03/08/2026
At the recent Night Under Fire at Summit Motorsports Park, Ron Capps faced off against Maddi Gordon in the final round of the event. In an epic Top Fuel vs. Funny Car battle, Capps was crowned the King of Nitro! This was also reminiscent of what the NHRA did in 1999 and 2000 at Bristol Dragway, with the Winston No-Bull Showdown.
For me, the race with Capps and Gordon raised the question - would we like to see that here in Australia in the National Drag Racing Championship?
We already have the perfect round to do it at, The Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway! It is already in the name, the winner of the event could be crowned the Nitro Champ, and it could be decided who the Nitro Champ is each year with a Top Fuel vs. Funny Car final round.
The event could be run as normal, but instead, the final pass of the event is the best performer in Top Fuel up against the best performer in Funny Car, which replaces the A-Final in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. All other competitors in both classes could still run beforehand up to the B-Final in their respective classes.
Alternatively, you could add one extra round of racing and have the winner from Top Fuel and the winner of Funny Car face off against each other at the end of the event, meaning scheduling for both classes would have to be different to allow for this.
To make it fair, the handicap can go off of the National Records for both classes, which would give the Funny Car roughly a quarter of a second head start.
Obviously this is just food for thought, as there are other factors that may need to be considered, but it would be exciting to see it happen.
Would you like to see Top Fuel vs. Funny Car in Australia?
