The Car Classes

Like all forms of motorsports, Drag Racing is split into assorted categories to equalize performance. There are two major groups - the Professional and Sportsman racers. In professional racing two competitors race for the fastest time over a straight quarter of a mile run often reaching breathtaking speeds of nearly 300 mph in 5 seconds!! In Sportsman racing a handicap system is used to provide close racing between cars in a timed bracket.

Top Fuel Dragsters - these cars run on expensive Nitro Methane and can reach speeds of up to 300mph accelerating from 0 - 100mph in under one second!

Top Fuel Funny Cars - also run on Nitro Methane with fibre glass replica bodies on a smaller chassis.

Top Methanol Dragsters - running on less expensive fuel but almost as fast as their nitro cousins and highly competitive.

Top Methanol Funny Cars - like the methanol dragsters these cars are almost as fast as nitro funny cars.

Pro Modified Cars - are the 200mph petrol (or methanol) burning 'fastest cars with doors!" showing the first signs of similarity to a street car using bodies from the 40s to the present day.

Pro Stock Cars - Petrol-burning doorslammers with very tight sets of rules governing appearance and specifications. Cars closely resemble production models, but are capable of hitting 6-second passes on the track! Incredible engineering and amazing racing.

Street Eliminator - These cars must be completely road legal and part of qualification requires a drive on the road to prove this. Using treaded tyres and monster engines (sometimes 11-litre Pro Mod engines!), these cars are like nothing else.

The cars often closely resemble road cars, with full bodywork and lighting equipment compulsory. Remember, these cars need to pass an MOT, but can hit 180mph in 8 seconds!

Super Modified - A pure heads up doorslammer class run with cubic inch to weight restrictions, also limited are engine modifications, nitrous systems, clutch sizes and tyre sizes. There are no turbochargers or superchargers allowed, it all adds up to exciting, close racing.

Competition Eliminator - Handicapped to equalise the vast variety of race machines that can enter this class. No breakout. First over the finish line is the winner.

Super Comp - allows full bodied cars and dragsters running in the 8.90 sec index.

Super Gas - comprises mostly full bodied cars running in the 9.90 index. A well established class with high entries producing competitive and tactical racing.

Super Street - are full-bodied cars running to the 10.90 second index.

Super Pro ET - Cars and dragsters running to indexes between 6.30 and 8.99 seconds.

Pro ET - Cars and dragsters with a bracket of 9-11.99 seconds.

Sportsman ET - Includes a mixture of vehicles running 12 seconds or slower. This is the entry level class for car racing and attracts a huge variety of race cars.

VW Pro - Top-level VW only drag racing with dial-your-own-ET of 12.99 seconds or under.

VW Sportsman - Entry-level VW only drag racing with dial-your-own-ET of over 12.99 seconds.

VW Alternate Engine - VW drag racing that allows non-VW engines. Dial-your-own-ET.

Junior Dragsters - Offering 8-17 year olds the chance to race with the grown-ups!

Street Cars - are the grass roots class and the training ground for all drag racers. Most start by taking part in public Run What Ya Brung (RWYB) track days in their own vehicle. Santa Pod holds RWYB days throughout the season.

The Bike Classes

Drag Bikes - are now hugely popular bringing ever increasing fields to Santa Pod. The full range of classes stretch from Street Bikes all the way to the unique 200mph Top Fuel Bikes. The prestigious UEM Championship is campaigned across Europe with two rounds at Santa Pod. There are three UEM Bike classes.

UEM Top Fuel Bike - Top Fuel Bike is a combination of Top Fuel Bikes, Funny Bikes and Pro Mod Bikes. The Top Fuel Bikes are mostly 4 cylinder motors with a Puma bottom end, billet cylinder heads, screw type supercharger and a fuel injection system that will use around three to four gallons of nitro-methane on each pass.

These two wheel missiles are producing 1000 bhp and are capable of running low 6 seconds at 220 mph plus. Funny Bikes are lighter, more nimble and can be built with a turbo, nitrous oxide or run on alcohol fuels and have run 6.9sec at 197mph. Pro Mod Bikes have restrictions i.e. 68 to 82 inch wheelbase, one stage of nitrous and can only run on petrol, producing 450hp with times of 6.9sec at 200mph but again are very agile.

Super Twin Top Fuel - This hugely popular category is also an "anything goes" class, with the sole restriction being that the machine has a maximum of two cylinders. That means nitromethane, fuel injection and supercharging are in, as are thundering, awe-inspiring high six second 200mph performances.

Some of the Harley-based V twins are approaching 3 litres and they all have that infamous deafening bellow! They draw big fields to fight for the eight bike eliminations and even bigger crowds devoted to Harleys, nitro and great Drag Bike racing.

Pro Stock Bike - Along with Competition Bike, this Pro Stock category really got the UEM Championships off the ground in 1991 and this is the class that has consistently produced some of the closets racing ever since.

These bikes are built to very tightly controlled regs helping to ensure that the emphasis is on rider skill and tuning expertise - the key to their lightning reactions, mid to high seven second ETs and ultra competitive racing.

Sportsman Bike Classes:

Super Street Bike - Stretched out bikes with no wheelie bars and treaded tyres. Some are even street legal! These bikes sport big turbo or nitrous conversions, and take real skill to build and ride.

9.50 Bike - These bikes are ridden to a 9.50 second index. A sniff of nitrous and some chassis mods help many competitors, but this is a popular class for the sportsman racer.

Drag Racing Menu:
History | The Basics | The Classes | Official Championships | FIA | UEM | MSA | 2007 Standings | 2006 Standings | 2005 Standings | Champions | How to Start | Dragster Anatomy | Bike Anatomy | Pro Mod Anatomy | Tech Talk | Contingency