Drag Racing | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Drag racing, an acceleration contest from a standing start between two vehicles covering a measured distance, is probably as old as the automobile itself. As a legal and commercially organized sport, however, it began on Sunday, June 19, 1950. On that day at an airstrip near Santa Ana, California, C. J. Hart, originally of Findlay, Ohio, hosted with two partners the Santa Ana Drags. A year before that, in Goleta, California, a drag race was held on a closed-off section of road with approval of the police, but it was only a one-time event. The surge of returning veterans at the end of World War II, many of whom could afford an automobile and had a sense of adventure as well as a desire to test the performance of their machines, gave rise to street racing or "hot rodding." It was street racing, illegal and dangerous, which led to the need for safely organized events. Today drag meets take place all across the United States with some contests attracting upwards of 50,000 spectators.

Although drag racing has become more professional and commercialized than in the beginning, many hobbyists still have the opportunity to participate. There are a multiplicity of race classes, each held to certain rules regarding the weight of the vehicle, engine size and modification, and body configuration. In any major drag-race event there will be dozens of class winners. Drag meets in the United States are sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), the American Hot Rod Association (AHRA), or the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA). These associations establish and enforce contest and safety rules. The NHRA, founded in 1951 by Wally Parks, remains the most influential drag-racing entity. The first NHRA national championship meet was held in Great Bend, Kansas, in 1951.

The measured course for most races is a quarter-mile, although some competitions are limited to one-eighth of a mile. The track is a straight strip made of asphalt or concrete. Race events usually begin with each class conducting trials; the 16 drivers with the lowest times are allowed starting positions in the official competition. After the 16 compete, eight winners advance to the semi-finals until the two remaining victors drag for the championship. The format and rituals of the race are generally the same for all race classes. In the "burnout box" behind the starting line, drivers will spin their rear tires to generate heat for better traction. Then on signal by the Christmas tree, the electronic starting pole, they will advance to the staging area and then to the starting line. The race will begin when three amber lights, mounted in a vertical row for each driving lane, flash in quick secession from top to bottom, followed by the green light. Should a racer start too soon, a red light at the very bottom of the Christmas tree will turn on, meaning automatic disqualification for the driver at fault. Most races, which last from five to ten seconds, are won and lost at the starting line for either "red lighting" or for not "attacking the green," respectively.

Broadly, the main professional categories of racers are pro stock, top fuel, and funny cars. The pro stockers consist of production cars in which the engine is made by the same manufacturer as the body with the wheel base remaining unaltered. Otherwise, many performance modifications are allowed, including rebuilt engines, hood scoops, and header exhaust systems. While pro stockers must run only on gasoline, top fuel dragsters burn nitro, an explosive mixture of nitromethane and alcohol, commonly known as rocket fuel. The V-shaped racers—known as dragsters, rails, stilettos, or slingshots—are

25 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet high, and can clock speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour. Funny cars, sometimes called floppers, also run on nitro, but they have a body made of one piece of lightweight fiberglass or carbon fiber, not metal, and it is mounted over top of the driver and hooked to the chassis, or frame, of the vehicle. Both top fuelers and funny cars must use parachutes to aid in braking at the end of the race.

Three legendary top-fuel competitors are Don "Big Daddy" Garlits of Tampa, Florida; Don "The Snake" Prudhomme of Southern California; and Shilrey Muldowney of Mount Clemens, Michigan. In 1964 Garlits was the first to break the barrier of 200 miles-per-hour. Later, Prudhomme would clock a speed of 300 miles-per-hour. During the 1980s Muldowney won the top-fueler championship three times. Both Prudhomme and Muldowney had started out racing funny cars. Muldowney's life story was dramatized in the Hollywood movie Heart Like a Wheel (1983), starring Bonnie Bedalia. In 1984 Garlits opened his Museum of Drag Racing and International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in Ocala, Florida.

The culture of drag racing has been represented in various media, from a plethora of specialized magazines—including Hot Rod Magazine —and novels such as Henry Gregor Felsen's Street Rod (1953), to recording group Tommy Dugan and the Hot Rodders. In the early 1960s, Charlie Ryan recorded several songs on car racing, including the popular "Hot Rod Lincoln." During the 1960s and 1970s, the California rock band the Beach Boys further glamorized hot rodding with the hits "Little Deuce Coup," "409," "Shut Down," and "Fun, Fun, Fun." Mattel, one of the first toy manufacturers to recognize the appeal of drag racing to young people, introduced Hot Wheels, a line of miniature die-cast cars, which included replicas of funny cars raced by Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "Mongoose" McEwen. In 1992, the NHRA established the Junior Drag Racing League, where drivers between the ages of eight and 17 could race half-sized copies of top fuelers, funny cars, and pro stockers.

Engel, Lyle Kenyon. The Complete Book of Stock-Bodied Drag Racing. New York, Four Winds Press, 1970.

Post, Robert C. High Performance: The Culture and Technology of Drag Racing, 1950-1990. Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.

Redlauer, Edward. Drag Racing: Quarter Mile Thunder. New York, Abelard-Schuman, 1966.

Wallace, Dave, Jr. Petersen's History of Drag Racing. Los Angeles, Petersen Publishing Company, 1981.

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