Unless the rock you live under is not equipped with the internet or any other form of electronic communication you probably know that one of the most historic weekends in small tire drag racing history materialized at Tulsa Raceway Park at the Radial Revenge Tour event during the last weekend in March. What was the historical aspect? The drag radial record was destroyed four times.
In a mind boggling series of events the record dropped nearly half a tenth of a second from the first moment it was broken to the final run that Kyle Heuttel made which set the bar at 3.81 and frankly no one has come close since. The weekend as amazing for those of us who are fans of the sport but it was concerning for people who actually compete because when 3.80s become a normal elapsed time to run and compete with, it will rapidly demoralize those guys who cannot come close and they will; be out of this deal in a no time. Don’t get us wrong, it is the nature of the business but it is still the downside of the massive excitement generated by those titanic numbers.
This is a cool video because Kyle and the 1320Video crew were in the house and did a fantastic job highlighting the people and the runs that drove the record to near subterranean levels. His top end interview with Dwayne Mills is pretty awesome and so it the moment where the guys in the Camaro completely bust chops on the return road is solid as well.
The most amazing piece of footage? Watching Kyle Heuttel in-car. That Corvette drives like a freaking Cadillac and runs about as straight as it can possibly go. Just an awesome video here.
Not to sound like an old man, but I was a “fan” back when the first “fastest street car” race happened in Memphis (1994?). Pro Street cars ran 8’s and it was a big deal. I then watched as Pro Street got so quick, racers bailed and went to the 10.5 tire class. I remember when the Landon Jordan showed up in Orlando for the 10.5 tire class with a backhalved car and a R&M motor and people gasped “A back half car with small tires? Why?” That was a big deal for while until the cars got too quick (Outlaw 10.5, Tim Lynch, Bill Glidden) for most people’s wallet. At that time Drag Radial (with stock suspension) was taking off. I was a bracket racer in Florida at that time, so I was at most of the races in the infancy of Drag Radial. Pcokets got deeper, motors got bigger, turbos got bigger, and Dave H(?) went 6’s at Bradenton for the first time. After that, “no more 1/4 mile” says the insurance company, so they all go 1/8 mile. After a few years, promoters got tired of arguing over what “stock suspension” meant, so Duck (look it up) ditched all the rules. Now we have a Drag Radial “Record Holder” that can’t start itself (see video). Enjoy it while it lasts. Drag Radial will dwindle to nothing in a few years, just like 10.5 and Pro Street before it. Can we just fast forward a few years and see a Nitro Funny Car with Drag Radials? Don’t laugh. Somebody will try it, and the rest of us mortal racers will just part out our cars on Craigslist. This is progress, but in the wrong direction.
I just want to check. You do realize that this radial vs. the world class is the equivalent to pro-modified cars. They are the no holds barred (minus tire) type racing for the high dollar teams. No part of this class is street car, cheap or pretending to be.
They do have a bunch of other classes for that. 8.5 and 275 have a whole bunch of different classes to meet the budgets of racers and teams.
No prep is pretty crazy to me, and I’m not really a fan of it because its to risky for no reason. They do crash, a lot on tracks so covered in glue people literally loose their shoes.
Good observations on the progression of the sport though. I imagine we will see a nitro-radial car one day and lots of drivers will move on to whatever is the next thing to come up the pipeline. Drag racing isn’t going anywhere, just the “classes”.
Just to clarify – you’re confusing my reference to “street cars” with this whole Street Outlaws, no prep garbage. That movement is fairly recent compared to what I’m talking about. The very roots of “Drag Radial” racing are in the “fastest street car” realm of racing from back around 1995. It certainly didn’t come from NHRA. What you are seeing now in the above video is a degradation of the original rules package to a point that now we are putting drag radials on a Pro Mod and calling it “Drag Radial” racing. Why not just call it “Pro Mod with new tire rules”. The purpose of limiting the tire to begin with was to keep the class in check and try to keep it accessible for at least a few. Now, it’s just “lets see how fast we can go on that tire” In reality, the tire itself is kind of pointless at this stage. Mickey Thompson has made that tire work as good as any slick. We know that, so why are we making a big deal out of a Pro Mod on Drag Radials?
That clarifies it a lot! Never really thought about it that way. I like 235 type racing myself. The cars have a bunch of restrictions on the chassis, engine suspension and tire. They even need carpet, dash and door panels.
Thanks!
I guess its the nature of competition. Meet or beat … bigger and better … etc.
I can appreciate the “rules” issues tho and the reality of trying to define “Street” or any of the other multitudes of classes.
Excellent, insightful opinion Jeff – the only thing left out was this new ‘suicide pact’ of ‘no prep’ racing – these guys are already barrel rolling on a regular basis on ‘prepped’ tracks! – makes for some cool you-tube videos though…..
Please don’t get me wrong I love drag racing and the evolution of the sport but not at the expense of lives for entertainment purposes