Go watch Brent at PFI Speed. They build imports and tune them and he host races. He’s doing everything he can to keep the scene alive and some help from you would be great. Not to mention, he’s having legal issues with the EPA. Someone like you could help them get sponsors and teach them the things they don’t know.
What's crazy is that NIRA even had an official racing simulator made by Bethesda Softworks - yes, the same team behind Oblivion, Fallout, and Starfield. And it was actually VERY good and still regarded as the best drag racing simulator ever made.
Those games were the best, I wish we could still play them, burnout, burnout pace and burnout NIRA. I had all of them and played them online with dial up. There were actual leagues paying out money to points champions.
I remember. You could change every single internal number of the engine and transmission as well.. They had a domestic version as well. Had almost every engine and could change the internal numbers in them all. Very good technical game..
When you were at the drag strip with Lisa Kubo, Adam Saruwatari, Dr Charles, Steph Papadakis racing, you’ve experienced the golden era. I’ve seen them racing at Sacramento raceway back in the late 90s and early 00s…
Import drag racing is not dead. NIRA is dead. Up until this year, we had PSCA import races with index classes, sport, and pro. IFO I believe is a national event. I am sure there are others, but this was what we had in the colorado area before bandimere shut down at the end of last year.
@@7sins979 PSCA until this year they were keeping it real for import drag racers out of the Colorado area "Import Face Off or IFO" are the only series still going around the nation but they do not attract that many of the puertorican crown of heavy hitters RWD Guys(and girls) Now East coast between OSW(Orlando Speed World), Bradenton& Maplegrove(Maryland) Are we're the Heavy hitters of today's import drag racing are showing up consistently From 5.40s 2jz powered promods,Ecotecs,Honda K&F and Rotary powered ex-prostocks powered cars of the modified class to old school 3/4&1/2 Chassis imports and last but not least Fwds(both XFWD turbos and M1 fueled Allmotor) That's weres today world record holders Import racers are competing
Man kids today will never know how cool it was to go to the grocery store with your mom and sit on the floor in the magazine section and flip thru all the car mags. I used to look forward to it every week. Super street and Honda tuner, there were a bunch.
As much as when was younger, and thought the girls needed more clothes (I still do at times), I miss those times. I wish I had been able to get some of those magazines, but I was broke. I liked looking through the Car Classified magazines the most. My favorite being Deals on Wheels. I loved looking at all the classics American iron. My love for tuners and rice burners came later.
@@jonathanpinckney9227 I never got to actually buy one of the mags either lol, guess looking back that's probably one of the reasons I looked forward to it so much.
I used to race in the sport compact nopi series. It was an amazing time seeing it all so sad it went away. But I can say I raced in Phx,Vegas, Palmdale, Irwindale and Fontana I loved it
While Import Drag Racing definitely had there golden age in the mid 90’s to the early 2000’s, I have noticed a second wave of import drag racing with events like Import Domestic Throw down and DSM Shootout
"But I ain't cutting her loose tonight . [Its] 'cause I'm going legit, homie. - Trying to get on the NIRA circuit. You heard about that?" Now this line makes so much sense to me lol. Was never really too interested in the whole drag racing scene, but it's awesome it existed on such a level.
nira and idrc is dead, but the nhra still hosts sport compact racing. sport compact drag racing is still alive and thriving, with records being broken, while some still haven't been touched in 20yrs.
I adored going to these events as a kid my dad and Stephen papadakis and Peter yem of pyr racing all grew up together I still have my posters and pictures to reminisce on glad I grew up with this it’s amazing to see again
I remember me and my buddy went to MIR Raceway, back when it was still Budds Creek, in the late 80s. Import drag racing was unheard of, at least as far as I know. We were watching the races and two old, primer covered late 70s or early 80s Honda Civics pulled into the staging area with giant slicks hanging out of the front sides of the cars. My first instinct was to laugh, but the laughter was short lived. The tree turned green and those crappy looking Civics BLASTED down the quarter in around 8 seconds. We were both blown away. I thought it was some kind of joke, those cars were anything but a joke. I asked around about whose cars these were, it turns out they were built by two guys from the local Honda dealership service dept, Ken Dixon Chevrolet/Honda. I had never saw anything like that before, but there were many more to come after that.
10:23 look at that strapping young lad! Great video thanks for sharing I always love listening to your stories about your past and history of the import seen my God man what an awesome life
Import drag racing is still going hard, it may of changed a bit but saying it’s dead is ridiculous. What about World Cup, tx2k, fl2k, purto rico, Australia etc etc. import scene is alive and well.
@@sasukeuchihaanbucaptGroup A already eclipsed Group B in terms of performance and actual popularity between fans & manufacturers in the 90s. If anything, Group B Rally has too much rose-tinted glass treatment. I mean today's Rally2 cars will easily go around Gr.B cars nowadays.
@@AbrahamArthemius I think what enamors people about Group B rally is that they were just going ham with the cars and tech of the time. Like some kinda of performance experimental class or something. Just, like, "Hey, turbo makes car go fast, yes? "Yes." "And supercharger also makes car go fast, yes?" "Yes?" "Does the power stack?" "Do it."
