The last word you would think to use when describing a nitro Funny Car is safe.

Of course these 10,000 horsepower machines have years of research and development behind them and of course they are much safer than they were 30, 20, even 10 years ago. But to actually call a car that is capable of speeds in excess of 335 miles per hour and covers the 1,000 foot distance in less than four seconds safe, is a hard sell.

But that is exactly how veteran nitro racer Bob Bode would describe them.

A former powerboat racer, Bode made the switch to Funny Car racing nearly two decades ago and he did it because it was the safer option. Say what?

“I ran powerboats for 20 years and it was pretty dangerous over there. I lost a bunch of friends. As I got older, I said I need to do something safe, so I bought a Funny Car,” Bode said with a laugh. “Believe it or not, I feel way safer in this than I ever did in the boats. With all of the safety rules, these things are built so well. This car, if you crash one, it will beat you up, don’t get me wrong, you have to respect it, but with the boat racing, it didn’t beat you up, it just killed you. That is a tough, nasty sport. “When I was younger I thought I was a gladiator. Now I know I’m not. Now I know I can get hurt. When I am in this thing, I know I can get hurt, but I feel much better about it.”

So, after years racing in both disciplines, which is harder to drive? That, too, is an easy answer.

“This, by a long shot,” Bode said. “The boat, you had a full second to react. If it came up out of the water or nosed over, you had a second. When you run the Funny Car, you have a quarter of a second. When this thing moves to the wall or is going to blow up, you don’t have a second. After a second, you have smacked the wall and are on fire.

“Everything three to four times faster. That was hard to get used to, but after 16 years, I think I have it down.”