(Photos by David Whealon – DW-photos.net) – In many ways it is the most controversial race on the entire NHRA Mello Yello drag racing tour. The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods had it’s seventh running last weekend and by all accounts it was the most massively popular one ever held. zMax Dragway announced a sell out crowd on Saturday and despite crummy weather on Friday the fans showed up then as well. Sunday? It was jamming in the cavernous strip from start to finish. While the professional heads up action being run on the four wide format has been going on for seven years, a new wrinkle came in the 2016 running of the race. Super Comp and super gas both qualified four wide. It was the first time in the long history of the NHRA that sportsman cars were ever run four wide at a national event.
That was a pretty controversial move, to be honest. People that were running in the classes were vocal on social media about their concerns and how they thought the four wide qualifying may really screw up their normal procedures and preparation during that part of the weekend. Well, the fears were all for naught because they handled it perfectly. Triple zero reaction times, near perfect runs, and few signs anything was outside the norm gave those racers an experience to remember and it has the rest of us thinking that next year there will be more four wide sportsman action to behold. It was awesome. Their eliminations were held the side-by side fashion that the racers are used to.
Professional winners were Andrew Hines in pro stock bike, Jason Line in pro stock, Brittany Force in top fuel, and then Tim Wilkerson in funny car.
We’re going to be back with more sportsman coverage soon but until then, dig these four wide professional class photos by our man David Whealon. The noise is stunning, the pedaling is stunning, and the results from Charlotte were stunning this year as well. A sell out crowd, to boot!
Click the images below to expand them and then scroll through to see them all!
Oh boy, the WWE-ing of the NHRA has gone 100%. Stuff like this is one reason I haven’t been to a NHRA even in over 15 years. Prior to that I was at the track virtually every single weekend from April-October, for a solid 10 years. I have so many friends who quit going, and many who competed in the sportsman classes. None of them attend now, and all sold their cars.
This is just a traveling circus side show. Bruton gets all of his performing monkey owners and drivers together to perform for the Goobers and gets richer doing it.
One of these days, this stunt will end in disaster.
I took in the 4-Wide in 2013 when I was in the US and had an absolute blast there. Sure it’s a gimmick – one that I would suggest is unsustainable in the long term, but it was a great thing to see. Probably wouldn’t make the effort to do so again though.
Are you trying to rub salt into my wounds?
As I live in the middle of a drag racing desert in the north east of England with not even one eighth-mile drag strip you show me this! Four lanes of automotive insanity and four times the thrills – all I can say is I’m glad your’e getting the foul weather as well and I hope they’re racing 4-abreast snowmobile drags on the 4th of July.
Greedy buggers indeed….
This ain’t drag racing. It’s carnival side-show b-s. I grew up a two miles from Maple Grove, used to ride my bike to the drags in the late 70’s. You could lean on the guard rail and watch Stock and Super Stock’s for hours on end. That’s drag racin’.