the city rather than on a country road.
I agree with Dean. Gas prices don't matter. A lot of people spend a crazy amount of money on their cars and some of them only take them out on Sundays. They won't care if they need to spend another $50-100 on gas that day.
My initial post was a little tongue-in-cheek, but I was making a point. Remember how much talk there was about building a track close to Winnipeg after that woman was killed on Portage Avenue? What happened? Nothing. There's already a track in Gimli, it's a nice facility and, really, is 75 km too far for people to drive? They probably cover that must distance doing laps on Portage Ave. Even $500,000 would go a long way for improvements.
Saturdays are "test and tune" days for folks who don't want to participate in eliminations. Some folks make at least a dozen runs on a Saturday. You get a time slip that shows your elapsed time and speed and no speeding tickets!
Mr. Nobody, some racers, with purpose-built race cars, do run ethanol.