Interesting stuff, Craig! Wow. My only recollect from back in the day on imports running the 1/4 mile was Bob Glidden. Glidden's 85 wins in Pro Stock were the most in any NHRA class. He took the championship in '79 in a Plymouth Arrow..a Mitsubishi 2dr hatch, ofc..powered by a hopped up Chrysler LA smallblock V8. He ran mid to low 8's. Not bad. RIP, Mr. Glidden🏁
His 351C powered Fairmont won the year previously and never lost a match, round, or race, then went on to win 5 Championships in a row with BOSS 429 power. (85-89) and that dominance got NHRA to allow GM to put the final nail in the coffin of Pro stock, the DRCE.
I can stil remember doing the NOPI shows in Petersburg and Hampton Virginia as well as Charlotte North Carolina. This makes me miss my old Civic hatch. In 2001 I had a 93 DX hatch with a turboed GSR. Type R cams and B16 head which was mainly to get rid of the funky GSR intake. Had a Nitrous Express intercooler kit and thought I was the $4!+.... I miss those days!
I remember when Craig was working the for NIRA. My car was protested. He came over to inspect it. All the crybabies watched. 😂. Car was legal. Only trophy I keep in the house.
Import racing really dropped the ball in the beginning but not having index classes. In the beginning it was all heads up racing. Heads up racing is cool if you’re super rich or have a big sponsorship. If they would have started from the jump with 3 or 4 index classes and 1 heads up class the sport would have been way more successful. You need to allow the sportsmen racers a class that they can be competitive in and build a car based around that index. Like 10.90 or 9.90 hell even an 11.90 class to help fund the race event. We all know the 11.90 class would be HUGE.
Use to go to MIR, Atco, Maple Grove and of course Nopi nationals every year in Atlanta, Man the early 2000's were great. Our club Absolute Imports actually won a few awards at the NOPI Nationals back in the 2000's
I remember back in the late 90s when I got my first vortech s trim for my old 5.0 foxbody and getting my first taste of street racing lining up against a Supra and i definitely looked down on that inline 6 and laughed when he wanted to race then after the race I was shocked 😂 that mostly stock Supra sucked the paint off my car and I learned imports were no joke. That phucker was fast. My 12 second car looked like a 16 second pass against that kid.
It's really sad what has happened to the track here in Louisiana. I've known one of Dave's nephews for over 30 years. They definitely ran an amazing facility.
Not at the level it was..... And when it's imports vs domestics it's mostly the Puerto Ricans that run the import classes with the 2JZ swap starlets and 3 and 4 rotor powerplants
@KingJT80 You forgot the XFWD and Allmotor classes still running the traditional Hondas deep into the 7s(XFWD) Or 9:40s(Allmotor running M1 no NM)close racing like the NHRA pro stocks RWD there's 2 Honda powered cars Running 5.8@240mph+
@KingJT80 The Puerto Rican's and other west Indians were the first to run import drag racing events years before the 1st import racing event was run in California. So it just returned to its original roots. The Puerto Ricans have always been consistently faster than everyone else
@KingJT80 not at the level it was? So do you miss the fwd cars with wheelie bars then? Because now they are running faster than ever. For example La plomera single cam running 8.0...btw no 4 rotors. 13b and 20b
I grew up in the 70s, graduated High School in 79 in a small town in New Mexico. Back then it was a farming and oil field town. that means there were a lot of young guys with money from working in the oilfields but there was nothing to do. Street racing and cruising (and partying) was about all there was to do. For the size of the town, the street racing scene was HUGE. Friday nights was just like American Graffiti, wall to wall muscle cars. The street racing got so bad that the local police actually got people in the town to pitch in and they built a drag strip and sponsored drags to keep us off the main street (didn't work all that much). The drag were every weekend and I actually came in second and third with my 66 Chevelle SS a few times. What killed it was all the gas stations showing up with these stripped out dragsters on trailers. Us kids couldn't compete so we quit racing and went back to the street. Greed killed it. Now at 64 I still like to spank a few kids every now and then with my built 14 CTS-V coupe...
That was a heartbreaker of a story man. NIRA sounded like a blast. Unfortunately for me, I was JUST graduating high school during that era. By the time I got my 1st import, it was LONG GONE. Also, WNY isn't exactly a hotbed for sick cars. Don't get me wrong, we have some solid builds out here, but there's very few places to go. Lancaster Speedway is the closest and it's.... very lackluster. The closest legitimate track to me is freaking Watkins Glen. A few hour drive from Buffalo. I'd love to see a resurgence in tracks occur. The more they close them down, the more we inch closer to takeovers being the norm in smaller towns. That hasn't happened here to any major degree.... yet. Frankly, I don't want to see it get there. Unfortunately, right now is just not the time to press for such a thing due to our country's economic status. To build a track is indeed a massive undertaking. The land needed. Zoning laws and noise being a factor, you have to find a spot that won't cause issues with the locals. The money needed to put it all together... Yeah, I know, it's a freaking pipedream. However, it'd be the dream I'd chase if given the slightest realistic opportunity. It'd be worth it either way if there was a real possibility for success. To be part of something like that, even for a few years, it'd be worth it.
