Original Message

Agree with a lot of the responses here. Money is biggest issue. Not enough of it for recreational hobbies. Costs have gone up 10 times, purses have gone up 5 times.  Parts availability in some cases. We waited 9 weeks for a set of pistons for an ASCS 360.  Hard to race without a motor. Gone are the days of building cars. Now we buy everything and assemble them.  Used to be if a frame got bent, got out the porta powers, or strapped frame to a big tree and fixed it.  Now, you throw away the frame and get another one.  Transportation cost alone keep some people from traveling. And rules, or in some cases the lack of.  Modifieds have to be different for each track, sanctioning bodies and classes.  I've said it before, there were weekends we would race East Windsor on Friday, Flemington on Saturday, Nazareth on Sunday, a special show on a Monday holiday at Syracuse and hit Five Mile Point on the way home from Syracuse, ALL with the same car on an open trailer. Try doing that today. 

As far as next generations, I am currently working with a third generation sprint car driver. Competed against and helped his Grandfather in the Modifieds and Sprints, was his father's crew chief in Central Pa. late 90's, early 2000's, now competing with USACec and URC. Definately an exception to the rule. And, at 67 years old, don't know how much longer I'll be doing this. It's in the blood, or it isn't.  JMO