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.
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.
Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of 338 miles per hour (544.0 km/h) and finishing the 1,000 foot (304.8 m) runs in 3.62 seconds.
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 156 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.
Ashley Corinne Force Hood is a former NHRA Funny Car drag racer for John Force Racing. She is the daughter of 16-time NHRA Top Fuel Funny Car national champion John Force and Laurie Force. She is married to Daniel Hood, who works for John Force Racing. She was on hiatus from racing in 2011 as the couple expected their first child. Since their child's birth, Force Hood has announced her retirement from competitive racing.
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 Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Midwest Nationals event, and the Kartplex, a state-of-the-art karting facility.
Kenneth Dale Bernstein is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed the "Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King funny car and dragster. He has also been nicknamed the "King of Speed," because he was the first driver to break 300 miles per hour in the standing-start quarter mile. Bernstein owned King Racing, which he drove for in the NHRA and fielded various cars in other racing series such as IndyCar and NASCAR. Bernstein retired from full-time competition in 2002 and moved his son Brandon into the Bud King Top Fuel dragster, but returned to finish the season in place of his son after Brandon suffered a severe injury. With the exception of a brief return to Funny Car in 2007, Bernstein did not return to the car and instead continued to run his team until the end of the 2011 season when he left drag racing altogether.
Matco Tools, Inc. is an American professional tool distribution franchise for the automotive and other industries and is based in Stow, Ohio, United States. This includes over 13,000 different tools such as wrenches, screw drivers, gauges, and specialty tools. Matco produces their own line of toolboxes in their Jamestown, NY manufacturing plant. They manufacture and contract the production of many air tools, electric tools, hand tools and diagnostic tools.. The company was founded in 1946 and began selling direct to professional mechanics in 1979. Originally Matco was the box manufacturing division of Mac Tools. However, they have not been associated with Mac since Matco Tools was formed in 1979. Former corporate owner Danaher spun off several subsidiaries, including Matco, in 2016 to create Fortive. Fortive, in turn, spun off Matco and other brands as Vontier in 2020.
Maple Grove Raceway (MGR) is a quarter-mile dragstrip located near Mohnton, Pennsylvania, just outside Reading. It opened in 1962 as a 1/5-mile dragstrip. It was eventually lengthened to its current quarter-mile length in 1964. The track has been sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association for most of its existence. It has hosted an NHRA national event since 1985. Uni-Select Auto Plus came aboard as the Nationals sponsor in 2011. Other key events include the American Drag Racing League, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, the Geezers Reunion at The Grove, the Super Chevy Show, Mopar Action, Fun Ford Weekend and the NHRA Pennsylvania Dutch Classic.
Tim Wilkerson is a NHRA drag racer. He graduated from Southeast High School in Springfield, Illinois and earned an Associate's in Science in civil engineering from Lincoln Land Community College. He is married to Krista and has three children, Daniel, Kevin, and Rachel. He owns Wilkerson's Service Center and Capital City Machine Shop in Springfield.
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.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is a drag racing series organized by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). It is the top competition series of the NHRA, comprising competition in four classes, including Top Fuel Dragster, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
New England Dragway is a 1⁄4 mile NHRA dragway in Epping, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, United States. The track hosts the New England Nationals event as part of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. The track also hosts a regional event as part of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
Roland Leong was an American drag racer from Honolulu, whose "Hawaiian" brand cars achieved many victories. He later went on to act as crew chief in Funny Car races.
Chuck Beal Racing is a drag racing company owned by professional drag racer Chuck Beal. The company is located in San Diego, California. Chuck Beal started as a racer of front- and rear-engine vehicles until he changed to the alcohol funny car class and then nitro-class vehicles. His grandson Brandon Welch took over the duties of racing his Funny Car after having graduated from Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School. He also serves as the Vice President of Marketing. Other racers who have raced for Chuck Beal include Jeff Arend and Jeff Diehl. The company's vehicles have multiple sponsors, including AutoAnything, UnderCover Truck Bed Covers, TruXedo Tonneau Covers, ProZ, and TruXP.
Altered is a former National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racing class and a current drag racing chassis configuration that forms the basis of many classes of NHRA Competition Eliminator.
Doug Thorley was an American Funny Car drag racer, hot rodder and businessman. In 1967, he won the NHRA Nationals' first Funny Car Eliminator title, and was given Car Craft's All-Star Drag Racing Team Funny Car Driver of the Year Award in 1968. Hot Rod magazine describes him as "one of drag racing's most famous early era drivers."
The 2020 NHRA Drag Racing Series was announced on May 14, 2019.
