Good question, and the best answer is that I used to, and then I kind of forgot about it a little over the last year or so. (Same thing happened to me with "Dealiest Catch" too!) I first heard about the show about 8 or 9 years ago from my kid and told him how stupid I thought the concept was, and if they were really racing on the street, not only was it dangerous, but how long do you think it would take before the cops figured it out and put an end to it? I called "BS." At some point I tuned in and they weren't really racing in the street as I had interpreted the name of the show to imply. The area that they were racing in an area where it looked like they had permission to do so. Not real safe, but it definitely wasn't "public street racing" with other motorists sharing the same asphalt at the same time. The cars were cool and I could relate them... A 71 Monte, an S10 Pickup, a '68 Nova, a 70's GTO, a '67 Dodge Dart, etc.,. I got into it more and more with the different characters (Big Chief, Murder Nova, Daddy Dave) and followed the branches of the series when they came out with Memphis Outlaws (JJ and his crew), and then No Prep Kings, etc. Saw the whole deal where JJ and his wife crashed in California. I know people think a lot of the show is scripted, but if they actually watched the show, as was stated above, the racing is real and the guys working on their cars is real, and that's pretty cool. I tuned out right about the time they decided to go back to real street cars, and Ryan Martin did so by buying a restored premo 1969 Chevelle (probably a $80K car?) and cut it up to make it a "street legal" drag car. (I would have rather seen him taken one that needed work, but hey... it's his $'s so it's his fun.) So, yes I watch it and going back to my question, I'll bet some of the drivers on the show are probably more well known (and sell more T-Shirts!) than the top NHRA guys of today. What that means for drag racing... and other forms of racing.... I'm not sure. But I am sure that the old rules don't apply... Something can become popular because it captures folks attention, and makes them want to return to it... and not just because somebody "thinks" it deserves to be.
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