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View Full Version : My experience at Import Wars - rant!


rednerd
10-26-2003, 12:12 PM
(This may belong in Off Topic Chat... )

Every third Saturday, New England Dragway has an import event where nothing over a 6 cylinder is allowed and there are about 5 different race classes depending on how you have your car set up. There is also a car show and a few vendors there. I usually go to street nights durring the week because my primary girlfriend usually has me too whipped to spend the weekend with my secondary girlfriend (Silvia).

Well, to quote a friend, "If I wanted to host an event so I could get all of the ricers together in one place and shoot them all, Import Wars would be the perfect place." People were parked the wrong way, and double parked in the pit area on the way back from the slip booth so racers kept having to stop and wait for idiots to get out of the way. It was really frustrating.

Here are some quotes from conversations I had at the event:
"Man I think you are the only one I've met here who doesn't street race."

Him: "Man I can't wait to get a 240 so I can drift."
Me: "So who holds drifting events around here?"
Him: "You don't need a track to drift, I drift on the street."

There were all of two or three vendors at the event. Most of whom were selling fart pipes and clear tail lights.

The majority of the cars racing were hondas running in the 16-17 second range.

The show and shine comp. was the worst I had ever seen. I love cars in general be it a clean 68 Camaro, a perfectly restored 39 Chevy truck, or a drag only 10 second Honda, but there were very few cars at the show that were clean or even worth looking at. Lots of badly painted valve covers and interior trim. Most of the custom work at the show was done to the cars' stereos and I do have to admit that I did see some really nice stereo installs, but overall the show was lacking. There was a guy with a cool jackknife door mod. (on a Honda, I think) but his spec. sheet refered to them as "Lambo'd Door's"!!! I'm pretty sure that if I had taken the time to clean my car instead of tuning it I might have been able to win something.

I think the most depressing thing I noticed at the event was the 8.99999 month pregnant chick, aprox. 16-20 years old, smoking and racing. I don't want to make a social statement and I have no problem with young responsible parents (I'm 23) but if you are smoking and putting your child at risk before it is born, what kind of parenting is that kid going to get once it is born. So sad...

I left the event feeling really depressed about the NE import scene and my hobby in general. If it weren't for the people I've met at the track such as the NE DSM guys, the Callaway engineers, and a bunch of old guys (including ex-cops) who really know their shit I'd be selling my car right now and looking for a better way to spend my free time.

Jon

christopher
10-26-2003, 12:24 PM
That sounds pretty horrible. I have been to a couple events designed in that fasion, never driving, and it has allways been more positive. Sure there are those who think their showish car is gonna be really fast on the track, but then they run and realize they have a lot of work to do. I allways thought of that as a constructive thing. Humbles you quickly when you lose to an uglier car.

The street racer mentality, well, whatever just do your thing.

As for the pregnant girl, I feel for her unborn child.

NiteKids
10-26-2003, 12:25 PM
So what you sayin it they dunno how to party like the Socal! :p

rednerd
10-26-2003, 01:09 PM
Originally posted by NiteKids
So what you sayin it they dunno how to party like the Socal! :p

Hmmm.... Fish tacos!

My utopia: Fish tacos, good beer, and no ricers.

BTW, what is the deal with beer in So-Cal? I was out there (Irvine, Newport Beach) a couple of months ago and all I could find was bad mexican beer. Maybe I was just looking in the wrong places...

Chernobyl
10-26-2003, 03:53 PM
It's depressing, I know. Just realize, you are better than that, and you know others who are (the non-ricers here, perhaps <10% of ziliva members, hehe). For every real enthusiast, there will be 100 posers, and posers suck, end of story. But such is life, you can't change it really. Just enjoy ignoring them; watch it eat them up when you refuse to race at stoplights. Its like this with practically every hobby.