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.
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.
The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) is the second-largest drag racing sanctioning body after the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).
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.
Pro stock is a class of drag racing featuring "factory hot rods". The class is often described as "all motor", due to the cars not using any form of forced induction such as turbocharging or supercharging, or other enhancements, like nitrous oxide, along with regulations governing the modifications allowed to the engines and the types of bodies used.
The Junior Dragster or Jr Dragster is a scaled-down version of the top fuel dragster. The cars were developed in New Zealand in 1988, with classes developed by the New Zealand Hot Rod Association. The National Hot Rod Association in the USA began sanctioning the class in 1991, with the JDRL. The JDRL is a division of the NHRA, which consists of two different dragster classes, traditional Jr. Dragster having a wheelbase between 90 and 150 inches and a single-cylinder, five brake horsepower Briggs & Stratton engine, and the larger Jr. Comp dragster being 150-190 inches in wheelbase and using a motorcycle or personal watercraft engine. Junior drag racers may choose to participate in programs run by the NHRA, IHRA and the Australian National Drag Racing Association [ANDRA], or at an unsanctioned facility. Drivers may be male or female and must be at least five years of age to test, and six years to compete, and be no older than 20 years on December 31 of the competition year.
Edelbrock, LLC is an American manufacturer of specialty automotive and motorcycle parts. The company is headquartered in the Memphis area, with a Southern California R&D Tech Center located in Cerritos, CA. The Edelbrock Sand Cast and Permanent Mold Manufacturing foundries are located in San Jacinto, CA. Edelbrock has two facilities in North Carolina: the Edelbrock Carburetor Division in Sanford, and the Edelbrock Race Center in Mooresville.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. is an American motorsports driver, competing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Division. He is a six-time world champion, winning the Pro Stock title five times and the Super Gas championship. He currently drives the Magneti Marelli offered by Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Dart for Elite Motorsports as a teammate to three-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders. He is the son of Jeg Coughlin Sr., the founder of Jegs High Performance.
The Gatornationals is an annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national drag racing event held each March at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida. The event was held for the first time in 1970. The traditional East Coast opener and the season's first of 16 events for Pro Stock Motorcycle riders and first of 10 for NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series racers moves back to the second spot on the calendar. The event is one of the sport's most revered with a rich tradition of history-making performances. The Gatornationals have the title of being the drag race to see the first 260-mph Top Fuel and Funny Car runs in 1984 by Joe Amato and Kenny Bernstein respectively, and the first 270-mph and 300-mph Top Fuel passes by Don Garlits and Kenny Bernstein in 1986 and 1992, respectively. Its 675-foot concrete launchpad is one of the longest on the tour.
Pat Austin is a retired American drag racer. He competed in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). He won four NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car championships between 1987 and 1991. He was the first driver to win eliminator titles at the same event when he won the Top Fuel and Alcohol Funny Car classes at Topeka. His 62 wins between his start in 1985 and 1996, which were the most for any driver between the late 1970s and 1996.
Summit Racing Equipment is an automotive parts retailer with four retail stores and distribution centers located in Tallmadge, Ohio; Sparks, Nevada; McDonough, Georgia; and Arlington, Texas. Summit Racing Equipment is also involved in motorsports and other events as a sponsor.
National Trail Raceway is a quarter-mile dragstrip located between Hebron and Kirkersville, Ohio, USA, off of U.S. Route 40. The race track is located about 30 minutes east of Columbus, Ohio. It is known to local residents as 'National Trails'.
The 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Season began on 24 February 2011 and concluded on 13 November. This race season marked the 60th anniversary of NHRA as an official motorsports sanctioning body.
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.
Cody Coughlin is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 72 Ford Mustang, and part-time in the ARCA/CRA Super Series and CARS Pro Late Model Tour, driving the No. 1 Toyota/Chevrolet, both for his family team, Coughlin Brothers Racing. He has also competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the past.
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 an NHRA season championship.
Curtis Smith is a second-generation American semi-retired drag racer. He is currently the All Time Winningest IHRA Stock Eliminator driver and the 1996 IHRA Stock World Champion. Smith was the first IHRA Sportsman driver to win 3 national events in a row in 1985.
James E. "Bo" Butner III is an American drag racer, currently driving a Chevrolet Camaro Pro Stock Car for Elite motor sports in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. The Floyds Knobs, Indiana native made his Pro Stock debut in 2015 at the NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Georgia after previously competing in the Sportsman categories of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. His first career national event win on the professional level would come two years later on April 23, 2017, at the NHRA SpringNationals in Baytown, Texas, defeating Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the Pro Stock finals. Butner would win four more national events that year en route to his first world championship in Pro Stock. He also has a world championship from 2006 in Competition Eliminator as well as four NHRA Division 3 championships in the Sportsman categories.
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 Camping World NHRA Drag Racing Series. He is also the founder of Burnyzz Speed Shop in Ocala, Florida
