The NHRA Thread

  • Thread starter JohnBM01
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I remember watching him as a kid, though I was always more partial to the professor when it came to Pro Stock, Glidden was a legend may he rest in peace.
 
He was the head honcho of the Pro Stock class back when I was into NHRA drag racing. (really only the PS class, never liked the insanely fast stuff) So I instantly recognized the name when I saw it this morning. RI Bob.
 
Glidden's humble personality and blue collar background has always won the fans respect, even among the diehard GM and Mopar fans.

Godspeed Bob.
 
That's unfortunate. I've done a lot of reading on that and based off of what I read, the track closing was both inevitable and a surprise at the same time. Still sucks that a big track in that part of the country is done.
 
I don't watch drag racing often, but I will be sure to check out this upcoming 2018 season of NHRA drag racing. It is always so cool hearing these machines with such heart-stopping acceleration and wicked speeds down the strip. Not to mention the usual drama, of course after passes.
 
I haven't followed the NHRA too much, but I figured I'd bring this thread back for you drag racing fans. As of the time of this post, FOX Sports 1 is supposed to show qualifying for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at 7:30 PM EDT.
 
Good thing I found this thread - got a question. My dad wants to take me to a drag race event in New England. Does anyone know when the next one is?
 
On right now is qualifying for the Toyota Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, California on FOX Sports 1. This trip to the Bay Area continues this Western swing for the NHRA.
 
Here's an old thread I started back in 2008! In all seriousness, though, the NHRA is making its return this weekend after all of the COVID-19/Coronavirus madness. The action is set to show on FOX from Indianapolis at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. Enjoy the drag racing action today from Indy!
 
Mello Yello is donezo, and the NHRA ain't happy about it:

https://racer.com/2020/09/21/nhra-files-lawsuit-against-coca-cola-over-sponsorship-termination/

To be perfectly honest, I can't spare any sympathy for NHRA management. They've let costs run way, WAY past the point of unsustainability, disincentivized OEMs from participating by allowing engine and bodywork mixing in Pro Stock and turning both it and Funny Car into blobmobiles with zero room for creativity or road relevance (although in fairness you can say that about a lot of series), and done all kinds of scummy things to line their pockets (e.g. the Sunoco exclusivity deal for at-track nitromethane supply) and pad their resumes at the expense of the sport and its participants. I just hope the good people who make the sport happen, be they drivers and riders, crew members, hospitality/media/sponsor relations people or team owners, aren't the ones taking the bulk of the damage in the looming maelstrom...
 
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At this point I really wouldn't be shocked to see a breakaway series. It's pretty bad when even the top teams seem very unstable right now financially.

- DSR is losing the Chandler money and Leah has been running Mopar colors more often than not and I doubt it's because they've upped their support.
- Force will probably lose one of their biggest sponsors in this mess since Monster is partially owned by Coca-Cola. That's on top of whatever issues have caused them to skip the post-pause portion of the schedule.
- Kalitta is down to 3 cars splitting 2 sponsors. At least those relationships seem solid, but the team has shrunk from where they were a few years ago.
- Torrence is self-funded, so he certainly won't stick around if it's not cost-effective to race.

It seems like most of the pro-stock classes run blank cars as well.

Here's an article from the prospective of a small-team as well.
 
The comments in the Foley article are really damning. Assuming that some of the numbers in the comments are right, the top fuel teams are spending roughly 6-8k a race alone on fuel and tires. Couple that with travel expenses since it can't be cheap to run a semi across the country and a purse reduction from $50,000 to about $15,000 and its no wonder that the pro classes are in serious trouble.
 
What even are the classes in NHRA and what do they mean? Like, stock vs super stock vs street stock vs pro stock vs etc. What about those Cobra Jet Mustangs/Drag Pak Challengers/Copo Camaros that’ve been around a few years, where do they go? What do they compete with? It seems like there’s 40 different classes where the only difference is what gauges they have on the dash.
 
Frank McGank
What even are the classes in NHRA and what do they mean? Like, stock vs super stock vs street stock vs pro stock vs etc. What about those Cobra Jet Mustangs/Drag Pak Challengers/Copo Camaros that’ve been around a few years, where do they go? What do they compete with? It seems like there’s 40 different classes where the only difference is what gauges they have on the dash.
Click to expand...

The sportsman classes are mostly dependent on how close to stock the vehicles are and how fast they are (there are other factors as well such as weight, engine type and drivetrain). From the fan point-of-view it seems needlessly complex and pointless, but from a competitor standpoint it's good as you have a better chance of being competitive no matter what you are running.

Here is a general outline of the basic classes.
http://sportsman.nhra.com/apcm/APCMviewer_sp.asp?a=34573&print=yes

What about those Cobra Jet Mustangs/Drag Pak Challengers/Copo Camaros
Click to expand...

They race in the Factory Stock class.
 
Northstar
The sportsman classes are mostly dependent on how close to stock the vehicles are and how fast they are (there are other factors as well such as weight, engine type and drivetrain). From the fan point-of-view it seems needlessly complex and pointless, but from a competitor standpoint it's good as you have a better chance of being competitive no matter what you are running.

Here is a general outline of the basic classes.
http://sportsman.nhra.com/apcm/APCMviewer_sp.asp?a=34573&print=yes



They race in the Factory Stock class.
Click to expand...
Even that doesn’t make much sense. The alcohol and the fuel cars seem to be practically identical when it comes to times, and most of the classes seem like they have 80% overlap. Super stock and super comp in particular sound exactly the same.
 
Frank McGank
The alcohol and the fuel cars seem to be practically identical when it comes to times
Click to expand...

They're not even close. :odd:

Super stock and super comp in particular sound exactly the same.
Click to expand...

Not really, Super Stock is based on road vehicles while super comp is mainly dragsters with no road going equivalents.

Super Stock:
maxresdefault.jpg


Super Comp:
SC_A_2019CI1_JF_01262.jpg
 
In a bit of a surprising twist, Tony Stewart is joining the NHRA as an owner for Leah Pruett in Top Fuel and Matt Hagan in Funny Car.

https://racer.com/2021/10/14/tony-stewart-forms-nhra-team/

I'm wondering what this means for DSR though since Antron is also starting his own team next year. Currently they have 1 car in each top class as Tony is returning and I don't think Capps is leaving any time soon unless NAPA leaves.
 

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