Lancaster being an 1/8 mile drag strip always stung a little bit, races are too short in the Pro classes (if they even bother to come at all). Back when I lived there, the only 1/4 mile strip was Toronto motorsports park (formerly known as Cayuga). But this was long before 9/11 and the increased security/difficulty of crossing the border into Canada, especially with a car on a trailer. I'm in AZ now, and we have a 1/4 mile strip here that is pretty well run (NHRA affiliate). We also get the Roadkill and Hot Rod garage people out here running events every year.
I don’t believe drag racing is died. I think TH-cam has kept it alive, but I think it could use someone of your expertise to make it better by bringing back those payouts and the media it attracted. With media comes the crowds and with the payouts comes the racers. Example: street outlaws
I remember back then. Right before it all stopped, I was about to go legit. I had 3 honda civics with SPOON engines! They all had t66 turbos WITH NOS! And even motec system exhausts!
Craig, I love your coverage but that so wrong it was not the drifting that killed it was the corporate greed and hint of racism that killed it. The fact that import racing really speaks to the Hispanic culture and then Hispanic drivers at the time were not marketable per say, was what killed it. Abel does not count because he speaks perfect English. The fact the big money team came in and the rules were tailored for those teams and the introduction of the pro import car vs v8 imports was the beginning on the end. When GM and Ford came in with hired drivers that did not relate to the people besides the few that had gotten those opportunities like Lisa, Ed and Kenny Tran, but never Jorge Lazcano, Jorge Juarbe, and Rafael Rivera,was what killed it. When the Nhra banned the Kilo racing rx7 that was an issue, then the merger between Nopi and the NHRA the corporate greed and not tailoring to the grassroots crowd and the biggie money crowd was the issue. This is why I’m so glad of how the racing is run at Orlando speed world by GRS Motorsport and Miller production from Maryland.
I just went to an import drag event. It was mostly Honda's, but there were a few other things. The Skyline in 2-Fast should have been the Hero car for later on in the movie. The Evo should have been the Starter vehicle. (And the Eclipse Spider should have been crushed)
I have two notes. One you can buy an RC car butane flamethrower and that would be really cool if this thing would shoot fire when it revved up. And the issue I have with these things is I feel like I'm going to have to wait like a year to get all the pieces for my model to put it together
@@Mustangcrowd I want mine to shoot fire if you want your assist you to fire. I'm sure there's a way you can take the module for an RC drift car that makes them shoot fire and put it on this. Also the subscription models seem like I'm going to spend months making payments and getting parts before I'm actually able to put it together as I don't like to sit there and look Sub-Assemblies while I wait for the rest of the parts to get here. I have big cars for that
Long time follower of you since the days of Super Street. Not to be rude or anything, but I noticed throughout a few of your videos that you've had some difficulties speaking and narrating in your videos. It's none of my business but have you been to a doctor lately? Just concerned and wanted to make sure you're in good health. Hope all is well with you. Take care and look forward to more content.
@@romeo_alpha0176 i guess it's a lil personal for Craig, but im sure he appreciates ppl having concern. p.s. to everyone: aluminum IS alzheimers. Avoid it like the plague..in hygeine products, eg antipersperants, food (even found in some tortilla brands) & anywhere else ya can..ditch it.
I remember having the NIRA Intense Import Drag Racing PC game and it was a pretty good detailed game. but as the years went by I couldn't get it to work o n the newer computers and lost track of the game.
Grew up in the import days and only thing that killed the import was that the cars from everywhere got so good it took a raced out Honda to keep up to a car with ac power windows leather and warranty
@smokefast90606 seriously. A fuckin bone stock camry comes with 200-300hp kias and Hyundai have 190-290, meanwhile my first car (not even really mine) was a 70whp (that's being generous) 1.5 liter 1990 civic hatch
Nowadays import drag racing in the US is mostly by Puerto Ricans and other Latinos. Yes, there are non Latinos in the sport but they're not a majority. People like The Queen of Import Drag Racing, Lisa Kubo and her car "Civvy".
Nice to see some Saturn's show in this video!!! I doubt anyone can answer this but does anyone know about the Saturn SL2 that was at the first street race in The Fast and The Furious??? We know there is one as you can see the distinct headlight, fog light pattern during the cops breakup...
back then, we didn't have TH-cam. aol what we had, we had to take camcorders to record. I was in college in the 90's and can tell you, we was getting in the groove.
I remember there was a video of Rockstar Games showing how they were going to make the Midnight Club series and how they created the first Midnight Club they even did an interview with some of the street racers and I think they went to New York back in the 2000s to see the illegal street racing
Yeah. They did that with Dustin Worles from MISCHIEF. He talks about it on VinWIKI. The Video title is "Zero 2 Hero: Mundane Mazda to Midnight Club Cover".
