Should NHRA set serious limits to Funny Cars?

A catastrophic engine explosion in a National Hot Rod Association Funny Car is a serious matter.

We’ve seen two such explosions in the last month. John Force, the greatest driver in NHRA history and a 16-time champion, suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) after an engine explosion that led to Force’s car crashing into both sides of the track at over 300 mph.

Force’s future is uncertain as he remains in an Arizona facility that specializes in treating TBI. Force is expected to remain in the facility for a lengthy period from which he potentially may never have a full recovery — although everyone is hoping the 75-year-old Force recovers and returns to his race car.

During the first round of eliminations this past Sunday near Seattle, another catastrophic Funny Car engine explosion occurred with two-time champ Ron Capps behind the wheel. Capps escaped unscathed, climbing from the wreck under his own power and being checked and released from the infield care center.

There have been other explosions, including in Top Fuel, but it always seems that Funny Car has the most violent blow-ups.

Because Funny Car crew chiefs try to get every last ounce of horsepower and every 1/1000 ^th of a second of elapsed time out of their car, they push the envelope as far as possible — and hope catastrophe doesn’t ensue.

Although Top Fuel dragsters are considered the “kings” of the sport, Funny Car has taken on a world of its own and gives dragsters a run for their money in terms of not only popularity but also speed, routinely surpassing 335 mph on a 1,000-foot drag strip.

Given how seriously injured Force was, and how lucky Capps was, is it time for NHRA to start looking at slowing Funny Cars down? Perhaps put some type of limiter on the motors so they can’t exceed their tolerances and hopefully eliminate or at least greatly reduce more instances of a crash.

Naturally, many fans and drivers are against any interference by NHRA to slow cars down. NHRA already reduced the length of race lanes from 1,320 feet to 1,000 feet after the tragic crash that cost the life of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta in 2008.

Kalitta’s death came just over a year after Eric Medlen died in a John Force Racing Funny Car during testing in Gainesville, Fla.

Should NHRA look seriously at slowing 11,000-plus horsepower Funny Cars down, possibly cutting the horsepower or engine revs that can lead to catastrophic engine explosions?

It is only by good fortune that Force, the face of the NHRA for the past 30-plus years, did not suffer a similar fate to another famous racecar driver he’s often compared to, namely, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, who died in a last-lap crash during the 2001 season-opening Daytona 500.

It's understandable that drag racing is centered around the fastest speed and quickest elapsed time a crew chief and driver can eke out.

But have we reached a point in Funny Car’s legacy that things need to be backed down so that we don’t continue to have such massive explosions, resulting in fireballs, crashes and injuries?

And yes, even the possibility of death.

Let Top Fuel continue to be the fastest class in the sport and if Funny Car is, say, 10 mph slower than it is now, will that really hurt fan interest and attention if it ultimately protects the drivers?