Karl Shultz wrote:
Kevin Harvey wrote:
There was a reason why I liked drag racing...... good lord.
Kevin, this is going to sound like I'm being a smart ass, but I'm not, I promise.
With drag racing, does the sanctioning body class your car for you? How does classing work in drag racing? Or is there any?
I've only been to a drag strip once, and that was on one of those testing days. If there was any vehicle classing going on, I didn't see it, but it's possible that was because it was just a test day.
Not a smart ass question at all, Karl. You are correct in your assumptions. Drag racing classification for races can be just as technical and tricky and painful as SCCA and others. For test-n-tune days, there are no classes per se, you just need to meet the safety requirements for however fast your car can run. For instance, at most NHRA santioned 1/4 mile tracks convertibles faster than 13.49 have to have a a 4pt roll bar. Hardtops faster than 11.49 have to have a 4pt. The faster you go, the more safety requirements. 1/8 mile tracks generally have looser standards on test-n-tune days because of the slower speeds. Some of the "backwoods" tracks around NC are even less stringent about safety.
As for classification on race weekend, for the events I have entered over the years, once you are registered you head to technical inspection and they look over your car to verify you do not exceed whatever modification limits are in place for the class you chose. If you do exceed something, they can make a recommendation on which class best suits your car. They go on faith that you are not lying about the insides of your motor until the point in which a fellow racer lodges a protest against you. To clear your name, you quite often have to tear down the motor to prove that you are legal. Putting it back together is on your dime, not the protester.
Some classes are full of rules and guidelines. Factory Stock in drag racing is similar to all of the stuff listed in Factory Stock for SCCA. Some of the looser classes where modifications run rampid are classes that are limited by traction or something similar. In an abbreviated summary, the 10.5 Outlaw classes are pretty much only limited by having to run a 10.5" rear drag radial. Everything else goes. Imagine a 1500+hp car on a 10.5" tire. Good, exciting racing for sure!
Other classes that are more open and just as fun to run in are index or bracket classes. In Index Racing, you can do anything you want to the car as long as you are not faster than a set time, say 12.5 or 11.0 or something like that. In that situation, you are basically running heads up against someone else that runs a similar time to you, but neither of you can go faster than your index without getting disqualified. In the Bracket Classes, you have to run what you say you can run - doesn't matter what modifications you have done to the car. I have lined up my 11.33 second Cobra against someone in a 14.0 second daily driver and had them beat me. I was faster, but whereas I ran an 11.38, they may have ran a 14.01 and therefore came closer to their stated time than I.
The funnest classes are True/Wild Street classes of Fun Ford Weekend and National Mustang Racing Association. Your car has to be street legal enough to have a current registration in one of the fifty states. We are talking about everything from a 16 second daily driven sedan to an 8 second capable, parachute toting, big inch 800hp motor, trailer queen -- but still DOT legal and tagged. You have your car looked over, they look for the typical safety items and for a current registration (you have to prove it with your registration and insurance cards -- pulling a tag off your Dad's Buick and slapping it on your car usually won't cut it). You then go on a 30 mile, police escorted cruise on local highways, backroads, neighborhoods, and through stoplights and towns. After you leave for the cruise, you cannot work on your car again. Once back at the track, you have to run three back-to-back-to-back 1/4 mile passes with no cooldown. Your runs are averaged and the closest average to a solid second without going under is the index winner. For instance, an average of 13.2 seconds wins the 13 second index over a 12.99 average. So, the person that wins the 15 second index has just as much bragging rights with their cheap daily driver as the person that won the 9 second index with their barely street legal, 114 octane burning, 50k hot rod. Your car has to run the complete 30 mile cruise and the 3 runs on its own power and without opening the hood. Touch the car and you are disqualified. I had a six dollar part knock me out as the 12 second class winner one year at Route 66 because once I lifted the hood to see what was wrong, I was out. Period.
Kevin
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