I won’t take the question as snarky as long as you do the same for the answer.
First off, I do understand your point. For the alot of Forza players, the drag racing is just that. Finding “the” car, your Mercs, '40 Fords, Darts and Syclones to name a few, and as you said just hold a button.
I don’t see it that way. Honestly, I don’t see what Horizon presents as drag racing as drag racing. It’s precisely picking “the” car that is AWD and running the same exact V12 as the next guy in the exact same car for a mile. Thats not my cup of tea. If that’s what anyone reading this is into, thats totally cool. Enjoy the game as you wish, I’m glad that’s fun for those that like it.
Motorsport 6 is all we have that’s actual drag racing, kinda. There’s some things that would help make drag racing better and make it more than just holding a button. Proper sized drag tires, rim sizes, proper upgrades, staging with burnouts, etc.
Now you ask why I like to drag race in forza. Plain and simple, I’m 42, drive a Chevy cruze and don’t have the disposable income to throw and LS into a '70 Camaro or build up a Murder Nova. In Forza I can at least sorta build one there. It’s how I enjoy Forza. I love running laps and so far am enjoying all the stuff Horizon has to offer, other than the drag racing.
The way I enjoy drag racing is not maxing out a car into the highest class making everything AWD. My friends and I have our own set of class and build restrictions from C Class up to S1 in Motorsport 6. I have a thread I started a long time ago some where on here that details everything. I even have hosted a few drag racing tuning comps that were alot of fun.
http://forums.forza.net/turn10_postst53384_Maxwell-s-Speed-Shop-s-Hotrods-and-Drag-Builds--list-of-all-shared-tunes.aspx
I think in alot of ways Turn 10 not giving any actual thought or time to making drag racing something that is even a little bit more engaging there would be no questions as to why we drag race. There is alot more than most people think involved with drag racing.
The “street racing” aspect could and absolutely should be properly in the Horizon series and the No Prep and actual track racing could and absolutely should be properly done in the Motorsport Series.
Someday, probably closer to retirement now, I will build and run around in something that shakes the ground when it drives by but for now I have to settle for forza. So hopefully that answers your question.