Drag racing is historically a rather territorial type of sport. From an operational standpoint that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly is for the racers. The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) are the two primary governing bodies in the drag racing game who sanction racetracks across the United States as well as Canada. Basically, if your track is sanctioned, its with one of these two organizations. Your track follows the rules and procedures outlined by and your racers are licensed through your chosen sanctioning body. And if your track is NHRA, it doesn’t contest IHRA events and vice versa.
For those that haven’t had an opportunity to take a look at the 2011 IHRA Nitro Jam schedule, the series is set to head west to Tucson, Arizona for the ‘Arizona Nitro Jam’ at Southwestern International Dragway for the fist time. Whats the point you ask? The Tucson facility is on the bench in the NHRA’s dugout. Over the course of some 60 years of organized drag racing history, we doubt this is the first time that has occurred, but in this day and age it’s rather unprecedented.
From what we’re hearing, Feld Entertainment, which now controls the IHRA, has booked the track rather than the IHRA itself. So, at least on paper, it’s a booked-in, unsanctioned racing event. According to the NHRA VP of Technical Operations Glen Gray, racers at the Arizona Nitro Jam will be required to run under NHRA rules, regardless of whether they are “exhibition” status or not. We can presume this means all NHRA Heritage Series safety guidelines for the Prostalgia Funny Cars, as well as 1,000-foot distances for the two booked Top Fuel cars of Bobby Lagana and Bruce Litton.