Mark Oswald is a former American Funny Car driver and current Top Fuel crew chief.
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 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 335 miles per hour (539 km/h) and finishing the 1,000 foot (305 m) runs in 3.62 seconds.
Driving for Candies and Hughes, in 1984 Oswald did something no Funny Car driver had done before: he won both the NHRA and IHRA world championships. [1] The team took four IHRA titles between 1983 and 1987, including two in a row, 1986 and 1987, as well as beating John Force in the 1986 Big Bud Shootout (losing to him the next year). [2]
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing 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.
The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) is the second largest drag racing sanctioning body after the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).
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 21-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 151 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.
After retiring as a driver, Oswald became a crew chief, currently leading the crew for Antron Brown in the Matco Tools, US Army Top Fuel dragster.
Antron Brown is an American drag racer, currently driving the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster for Don Schumacher Racing in NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. He is known for winning 2012, 2015 and 2016 Top Fuel championships. Antron is the sport's first Black American champion.
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 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, while 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.
A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile tracks, and the premiere classes will run 1,000 foot (304.8m) races. The race is begun from a standing start which allows three factors to affect the outcome of the race: reaction time, torque, and traction.
Kenny 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 2006, 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.
Tony Schumacher, is an American drag racer who is an eight-time NHRA Champion. He is the son of NHRA legend Don Schumacher. He attended St. John's Military Academy in Delafield Wisconsin. Schumacher is currently the driver of a Top Fuel Dragster seeking sponsorship.
Pro Modified, also known as Pro Mod, is a class or division in the sport of drag racing used in the NHRA and FIA (quarter-mile) and the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) (eighth-mile). It is similar to the Top Doorslammer class as defined by the ANDRA.
Scott D. Kalitta was an American drag racer who competed in the Funny Car and Top Fuel classes in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. He was killed at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, after an accident during qualifying. He had 17 career Top Fuel wins and one career Funny Car win, and at his death he was one of 14 drivers to win in both divisions.
Larry Dixon Jr. is an American professional drag racer in the NHRA. Larry is the son of Larry Dixon Sr., who won Top Fuel Eliminator at the 1970 NHRA Winternationals.
Bruce Larson(1937) is a retired American drag racer from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. He became nationally known for his match races. He quit funny Car racing in 1972 after a bad fire and raced in the Pro Stock class for 2 years. He then returned to the Funny Car class and match racing until 1987 where he fought his way to the NHRA Funny Car Championship in 1989.He led the points chase from start to finish collecting 6 National Event wins, 5 runner ups and the Car Craft Funny Car Driver of the Year award. That championship car is now one of only 2 drag race cars in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, the other being Don Garlits' rear engine dragster. He was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2006. Larson is remembered for his red, white, and blue USA-1 Chevrolet Camaros
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.
Dale Armstrong was a Canadian drag racer and crew chief. After winning 12 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and 12 International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) events in the 1970s, including the Pro Comp title in 1975, he became Kenny Bernstein's crew chief. The combination produced four consecutive national championships in Funny Car and another in Top Fuel. Bernstein became the first driver to top the 300 miles per hour mark in an engine tuned by Armstrong. Armstrong has been inducted in numerous halls of fame. He died on November 28, 2014 at his home in Temecula, California at the age of 73. He had sarcoidosis.
John Force Racing is an NHRA drag racing team. In over 30 years of competition, John Force Racing has won one Top Fuel and 19 Funny Car championships. The current line-up of drivers includes Top Fuel driver Brittany Force and Funny car drivers John Force, Robert Hight, and Courtney Force. The team's leadership includes CEO John Force, President Robert Hight, Vice President Ashley Force Hood, and CFO Adria Hight. Past drivers include Ashley Force Hood, team crew chief Mike Neff, Eric Medlen, who lost his life while racing for the team and whose number 4 appears on all their cars, Tony Pedregon, who was the first driver other than Force to win a series championship driving for the team, and Gary Densham. In 2017, Brittany Force became the first team driver to win a championship in a classification that is not Funny Car, taking the Top Fuel title.
The NHRA Mello Yello 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.
Cruz Pedregon is a 2-time NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car Champion from Torrance, California. He is the brother of Tony Pedregon, also a two-time Funny Car Champion. He currently races for his own team, Cruz Pedregon Racing, Inc.
Ron Capps is an American NHRA Funny Car racer who drives the NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger.
Kim Lahaie Richards is an American drag racer and crew chief.
Dale Emery, nicknamed "The Snail", was an American drag racer. Emery raced Fuel Altereds and Funny Cars, and briefly in wheelstanders, as well as serving as crew chief for several top teams.
