‘Drag racing lite’?

I attended the IHRA Sooner Nationals at Tulsa Raceway Park this past weekend and have a few observations about the event as a whole.

As you noted, the car counts were very light in all classes. Top Fuel had 10 entries, which was okay given it is an eight-car field, however, with the light counts in Pro Mod and Pro Stock and the elimination of all funny car classes the show was minimal at best.

The Saturday Night of Fire show, which is usually the highlight of IHRA events, was a major disappointment. We came out before the second round of qualifying but the fans that just came out for the NOF, which started at 7 p.m., must have felt slighted as the jet semi was heading down the track at 8:30 p.m. A 90-minute show for over 30 bucks.... I don't think so!

Since we are twelve minutes away from the track, it is a pleasure to be able to watch a national event on our home track, but I probably will save up the dollars and attend an NHRA event in the future as the IHRA has really dropped back to bottom tier entertainment compared to the other sanctioning bodies around now. That is sad considering the new owner has so many resources.

Where is Bill Bader when you need him? Oh yeah, he switched to NHRA....

Matt
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Whose is biggest?

I just read about Frank Tamez using an 892-inch engine. What is the largest cubic inch being used today in competition?

Paul Wooten
Missouri

Engine builders Sonny Leonard and Gene Fulton both build 900-inch engines.