-AAA-
AARWBA American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association
aftermarket One word. The market for parts and accessories used in the repair or enhancement of an automobile.
Amalie Oil North American Nationals New England Dragway, Epping, N.H.
Amaile Oil Texas Nationals Dallas Raceway, Crandall, Texas
annual An event cannot be described as annual until it has been run at least two successive years; Never use first-annual, use inaugural
automaker
-BBB-
backpedaled
backup As in backup car, referring to a spare car.
Big Three Automakers General Motors, Ford, Chrysler
bite Jargon referring to adhesion of a tire to the racing surface.
Boninfante Clutches Pro Stock and Pro Mod Top Qualifier
bracket racing Popular type of handicap racing where each competitor uses a dial-in or performance prediction.
Braswell B-7520 IHRA Pro Stock Qualifying Bonus
break out (v.), breakout (n.) Occurs when competitor has run quicker than his dial-in time.
burndown Occurs when two competitors purposely delay the staging process.
burn out (v.), burnout (n.) Spinning the tires prior to the start of a drag race to increase tire temperature and improve traction.
bye When a racer has no competition due to short field or a no-show.
-CCC-
car length Two words.
career-best Use hyphen.
carmaker, carmakers
centerline One word.
CFH Components Pro Modified Top Qualifier Bonus
Champion System Sportsman Nationals
chassis The plural of chassis is chassis.
Christmas Tree The electronic device incorporating calibrated lights used to start a drag race.
Classic Trailers No. 1 Qualifier Program
Clevite Nitro Speed Master
clutch disc Not disk.
cubic centimeters Engine displacement, usually written as cc on every reference with no periods or spaces.
cid Cubic inches of displacement (lower case, no periods). Used with a hyphen, e.g., 500-cid.
crew chief
crewmember
-DDD-
datelines Datelines on stories should contain a city name, entirely in capital letters, followed in most cases by the name of the state, country or territory where the city is located.
No state abbreviation with the following:
ATLANTA BALTIMORE BOSTON CHICAGO CINCINNATI CLEVELAND DALLAS DENVER DETROIT HOLLYWOOD HONOLULU HOUSTON INDIANAPOLIS LAS VEGAS LOS ANGELES MIAMI MILWAUKEE MINNEAPOLIS NEW ORLEANS NEW YORK OKLAHOMA CITY PHILADELPHIA PHOENIX PITTSBURGH SEATTLE ST. LOUIS SALT LAKE CITY SAN ANTONIO SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO
Stories from all other U.S. cities should have both the city and state name in the dateline, including KANSAS CITY, Mo. and KANSAS CITY, Kan.
Several states do not use abbreviations. Abbreviate all others.
Alabama -- Ala. Alaska -- Alaska Arizona -- Ariz. Arkansas -- Ark. California -- Calif. Colorado -- Colo. Connecticut -- Conn. Delaware -- Del. Florida -- Fla. Georgia -- Ga. Hawaii -- Hawaii Illinois -- Ill. Idaho -- Idaho Indiana -- Ind. Iowa -- Iowa Kansas -- Kan. Kentucky -- Ky. Louisiana -- La. Maryland -- Md. Maine -- Maine Massachusetts -- Mass. Michigan -- Mich. Minnesota -- Minn. Mississippi -- Miss. Missouri -- Mo. Montana -- Mont. Nebraska -- Neb. Nevada -- Nev. New Hampshire -- N.H. New Jersey -- N.J. New Mexico -- N.M. New York -- N.Y. North Carolina -- N.C. North Dakota -- N.D. Ohio -- Ohio Oklahoma -- Okla. Oregon -- Ore. Pennsylvania -- Pa. Rhode Island -- R.I. South Carolina -- S.C. South Dakota -- S.D. Tennessee -- Tenn. Texas -- Texas Utah -- Utah Vermont -- Vt. Virginia -- Va. Washington -- Wash. West Virginia -- W.Va. Wisconsin -- Wis. Wyoming -- Wyo.
debut This is a noun, not a verb. Correct use: It was his drag racing debut. Incorrect use: He debuted a dragster.
deep stage Describes the act of staging the car past the initial pre-stage light.
dial-in In bracket racing, a predetermined E.T. or performance prediction.
disc Reference to type of brake
Divisions Patriots (formerly Division 1)
Heat Wave (formerly Division 2) North Stars (formerly Division 3) Renegades (formerly Division 4) Thunder (formerly Division 5) Raiders (formerly Division 9) DNF (n. or v.) Abbreviation for did not finish. Past tense is DNFd (no apostrophe). Use only when writing for racing audience. Otherwise spell it out.
DNQ (n. or v.) Abbreviation for did not qualify. Past tense is DNQd (no apostrophe).
DNS (n. or v.) Abbreviation for did not start.
downforce One word.
drag race Two words. No hyphen.
drag racing
dragster
dragstrip One word.
dropped cylinder (v) To drop a cylinder (n) a cylinder that has too much fuel-to-air mixture, preventing spark plug from firing.
DRM – Drag Review Magazine, the official publication of the International Hot Rod Association.
Drag Review Ironman Classic
dynamometer Slang term is dyno.
-EEE-
E.T. Accepted abbreviation for elapsed time, not ET or e.t.
eliminations
Elite Motorsports Elite Eight Pro Stock Shootout
-FFF-
Feld Motor Sports Parent company of the IHRA
finish line
final-round Use hyphen if used as an adjective. Example: In the final-round match-up
Bobby Lagana beat Jay Leno. If used as a noun, do not hyphenate.
