{"id":12983,"date":"2015-03-05T09:11:34","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T17:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=12983"},"modified":"2015-03-05T09:11:34","modified_gmt":"2015-03-05T17:11:34","slug":"drag-race-101-eliminator-classes-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/drag-race-101-eliminator-classes-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Drag Race 101 – Eliminator Classes Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo Courtesy NHRA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s your first time at the drag strip, and like everyone who\u2019s ever made this first trek, you\u2019re hooked. You can\u2019t get the feeling out of your system, and you think it\u2019s time for you to stop spectating, and go racing. But, where do you start?<\/p>\n

In this series, we\u2019re going to break down the types of racing out there, from the basic \u201ctake your stock car to the track\u201d all the way to professional, \u201cmust have a certain engine, chassis, fuels, etc\u201d series\u2019 so that you can decide which classes you want to start in, move to, or aim for. This isn\u2019t a guide to what YOU should race (check the NHRA\u2019s current rule book for those guidelines<\/a>) but it will explain what the classes are so you can figure out where to start.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re kicking this off with Eliminator Class Drag racing, particularly class index-racing which includes: Super Street, Super Gas, Super Comp, Stock, Super Stock, and Competition.<\/p>\n

So what does this mean? The classes are broken down by fixed handicaps based on a predetermined index (Estimated Time for how long it takes to get down the track).
\nIf you want to be competitive, you need to have a car capable of running almost dead-on, or quicker, than the published index of that class.<\/p>\n

This article is going to look at the Super Street, Super Gas, and Super Competition classes. We\u2019ll round out the series in the next piece.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Photo Courtesy: NHRA. If you are wondering \u201cwhy choose Super Street?\u201d, we think it is a great \u201cintermediate\u201d class that is a little bit different, because there is such a variety of cars. You might race a cavalier that runs 95 mph in the quarter, and if you win that race, your next race might be against a guy running 120 mph in the quarter mile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Super Street<\/strong> is reserved for any full-bodied car. In other words, any sports car, muscle car, van, or truck can race. All vehicles must weigh at least 2,800 pounds, unless powered by a six-cylinder engine, which can weigh 2,000 pounds, or four-cylinder or rotary-powered car that can weigh 1,200 pounds. Other than that, engine and chassis modifications are virtually unlimited. These cars look like factory cars on the outside, and run on a 10.90 index.<\/p>\n

The Super Street class was initially designed to be an \u201centry-level\u201d class where people could build a car and participate without investing a huge amount of money (relatively speaking). As compared to some other classes of NHRA-sanctioned racing, that might be the case, but as competitive as the sport has become, the cost of being competitive has escalated. We\u2019ve seen competitive cars sell for around $15,000, but building a car for this class can run anywhere from $10,000, to the sky\u2019s the limit. Many spectators can relate to the Super Street class, as the cars resemble any car that can be found on the road, as opposed to a dragster.<\/p>\n

Class Description:<\/strong> Racers compete on a fixed 10.90 index. All vehicles must be full-bodied cars and weigh no less than 2,800 pounds except for six-cylinder cars (2,000) and four-cylinder and rotary-powered cars (1,200). Engine and chassis modifications are virtually unlimited.<\/p>\n

\u2022 When racing in Super Street, racers compete in sanctioned divisional races, and only select national events. If you are looking to keep local to your home track, this could be an option.<\/p>\n

\u2022 To be competitive, racers MUST run at or on the index to win.<\/p>\n

\u2022 You have to run consistently as close to 10.90 in the quarter mile as possible. If your car runs an 11.00-second quarter mile, you need to find a way to make it quicker so you run at least 10.90 all day or weekend. Since it is nearly impossible to \u201ctune\u201d a car at the track to consistently pick up a tenth of a second, it is best to initially build a car that will travel quicker than 10.90, and then slow it down when at the track.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Unfortunately, since Super Street only runs at select national events (Houston, Atlanta, Topeka, Epping, Chicago, Sonoma, and Seattle), this does limit the geographical areas that are close to any national event.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The key to being competitive in Super Street is to build a car that can consistently run the index, and develop a lot of mph, and being consistent.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Super Gas runs on a 9.90-second index, and features a wide array of full-bodied cars and roadsters. There are few restrictions on engines or body styles in Super Gas, so ex-Pro Stock and Comp cars to topless Corvettes\u2014and just about everything in between is allowed. All Super Gas vehicles must weigh a minimum of 2,100 pounds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Super Gas<\/strong> is similar to Super Street in that it is also designed for full-bodied cars and roadsters; no dragsters are allowed. There are few restrictions in regards to the engines or body styles that are allowed in Super Gas, so this class is home to everything from former Pro Stock and Comp cars, to convertible Corvettes. There is also a weight limit, as all Super Gas vehicles must weigh a minimum of 2,100 pounds. The exception to that rule is four-cylinder-powered cars, which can have a minimum weight of 1,200 pounds.<\/p>\n