I remember how the track management struggled to deal with the “import crowd”. Fights, terrible behavior, stealing anything not bolted down, drugs, more fights….It was a mess. Worst thing thing that happened to drag racing.
I think like everything else the state of California has stopped anything and everything productive including Race tracks, We have never stopped and now my two boys are all about it, Feels like its coming back again.
Were there people who campaigned British cars, like jaguars, MGs, British Fords, Rovers, etc, in import drag racing? Or even French cars like the Facel Vegas?
Loved these cars. Didn’t own one but would hang with em. I ride a crotch rocket/rice burner😂😂😂😂. I would have fun with some of the guys/gals!!! Didn’t know how fast my Honda CBR is😂😂😂. Look out😂😂😂😂
Fast and furious killed import drag racing. And stupid events like nopi that were more worried about half naked 3's throwing out tshirts then the actual racing.
Nice click bait! Respectfully, I don't know what rock you live under, but have you ever heard of Import VS Domestic, Import face off, maybe even TX2K, literally the biggest events in the US and they are full of Imports!
i just checked that on the ifo instagram page, read comments like this: "Rumors says this will be the last drag racing event hosted by IFO in Vegas is that true?"...drag racing in the western u.s. has been dying, tracks are closing, the 2008 recession was the nail in the coffin, like he said in the video... hope they can keep it up in the midwest and east coast.
@@rickonassisstreet takeovers are only popular with idiots who can’t drive and know nothing about cars. These people are the diarrhea of the car community nobody likes it or wants it.
East coast guys,just check the schedule at "The Orlando Speed World"(or OSW) Website there's plenty of action just a that track Not mention Maple grove,Cecil county and some other smaller tracks
Go watch Brent at PFI Speed. They build imports and tune them and he host races. He’s doing everything he can to keep the scene alive and some help from you would be great. Not to mention, he’s having legal issues with the EPA. Someone like you could help them get sponsors and teach them the things they don’t know.
How is this clown going to help Brent ??
What's crazy is that NIRA even had an official racing simulator made by Bethesda Softworks - yes, the same team behind Oblivion, Fallout, and Starfield. And it was actually VERY good and still regarded as the best drag racing simulator ever made.
IHRA drag racing 2 is still one of my favorite racing games of all time
I still have my nira disc and manual.
Those games were the best, I wish we could still play them, burnout, burnout pace and burnout NIRA. I had all of them and played them online with dial up. There were actual leagues paying out money to points champions.
I remember. You could change every single internal number of the engine and transmission as well.. They had a domestic version as well. Had almost every engine and could change the internal numbers in them all. Very good technical game..
I played this game to death.@@FAtE_454
When you were at the drag strip with Lisa Kubo, Adam Saruwatari, Dr Charles, Steph Papadakis racing, you’ve experienced the golden era. I’ve seen them racing at Sacramento raceway back in the late 90s and early 00s…
You forget kenny jet li tram
Good point! Lisa was at the DSM Shootout last year and got a chance to meet her. Super nice and cool to meet an icon.
Import drag racing is not dead. NIRA is dead. Up until this year, we had PSCA import races with index classes, sport, and pro. IFO I believe is a national event. I am sure there are others, but this was what we had in the colorado area before bandimere shut down at the end of last year.
@@7sins979
PSCA until this year they were keeping it real for import drag racers out of the Colorado area
"Import Face Off or IFO" are the only series still going around the nation but they do not attract that many of the puertorican crown of heavy hitters RWD
Guys(and girls)
Now East coast between OSW(Orlando Speed World), Bradenton& Maplegrove(Maryland)
Are we're the Heavy hitters of today's import drag racing are showing up consistently
From 5.40s 2jz powered promods,Ecotecs,Honda K&F and Rotary powered ex-prostocks powered cars of the modified class to old school 3/4&1/2
Chassis imports and last but not least
Fwds(both XFWD turbos and M1 fueled
Allmotor)
That's weres today world record holders
Import racers are competing
Man kids today will never know how cool it was to go to the grocery store with your mom and sit on the floor in the magazine section and flip thru all the car mags. I used to look forward to it every week. Super street and Honda tuner, there were a bunch.
As much as when was younger, and thought the girls needed more clothes (I still do at times), I miss those times. I wish I had been able to get some of those magazines, but I was broke. I liked looking through the Car Classified magazines the most. My favorite being Deals on Wheels. I loved looking at all the classics American iron. My love for tuners and rice burners came later.
@@jonathanpinckney9227 I never got to actually buy one of the mags either lol, guess looking back that's probably one of the reasons I looked forward to it so much.
This era of import car culture was the best. It was an exciting time where everything was new and seemed like anything was possible.
I used to race in the sport compact nopi series. It was an amazing time seeing it all so sad it went away. But I can say I raced in Phx,Vegas, Palmdale, Irwindale and Fontana I loved it
The import scene is bigger than ever. Especially in Australia.
