WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVERS DISCUSS FOUR-WIDE RACING
In 1960 and early 1970s four-lane drag racing was occasionally taking place throughout the United States.
Then, back in 2010, the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals took place in Charlotte, N.C., at zMax Dragway
Fast-forward to the present and NHRA now has second track hosting a Four-Wide national event.
The Strip at Las Vegas Speedway will play host to the Denso Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals April 6-8.
Both zMax Draway and The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway are owned by Bruton Smith.
Adding a new wrinkle to the NHRA schedule with a second Four-Wide race at a new venue is something nitro Funny Car world champions Ron Capps and Jack Beckman and Top Fuel world champ Antron Brown welcome.
“Most of us knew that track (The Strip at Las Vegas Speedway) was built for four lanes,” said Capps, the 2016 world champ. “Back when he built the place (The Strip), I did the press conference for that and the press conference for zMax for the Four-Wide and he (Bruton Smith) had visions of making a huge type of all-star event with the Four-Wide with big money and promoting a huge race and I think those were his first intentions. Once we ran the Four-Wide at zMax for a couple of years and saw how much interest it brought up and how many people flew in from all over the world to check it out because it was a different event and it was cool when they announced they were doing it in Vegas. Any time Bruton spends money to do something like this we should all be very appreciative of what he does.”
Beckman, who has won the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte twice in 2011 and 2015, loves Four-Wide racing, but not as a points race.
“I thought it was absolutely bad ass,” said Beckman about his thoughts about when Four-Wide racing debuted in Charlotte in 2010. “It was a spectacle times two and I totally dig it, I’m not sure it should be for points. It (Four-Wide racing) keeps us on our toes and it is interesting that of the Funny Car drivers who have struggled with the different staging format they are all multiple time world champs, so it throws you a curveball. I’m super excited to give it a shot it (four-wide racing) a shot in Vegas. Vegas is already one of my favorite tracks and I’ve probably made more runs, if you count my Sportsman career at Vegas, than at any other single track. Now, to go back there and have it look completely different, that is going to be interesting and I’m totally looking forward to it.”
Antron Brown, who has won the Charlotte Four-Wide race twice in 2014-2015, has always been a fan of this unique type of drag racing.
“I never had bad thoughts about the Four-Wide, I thought it was awesome for our sport because it wasn’t something we were doing new,” he said. “Everybody thought this was some new gimmick or some new deal and they did this stuff way back in the 1960s back in Orange County. This is just another avenue to bring more excitement to the fan experience, missing a little bit of the old school with the new school. I think it is a blast because you have to have a changed mindset when you’re out there racing four-wide, it is very challenging. You have to go all out every round and do what you do. You can’t go there and strategize, you have to go all out. This is a winner’s takes all. The first two rounds I’m still in the race even is somebody is out in front of me and you have to stick with and stay with it. It’s like survival, like the last man standing.”
Capps acknowledged the Vegas spring race needed of a jolt and Four-Wide racing was a great choice. Advance ticket sales are up considerably over previous seasons for the first of two races in Las Vegas.
The Strip also host NHRA’s Toyota Nationals, which will be run Oct. 25-28 this season.
“That (Las Vegas) race in the spring has always been a little bit hit or miss, and I think this really rejuvenated the West Coast fans for something a little different, because they can always come back in October and watch Two-Wide,” Capps said. “I don’t think this hurts anything, it only strengthens things. To be honest, if he (Bruton Smith) had not built the Four-Wide in Vegas, there was a good possibility that you would have only seen one race there and that would have been the October race, and that’s an alternative I didn’t want to see.”
The fact Las Vegas now has a Four-Wide race did catch Beckman a little off-guard.
“I remember when they were leveling the dirt out for it in 1999, and I looked out there and I was wondering why it was so wide and at that time they left it open for expansion to four-wide,” Beckman said. “After we ran there for nine years and there was still no four-wide format, I thought maybe that ship had sailed. Then, soon as Charlotte debuted four-wide you knew it was possible they were going to come to Vegas, but I was still surprised by it. My opinion (about having a second four-wide race) is if we can get more fans interested in the sport, it probably is a good thing.
I’m very open-minded about this, if five years from now the spring race (in Vegas) is as well attended as the fall race is then I think this move was necessary for the sport. I think this good for the sport if it well attended and supported by the fans. I think the exact opposite is true if people aren’t supporting it, if the TV ratings don’t support it. It (four-wide racing) is going to be good for the sport if it increases our viewership and attendance and if it doesn’t do that, by definition it is not good for the sport.”
Brown believes NHRA will benefit from a track having a second Four-Wide race.
“It’s great for NHRA because the thing about it is we always having people in the West Coast asking us about the Four-Wide because they don’t want to make the trip to Charlotte,” Brown said. “Now, it awesome that they did it in Charlotte first because now you have one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast. Everybody on both side of the country can enjoy four-wide (racing). The Vegas spring race was always a good race and now they made it 10 times better because it is something different. I was down in Vegas for the NASCAR race (last month) and I checked out the lanes (at The Strip for drag racing) and they look awesome.
Capps, who has won 57 career national events, won his first Four-Wide Nationals last spring in Charlotte.
“It’s difficult and it’s not something we are used to, but I think that is what makes it cool,” Capps said about Four-Wide racing. “I love the fact that Four-Wide racing is something different. It’s like a video game and nowadays with these kids playing video games and growing up in the video game world, your hand-eye coordination has to be so good to play these video games now. It seems like it is almost virtual reality. You have 30 to 40 things you have to be concentrating on, on top of your hand and eye and that’s basically what we do in Funny Car or a Top Fuel Dragster or a Pro Stock car. I think the Four-Wide to me just seems like playing a video game, you are thrown into this virtual reality game with much more than what you are used to, and it is those who can adapt the quickest on that Sunday, seem to be the ones who win.”