Dubbin Motorsports will debut a new Top Alcohol Dragster entry at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals, August 20-23 at Brainerd International Raceway, with team owner Dean Dubbin returning to the driver’s seat. The car blends design elements from two different chassis types into a single hybrid configuration the drag racing industry has dubbed the “Funster.”
The name blends Funny Car and Dragster, and it fits the machine perfectly: a 250‑inch‑wheelbase chassis built with a Funny Car–style back‑half and an extended dragster front section. Chase Copeland constructed the chassis in 2025, and it made a single appearance at last season’s Texas Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas. At that event, the car used the standard 4-Disc Clutch setup.
Dean Dubbin has campaigned Top Alcohol Dragsters out of Little Falls for decades, most recently alternating driving duties in the team’s conventional A/Fuel Dragster with Kirk Wolf. The Funster is a parallel project, not a replacement for the existing A/Fuel program.
Power comes from a 451ci Noonan block topped with Noonan A/Fuel cylinder heads equipped with Manton rocker arms, fed by an Earp fuel pump, with a Trick Titanium bellhousing for safety – all consistent with the injected‑nitromethane architecture used across today’s A/Fuel Dragster field. The power is routed through a Strange top‑loader rear end with a B&J reverser for backing up. The car rides on Sanders wheels and carries a Racepak data logger system. The rear downforce comes from a Yancy dual‑element wing, with a standard dragster front wing up front for stability and control.
This is where the Funster diverges sharply from class convention, and where the innovation begins.
Instead of the long‑standing four‑disc centrifugal clutch, the Funster uses a 12.3‑inch non‑lockup Neil Chance torque converter paired with a billet Quick Drive unit. This combination has never competed in NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster.
Converter drives are not new to NHRA’s alcohol ranks; supercharged Top Alcohol Funny Car and Top Alcohol Dragster teams have used them for more than 30 years. Dubbin himself spent many seasons as one of the quickest converter‑equipped cars in the country before switching to injected nitro in 2021. What makes the Funster unique is pairing converter architecture with an injected‑nitro engine, rather than a blown‑methanol combination.
The engineering question at the center of the project is how the drivetrain manages torque delivery at the launch. A slipping centrifugal clutch sheds torque to control wheel speed – the traditional tuning method in A/Fuel. A converter behaves much differently.
“A torque converter behaves differently than a clutch pack under slip, multiplying torque rather than shedding it, meaning the drive unit combined with the stator and converter pump combination will have to regulate applied torque to get the car off the starting line without overpowering the tires,” Dubbin explained.
The Top Alcohol Funny Car and Dragster categories have undergone a steady stream of rule changes over the past four years, all aimed at boosting interest and participation. ECU‑controlled, electronically fuel‑injected, torque‑converter–driven methanol combinations – along with the introduction of the A/Fuel Funny Car concept – were intended to serve as modern class builders. Instead, they’ve struggled to deliver the growth officials had hoped for.
Performance from these new configurations has been undeniably strong, often rivaling or surpassing traditional setups. But the barrier to entry has only grown higher. The cost and the specialized knowledge required to run an EFI/ECU‑based alcohol program, and the steep learning curve associated with injected nitromethane tuning have collectively limited adoption. For many younger teams looking to break in, the sophistication and cost of the new technology have outweighed its potential benefits, leaving the class no better positioned – and in some cases more fragmented – than before the attempted overhauls.
Dubbin is approaching the Funster project with caution and patience.
“I’m in no hurry to set any records or do anything silly. I don’t want to ruin a bunch of really expensive one‑off parts by doing something stupid. We need to gather as much information as we can every time down the track. There are some really smart and experienced people involved with this. I think we can make steady progress if we stick to the plan on every run,” said Dubbin.
He also acknowledges the project’s potential to stir debate.
“I’m aware this is going to be viewed differently by people in the class. I’ve done all the regular things: raced the blown‑alcohol car, raced the injected‑nitro car. It’s time for something different. This is a very unique combination that some people say won’t work, and I say: why not? Let’s do it.”
Dubbin continued, “I have no illusion that it’s a class builder, and I don’t think people are going to quit racing because of it either. I just want to put it on the track, get input from smart people, and have fun trying to make something completely new run competitively. Maybe it will be competitive and maybe it won’t, but let’s have some fun and find out.”
The Funster will run at Brainerd as a second entry for Dubbin Motorsports. The team’s standard A/Fuel Dragster, which recently tested at Indy, will also compete, continuing its 2026 Lucas Oil Series campaign with Kirk Wolf driving.
The post Dubbin Motorsports Set to Debut the “Funster” In Top Alcohol Dragster At Brainerd first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
