I ran these, 9 years apart, 2012 vs 2021. TA/FC then Top Sportsman. I know it's not TAD versus Top Dragster, but it is still comparable.
TA/FC, Brad Anderson engine combination, 14 years ago, 5.50's which was very competitive at the time.
Top Sportsman, Rick Jones Camaro with a new Sonny Leonard (almost 800 cubic inch) Hemi. 6.60's to 6.70's every run in decent air. All you had to do was cool it between runs and put more fuel in it.
TA/FC required between four and five crewmembers to keep up, all the time. We went through a ton of parts and maintained it like a funny car. I had three engines, and I would cycle parts rather than waiting for them to cycle themselves.
Top Sportsman, my wife and I and another couple friend of ours would run it for the whole weekend, even on the double divisionals. Our biggest expense was what was for dinner.
Best way to describe the difference in expense between the two would be to just add another zero or two to the Top Sportsman budget to get to the funny car $$ total. And we were by far, not the biggest spenders out there. The last race we ran my TA/FC at was the 2012 Pomona Winternationals, and we won it. NHRA paid us $5,000. Then contingency sponsors with every decal on the car was less than $3,200. In the semifinals against Tony Bartone, we dropped number two intake valve, but managed to win the round. The damage from that one run alone cost us more than the winning the entire event.
I always felt like this. Some people's budget for fun is riding a bike down a river trail. For other people, it's 100 of your favorite friends taking a cruise in your 60' yaught off the coast of Newport. For most of us, it's somewhere in between. Decide what you can do, go do it, and have fun.