Example: Bobby Lagana beat Jay Leno in the final round.
first-round Use hyphen.
front-runner (n)
Funny Car Always uppercase.
-GGG-
game plan Not game-plan or gameplan.
gearbox One word.
grandstand One word.
groove The preferred path of a race car on a race track.
-HHH-
halfway Noun and adjective.
HANS device Acronym for Head and Neck Support.
Harley-Davidson
holeshot An advantage at the starting line achieved by the driver having the quicker reaction time to the Christmas Tree than his opponent.
horsepower One word.
-III-
IHRA International Hot Rod Association. Use IHRA on every reference
when writing for a motorsports audience.
inaugural Never use first-annual.
Internet Should be capitalized in all references.
Ironman IHRA’s official trophy. One word – not Iron Man.
-JJJ-
jell/gel Do not confuse the two words. Jell means to take shape and achieve distinctness; to become cohesive. Gel means to change into or take on the form of a gel.
Junior Dragster Program
-KKK-
-LLL-
-MMM-
Manufacturers Midway
Mardi Gras Nationals State Capitol Raceway, Baton Rouge, La.
Mickey Thompson Pro Modified Ten Grand Slam
mph The abbreviation for mile per hour. It’s acceptable in all references.
Mopar Canadian Nationals Grand Bend Motorplex, Grand Bend, Ont.
Moser Engineering Axle Mania
motorsports One word. The exception is when referring to Feld Motor Sports
motor racing Two words.
-NNN-
national record Avoid the redundant new record.
No. 1 qualifier Top qualifier in 16-car order for drag racing's professional categories (avoid the use of “pole position”)
nitromethane Monopropellant fuel used in Top Fuel and Funny Car categories; ignited by compression
Nitro Jam
Northern Nationals US 131 Motorsports Park, Martin, Mich.
numbers Spell out one through nine. Use numerals for 0, 10 and higher. Use numerals when using No. 1, No. 2, No. 8, etc.
-OOO-
Oildown
O’Reilly Thunder Jam
-PPP-
percentages 90 percent rule, 1 percent back up. No hyphens.
pit area Location where race teams park and service their race cars between races. Also referred to as pits.
pole position Slang reference used in oval racing to describe top qualifier. Not to be used in drag racing in any reference.
prerace Not pre-race
preseason Not pre-season
President’s Cup Nationals Maryland International Raceway, Budds Creek, Md.
professional Describes driver who competes in Top Fuel, Pro Modified, or Pro Stock.
Never uppercase.
-QQQ-
quarterfinal Not quarter-final
quarter-mile
quarter panel Two words.
Quarter-Max Pro Stock Challenge
-RRR-
race track Not racetrack. No hyphen.
race car Not racecar. No hyphen.
race day
reaction time Term describing the time it takes a driver to hit the throttle once the Christmas Tree is activated; R.T.
red light Term describing a foul start when a vehicle leaves the starting line before the Christmas Tree is activated; In past tense, either red-lighted or red-lit is accepatble. (n., v., adj.) Hyphenated only when used as an adjective or verb. Example (v.) He red-lighted. Example
(adj.) His red-light foul wasted a career-best E.T. Example (n.) He turned on the red light. Rocky Mountain Nationals Castrol Raceway, Edmonton, Alta.
rpm Abbreviation for revolutions per minute
runner-up Plural use is runners-up, not runner-ups
-SSS-
SEMA Specialty Equipment Market Association.
semifinal Not semi-final.
set up (n.) setup (n. and adj.)
show car Not showcar.
Sooner Nationals Tulsa Raceway Park, Tulsa, Okla.
SPEED Cable and satellite television provider of IHRA Nitro Jam national events
sportsman Term to describe competitor in one of seven IHRA sportsman categories.
Lower case in all references.
Spring Nationals Rockingham Dragway, Rockingham, N.C.
staged Final step for cars to get set prior to the start of a drag race.
starting line
Summit Contingency Program
Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour presented by Mr. Gasket
Summit Racing Equipment Allstars presented by Mr. Gasket
Summit SuperSeries World Championship
Summit Team Finals
supercharger Avoid using the slang term “blower.”
-TTT-
Teen Championship Racing
Top Fuel Capitalize first letter in both words.
Top 10 Capitalized when used as a proper noun. Example: It was his first appearance in the Top 10. Lower case in all other references. Example: He was listed as one of the top 10 drivers of the year. Lower case and hyphenated when used as an
adjective. Example: He posted the fifth top-ten finish of his career.
Tournament Of Champions
Tracks Castrol Raceway, Edmonton, Alta. Dallas Raceway, Crandall, Texas. Grand Bend Motorplex, Grand Bend, Ont. Maryland International Raceway, Budds Creek, Md. New England Dragway, Epping, N.H. Rockingham Dragway, Rockingham, N.C. State Capitol Raceway, Baton Rouge, La. Tulsa Raceway Park, Tulsa, Okla. US 131 Motorsports Park, Martin, Mich.
Track Rescue Official safety team for IHRA
turbocharger, turbocharged
-UUU-
-VVV-
victory Preferable to win, which is a verb.
VP Racing Fuels
-WWW-
Web site
Wells Fargo Motorsports Insurance Program
wheelbase One word.
winners circle
World Finals Rockingham Dragway, Rockingham, N.C. |
IHRA Style Guide |