While Import Drag Racing definitely had there golden age in the mid 90’s to the early 2000’s, I have noticed a second wave of import drag racing with events like Import Domestic Throw down and DSM Shootout
Finally, we see Craig's NIRA lore
I can't believe conglomeration and buyouts are what collapsed NIRA before the EPA could
Import Drag Racing isnt dead, it is bigger than ever! It just changed & evolved from what you built.
I subscribed to turbo, SCC, and super street every month for years. Those were great days.
Import drag racing is alive and well in Florida!!!
"But I ain't cutting her loose tonight . [Its] 'cause I'm going legit, homie. - Trying to get on the NIRA circuit. You heard about that?"
Now this line makes so much sense to me lol. Was never really too interested in the whole drag racing scene, but it's awesome it existed on such a level.
I always did wonder what the NIRA circuit was, so this now makes sense to me as well.
I take it that's a line from one of the F&F movies?
@@jonathanpinckney9227 yes sir, I believe Hector says that in the first scene that we all see all 4 cars race down the street.
@@gasparsperformance9841 Thanks.
nira and idrc is dead, but the nhra still hosts sport compact racing.
sport compact drag racing is still alive and thriving, with records being broken, while some still haven't been touched in 20yrs.
I adored going to these events as a kid my dad and Stephen papadakis and Peter yem of pyr racing all grew up together I still have my posters and pictures to reminisce on glad I grew up with this it’s amazing to see again
import vs Domestics at MIR in Maryland been going really strong every year honestly . But this is great video 🔥
Yeah that's one event.
It is good but it's not what this era was. It was really big
@@KingJT80 for sure I was just saying
When you were at the drag strip with Lisa Kubo, Adam Saruwatari, Dr Charles, Steph Papadakis racing, you’ve experienced and witness the golden era.
Im goin legit homie ,Im goin' in the NIRA circut!!
P.S. thamks for the quick mention if all us bastard aircooled VW guys!!
I remember me and my buddy went to MIR Raceway, back when it was still Budds Creek, in the late 80s. Import drag racing was unheard of, at least as far as I know. We were watching the races and two old, primer covered late 70s or early 80s Honda Civics pulled into the staging area with giant slicks hanging out of the front sides of the cars. My first instinct was to laugh, but the laughter was short lived. The tree turned green and those crappy looking Civics BLASTED down the quarter in around 8 seconds. We were both blown away. I thought it was some kind of joke, those cars were anything but a joke. I asked around about whose cars these were, it turns out they were built by two guys from the local Honda dealership service dept, Ken Dixon Chevrolet/Honda. I had never saw anything like that before, but there were many more to come after that.
10:23 look at that strapping young lad! Great video thanks for sharing I always love listening to your stories about your past and history of the import seen my God man what an awesome life
Import drag racing is still going hard, it may of changed a bit but saying it’s dead is ridiculous. What about World Cup, tx2k, fl2k, purto rico, Australia etc etc. import scene is alive and well.
Forget about all that what about Group B Rally.....
@@sasukeuchihaanbucaptGroup A already eclipsed Group B in terms of performance and actual popularity between fans & manufacturers in the 90s. If anything, Group B Rally has too much rose-tinted glass treatment.
I mean today's Rally2 cars will easily go around Gr.B cars nowadays.
@@AbrahamArthemius I think what enamors people about Group B rally is that they were just going ham with the cars and tech of the time. Like some kinda of performance experimental class or something.
Just, like,
"Hey, turbo makes car go fast, yes?
"Yes."
"And supercharger also makes car go fast, yes?"
"Yes?"
"Does the power stack?"
"Do it."
This was an awesome video. Loving the transition of content. Keep it up Craig!
This should be retitled " NIRA is dead" import cars are still drag racing bigtime Craig and not just on the street bro.
Going fast af too!
@@JBM802 exactly... there's chicks driving 7 second GTR's now amongst other news.
This brings back soo many memories with my Suzuki Swift GTi back in the late 90’s early 00’s. I sold that car in 2016 and regretted it ever since
Interesting stuff, Craig! Wow. My only recollect from back in the day on imports running the
1/4 mile was Bob Glidden. Glidden's 85 wins in Pro Stock were the most in any NHRA class.
He took the championship in '79 in a Plymouth Arrow..a Mitsubishi 2dr hatch, ofc..powered
by a hopped up Chrysler LA smallblock V8. He ran mid to low 8's. Not bad. RIP, Mr. Glidden🏁
His 351C powered Fairmont won the year previously and never lost a match, round, or race, then went on to win 5 Championships in a row with BOSS 429 power. (85-89) and that dominance got NHRA to allow GM to put the final nail in the coffin of Pro stock, the DRCE.
Well that’s a sad/abrupt ending
I can stil remember doing the NOPI shows in Petersburg and Hampton Virginia as well as Charlotte North Carolina. This makes me miss my old Civic hatch. In 2001 I had a 93 DX hatch with a turboed GSR. Type R cams and B16 head which was mainly to get rid of the funky GSR intake. Had a Nitrous Express intercooler kit and thought I was the $4!+.... I miss those days!
