NHRA SHORTENS RACES TO 1,000' --- IS THE 1/4-MILE GONE?

Following the death of two Funny Car drivers and the near-crippling of the sport's most-popular figure in just over a one-year period, the National Hot Rod Association has determined that shortening the traditional length of drag racing's 1/4-mile track is one answer to these troubling problems.

Is racing made safer by making the race track shorter?

If most of the serious crashes in the Indy 500 are found, after study, to occur in the final 10% of the race, or the last 50 miles, does that mean running the Indy 450 every Memorial Day weekend would result in fewer serious, injurious and even deadly wrecks? Or maybe changing the length of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the world's first-ever purpose-built auto racing track, from 2.5 to, say, 1.5-miles would make for safer events and a better show for the fans. (Scott Kalitta's Funny Car leaves the line for a 1/4-mile drag race; Below, Scott's cousin Doug Kalitta in his Top Fuel racer).

These are just some of the questions, both serious and foolish, which the National Hot Rod Association, NHRA, is going to have to publicly answer as they have, in one fell swoop, changed the sport in a way some thought improbable, if not impossible.

Between March, 2007 and today, NHRA saw an over $120 million purchase offer for much of the organization fall through at the last minute, a driver on John Force's Funny Car race team, Eric Medlen, was killed in a testing session and Force himself, drag racing's best-known and most popular driver, was nearly killed in a racing wreck which has left him with injuries he'll carry through his lifetime. And Scott Kalitta, a member of one of the founding families of the sport, died in yet another Funny Car accident. The popular sport now finds itself in a bind: NASCAR, following the death on live television of its most important driver, Dale Earnhardt, in a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500, went on a crusade to develop safer cars and equipment for its drivers, so, must NHRA go a similar route?

In the wake of the death of long-time NHRA star racer Scott Kalitta at Englishtown, New Jersey on June 22, NHRA has made a surprising decision which on one hand seems reasonable enough, but on the other --- is going to stir-up strong emotions on every side of the issue. And there are at least two sides to every issue in auto racing.

The 57-year old sanctioning body has unilaterally decided to shorten the races in the sport's two fastest professional classes, Top Fuel and Funny Car, from the traditional 1/4-mile, or 1,320', to 1,000' even. The reasoning can be found below in NHRA's official notification and statement on this change, what most fans, racers and observers would probably call the single biggest change in the history of professional drag racing. (Ashley Force's Funny Car seen from above; Below, Angie McBride pilots a Pro Stock motorcycle).

Only those two classes of NHRA race cars use nitromethane and other toxic, highly-explosive chemicals as fuel, producing incredible speed from the cars and an in-person experience as visceral as, some say, being on-scene for the 1960s-era Saturn 5 rocket launch of an Apollo moon rocket. Top Fuel cars are known to some as rail dragsters; a long, low body with small bicycle-like tires up front, the driver to the rear and the massive engine behind. Funny Cars are basically the same as Top Fuel racers, but with fiberglass and carbon fiber bodies on top of them to give something of an appearance of a road-going car. NHRA's fans love the Top Fuel cars; NHRA sponsors love the Funny Cars (because they have more space for their corporate logos and names).

Their engines make somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 horsepower, and that's only an estimate because there's no way of measuring such high horsepower figures from a V8 engine, no engine or chassis dynomometer built for the job. Seeing an NHRA event in person is something not easily forgotten; the chemicals used in the fuels sting the eyes, nose and throat and the engines, when fired, suck the breath right out of your lungs. A visit to the races creates either a lifelong fan or a person feeling as if they're witnessing the end of the world. And Top Fuel and Funny Car races are over barely 5 seconds after they've begun with the cars now regularly hitting speeds over 300 miles per hour.

Will changing the length of the races, in reality adding another 320' to the run-off, or slow down, area  allowed the cars in both lanes, solve whatever NHRA perceives to be the "problem?" With the investigation into the Kalitta crash and his death still near its beginning, with very few hard facts known and at least two organizations, the NHRA itself and the New Jersey State Police conducting their own inquiries, why make drastic changes to the sport before the facts are in hand? But, on the other hand, if those in the NHRA hierarchy have considered tracks with too-short run-off areas as being a systemic problem throughout the sport, why have they waited until the death of a favorite driver to make the change?

For the NHRA's statement on the topic and other opinions on these sudden and surprising changes to the sport, click below.

Here are a few facts from the NHRA's own website:

- With 80,000 members and more than 35,000 licensed competitors, NHRA is a thriving leader in the world of motorsports.

- Today, with more than 300 dedicated employees, NHRA offers drag racing opportunities for hot rod enthusiasts of all levels, from kids ages 8-17 in the NHRA O'Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League all the way up to the top of the professional ranks with the organization's NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. (John Force and his daughter, Ashley; Below, John Force is pictured with Eric Medlen, and, Below that, Ashley Force, a Funny Car champ in her own right; the reality show Driving Force was popular on the A&E channel).

- One hundred forty member tracks across North America host NHRA competitions in NHRA's seven geographic regions. In addition to the marquee POWERade Series, which crisscrosses the United States, making 24 stops in 22 cities over the course of nine months, NHRA offers popular weekly grassroots programs at many of its member tracks.

