Photos courtesy of Bobby Bode Racing
The big splash the International Hot Rod Association has made this offseason — purchasing tracks, offering eighth-mile racing and big prize money — hasn’t gone unnoticed by nitro Funny Car driver Bobby Bode.
He and his father, team owner Bob Bode, have heard the IHRA’s message loud and clear, and it has resulted in the Bodes adjusting their 2026 racing schedule accordingly in the family-owned Ford Mustang.
“As of now, we’re going to do eight IHRA races and probably five NHRA,” Bobby told CompetitionPlus.com. “We’re going to try to do all the ones in the Midwest for IHRA. As for NHRA, we will for sure go to Brainerd (Minn.) and St. Louis. I think we will probably go to Indy, and maybe Norwalk, Ohio, and Martin, Mich. We still like going NHRA racing, but since this IHRA racing popped up, it’s new and it’s fun and exciting, so we’re going to keep going to that.”
Brainerd has fond memories for the Bode family. On Aug. 15, 2010, Bob Bode, a part-time Funny Car driver on a limited budget, stunned the racing community by capturing an improbable victory at the Lucas Oil Nationals by defeating Jack Beckham of Don Schumacher Racing in the finals.
“They have 10 of them, and we’re going to try to do eight of them,” Bobby said. “We might try to do all 10, depending on our success. We will just have to see how it goes. And they’re going to have a points fund this year, too, so if we’re doing good with that, then we might do all 10 of them and maybe only a couple of NHRA races. That’s our plan as of now. We are going to try and balance both. What’s cool about the IHRA races is they are all pretty close to us.”
Bode’s team is based just outside of Chicago in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
The opportunity IHRA is presenting is ideal for the Bode family team, which has run a limited schedule, with Bob first competing in 2001 and Bobby since 2020.
“We’ve never really had an option before to pick and choose, because usually there’s only a handful in the Midwest,” Bobby said. “But now, between IHRA and NHRA, we can pretty much do whatever we want. For a team like us, IHRA is right up our alley. We did the one at the end of the year at GALOT Motorsports Park. I got to the final round there, which was awesome, and it was just a really good race. It was super relaxed. People there were nice and welcoming. Nobody was fighting. We had no complaints, and we did really well, so we’re fans of it for sure.”
Bode lost to Del Worsham in the final round when his Funny Car lost traction.
“We were one round away from winning it, which was pretty cool,” Bobby said. “We should’ve had it. We had the car to beat. We actually set the IHRA record in the first round. I ran a 3.17-second pass to the eighth mile at 277 mph. IHRA runs everything to the eighth mile, which is perfect for a team like us, because at GALOT we hurt zero parts. The eighth mile is very conservative on parts, which goes a long way for a team like us. And the payouts are better. So, all around, we loved it.
“There are also only two qualifying sessions at IHRA races. And then if you win the whole race, you only have to do three rounds, because of the eight-car fields.”
Bode said his team will run the first two IHRA races at GALOT and Virginia Motorsports Park and see if that blossoms into a full IHRA campaign.
Bobby Bode has been close to winning two nitro Funny Car national events. In April 2022, Bode was leading Matt Hagan in the final round before suffering a massive engine explosion near the finish line and losing.
Fast-forward to November 2025, and Bobby came up short against Worsham at GALOT.
“Yeah, that would be cool to win a race, but we’re just trying to take it one round at a time,” Bobby said. “I’ve learned the past couple of years that when we have these big, lofty goals of winning races, it’s easier just to take it one step at a time. If we can stack the round wins, then that big win will happen eventually.”
Bobby is no stranger to Worsham. He began the 2025 season by driving five races for the NHRA nitro Funny Car and Top Fuel world champion’s team.
Bode drove Worsham’s Funny Car at the PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton (Fla.) Motorsports Park from Feb. 6-8. He then drove for Worsham at NHRA national events in Gainesville, Fla., Phoenix, Pomona, Calif., and Las Vegas.
“He has been kicking butt over there in IHRA,” Bobby said. “He’s actually the reason we started going to IHRA. He convinced us how good it was, and he was right. As far as driving for him, you never know. I would obviously say yes if something came up. As of now, there’s nothing, but hopefully I get to race him a couple times this year again.”