Super Gas differs from Super Street, as it does allow a wide variety of electronics to help the cars be consistent and hit their 9.90 index. While some people don\u2019t like the way it works, one of the most popular components used by Super Gas racers is a throttle stop. This device allows the car to launch, and then at around 50 \u2013 60 mph, the computer returns the car to an ideal for a period of time, and then opens the throttle back to wide open. This is used to adjust elapsed times. Once the throttle stop is released, the vehicle accelerates as fast as possible, sometimes to speeds of more than 160-mph. To many inexperienced spectators, when the throttle stop activates, it\u2019s like someone shut the car off for a fraction of a second. If you are the ultra-competitive type, Super Gas does offer some of the most competitive side-by-side racing in all of NHRA, as many times, races are decided by just a few thousandths of a second.<\/p>\n

Building and finding a good competitive car for Super Gas is no easy feat. We found several cars here on www.racingjunk.com that ranged from $20,000 – $50,000. That\u2019s just the purchase price; keep in mind that maintenance can get really expensive as well.<\/p>\n

Class Description:<\/strong> Super Gas entries run on a 9.90 index, are primarily full-bodied cars and street roadsters. No dragsters or altereds are permitted.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Super Gas is contested at all national events, so this is great class for those that like to race at different venues.<\/p>\n

\u2022 To be competitive, racers MUST consistently run on the index to win.<\/p>\n

\u2022 You have to consistently run 9.90 in the quarter mile to be competitive. If your car runs slower, you need to find a way to make it quicker. It is best to build a car that will travel quicker than 9.90, and then slow it down when at the track.<\/p>\n

\u2022 An NHRA license and special safety equipment is required for this elapsed time.<\/p>\n

\"To<\/a>
To be competitive in Super Comp, you don\u2019t need the fastest car in the field. The cars that race in this class typically hit 165 to 175 mph. In Super Comp, you just have to beat the other guy to the finish line without running quicker than the 8.90-index limit. In Super Comp, you can be competitive with a 600 to 800 horsepower engine in a rear engine dragster. <\/p>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Super Comp<\/strong> is a class in which just about any car is allowed, but is primarily contested by rear-engine dragsters. There are almost no restrictions on engine size or internal modifications, and cars compete on an 8.90 index. Since there are almost no restrictions on engine mods, there is virtually no way to gain a performance advantage\u2014everyone runs the same index anyway. Therefore, driver skill is paramount to winning in Super Comp. Super Comp cars are very complex, due to the variety of electronic aids that are used (air-shifter, timing\/delay boxes, and a throttle stop), and many races are won by as little as a thousandth of a second. Drivers and crews in Super Comp spend a lot of time monitoring air temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and track temperature.<\/p>\n

The majority of \u201ccars\u201d in Super Comp are rear engine dragsters. This is because they are lightweight, and relatively simple and affordable. Most dragsters are powered by big block Chevy engines, although some racers are running Chrysler or even small block Chevys.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a Super Comp car to drive, finding a turnkey car would be the easiest way to get started. With all the available options out there, you’d be silly to try and build one from scratch. This is because Super Comp is a very technical class, and a turnkey car is tested. We found several complete cars on www.racingjunk.com that range from $15,000 – $30,000<\/p>\n

Class Description:<\/strong> This is the quickest of the heads-up Super classes (8.90 index) is composed primarily of dragsters. Most cars are capable of running well under the index but use electronic aids to run close to the index without running quicker than it, or breaking out.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Super Comp is contested at all national events, so this is great class for those that like to race at different venues.<\/p>\n

\u2022 To be competitive, racers MUST consistently run on the index to win.<\/p>\n

\u2022 You have to consistently run 8.90 in the quarter mile to be competitive. It is best to build a car that will travel quicker than 8.90, and then slow it down when at the track.<\/p>\n

\u2022 An NHRA license is required for this elapsed time.<\/p>\n

\u2022 This is a very detail and technically-oriented class, with many electronically-control functions within the car.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ready to get into drag racing? We break down the classes, starting with the Eliminator Classes. Part I addresses the Super Street, Super Gas, and Super Competition classes.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":12991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3448,3465,3399],"tags":[961,2086,2085,7,1572,2090,2089,2088,2087],"class_list":["post-12983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-race-101","category-drag-racing","category-nhra","tag-drag-race-101","tag-drag-racing-classes","tag-eliminator-classes","tag-nhra","tag-randy-bolig","tag-so-you-wanna-drag-race","tag-super-competition","tag-super-gas","tag-super-street"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/FEAT1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-3np","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12983"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12997,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12983\/revisions\/12997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}