Grew up reading and drawing these cars in school. That pearl orange chopped roof EK hatch was a favorite of mine.
signal auto
Truly the golden era of import drag and show. The culture, lifestyle, everything was awesome!
I remember when Craig was working the for NIRA. My car was protested. He came over to inspect it. All the crybabies watched. 😂. Car was legal. Only trophy I keep in the house.
Thanks we were adamant about enforcing the rules for everybody.
Import racing really dropped the ball in the beginning but not having index classes. In the beginning it was all heads up racing. Heads up racing is cool if you’re super rich or have a big sponsorship. If they would have started from the jump with 3 or 4 index classes and 1 heads up class the sport would have been way more successful. You need to allow the sportsmen racers a class that they can be competitive in and build a car based around that index. Like 10.90 or 9.90 hell even an 11.90 class to help fund the race event. We all know the 11.90 class would be HUGE.
ATCO was sold and torn down, I believe it's going to be a auto auction facility, same thing happened to English town dragway
English town too???? Oh no
@@Super-Bike-Joe first one to go
Use to go to MIR, Atco, Maple Grove and of course Nopi nationals every year in Atlanta, Man the early 2000's were great. Our club Absolute Imports actually won a few awards at the NOPI Nationals back in the 2000's
I remember back in the late 90s when I got my first vortech s trim for my old 5.0 foxbody and getting my first taste of street racing lining up against a Supra and i definitely looked down on that inline 6 and laughed when he wanted to race then after the race I was shocked 😂 that mostly stock Supra sucked the paint off my car and I learned imports were no joke. That phucker was fast. My 12 second car looked like a 16 second pass against that kid.
I had a 91 white package supra back in the day, laying down 720 wheel. Man she ripped.
These kids have no idea how nice it was in the late 90s early, 00's in the import racing scene. I sound like a fucking old man, but I am only 46 lol.
I only know bits and bobbles from old footage compilations, video magazines and tuner movies on here.
It's really sad what has happened to the track here in Louisiana. I've known one of Dave's nephews for over 30 years. They definitely ran an amazing facility.
Death? Import drag racing is very much alive, sir.
Not at the level it was..... And when it's imports vs domestics it's mostly the Puerto Ricans that run the import classes with the 2JZ swap starlets and 3 and 4 rotor powerplants
@KingJT80
You forgot the XFWD and Allmotor classes still running the traditional Hondas deep into the 7s(XFWD)
Or 9:40s(Allmotor running M1 no NM)close racing like the NHRA pro stocks
RWD there's 2 Honda powered cars
Running 5.8@240mph+
@KingJT80 The Puerto Rican's and other west Indians were the first to run import drag racing events years before the 1st import racing event was run in California. So it just returned to its original roots. The Puerto Ricans have always been consistently faster than everyone else
@@daltonhanleyjr4142 some of them even race pro mods with proline engines
@KingJT80 not at the level it was? So do you miss the fwd cars with wheelie bars then? Because now they are running faster than ever. For example La plomera single cam running 8.0...btw no 4 rotors. 13b and 20b
I grew up in the 70s, graduated High School in 79 in a small town in New Mexico. Back then it was a farming and oil field town. that means there were a lot of young guys with money from working in the oilfields but there was nothing to do. Street racing and cruising (and partying) was about all there was to do. For the size of the town, the street racing scene was HUGE. Friday nights was just like American Graffiti, wall to wall muscle cars. The street racing got so bad that the local police actually got people in the town to pitch in and they built a drag strip and sponsored drags to keep us off the main street (didn't work all that much). The drag were every weekend and I actually came in second and third with my 66 Chevelle SS a few times. What killed it was all the gas stations showing up with these stripped out dragsters on trailers. Us kids couldn't compete so we quit racing and went back to the street. Greed killed it. Now at 64 I still like to spank a few kids every now and then with my built 14 CTS-V coupe...
Damn that’s rough
@@xwrecker Actually it was fun as hell. Wouldn't trade those days for anything.
@@kl0wnkiller912 wish I got to experience that
I remember watching it on tv. What a time it was to be alive!!!
Can you put up videos of the drag races?
Man the torque steer on a front wheel drive drag car must be insane lol
That was a heartbreaker of a story man. NIRA sounded like a blast. Unfortunately for me, I was JUST graduating high school during that era. By the time I got my 1st import, it was LONG GONE.
Also, WNY isn't exactly a hotbed for sick cars. Don't get me wrong, we have some solid builds out here, but there's very few places to go. Lancaster Speedway is the closest and it's.... very lackluster. The closest legitimate track to me is freaking Watkins Glen. A few hour drive from Buffalo.
I'd love to see a resurgence in tracks occur. The more they close them down, the more we inch closer to takeovers being the norm in smaller towns. That hasn't happened here to any major degree.... yet. Frankly, I don't want to see it get there.
Unfortunately, right now is just not the time to press for such a thing due to our country's economic status. To build a track is indeed a massive undertaking. The land needed. Zoning laws and noise being a factor, you have to find a spot that won't cause issues with the locals. The money needed to put it all together...
