Drivers, fans give four-wide the big thumbs-up

[6 Shooter]

Funny Car drivers (left to right) John Force, Mike Neff, Tim Wilkerson and Del Worsham rip away in the
four-wide exhibition at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at Concord on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009.​

CONCORD, N.C. – Eight NHRA drivers made some noisy history in a rare "four-wide" exhibition Sunday afternoon during the Carolinas Nationals at ZMax Dragway.

NHRA officials said it was the first four-lane drag race ever sanctioned by the organization and might be the first run in the United States in more than 30 years. And the drivers involved in the two races gave it a thumbs-up and said they wouldn't mind doing it again.

"I haven't had this much excitement since high school football when we charged the cheerleaders' showers," joked veteran driver John Force, who won the Funny Car exhibition with a run of 4.116 seconds.

"It was a rush. It's great to be part of history."

The field consisted of drivers who were eliminated in Sunday's opening rounds.

"We came here to win the race, but that's the way the cookie crumbles," said Spencer Massey, who finished second to Brandon Bernstein by six-thousands of a second in the Top Fuel exhibition. "So it was good to get this opportunity. The experience was unbelievable."

The addition of two competitors to the usual one-on-one format created some new experiences, the drivers said.

"You could tell from the burnout that this was going to be exciting," Funny Car driver Mike Neff said of the warm-up which heats up the tires on the cars and lays rubber on the track.

"You're not used to seeing cars on both sides of you, so that was different."

Additional lights were boosted visibility to the "trees" used to electronically start races.

"They worked out fine," Neff said.

The idea was apparently well-received by fans, who roared when the four cars left the line. Several of the drivers said they would like to try the "four-wide" at some future event and Force suggested it might make a good "all-star" race format.

Other drivers in the exhibition were Tim Wilkerson and Del Worsham from the Funny Car field and Antron Brown and Morgan Lucas from the Top Fuel class.

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[jrose7004]

Why I've never seen or heard of that in my life! I like it!

 

[Glensgages]

Why I've never seen or heard of that in my life!

I don't know if you are being factitious or not, but 4-wide drag-racing was done at several tracks back in the '60s & '70s that were wide-enough to permit it

this picture, from Detroit Dragway in 1968, shows a Funny Car, with the A-board to the driver's immediate Left, with a Christmas tree to his Right, and a 2nd Christmas Tree further to his Left, the right edge of this picture