I agree with you Ed. There is a big portion of racers that eat beany weeny, mac and cheese and don't have a suit to wear to a family wedding jut to go racing. A lot of us had to choose between sending our kids to college and maybe retiring or racing. This 7.50 rule will push out some more racers.
I really don't like what drag racing did to it's self over the years. In the 50s it was about the hot rodder. Guy took a car and his intelligent s and made it better and faster. There wasn't a lot of technology for sale, he did his own. Then it escalated threw the 60s and by early 70s NHRA said whoa, there aren't enough smart guys to run the record times. Bracket racing came about. This irritated me so much, I went circle track racing, but after a little thought, I said well it may not be bad for the sport. It should allow the budget racer an equal platform. Then came T/D T/F Pro Comp Pro Gas ext with throttle stops, boxes power enough to go better than a second under the bracket and taking the stripe. All driving the price higher than it was. Look at Econo class. You would figure half the engine = half the cost. Try half the engine at twice the cost. Then there is the Stock and SS classes. Show me a bill of sale from a Factory dealership for some of the parts used. Then show us the cars equipped with them parts on the show room floor.
It seems the competitive nature of the racer and the parts suppliers making new tech for sale every day, and the rules committee for allowing the new tech, all have a part in cost escalation.
For the guys that say that is just the way it is, you right. that is the way it is and the way it has been. Everyone has heard that history repeats it's self if they ever took a history class. Let me tell you a story about racing. This is a different kind, but Midget racing is where I started. I was just a kid but would wash parts, clean the car or mow the grass just to be close to this old grumpy guy's garage. He had stories of the hey days of Midgets in the 30s and 40s where there would be over a hundreds competitors show up for a race and in places like Soldier Field in Chicago there would be over 50,000 in the stands. The people would come to see their local guy do well. He was the mechanic in the garage down the street or the electrician that wired their house. Two things hurt that sport. One the Offy engine and two the Curtis chassis. This priced the little guy out and when they left so did their fans. This same process is happening to Sprint cars now and will in Late model stocks soon. If someone told me in the 70s that you would have to travel all over the country to run a Late Model, I would have said your nuts.
I don't know what the answer is but when a go kart can rack up a tire bill that looks like a 410 winged sprint car for a week end there is something wrong. The worst part is we know what is going on and still spend the money if we can.