(Photos by Charles Wickam) – Among my personal favorite classes in drag racing, top sportsman and top dragster rank really high. Why? The cars are fast, unique, and each division around the country seems to have its own personality. Down in Texas, those men and women seriously love their nitrous. There was ONE blown car in top sportsman and the rest were either mega-inch naturally aspirated or breathing loads of happy gas. Top dragster was more evenly split but there were more ProCharger equipped cars than I had ever seen at an NHRA national event. It was radical!

Wickam was on the wall when top sportsman and top dragster were running and he captured the coolest cars in the classes. My absolute favorite? The car featured in the lead image above. You have seen it here before but that is John Robinson’s Cummins powered, Fiat-bodied altered. A 390ci engine produces more than 2,000hp and more than 3,000 lb/ft of torque thanks to 150psi of boost and lots of fuel. John has run the car deep into the six second range and keeps on trucking. It is a sight to behold with a column of soot coming out of the exhaust on its way down the track and the crowd loved it.

Enough rambling…here’s the photos!