NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Okay, okay, this has gone on long enough, and it stopped being funny a while ago. Now, it’s about time for history to be made and it’s up to the Funny Car category as a whole to make it happen.

I’m asking nicely. No, actually, on behalf of every NHRA fan, I’m begging. I’m pleading. I’m imploring the Funny Car fraternity to band together and produce drag racing’s first all-three-second field.

NHRA is celebrating its 75th anniversary this season, and so much history has already been made. Honestly, there is no better time to do it than now, and there is no better place than the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

The fans deserve it, and they’ve waited long enough.

Less than a week before the gates open at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, there are currently 24 Funny Cars on the pre-entry list for the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, and it's likely that the entry list will top out at 24 or 25 cars, so the numbers are already there.

When it comes to weather and track conditions, the event is also contested solely in September this year. Nitro Funny Cars make their first runs on Friday, Sept. 4, so the weather should be favorable. That's a fairly big deal, but the weather seems to be on our side.

Before we dive into the numbers and statistics that favor Indy, let's first look back at a little bit of Funny Car history.

After NHRA adopted 1,000-foot nitro racing during the 2008 season, it didn’t take long for bump spots to plunge into the 4.1s, and by the end of the 2016 season, things got serious as the Las Vegas race produced a 4.045-second bump and two weeks later in Pomona, the record was hit again with a 4.029-second bump with 15 cars in the threes. At that race, Jim Campbell was No. 15 with a 3.977 while John Bojec occupied the bump at 4.029. There were also six non-qualifiers including Jon Capps and Gary Densham, who also ran well into the 4.0 range.

The first all-three second field could have happened right then and there, but it didn’t, so we move on.

To date, the quickest bump spot in the sport came at the 2019 U.S. Nationals where Justin Schriefer qualified No. 16 with a 4.005 and once again, 15 of 16 cars ran in the threes. So close, yet so far. At the time, certainly no one thought that we’d still be waiting nearly seven years later.

Indy, with its five scheduled qualifying runs and history of big fields, would seem to be a natural for quick bump spots, and the 2019 event delivered with the top eight drivers in the 3.8s and Bob Bode in the No. 15 spot at 3.982. In addition to Justin Schriefer’s bump time of 4.005, non-qualifiers Jim Campbell, Phil Burkart, and Terry Haddock all ran in the 4.0s. It's worth noting that this came in the middle of the laid-back header era, so the quick pace of the field should not have been surprising.

The list of drivers that made the 2019 Indy field should look familiar, as many of them are still racing today and will be entered in this year’s event, including Jack Beckman, Matt Hagan, Ron Capps, J.R. Todd, Paul Lee, Cruz Pedregon, and Schriefer.

The arrival of COVID that cost half the 2020 season and resulted in fewer qualifying sessions, likely reduced the odds of an all-three-second field in the early part of the 2020s, but recently, things have improved. At the end of 2024, the Las Vegas event produced a 4.021-second bump, and two of the five quickest fields happened last year.

Fast forward to 2026 and the recent Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals featured another strong field with 13 three-second runners and a quick 4.048-second bump. Once again, close, but not close enough.

That leaves us staring straight ahead to the 2026 U.S. Nationals, an event that perhaps provides the best chance for history to be made. Of the 23 pre-entries, the majority have a career-best in the 3.8s so the numbers are certainly there. In fact, if the entire field ran within a tenth of their career-bests, we’d have no problems establishing a new record bump spot.

Given the quality of today’s Funny Car class, there are at least 12-14 drivers that can be counted on for a three-second time slip on any given day. That leaves just a couple of others to do the heavy lifting. Even among non-tour regulars, the potential is certainly there.  

The progress made by the rest of the class, including Dave Richards, Terry Haddock, Jeff Diehl, Justin Schriefer, Bobby Bode, Dylan Winefsky, Chris King, John Smith, Jeff Arend in Jim Dunn’s car, and Julie Nataas in Del Worsham's entry, is evident. In all likelihood, we are only going to need two or three of these guys (or girls) to step up in order to hit the desired number.

At this point, the odds probably favor an all-three-second field, but there are a few ifs involved. “If” we have the right air and track conditions. “If” one or more of the tour regulars don’t struggle to find the set-up. “If” we get all five qualifying runs. Etc. etc. etc.

From the fans' perspective, the event is on track to become NHRA’s latest 75th anniversary sellout, so why not give a packed house something to really cheer about?