DR AG I LL U S T R AT ED R O UN D TABLE
race something if they pull into the gate.
If you’re racing for a national champi-
onship, you’re by definition handicapped
racing on the East Coast or Midwest. In
my opinion, it either needs to be 32 cars
everywhere or 48 or 64. If you open it up
to 48, then you might get the guy that
runs 7.60s that would normally not come.
I think they would get more participation
if they went with a 48-car field.
Or, if it’s all run and they change the
bump spot to 7.50, I think you would
get more participation. There’s a lot of
different ways to go about it.
SJ: I don’t like it. I think a 32-car field
is the way it should be. It pushes the envelope and
people do have to tune it up. You can go soft and
it can just become a halfway-fast bracket race at
that point with 48 cars. I wish they wouldn’t have
done that. It’s nice to have that many cars, but
it also screws up the points. Division 5 doesn’t
have that opportunity to pick up that extra round
that they do. I think it should be a 32-car field
across the board. I think 32 is a good number.
That keeps it fast.
GB: I think, without a doubt, it should be stan-
dardized at 32. I don’t like 48 at all. I don’t like
the fact that California racers get an extra round,
but I understand they have to travel further and
I think that’s kind of their bargaining chip. But
they get to add an extra round of racing if they
win the race. But I also don’t race in California, so
I would probably feel different if I did. I just like
the accomplishment of qualifying with a 32-car
field. I think that’s part of racing Top Sportsman.
a 48-car field, they would need to lower
the maximum dial-in.
ON THE UP AND UP They race on different opposite
sides of the country, but Division 5 Top Dragster racer
Steve Johnson (top) and Division 2 Top Sportsman
standout Sandy Wilkins (below) have seen the
surging popularity of both classes across the nation.
No matter the race division, participation has been
impressive in both sportsman classes with no signs of
slowing down.
JF: It does give them a slight advantage, but I
don’t know how to address that. They’re pulling
the fields for a 48-car field, so that’s a great thing
for everybody, but of course their fields are 7.30s,
7.40s. You get in these Division 3 fields and the
right 32 cars show up and you’ve got a 6.20s field.
But that makes it a lot of fun. It’s just one of those
fun aspects of it.
ZS: I think it should be consistent across the
board. It needs to be one way or the other. If it’s
Obviously both classes seem like
they’re on a good path. Do you foresee
a good future ahead for both Top Drag-
ster and Top Sportsman?
GB: I think the direction is good. I
think the economy is pushing some of
it, and I think the intrigue of the class
helps. I don’t want to sound arrogant,
but people want to race Top Sportsman.
It’s a cool class. I want to race Pro Mod,
but I race Top Sportsman. I like bracket
racing, I always have, and when you can
to do it quickly and fast in an awesome car, it’s
pretty cool.
SW: I think it’s stable at the moment, for sure.
As Pro Mod gains popularity and more guys buy
Pro Mod cars and the used market has more used
Pro Mods for sale, then you’ll end up with a faster
and faster field for Top Sportsman. What I hope
is that does not scare the slower guys away. That’s
where I feel like if you had a 48-car field or a 7.50
maximum, it would really help.
JF: Some of our cars aren’t running too much
slower than Pro Mods. With the world champi-
onship addition four years ago, I think it brought
the class to a new level.
ZS: It’s a healthy class. You can spend a lot of
money if you want to or you can spend what you
want and at the end of the day, it’s still a bracket
race. It’s neat to see the class where it is. You’re
racing against some good racers and people are
paying attention to DI it. DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
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I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 145