The Golden Years of Drag Racing

Class Wars
Full-bodied cars were not to be left behind thanks to Detroit manufacturers' involvement. In 1962, NHRA introduced Factory Experimental (FX), signaling the separation between street cars and race cars. It's difficult to tell from today's Super Stock, Pro Stock and Funny Cars that they're descendents of the same class. After General Motors pulled out of drag racing in 1963, Ford heated up the Super Stock wars in 1964 with its Fairlane Thunderbolt. That same year, Chrysler countered by installing its new 426 Hemi engine in lightweight Dodge and Plymouth bodies. In 1965, Ford switched to FX, while Chrysler built both Super Stockers and FX cars.


FX cars were highly modified stock vehicles with the front and rear wheels moved forward to shift weight rearward for better traction. Toss in a fiberglass hood, bumpers and fenders; add a nitro-burning engine and you've got an all-out FX car. Some of the hottest early FX cars included "Dyno" Don Nicholson's Comet, the Malco Gasser and Gas Rhonda Mustangs and the Mr. Norm's Dodge. By 1966, the sparse rules allowed manufacturers to build even more radical machines. Mercury led the charge by having Logghe Stamping build four tube chassis cars for different teams around the U.S. Each had a straight front axle and the driver sat in the center. Ford 427 single overhead cam "Cammer" V-8 engines on nitro provided power. Most radical were the one-piece fiberglass bodies—the first ever produced. Without working doors, each Comet body hinged at the rear of the chassis so it could be lifted for the driver to enter—a design still used today on what we now know as Funny Cars.


But, where did that leave the Super Stock class? Well, even though the Big Three were building some of the hottest cars to ever grace a showroom, there were few Super Stockers built after 1966. The lone exception was the limited run of 1968 Hemi Barracudas and Dodge Darts, many of which still run in Super Stock today. By 1970, NHRA needed a way to keep car manufacturers interested in drag racing as Funny Cars strayed farther from stock vehicles. NHRA's solution was Pro Stock. Unlike Super Stock, which featured cars with stock engines and bodies, Pro Stockers ran radical big-block race engines, yet retained factory bodywork. Popular drivers included Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, Dick Landy, Sox & Martin, and later, Bob Glidden.

Funny Cars
As Funny Cars grew in popularity, Top Fuelers no longer drew big crowds. By 1969, many dragster drivers had switched to Funny Cars. However, a memorable, yet tragic event in March 1970 would change Top Fuel forever. While leaving the starting line at Lions Drag Strip, Don Garlits' front-motored dragster suffered a huge transmission explosion, cutting the car in half and severing Garlits' right foot. What is now regarded as one of drag racing's great defining moments, Garlits decided he'd never drive a dragster with the engine in front again and vowed to build a viable rear-engined car. Even though many tried the rear-engine format, no one had been successful. At the 1971 Winternationals in Pomona, Garlits drove his rear-engined Swamp Rat XIV to the Top Fuel victory. Thanks to Garlits' perseverance and with help from chassis builder Connie Swingle, the two solved steering problems that plagued other rear-engine cars and Top Fuel was changed forever. Within two years, every competitive Top Fuel car had the engine behind the driver.


By the mid-1970s, drag racing had again advanced. IHRA was launched as a new sanctioning body, while AHRA was fading. Large corporations now sponsored individual Top Fuel and Funny Car teams, allowing them to transition from volunteer help to paid crewmembers, while rolling workshops replaced tiny homebuilt trailers. In 1975, Winston became NHRA's first Series sponsor, helping boost prize money and establishing an annual points fund. For the first time, NHRA had true national champions in each of its nine classes. Drag racing had entered the big time and there was no turning back.


As drag racing entered the 1980s, Funny Cars had surpassed Top Fuel as the most popular class. IHRA dropped Top Fuel altogether and NHRA was having trouble filling 16 car Top Fuel fields. However, this death sentence proved premature. By 1985, Top Fuel was again the fan favorite thanks to sponsors like Mr. Gasket and the return of Don Garlits to NHRA competition after a 5-year absence. By the early 1990s, Funny Car ace Don Prudhomme moved back to Top Fuel and John Force took over as the king of Funny Cars, winning 11 NHRA championships in the process. Kenny Bernstein also made the transition to Top Fuel and recorded the sport's first 300-mph run in 1992, a mark few thought attainable only 10 years earlier. Dragstrips kept pace with car performance by improving track surfaces, while fans enjoyed upgraded spectator amenities. As NHRA celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2001, drag racing has been positioned to remain one of the world's favorite motorsports for years to come.