Yeah, I know, it's a freaking pipedream. However, it'd be the dream I'd chase if given the slightest realistic opportunity. It'd be worth it either way if there was a real possibility for success. To be part of something like that, even for a few years, it'd be worth it.
Lancaster being an 1/8 mile drag strip always stung a little bit, races are too short in the Pro classes (if they even bother to come at all). Back when I lived there, the only 1/4 mile strip was Toronto motorsports park (formerly known as Cayuga). But this was long before 9/11 and the increased security/difficulty of crossing the border into Canada, especially with a car on a trailer. I'm in AZ now, and we have a 1/4 mile strip here that is pretty well run (NHRA affiliate). We also get the Roadkill and Hot Rod garage people out here running events every year.
THANK YOU Craig for all theese fantastic Movies, I watched every Trailer of thoose here on TH-cam !!
Greetings from Germany :D
AEM were breaking records I remember with that yellow civic hatch
10:20 Mr. Lieberman looking like a young Randy Marsh from South Park.😅
I don’t believe drag racing is died. I think TH-cam has kept it alive, but I think it could use someone of your expertise to make it better by bringing back those payouts and the media it attracted. With media comes the crowds and with the payouts comes the racers. Example: street outlaws
Drag racing itself isn't dead, but the type of circuit he's talking about is largely a thing of the past.
@@jonathanpinckney9227 this is a sad truth.
I remember back then. Right before it all stopped, I was about to go legit. I had 3 honda civics with SPOON engines! They all had t66 turbos WITH NOS! And even motec system exhausts!
Remember..Hector was going legit on the NIRA circuit 😂
I can remember the duct tape aero days.
What sucks is no one cares about this stuff anymore.. car scene and drag race is dieing out.
*_Welp… theres that worlds fastest civic with a B series pushing 2,200+whp in the Imports VS. Domestics 🔥_*
Speedfactory
"Im trying to get on that NIRA circuit homie"
wow Craig. that's impressive
So , you win a japanese car race event and win a modded focus! You can't make that up
Ford was a bi g sponsor so i guess you hated nascar when Toyota started racing Camrys, right?
@craiglieberman I hated nascar long before that , lol
Is still alive and better then ever
I went to some of the Maryland ones. I live 15 minutes away from the MIR track.
my favorite track
One of your best vids
Craig, I love your coverage but that so wrong it was not the drifting that killed it was the corporate greed and hint of racism that killed it. The fact that import racing really speaks to the Hispanic culture and then Hispanic drivers at the time were not marketable per say, was what killed it. Abel does not count because he speaks perfect English. The fact the big money team came in and the rules were tailored for those teams and the introduction of the pro import car vs v8 imports was the beginning on the end. When GM and Ford came in with hired drivers that did not relate to the people besides the few that had gotten those opportunities like Lisa, Ed and Kenny Tran, but never Jorge Lazcano, Jorge Juarbe, and Rafael Rivera,was what killed it. When the Nhra banned the Kilo racing rx7 that was an issue, then the merger between Nopi and the NHRA the corporate greed and not tailoring to the grassroots crowd and the biggie money crowd was the issue. This is why I’m so glad of how the racing is run at Orlando speed world by GRS Motorsport and Miller production from Maryland.
I just went to an import drag event.
It was mostly Honda's, but there were a few other things.
The Skyline in 2-Fast should have been the Hero car for later on in the movie.
The Evo should have been the Starter vehicle.
(And the Eclipse Spider should have been crushed)
I have two notes. One you can buy an RC car butane flamethrower and that would be really cool if this thing would shoot fire when it revved up. And the issue I have with these things is I feel like I'm going to have to wait like a year to get all the pieces for my model to put it together
This comment makes absolutely no sense.
@@Mustangcrowd I want mine to shoot fire if you want your assist you to fire. I'm sure there's a way you can take the module for an RC drift car that makes them shoot fire and put it on this. Also the subscription models seem like I'm going to spend months making payments and getting parts before I'm actually able to put it together as I don't like to sit there and look Sub-Assemblies while I wait for the rest of the parts to get here. I have big cars for that
Long time follower of you since the days of Super Street. Not to be rude or anything, but I noticed throughout a few of your videos that you've had some difficulties speaking and narrating in your videos. It's none of my business but have you been to a doctor lately? Just concerned and wanted to make sure you're in good health. Hope all is well with you. Take care and look forward to more content.
@@romeo_alpha0176 i guess it's a lil personal for Craig, but im sure he appreciates ppl having concern. p.s. to everyone: aluminum IS alzheimers. Avoid it like the plague..in hygeine products, eg antipersperants, food (even found in some tortilla brands) & anywhere else ya can..ditch it.
What’d you guys do for amateur or beginner racers?
nate in his gvr4 baby!
I remember having the NIRA Intense Import Drag Racing PC game and it was a pretty good detailed game. but as the years went by I couldn't get it to work o n the newer computers and lost track of the game.
