Is there a reason there seem to be more funny cars than top fuelers?

[Steve Wayne]

I love both but have always been a funny car guy. I remember being a kid, we were poor and only could pick up 2 channels. We came home one evening and turned on the tv and the first thing I saw was John Force and KC Spurlock doing long smoky burnouts and I was hooked. I’ve always tended to feel like the casual fan or anyone who doesn’t know much or anything about drag racing associates with the dragsters, but the die hards tend lean towards funny cars as their favorite.
As far as the IHRA, I wouldn’t rule out 16 car fields if the cars show up. There were a couple races this past year that they had a bunch of pro mod cars and ended up everyone raced on race day. The IHRA is built for the racers, and I think if the cars show up they are gonna let them race.

 

[nickbell]

Just got this hatpin a few days ago, it's a new tooling (sorry for the sh**y picture. I don't feel so good)
It's the late 1980s and from Hollis, New Hampshire Dick & Charlie Bell "Bell Boys" Ford Probe Alky Flopper...Just Bitchin

View attachment 16641

where did this pin come from? I've never seen it before.

nick bell

 

[ironpony]

where did this pin come from? I've never seen it before.

nick bell

I am guessing, retired toolmakers opinion, when he says "new tooling" it is a new original pin or a re-pop on new tooling

 

[DragFan2]

i think ihra's '26 season will reveal a lot. if the majority of the nitro entries tend to run a tick slower than nhra regulars, that's ok if the racing is competitive, which i think it will be.

Mike, I assume you mean the nitro cars might run a few ticks slower than NHRA racers run at the 1/8th mile as next year all the IHRA races will be 1/8th mile events. Kinda hard to compare apples to apples between the two sanctioning bodies, but at least the IHRA races will be competetive between their racers.

 

[ironpony]

People keep boo hooing the 1/8 mile decision, look around at other 1/8 mile events, they are packed. The real answer is going to be if racers show up, if IHRA events start drawing big fields obviously they made the right decision for the racers. Actual full fields and qualifying that means something, might get bumped.
Less cost to run the car, more people participate. Will it replace the big show ? no but I do not think they want to. They want to get more people out racing which will benefit everyone. NHRA big show is entertainment for the fans that like the circus not the people who want to race

 

[Joe]

People keep boo hooing the 1/8 mile decision, look around at other 1/8 mile events, they are packed. The real answer is going to be if racers show up, if IHRA events start drawing big fields obviously they made the right decision for the racers. Actual full fields and qualifying that means something, might get bumped.
Less cost to run the car, more people participate. Will it replace the big show ? no but I do not think they want to. They want to get more people out racing which will benefit everyone. NHRA big show is entertainment for the fans that like the circus not the people who want to race

Exactly right. We went to Dunn and at our hotel many of the IHRA officials stayed there also. When ask,they all said,we provide the race,racers can decide where they go. IHRA is doing its own thing and it greatly benefits the lower to mid tier nitro teams.

 

[twostep]

NHRA Top Fuel declined precipitously in the early 80s to the point many people feared the class would become extinct. I don't believe that'll happen now but the issues 40 years ago were not at all unlike they are today.

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Much of this can be applied to funny cars also and indeed, we don't see the participants in numbers we saw in the past. I believe that two of the reasons they retain more popularity are the aforementioned sponsor display on the car itself and the fact that FC's are still more exciting for fans since they somewhat relate to what people drive. TF cars don't relate to anything except themselves.

If I wind the clock back to 1968 I recall the first nitro FC pass I ever witnessed, Mike Burkhart's Doran Chevrolet Camaro at Green Valley Raceway in Ft. Worth. Ran something like 7.80/190. I was ten times more excited than watching John Force reel off a 3.82/338 pass at the 'Plex a few years back. I wish I could go back to those days. I'm all for progress but there's times when I question if it was really progress at all, just because the stats say it was. And that's why that despite my love for the long cars I'll always be a flopper fan at heart.

 

[Cliff]

Always loved the dragsters, just cuz they were the fastest. No funny cars in 1961, but A/Gas Supercharged was a class even the dragster fans loved. Always think of A/GS as grandfather of F/C. I guess Pro Mod is closest thing to A/GS today.

 

[Rocket Man]

and?