- NHRA's key business partners include the Coca-Cola Co., whose POWERade brand sponsors the top touring series, and Lucas Oil Co. and Summit Racing Equipment, which both sponsor key developmental touring series. All of NHRA's major series receive television coverage from NHRA's exclusive multimedia partner, ESPN Inc. A sample of the active official sponsors involved in the sport include Budweiser, Fram, Pontiac, Checker Schuck's Kragen, and GMC.

- In an independent survey conducted by SportsBusiness Journal in 2003, NHRA was ranked high in a  variety of categories reflecting sponsor satisfaction, including Best Value for the Money, where NHRA was ranked first among 16 major sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NASCAR.

Here is the statement from NHRA regarding the immediate shortening of the track length in Top Fuel and Funny Car racing from 1,320' to 1,000:

"As the investigation continues into the tragic accident that took the life of driver Scott Kalitta, NHRA has announced that beginning at the Mopar Mile High Nationals in Denver, Colo., (July 11 - 13) both the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes will race to 1,000 feet instead of the traditional 1,320 feet or one-quarter mile. This is an interim step that is being taken while NHRA continues to analyze and determine whether changes should be made to build upon the sport's long standing safety record, given the inherent risks and ever-present dangers associated with the sport.

This interim change was made by NHRA in collaboration with professional race teams. NHRA believes that racing the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes to 1,000 feet will allow NHRA and the racing community time to evaluate, analyze and implement potential changes based on the safety initiatives outlined last week.

With the change, fans will still be able to enjoy the sights, sounds and thrill of NHRA nitro racing with speeds around 300 mph and quick elapsed times to 1,000 feet.

Over the years, NHRA has implemented many initiatives to enhance safety including measures to limit speeds from increasing, personal protective gear, vehicle improvements, and track enhancements such as sand traps, catch nets and concrete barriers the entire length of the drag strip.

In the wake of the tragic series of events that took Kalitta's life, the following technical issues are currently under investigation: 1) what might be done to reduce engine failures; 2) parachute mounting techniques and materials as well as identifying a parachute material that could be more fire resistant; 3) exploring whether there is a way to increase brake efficiency when cars lose downforce due to the loss of the body; 4) analyzing additional methods that might be developed at the top end of the race track to help arrest runaway vehicles; 5) considering whether current speeds should be further limited or reduced to potentially improve safety.

“The board members of the Professional Racers Owners Organization (PRO) wholeheartedly and  unanimously support this decision,” said its president Kenny Bernstein. “We want to thank NHRA for listening to our input and suggestions to incorporate these changes. It is not lost on any of us that this constitutes a change in our history of running a quarter-mile, but it's the most immediate adjustment we can make in the interest of safety which is foremost on everyone's mind. This may be a temporary change and we recognize it is not the total answer. We will continue to work hand in hand with NHRA to evaluate other methods of making Top Fuel and Funny Car competition safer so that we might return to our quarter-mile racing standard. We also want to thank Connie Kalitta for his invaluable input. He has been a rock through these difficult times.” (End of NHRA statement).

The questions raised by NHRA's statement and Kenny Bernstein, one of the sport's greatest competitors, and also known inside the sport as a friend and often apologist for NHRA itself,  beg too many questions to raise on this website, but here are a few: How long have racers like Bernstein and others in the PRO been asking NHRA to make these kinds of changes? Will NHRA go on an all-out development drive to create newer, safer race cars in all three of the professional series (Top Fuel, Pro Stock, Funny Car)? If NHRA wants to develop these cars, as NASCAR did after the 2001 death of Dale Earnhardt, does NHRA have the financial backing necessary for such a large series of high-technology development projects?

"Engine failures," a euphemism for "violent explosions," have occurred regularly in the nitromethane-fuel classes since the use of nitro was allowed; how could Kalitta's car still fall victim to this type of explosion, and what recorded, redundant systems does NHRA have in-place for monitoring the amount of nitro and other explosive, toxic chemicals in each FC and TF run? Isn't lowering the speeds of the cars simpler, and less offensive to aficionados of the sport, than changing the length of the races themselves? And isn't it actually safer for all involved to do so? (Scott Kalitta's car bursts into flames at Englishtown; Below, Scott Kalitta).

When it comes to lowering speeds, NASCAR's biggest race, their season-opening version of the Super Bowl, is the Daytona 500. There are two Sprint Cup races each season run at the Daytona (Florida) and Talladega (Alabama) tracks, both high-banked Superspeedways allowing wide-open straightaway speeds in excess of 240 miles per hour. On and off since 1971, restrictor plates have been used on the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series cars on those tracks. Their use has been permanent since 1992. These plates are mounted between the carburetor and the top end of the engine where the air/fuel mixture is detonated. The plates reduce air intake and engine horsepower, NASCAR routinely stating that the Sprint Cup restrictor plate reduces engine power from around 750 horsepower to near 430 horsepower. NASCAR fans have not protested the lowering of speeds of cars at these tracks.

We think NHRA fans could easily live with the difference between 300 and 330 miles per hour these  thundering race cars attain in under 5 seconds ... in the 1,320' 1/4-mile.