One of the best things about drag racing is that somewhere, at some point, anything with wheels — and perhaps even some things without — are given a place to compete. You never know when there might be a person racing something other than a car or bike at the track. We’ve have seen go karts, golf cars, wheel chairs, RV’s, and even kitchen tables taking the tree at one time or another.
One of the more gnarly things you’ll see at the drag strip is a race-prepped four-wheeler. These quads can be lighting quick down the track and a real handful with a great horsepower-to-weight ratio.
The world of quad racing usually revolves around places that are lacking pavement. You can see these four-wheeled stallions racing on sand dunes or on dirt at your local county fair. But just like traditional drag racing, there are tracks that host occasional quad events, with classes for different engine sizes, heads-up, and bracket racing. You can run a stock chassis quad, lower and stretch your ATV, or go full-tilt and build a custom chassis and strap a turbo to the beast.
The unnamed rider in this video from Uraceifilm shows just how much of a handful one of these quads can be on a paved drag strip. During the first few runs the rider is trying to get his shifting and launch dialed in for max performance. The monster then bites hard during the third run after a solid launch and the quad starts a gnarly power wheelie that lead to an aborted pass. Finally the rider is able to knock out a killer pass start-to-finish and rips off a 10.53 at over 117 MPH. Not a bad hit for a naturally aspirated four-wheeler that’s meant more for offroad duty than pavement!