In my experience, this is very much a regional thing. For your area, Greg, there seems to be mostly fuel fans and I've seen the very thing you describe. But come back east and you'll see different behavior.
The Midwest has always been a doorslammer hotbed starting with the Gas classes many years ago. Pro Stock gets a much warmer reception in St. Louis, Indy, Columbus, and even the southern tracks such as Bristol and Atlanta. There were never that many fuel cars around the area, certainly not many in weekly shows like all you Californians were lucky enough to see.
Even the bikes gain big crowds in certain areas such as Englishtown, Memphis, and St. Louis.
That said, from someone involved with drag racing since 1965 I'll state that the Top classes have piqued my interest also. I honestly think it's the absence of down-track electronics that make the difference. What's not to like about two fast cars charging for the finish line?
They just need to find a way to keep it affordable if they are going to make them national event classes. My plan that I posted here over two years ago was to get rid of the Super Classes and make TD and TS all run fields with the maximum ET requirements.
