Drag racing is a famous motor racing sport which is usually performed by professional automobile or motorcycle drivers. The race is performed on an artificially built straight racing track, followed by a short racing distance of minimum 1000 ft. (305 m) to 1320 ft. (402 m).
The sport is believed to be originated in the United States where two participants participated in the head-on-head racing competition from the starting side of the flat drag strip to the finishing line. Meanwhile, the speed of the racers to cover the track was also recorded to determine the winner.
The riders in the sport have the only aim to cover the racing track as fast as possible to reach first at the finishing line. All the participants are required to line up in the parallel lanes, present at the starting line with the aid of an electronic device known as the "Christmas Tree", present in between the lane. The competitors, during the elimination round, have to undergo some special categories. Drag racing is a team sport where apart from the driver, others are involved for the maintenance of the automobiles.
The sport is considered to emerge in the California desert's dry lake beds. With the advancement of the motor engines, the speeds would reach up to 100 mph. The popularity of speed racing began along with drag racing as an underground sporting event. The first-ever event organized for the drag racing dates in 1949, held at California's Goleta Air Base. With the popularization of drag racing, the National Hot Rod Association (N.H.R.A.) was established in 1951 by Wally Parks. In a decade, two successful competitions of different classes were conducted. This includes the 'Unmodified Stock' and the 'Top Eliminator' classes.
By the 1960s, more technical changes took place where electric lights were replaced in place of the earlier flagmen who used to stand between the participating cars and directs the signal to start.
In 1957 the N.H.R.A. banned the usage of nitro-methane, but by 1963 the ban was removed by the efforts of C.J. Hart. In the same era, many big brands such as the Fords, Chrysler etc. started to battle to design new versions of drag racing cars. At the same time, Funny Cars were introduced which were built by a single fibreglass piece and were required to lift so that the drivers can get inside them. Since 1970, the sport has evolved as a modern, thrilling adventurous one, for which major companies started sponsoring along with N.H.R.A. sponsorship and huge money prizes.
Car Drag Racing
It is a variant of the regular drag racing competition, which is performed by using automobiles such as cars and jeeps. ,
Motorcycle Drag Racing
It is a variant of the regular drag racing in which the participants drive a motorcycle to complete their race. The riders are required to accelerate up to
¼ mile long. The two participants compete against each other on the track and try to reach the finish line first. Both the participants start their race by lining up on the starting line drag strip and move on straight to their respective lanes segmented end line.,
Bracket Racing
It is a popular variant of drag racing, which involves a fair race between two vehicles with a varying potential difference. Bracket racing aims to highlight the potential of a driver with the cars. So it is not judged on the basis of speed but skills.
