Many people picture Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars when NHRA is mentioned, and I can’t say that I blame them. If you’ve ever been near either one of those monsters when they launch and you feel the sucker-punch impact of their power or, if you’re really lucky, understand how nitromethane can sting oh so good, you know why those who aren’t as into cars dial in their focus on the heavy hitters. But if you ask me, any day, what I’d like to see, the Sportsman stuff wins every time. Sorry, but it just does. I’ve got nothing against Larry Dixon’s digger or the Force family and their fleet of racers, but I will always have more interest in a guy unloading a small-tire Nova off of an open trailer first. It’s the roots of what led to big-name racing: enthusiasts who wanted to race but didn’t have cubic dollars to play with. That’s why you see cars like a mid-1990s Pontiac Grand Am yanking the wheels. That’s why the big shows at these events are the Comp classes, the diggers, and old Pro Stockers that are on their second or third life. There were even a couple of Pro Stock Truck bodies roaming around, which is something I never got to see when it was active (the class was axed in 2001, two years before I even saw my first drag strip.)

From the moment they unloaded until the moment the Wallys were handed out, these racers bust their humps making things work. They test. They break and rebuild. Walking the pits, you might find a barbecue going and the next stall, a rear axle is out of a Camaro, the pumpkin sitting on a floor jack, while four guys thrash to fix whatever fragged out in the case in time for the next round. That’s why I dig Sportsman racing.

Click on a photo below to check out our final gallery from the Jegs NHRA SPORTSNationals 2017 event!