Drag Racing 4 Wide or

4 Lanes No Waiting!

by: John Shapiro

It's "breaking news" - probably the most talked about drag racing event yet to come - "4 cars drag racing together"!!??  Yes and it's coming to Bruton Smith's zMax Dragway, Charlotte NC, March 25-28, (2010).

Yes, it's been done before, in fact at Dragway 42 (W. Salem Oh.) was one of the first.   But in the modern era, racing "4 Wide" just hasn't happened - save for the demo last year - but this time it's for real and counts in NHRA "Pro" competition for  qualifying and eliminations for Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle. 

You're saying, 4 fuel cars, side by side by side by side - wait, that's nearly 30,000 horsepower.   If there ever was a time where you could say "nitro dragsters try to rotate the earth" this might be it.   If you think the "going green" folks don't like emissions, they aren't gonna like the earth slightly tilted either!

The announcement comes just four months after NHRA conducted its first-ever four-lane exhibition at a national event, where fans, including me, (via my TV set) watched in amazement - 4 smokey burnouts, and 4 launches blasted off at zMax Dragway during the September running of the NHRA Carolinas Nationals.

In separate runs, four Top Fuel dragsters and four Funny Cars competed in the four-wide event with everyone standing on their feet to witness the most spectacular five-seconds in motorsports.

After getting the PR piece from the NHRA, I began wondering one of those 4 drivers might be doing, how do work a "staging battle"?   Say you're car #2, do you look off to the left at #1, then off to your right for #3 & #4 to see who has pre-staged.  You know those ProStock drivers who love to stress the other drive out!

And what worries me is ... (take a look at the below picture)... can you if a car ever crossed the line hit the barrier, which then scares the next lane #3 car, who might flinch just a bit thinking something is coming over the wall.   After the number wrecks the last couple of years, fires, deaths, God please see to it nothing happens March 25-28.

“We had so much positive feedback from our fans and drivers after the four-lane exhibition last September that we were comfortable adding this unique twist to an official NHRA national event,” said Tom Compton, president, NHRA. “Once again, NHRA will be making history at zMax Dragway. With all 4 of our Full Throttle Series categories competing in four-wide racing it will certainly be a spectacular event to see.”

“Watching these nitro cars thunder four-wide down the world’s only four-lane concrete strip is exactly what we had in mind when we built zMax Dragway,” said Bruton Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports and creator of zMax Dragway. “We’re making history with horsepower at the Bellagio of drag strips and race fans will be treated to a competition unlike any thing that’s ever been seen before. This will blow them away.” Yes, I certainly hope the blowing away doesn't happen any other way but in the stands.   Unless, like NASCAR racing, ticket holders start showing up just to see carnage!?   Anyway, that, as they say, remains to be seen!

The rules for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway will be as follows:

* Qualifying will be conducted using four lanes

* Each category winner will be determined in three rounds of eliminations

* The two drivers to cross the finish line first in each of the four first rounds of eliminations will advance to the second round

* The two drivers to cross the finish line first in each of the two second rounds of eliminations will advance to the final round

* Each final round will feature four drivers in each category, and the single driver to cross the finish line first in the final will be declared the winner of the race, the second runner-up and so on.

The NHRA Carolinas Nationals, Sept. 16-19, the second of six races in NHRA’s Countdown to 1 playoffs, will continue to be conducted using only two lanes at zMax Dragway.

Tickets for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals are available by calling (800) 455-3267 or by vising www.CharlotteMotorSpeedway.com

The inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals is the fourth of 17 races in the NHRA Countdown to 10, NHRA’s regular season. ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

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