Mello hello again: NHRA returns on Fox

The National Hot Rod Association returns with a two-day, invite-only event from Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. Day 2 of the NHRA’S Mello Yello series kickoff will air live this Sunday, July 12, on Fox.

If you enjoy racing of any kind, you’ve got to love the dragsters. The four categories that make up the Mello Yello series — Top Fuel Dragster, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Bike and, my personal favorite, Funny Car — are among the fastest (in the case of Top Fuel, the fastest) in all of motor racing, be it NASCAR, F-series or even the relatively new Indycars. And that’s what it’s all about, right?

When I was a kid, I thought dragsters were what people meant when they said “race car.” Something that looks like a cross between a high-end sports car and a fighter jet. Actually, that description isn’t too far off. Last year, Brittany Force set the record for fastest Top Fuel run in NHRA history, reaching an incomprehensible 338.17 mph for the run — it’s the definition of “best of the best.” Sure, it doesn’t come anywhere close to the SR-71 Blackbird’s 2,500 mph, but a commercial jet cruises just over 100 mph faster than Brittany Force does on the ground, so I’d say it’s still pretty impressive.

People have been racing cars since before the average person could even dream about actually owning one; while the Model T began mass production in 1908, auto racing became an organized sport in 1895, when six men drove from Chicago to Evanston, Illinois, and back again on Thanksgiving Day. The winner took home just under $50,000 in today’s money (the race was sponsored by the Chicago Times-herald) and his average speed was 7.3 mph; for a bit of reference, Usain Bolt can run nearly four times faster than that.

Despite the newness of the technology, it only makes sense that racing began moments after automobiles did. One has to imagine that when the great Henry Ford said, “I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men ...,” someone in the crowd cut him off by yelling, “Yeah? Well mine’s gonna go faster!”

Find out just how much faster we can go in 2020 when the NHRA brings back live drag racing events, starting Sunday, July 12, on Fox.