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IHRA Racing Classes


Pro Classes

 

Top Fuel

 
   Top Fuel Dragsters represent the pinnacle of drag racing performance. Utilizing a supercharged engine producing over 6,000 horsepower from 500 cubic inches of displacement, these machines can accelerate from a standing start to 100 miles per hour in less than one second and cover the quarter mile in the four-second zone at over 320 mph. You'll feel these earth shattering machines even at the top of the grandstands as they launch with g-forces rivaling those of the space shuttle.
   Each quarter-mile run costs nearly $4,000 in basic wear on equipment, including almost $500 for the 15 gallons of nitromethane fuel used for every pass. Using sophisticated computers to monitor all engine functions and complicated clutch-engagement systems, each team is typical of the $1,000,000 investment needed to fund a full season of racing. The Top Fuel Eliminator field is comprised of the eight teams which recorded the quickest elapsed time during qualifying rounds.
 

Pro Fuel


 
   While some may consider the Pro Fuel class to be the little brother to its seemingly larger and faster Top Fuel brethren, that couldn’t be any further from the truth. These nitro-burning dragsters are ready to blaze their own path in the drag racing world and that starts by being one of the feature classes at Nitro Jam events in 2010.
    Pro Fuel utilizes nearly every specification as Top Fuel, but has a few added bonuses unique only to this class. Pro Fuel allows 100 percent nitro in the tank and utilizes a clutch management system making these rails quicker and faster than nearly every other drag racing class in the world. And with these dragsters able to utilize their full potential, many see Pro Fuel breaking records this season and dipping into the four-second zone at over 300 miles per hour for the first time in class history.
    And while costing half as much to run as Top Fuel fans may be looking at the future of drag racing when these high-tech machines pull into the water box this season.
 

Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car


Considered one of the most popular classes in drag racing, Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car will provide a national stage for drivers who have made a living out of match racing and showcasing their talent at smaller venues across North America.

The newly formed class will feature half-track burnouts, insane dry hops and out-of-control nostalgia racing that fans have come to expect from the older bodied version of the modern day Nitro Funny Car.

 
 



 
SPORTSMAN CLASSES
 
Top Sportsman

 
   As the class which spawned Pro Modified, Top Sportsman remains the "baddest" sportsman class on the planet. Covering the spectrum of passenger car body styles and power plants, Top Sportsman racers are not encumbered by displacement limitations or customizing rules, offering some of the most radical visual and mechanical thrills in drag racing.
   As in Top Dragster, the drivers are allowed to use state-of-the-art electronic driving aids and the teams calculate their own Performance Predictions to determine handicaps during eliminations. Top Sportsman Eliminator is composed of the 48 quickest teams from qualifying sessions.
 

 Top Dragster

 
   The fastest sportsman category in drag racing, Top Dragster is also renowned as one of the most innovative classes in IHRA. Combining dragsters and altered vintage roadsters, the class presents handicap racing with six second, 225 mph contestants.
 

 
Super Stock

 
 
   As the arena for factory musclecar showdowns for decades, this class spotlights some of history's most powerful production vehicles ever built, and allowed only some minor modifications. Cars run on a handicapped start, but each must run under their sub-category's Nationals Index, determined by a power to weight ratio. In addition to traditional Super Stockers, there are also sub-categories for GT entries, front wheel drive conversions, trucks and Super Stock production entries.
 

Stock

 
   Considered drag racing's "entry level" division, this class offers economical racing machines in an incredibly competitive forum, with everything from 130 mph muscle cars to 75 mph family sedans. All demand original production equipment with which the car was marketed to the public. Cars run on a handicapped start, but each must run under their sub-category's National Index, determined by power to weight ratio.
 

Quick Rod

 
   The fastest of the "Rod" categories, Quick Rod offers dragsters, altereds, vintage roadsters, coupes and passenger cars racing with heads up start. The objective of the class is to beat an opponent to the finish line without going under the 8.90-second Class Index, or 5.70 in the 1/8 mile.
 

 Super Rod

 
   Combining passenger cars and vintage roadsters, Super Rod also offers 'even starts' with contestants competing on a National Standard of 6.40 seconds (1/8 mile), 9.90 (1/4 mile). Easily the most populated division in IHRA Drag Racing, fields of over 150 entries are not uncommon. Using some of the same high-tech equipment that Quick Rod racers also utilize, Super Rod racers also utilize some of the same race strategies. Like Quick Rod, vehicles are permitted virtually any engine modification. Most Super Rod machines are tremendously overpowered to use throttle manipulation to gain high top speeds. Super Rod is open to all entries with qualifying position determined by performance against the National Standard.
 

Hot Rod

 
  Using a National Standard of 7.00 seconds (1/8 mile), 10.90 (1/4 mile), Hot Rod may appear as an entry level division but presents some of the closest competition of any category. Races are often won by a margin of only a few thousandths of a second, which equates to mere inches at the finish line. The same driving strategies and electronic driving equipment which prevail in both Quick Rod and Super Rod are evident in a class where the speeds can reach 140 mph. While each vehicle must retain a production apperance, virtually all are constructed specifically for the division. Hot Rod is open to all entries with qualifying position determined by performance against the National Standard.
 

59days since
Arizona Nitro Jam