DRAG RACING

form of motor racing popular in the United States in which two contestants race side by side from a standing start over a flat, straight, measured one-quarter-mile course; the first to the finish line is the winner. Both elapsed time and finishing speed are usually recorded. Competitions are run as a tournament, with losers eliminated and winners competing against others in their class until only one is left undefeated. Drag racing is practiced with nearly every variety of motor vehicle, including boats, but most frequently with automobiles; it originated in the southern California deserts in the 1920s. Its two major U.S. organizations, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and the American Hot Rod Association (AHRA), were formed in the early 1950s. Most top-level drag-racing competition is professional. Cars compete in a great variety of classes according to degree of modification, type of fuel, and other specifications. The fastest are the Top Fuel Eliminators, called rails, or slingshots. They are built with a light, tubular metal chassis and use cycle-type wheels in front and very wide, slick-tread tires in back. Engines (one or two) are placed as far to the rear as practicable, with the driver enclosed in a protective cage just behind or ahead of the engine. Top Fuel cars burn a special mixture other than commercial pump gasoline (petrol), such as methanol and nitromethane. Top Gas cars are similar to Top Fuel cars but use commercial gasoline and are a fraction of a second slower. Funny cars are highly modified dragsters covered by a fibreglass copy of a late-model production car body. They are restricted to one engine but are otherwise unlimited and are nearly as fast as Top Fuel racers. Standard production cars, with varying degrees of modification, compete in most other classes, many of which are nonprofessional. For drag racing's place in the history of automobile racing; see automobile racing.