Image via Complex Original
Earlier this month the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season kicked off in Pomona, Calif. with the Circle K NHRA Winternationals. If you've never attended an NHRA event, this probably means absolutely nothing to you, but if you speed, then it should. The NHRA's Top Fuel and Funny Car drivers are the best in the world at what they do. And that is getting from point A to point B as fast as possible. They drive at speeds that would make a Bugatti blush. Before you write off the top drag racing organization as something "you're just not into," check out five reasons the NHRA is one of the coolest, yet most slept on, leagues in auto racing.
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The environment at races and drivers are not what you think.
The stigma that is unfairly placed on all pro racing is that the majority of the fans are rednecks and trailer trash. That is completely untrue. Not only does NHRA attract fans of all races, they also field drivers of all races and genders. We won't front like the majority of the Top Fuel and Funny Car drivers aren't the white guys you'd expect to be driving, but there are plenty of women and people of color that complete on a high level and win.
Current points Top Fuel points leader Khalid alBalooshi hails from Dubai, UAE. Funny Car pilot Alexis DeJoria--daughter of Patron and Paul Mitchell/Patron billionaire John Paul DeJoria--is the first woman to make a pass in less than four seconds. Don Schumacher Racing's Antron Brown won the Top Fuel championship in 2012, making him the only African-American to ever win a pro racing title in North America. Those are just a few of the pilots that are blazing trails on the track.
It's nothing like that weak street race you saw Saturday night.
Whether from the Fast and Furious franchise or a neighborhood strip, street racing is something most people are familiar with in some form. A lot of people confuse the non-sanctioned racing with what the pros do, when they are actually as different as night and day.
"When somebody does something illegal on the street they call it drag racing and that's just none of the sort," says Brown. "We always try to relay to people that drag racing is a sport, it's not done streetlight to streetlight on the back roads. It's done on a closed course." Sanctioned drag racing is completely safe to bring your lady and/or kids out. Plus, these guys aren't racing big blocks or nitrous-enhanced four-cylinders, guys like Antron are piloting million-dollar machines.
The access is unparalleled.
The likelihood of even the most hardcore NASCAR fan meeting top drivers like Jimmie Johnson or Kyle Busch is slim to none outside of a corporate event where said fan might get a handshake and a quick picture. On the contrary, every ticket to a Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event includes a pit pass. Fans are welcomed to congregate in the pit area of their favorite racer and watch crews do it all.
"When you're in here ,you can get autographs, get pictures, watch them tear the car down, smell nitro-methane," says 16-time Funny Car champion and fan favorite John Force. Force and his daughters Brittany and Courtney and son-in-law Robert Hight make up the John Force Racing team. They are to NHRA what the Yankees are to Major League Baseball.
Rules of the game keep it interesting throughout the season.
The Mello Yello Drag Racing Series features eighteen regular season races and six playoff races that take place at tracks across the United States from February to mid-November eventually climaxing in the sport's birthplace Pomona, CA for the Auto Club Finals. The way the system is set up, each racer gets points for top three finishes and performance.
Back in 2007, the sports' governing body, the NHRA, implemented the playoff system in which only the Top 10 drivers advance to the playoffs. That way, it stays interesting. They flipped the script even further by adjusting the point totals for each driver to within 10 points of each other with the exception of the point leader, who maintains a 30-point gap. Before this change was implemented, there were drivers that clinched championships weeks in advance. Now, once the playoffs begin, any of the Top 10 drivers have a shot.
Watching it on TV doesn't cut it.
NHRA races have been televised on ESPN for years, but much like hockey, the sport is best experienced live. There is no way possible that even the best camera could replicate what it feels and looks like to witness a car drive 1,000 feet at 300+ mph. When one of these super cars does a burn out, the power generated from the 10,000-hp engine almost feels like you're standing next to a 757 airplane at takeoff. The decibel level is just immense.
"Its hard to experience the noise, watching it on TV "says Funny Car driver Courtney Force. "It will literally shake your body and take your breath away if you're standing close enough to these cars. No matter where you are in the stands you can feel the ground shake beneath you."
