Drag Racing - National Motorsports Safety Association

Drag Racing

Safety plans are designed to avoid incidents involving injury to personnel and property damage during Motorsports events. Many event organizers will have a copy of their plan available electronically via their websites, or at event registration. The guidelines below are designed to capture "general event safety" for the respective discipline. Use this information as a foundation for a proactive program of safety awareness and site safety supervision. Although specific personnel are assigned duties involving the enforcement of safety requirements, REMEMBER: safety is the responsibility of every event official, participant, and non-participant attending the events.

In this episode of Break/Fix Podcast safety related topics like: Safety in Drag Racing, What is “no-Prep” Drag Racing?, Advice for folks looking to start out in Drag Racing, and more are covered.

What is required for a Drag Race?

Virtually anyone can compete in drag racing. Drivers must have a valid state- or government-issued driver’s license beyond a learner’s-permit level or, in some cases, a competition license and must be capable of the safe operation of the vehicle. The vehicle must meet basic safety criteria (brakes, seat belt, etc.). This applies to most street-type vehicles. Faster, all-out race cars must meet more stringent requirements as outlined throughout the NHRA Rulebook.

Venue Safety

It is essential for every participant to understand this fundamental rule of drag racing: Prime responsibility for the safe condition and operation of a vehicle in competition rests with the vehicle owner, driver, and crewmembers. The track operator’s main concern is to provide a place to conduct events.

The data and recommendations presented by this safety plan provide a foundation from which the event organizers and safety stewards will implement a functional program of incident avoidance. This plan is not all inclusive and additional safety supporting procedures may be developed and implemented during the event. Where safety is concerned, there is no excuse for knowing something to be wrong, or risk generating, and ignoring the situation because it is not spelled out in writing somewhere. Safety is not a game of semantics or rule bending. It must be a living program balancing the needs of a highly competitive Motorsport, with the realities of safety and risk reduction.

Did You Know?

The sport of drag racing is an acceleration contest between two vehicles racing from a standing start over a straight race course. A drag racing event is made up of a series of individual two-vehicle races called eliminations, with competing machines divided into a variety of classes.

A set of lights, commonly called a “Christmas Tree,” is used at the starting line. There is a .4-second difference between the flash of all the amber lights and the flash of the green light in the Pro start system. In handicap racing, the amber lights illuminate individually, with a .5-second difference between the last amber and the green. Upon leaving the starting line, each contestant activates a timer, which is then stopped when his or her vehicle reaches the finish line. The start-to-finish clocking is the vehicle’s elapsed time (e.t.), which serves to measure performance and often to determine handicaps during competition.