Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly 1⁄4 mi, with a shorter, 1,000 ft distance becoming increasingly popular, as it has become the standard for Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars, where some major bracket races and other sanctioning bodies have adopted it as the standard. The 1⁄8 mi is also popular in some circles. Electronic timing and speed sensing systems have been used to record race results since the 1960s.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsports sanctioning body in the world.
Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers' showroom models. They also have the engine placed in front of the driver, as opposed to dragsters, which place it behind the driver.
Shirley Muldowney, also known professionally as "Cha Cha" and the "First Lady of Drag Racing", is an American auto racer. She was the first woman to receive a license from the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to drive a Top Fuel dragster. She won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980, and 1982, becoming the first person to win two and three Top Fuel titles. She won a total of 18 NHRA national events.
John Harold Force is an American NHRA drag racer. He is a 16-time NHRA and 1 time AHRA Funny Car champion driver and a 22-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing (JFR). He is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with 155 career victories. He graduated from Bell Gardens High School and briefly attended Cerritos Junior College to play football. He is the father of drag racers Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, and Courtney Force. His oldest daughter Adria Hight is the CFO of JFR.
Gateway Motorsports Park is a motorsport racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a 1.250 mi (2.012 km) oval that hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the NTT IndyCar Series, a 2.000 mi (3.219 km) infield road course used by SpeedTour TransAm, SCCA, and Porsche Club of America, a quarter-mile NHRA-sanctioned drag strip that hosts the annual NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Midwest Nationals event, and the Kartplex, a state-of-the-art karting facility.
Pacific Raceways is a mixed-use road racing and drag racing facility near Kent, Washington. The race track was constructed in 1959 and opened in 1960. The track was originally named Kent Pacific Raceways, then became known as Seattle International Raceways in 1969. After the landowner regained control of the track in 2002, the name reverted to Pacific Raceways.
Brainerd International Raceway is a road course, and dragstrip racing complex northwest of the city of Brainerd, Minnesota. The complex has a 0.25 mi (0.40 km) dragstrip, and overlapping 2.500 mi (4.023 km) and 3.100 mi (4.989 km) road courses. The complex also includes a kart track. The raceway hosts the National Hot Rod Association's Lucas Oil Nationals. It is a popular racetrack for the Trans Am Series. The spectator seating capacity of the circuit is 20,000.
Heart Like a Wheel is a 1983 American biographical drama sports film directed by Jonathan Kaplan and based on the life of drag racing driver Shirley Muldowney. It stars Bonnie Bedelia as Shirley Muldowney and Beau Bridges as drag racing driver Connie Kalitta.
Paul Page is an American motorsports broadcaster who is best known for serving as the play-by-play commentator for the Indianapolis 500 for a total of 27 years across radio and television. Page was the radio Voice of the 500 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network from 1977 to 1987, and again from 2014 to 2015. He served the same role on television in 1988–1998 & 2002–2004.
Jason Line drives the Elite Motorsports JHG Racing Chevrolet Camaro Pro Stock car in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Line resides in Terrell, North Carolina with his wife, Cindy, son, Jack and daughter, Emma.
William Weyman Stephens Jr., known professionally as Bill Stephens is an American network television host, commentator, and narrator specializing in automotive and motorsports presentations. He is a nationally published author of several motorsports books and a columnist for a number of automotive periodicals. He is a television producer and writer for various automotive television programs, a professional vehicle appraiser, and a communications consultant providing media training for motorsports personalities and vocal and listening skills training for business people at all levels of the corporate world.
Alfred John Young was a former World Champion Drag Racer and National Hot Rod Association Hall of Famer who competed in professional Bracket racing, and the heads-up categories from Super Street and Super Gas to Super Comp. He taught high school in Seattle, Washington, for 37 years, and is involved with the preparation of classic high performance race cars. After campaigning his 1970 Dodge Challenger for over 25 years, winning the American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) World Championship and numerous other National Hot Rod Association and AHRA titles, he donated his drag racing car to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle, Washington, in 2007. During the majority of his auto racing career, he was sponsored by Ole Bardahl of the Bardahl Company. In 2019, he was inducted into the National Hot Rod Association, Northwest Division, Hall of Fame. He was the first Asian American World Champion race car driver.
Antron Brown is an American drag racing driver, currently driving the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster for AB Motorsports in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Brown is the first African American champion in drag racing history, winning the Top Fuel dragster championship in 2012, 2015 and 2016.
The Fremont Dragstrip was a racing venue for dragster automobiles that was located in Fremont, California in the San Francisco Bay Area, operating from 1959 until the end of 1988. In its final years, it was part of Baylands Raceway Park. The site lies in the quadrant just south of the intersection of Interstate 880 and Auto Mall Parkway(formerly "Durham road").
The Dallas International Motor Speedway (DIMS) was a racetrack located in Lewisville, Texas. It operated from June 1969 to 1973. The racetrack served as the site for such events as the NHRA Springnationals, NHRA World Finals, and the Texas International Pop Festival in 1969.
Tanner Sean Gray is an American professional racing driver who has competed in drag racing and stock car racing. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 15 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Gray is the youngest professional driver to win a national event in NHRA history, and the youngest driver to win a solo NHRA season championship.
Steve Evans was an American motorsports broadcaster with a career that spanned four decades.
Steve Reyes is an American photographer and storyteller from Oakland, California. Reyes has been included in Don Garlits' International Drag Racing Hall of Fame (2002), NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion Honorees (2009), and the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame (2011).
Josh Hart is an American racing driver and entrepreneur. He is the owner and driver of the R+L Carriers / TechNet Professional NHRA Top Fuel Dragster in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. He is also founder of Burnyzz Speed Shop in Ocala, Florida
