A Place Where Drag Is Good

A Red Bull Funny Car with Scott Speed’s name above the driver's side window? Don’t bet on it, but there’s always drag racing school this winter.

Scott spent a few days in Indianapolis to check out NHRA drag racing’s signature event — the U.S. Nationals. He hung out with pal and Pro Stock Motorcycle ace Matt Smith (pictured above), standing front and center at the starting line for each of Smith’s passes down the half-mile. Even more impressive was the roar of Funny Cars capable of 300 mph.

“To see the nature of that sport … it’s much more similar to Formula One,” he said. “The rules are a lot more open. You see a lot of really innovative and trick stuff in drag racing, and for me, coming from the sport that I did it’s really fascinating to see.”

He’ll miss final eliminations of the U.S Nationals, because after qualifying ends tonight, Scott’s off to the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds for Monday’s ARCA race. He carries a 110-point lead into the second and final dirt track race of the season.

From the Midwest to SoCal …

AJ Allmendinger will start a race with a clear windshield for the first time in his Sprint Cup car when he rolls off outside of pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson for 250 long laps around Auto Club Speedway. Teammate Brian Vickers starts 19th.