How Technology Is Changing Street Racing – From growing classes to sophisticated manufacturing techniques, we tap into the many trends guiding the market’s new racing season.
Boosted by innovation, opportunity and a product pipeline churning out parts faster than Greyhound at Red Bull, the straight-line segment is poised for another strong campaign in 2021. In fact, drag racers have more options than ever when it comes to cars. , engine combinations, and race types. High-paying events are taking place at quarter- and eighth-mile dragstrips across the country, and car counts at many are at their highest levels in years.
How Technology Is Changing Street Racing
At the same time, manufacturers in the performance aftermarket are developing effective, affordable drag racing products, and bringing them to market faster for improved distribution and/or delivery.
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For a market that never stops evolving, meeting key stakeholders and taking stock of what’s trending can be challenging. Fortunately, we are on the job. So, with that in mind we present 10 front-burner developments for drag race suppliers, resellers, competitors, promoters, and more heading into the new season.
Racing on unprepared track surfaces has become all the rage, mainly because of big-name cable TV series like Street Outlaws and No-Prep Kings. But beyond the personalities and reality show drama, there’s an important reason why this kind of race resonates so much with the general public: Lack of traction is a huge equalizer.
“In the no-prep Kings, they’ve got 16-car fields,” said Nolan Zamora of Isky Cams in Gardena, California. “And anybody in the top 10 could win it easily. You just don’t know.”
However, some in the industry suggest that racing on no-prep track surfaces is called “un-prep” with all the old rubber and slippery, hard polymer resins that will be left on the track. – Removed preparatory races. Un-prep is said to be safer than no-prep, while still retaining the low-traction excitement of no-prep.
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“With on-prep, we’re actually scraping all the way to bare concrete,” said Brandon Mass of Mass Traction, Wellington, Florida. “We are starting from the base level. We remove all the glue and rubber from the track, and then clean it. I’d say you’ll get a lot more within the next year and a half.”
For years, bracket racing was the de facto standard for all but the top classes in drag racing. But it seems things have now come full circle, returning to the heads-up drag events.
“I really think people like: Heads up – go all out,” Zamora said. “It’s very interesting, because whoever gets to the end wins first. If the car is fast, it’s fast. He didn’t beat me because he left the line a 1,000th of a second early and didn’t get out.”
Although heads-up racing has a lot of buzz about it these days, bracket racing still maintains a large following. “Index racing makes up most of the market,” said David Rehr of Rehr-Morrison Racing Engines, Arlington, Texas. “There are bracket races with 300, 400, 500 cars all over the country. People supply them with a lot of parts, and it’s a big group. “
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And now, like today’s high-profile heads-up events, bracket racing is also getting its share of big-dollar events. “The next big thing is probably going to be bracket racing at a level you’ve never seen before,” Maas said. You can literally fill your schedule with big-money bracket races — I’m talking $50,000 to $100,000.”
Today’s drag racers rely on advanced technology to reach unprecedented performance levels with a wide array of engine and car combinations. “It’s not the horsepower, it’s how the power is executed,” said our source at Holley Performance Products.
Dual-use cars have always been a major player in drag racing, especially at the hobby end of the market. But in recent years, demanding events like Drag Week have popularized the notion of ultra-refined street-strip cars. It basically redefined what was possible for a dual-purpose car, with competitors driving hundreds of miles on the road and then making sub-six-second quarter-mile passes.
Such events are becoming very popular. According to Hot Rod Magazine’s website, online registration for the first Hot Rod Drag Week event in 2020 sold out in less than five minutes.
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Prize money is increasing at many events, and racers are using it to put more into their cars and their team setups. “Because there are so many big-dollar races, it makes sense to invest money,” Zamora said. “You can still win good money if you only go two rounds. Unlike Pro Stock or something like that, where you’re spending $2 million a year and you’re winning $50,000. It doesn’t really cut it. But, for example, With the No-Prep Kings, if you win that race, it’s $40,000.”
And the big dollars aren’t just going into race cars. It’s the whole package. “People are spending more money on everything, not just their engine,” Rehr said. “At the top end, they’re towing a $150,000 – $250,000 trailer behind them. It amazes me. We started with a bumper hitch and an open trailer, going to Indy.”
This may raise the question of what the upper limit is. “I don’t mean it in a bad way, but there are a lot of Czech writers,” said Smitty Smith of Edelbrock, Torrance, Calif. “Like in the pro-nitrous class, it’s over 100 grand for a motor. And you’ve got guys buying two and three at a time. The average racer can’t afford that.”
As prices fall and the knowledge base becomes larger and more accessible, technology diminishes. It has also given local hobby racers access to equipment and techniques that were not long ago the exclusive domain of top pro teams. “The local grassroots guys are running more pro setups now,” Zamora said. “Bracket racing used to be 10s and 12s. Now the standard is 7s and 8s. These guys don’t fool around anymore. “
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Most important among teams’ growing sophistication is the ability to compile and analyze data. This is largely due to decreasing prices and increasing capabilities of data-recording setups that allow detailed analysis of each pass. “Everything that’s going on there has a data recorder on it,” Rehr said. “Most simple classes go about it the same way. It’s a data-driven contract.”
The popularity of shows like “Street Outlaws,” shown here during filming, has given racers a whole new appreciation for street-strip cars, unprepared surfaces, and heads-up competition. “I really think that’s what people like: Heads up … whoever gets to the end wins first,” said our source at Isky Racing Cams.
Sophisticated computer control over fuel, nitrous, boost, and ignition is allowing for precision tuning like never before. “You don’t see that old guy adjusting a carburetor with a screwdriver,” Zamora said. “These days, even beginners are tuning on a computer.”
At the same time, horsepower has reached unprecedented levels throughout the sport. Compounding this trend, an increasing number of races are run with limited traction, such as in no-prep events.
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As a result, the win now often comes down to how well the team’s tuner does his job. “It’s not horsepower,” said Joe Pando of Holly/MSD, Bowling Green, Kentucky. It is a matter of how to implement power. And that’s where these systems give you an advantage – to be able to use and bring power systematically, slowly, and making changes between rounds. That’s why these cars are going so fast on slick tracks. “
Thanks to sophisticated CAD systems and 3D printing, manufacturers are designing and customizing new parts faster than ever. “In CAD software, they can simulate airflow before casting,” observed our source at Edelbrock.
Whether it’s nitrous, turbo, or supercharger, power adders have become common in drag racing. Within this broader trend, however, priorities are said to shift to superchargers for the time being, mainly due to current approved body regulations.
Power adders have become common at all levels of the sport, with nitrous, turbochargers and superchargers increasing engine output to levels never seen before. As a result, cars with over 1000 horsepower are now relatively common, like this 1712-hp 2015 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak. Photo courtesy of Holi Performance Products.
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“The big thing was the supercharger, and then it went to the turbocharger,” said Steve Morris of Steve Morris Engines, Muskegon, Michigan. “Now it’s going back to superchargers a little bit. I think it’s the way the promoters set the rules. But they do a good job of equating, so I imagine turbos will come back as the preferred choice – maybe later this year.”
Although not mainstream enough to qualify as a full-blown trend, electric vehicle (EV) drag racing is reaching unprecedented levels of visibility; And it may very well be on the cusp of widespread popularity. (See PRI’s coverage