{"id":101088,"date":"2025-06-06T18:18:58","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T18:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/opinion-nhras-new-tad-tafc-combo-isnt-the-fix-it-thinks-it-is\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T18:18:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T18:18:58","slug":"opinion-nhras-new-tad-tafc-combo-isnt-the-fix-it-thinks-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/opinion-nhras-new-tad-tafc-combo-isnt-the-fix-it-thinks-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: NHRA\u2019s New TAD\/TAFC Combo Isn\u2019t the Fix It Thinks It Is"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve grown up around blown alcohol dragsters. The raw, mechanical symphony of a supercharged methanol engine screaming down the track has always defined the heart and soul of Top Alcohol Dragster for me. There\u2019s just something about that noise, the visceral rumble, the launch off the line \u2013 that an injected nitro<\/a> car simply can\u2019t match. So when I heard about NHRA\u2019s decision<\/a> to introduce a supercharged nitromethane<\/em> combination to the Top Alcohol ranks in 2026, I had mixed emotions.<\/p>\n

On paper, I get it. NHRA is hoping this move will increase car counts and provide a more natural stepping stone to the nitro classes. But to me, this feels more like a band-aid on a bullet wound. The real issue isn\u2019t engine configuration \u2013 it\u2019s visibility, scheduling and investment.<\/p>\n

The hard truth is this: even if this new combo pulls more cars into the lanes, many of them are likely to be the \u201ccast-offs\u201d from the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Maybe these are the nitro cars that can\u2019t cut it at the top level \u2013 cars that are prone to oil downs, costly explosions and inconsistent performance. Anyone who has spent time at the track knows what that means \u2013 more downtime, more delays and more headaches. That\u2019s the exact opposite of what this class needs if it wants to appeal to fans and track operators.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not pretend we don\u2019t see where this is going. If the supercharged nitro combo takes off, it\u2019s only a matter of time before the blown alcohol cars \u2013 the ones many of us grew up watching \u2013 are quietly phased out. That\u2019s not progress. That\u2019s erasure.<\/p>\n

In fact, we\u2019re on a slippery slope toward what\u2019s essentially a two-tiered Funny Car Chaos model. The \u201creal\u201d nitro show runs in the big leagues, while the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series becomes a dumping ground for second-tier nitro combos. Is that really the future NHRA envisions for its premier sportsman categories?<\/p>\n

Even worse, I fear these Top Alcohol classes are still going to run at 8 a.m. or 10 p.m. when the stands are empty. No engine combo \u2013 no matter how exciting or \u201cstepping stone\u201d it may be \u2013 will fix the fact that these cars are being hidden in plain sight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even championship tuner Steve Boggs and four-time TAFC world champion Sean Bellemeur addressed this issue in the DI #193 cover story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no secret that Top Alcohol Funny Car needs something,\u201d said Bellemeur. \u201cThe car counts have been dwindling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boggs stated,\u201d They\u2019ve let the class get boring.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp until 1998, we were part of the show. We run before the fuel cars, behind the fuel cars. Our final rounds were on TV,\u201d said Boggs. \u201cWe had three big races a year that paid us $10,00 to $15,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what else happened that was going on in 1998? Those stands were full, and people loved drag racing, and they didn\u2019t go nearly as fast as they do now, but they didn\u2019t care. There was noise, there were flames, there was everything they wanted. Fast forward today, they [NHRA] keep telling us the cars are going away. I said, you\u2019re running them off. \u2018We\u2019re not running them off,\u2019 they answer. You treat us like crap. You cancel our runs and you run us early in the morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe run maybe one or two rounds at a national event in front of the crowd, and you don\u2019t do anything with us. We spend 15 hours a day at the race track. We\u2019ve got to be the first ones out there and the last ones to leave at night and the first ones to come back the next morning. I said, You know what they\u2019ve gotten themselves into? They\u2019ve got so many categories that they physically cannot run them,\u201d continued Boggs.<\/p>\n

The problem is the schedule. The problem is the lack of promotion. The problem is that NHRA isn\u2019t investing in the class where it counts \u2013 eyeballs, exposure, and meaningful marketing.<\/p>\n

For the record, not everyone running in Top Alcohol is chasing a nitro dream. For many, this is<\/em> the dream. This is where they want to be. They\u2019re not looking to graduate into Top Fuel or Funny Car. They\u2019re racers in their prime, not prospects in waiting.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s also talk money. Sponsorship in drag racing is already like trying to squeeze blood from a stone. Is NHRA going to sweeten the purse? Will there be financial incentives for teams to adopt this new combo, or is it just another way to shift costs onto racers who are already strapped? Until there\u2019s a real plan to promote this class and provide sustainable support, it\u2019s hard to see this as anything more than another experiment in wishful thinking.<\/p>\n

The blown alcohol cars \u2013 their sound, their roots, their legacy \u2013 deserve more than to be quietly replaced by a trend. They deserve a schedule slot fans can see, a purse that\u2019s worthwhile racing for and a sanctioning body that sees their value not just as feeder cars, but as a vital part of the drag racing ecosystem.<\/p>\n

This new combo might open a few doors, but it doesn\u2019t fix the foundation. And unless NHRA is willing to address the real problems, all they\u2019re doing is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published on June 6, 2025. \"Drag<\/p>\n

The post OPINION: NHRA\u2019s New TAD\/TAFC Combo Isn\u2019t the Fix It Thinks It Is<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve grown up around blown alcohol dragsters. The raw, mechanical symphony of a supercharged methanol engine screaming down the track has always defined the heart and soul of Top Alcohol Dragster for me. There\u2019s just something about that noise, the visceral rumble, the launch off the line \u2013 that an injected nitro car simply can\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101088\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}