Grew up in the import days and only thing that killed the import was that the cars from everywhere got so good it took a raced out Honda to keep up to a car with ac power windows leather and warranty
wtf
@smokefast90606 seriously. A fuckin bone stock camry comes with 200-300hp kias and Hyundai have 190-290, meanwhile my first car (not even really mine) was a 70whp (that's being generous) 1.5 liter 1990 civic hatch
What did you think of the other Tuner TV shows such as NOPI Tunervision, Hi Rev Tuners, Tuner Transformation, Tricked Out, etc.
Nowadays import drag racing in the US is mostly by Puerto Ricans and other Latinos. Yes, there are non Latinos in the sport but they're not a majority. People like The Queen of Import Drag Racing, Lisa Kubo and her car "Civvy".
Nice to see some Saturn's show in this video!!!
I doubt anyone can answer this but does anyone know about the Saturn SL2 that was at the first street race in The Fast and The Furious??? We know there is one as you can see the distinct headlight, fog light pattern during the cops breakup...
I got an advertisement for living in a cruise ship during the apocalypse before this video 😅
WHAT?
😮😮🎉🎉i have 2 of those oil caps on that r34 model
People wanted to watch, but they just went to TH-cam
In 2005?
back then, we didn't have TH-cam.
aol what we had, we had to take camcorders to record.
I was in college in the 90's and can tell you, we was getting in the groove.
@@philipwilliams3427 id imagine uploading and maybe editing that in the early days of yt was a pain
I honestly thought NHRA screwed everything up when they re-branded "Import" with "Sub-compact.
I remember there was a video of Rockstar Games showing how they were going to make the Midnight Club series and how they created the first Midnight Club they even did an interview with some of the street racers and I think they went to New York back in the 2000s to see the illegal street racing
Yeah. They did that with Dustin Worles from MISCHIEF. He talks about it on VinWIKI. The Video title is "Zero 2 Hero: Mundane Mazda to Midnight Club Cover".
What you did in spite probably didn't help the whole scene in general. But it all came back minus the tube chassis stuff.
I remember how the track management struggled to deal with the “import crowd”. Fights, terrible behavior, stealing anything not bolted down, drugs, more fights….It was a mess. Worst thing thing that happened to drag racing.
Hi Craig great vid. Can you do a video in building a show car ? Like you did with your GTR. Many thanks
At my local 1/8th mile midwest track all you will see are V8 muscle & pony cars.
Makes sense, since the import guys are more into handling than straight up speed nowadays.
Wait.... There was a Midnight Club live action movie????? I know about Initial D but DAMN.....
Yep. I still have the original dvd.
And wangan midnight, freeway speedway and others.
I remember all these cars
I miss Englishtown Raceway :’(
Me too, I raced my Integra and then Evo back in the day
I have a question, how's like to work for super street and do you know any of the other writers there. That can be a good video make
super street people were great. Bu the Executives like joe sebregandio and Jim Savas were back stabbers
Dont forget easy street subarus running 10s😊
I think like everything else the state of California has stopped anything and everything productive including Race tracks, We have never stopped and now my two boys are all about it, Feels like its coming back again.
Were there people who campaigned British cars, like jaguars, MGs, British Fords, Rovers, etc, in import drag racing? Or even French cars like the Facel Vegas?
Where can I find the Vegas episode of speedworld
Time 1620 1640 " Show me the money !!!!! "
Top Fuel is interesting to me.
new subbie
34 is still a head turner till this day even fitted with a V8...HAHA
Dead in California but not In the east coast. Come to a OSW import event
Man I miss those days. I had a blast with Rado
Loved these cars. Didn’t own one but would hang with em. I ride a crotch rocket/rice burner😂😂😂😂. I would have fun with some of the guys/gals!!! Didn’t know how fast my Honda CBR is😂😂😂. Look out😂😂😂😂
Haha that’s not Howard Lim 😂
California has always sucked, apparently. Glad I grew up in the true home of American racing: Texas.
😂😂😂😂😂texas is even more backwoods.
Fast and furious killed import drag racing. And stupid events like nopi that were more worried about half naked 3's throwing out tshirts then the actual racing.
From india ❤
Nice click bait! Respectfully, I don't know what rock you live under, but have you ever heard of Import VS Domestic, Import face off, maybe even TX2K, literally the biggest events in the US and they are full of Imports!
While the title may be a bit click bait, what he's talking more about is a professional sanctioned racing circuit.
i just checked that on the ifo instagram page, read comments like this: "Rumors says this will be the last drag racing event hosted by IFO in Vegas is that true?"...drag racing in the western u.s. has been dying, tracks are closing, the 2008 recession was the nail in the coffin, like he said in the video... hope they can keep it up in the midwest and east coast.
Og
Wrong there are more imports racing now than back then my guy
Where??? It’s street takeovers now
List them here???
@@rickonassisstreet takeovers are only popular with idiots who can’t drive and know nothing about cars. These people are the diarrhea of the car community nobody likes it or wants it.
Posers don’t count bro
East coast guys,just check the schedule at "The Orlando Speed World"(or OSW)
Website there's plenty of action just a that track
Not mention Maple grove,Cecil county and some other smaller tracks