National Hot Rod Association

For the first time in 28 years, John Force -- arguably the best drag racer in history -- won't be driving in the NHRA's season finale in Pomona. But the 14-time funny car champion still was at Auto Club Raceway on Friday to oversee his Yorba Linda-based team, despite being largely confined to his motor coach because of multiple injuries from a crash Sept. 23.

The National Hot Rod Assn. started its 50th anniversary season with the Auto Zone Winternationals Sunday, but it may be the last with Winston as its sponsor. For 27 years the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. brand of cigarette has been the title name for the drag racing series. Under terms of the Master Settlement Agreement in 1998, relating to tobacco advertising, each tobacco company will be permitted only one series or event using a brand name starting in 2002. R.J.

One of the most influential men in motor sports has his eye on the National Hot Rod Assn., the Glendora-based sanctioning body that oversees most drag racing in the United States. Bruton Smith, whose Speedway Motorsports Inc., rivals the France family's International Speedway Corp. in racetrack ownership, told The Times on Friday he wanted to buy the NHRA's assets. SMI owns three NHRA drag strips, at Las Vegas, Sonoma and Bristol, Tenn.

Among the compelling things about John Force is his name, which is a perfect description of his personality. The publicity handouts say he is a 57-year-old drag racer who lives in Yorba Linda, has won 121 events in National Hot Rod Assn. competition and has a 71-point lead going into the annual final event of the year today and Sunday in Pomona, where he figures to win his 14th championship in the funny car division. But the publicity handouts don't come close to capturing the force of Force.

How fast is too fast? When Cory McClenathan ran 321.77 mph last October at the Texas Motorplex track, there were thoughts around National Hot Rod Assn. headquarters that something was needed to slow the 5,500-horsepower nitromethane-burning top fuel dragsters and funny cars. McClenathan's sudden burst of speed in the McDonald's dragster upped the record an astonishing 3.08 mph. It wasn't too many seasons ago that the thought of a 300-mph run horrified NHRA officials.

The National Hot Rod Assn., which was founded in 1951 in part to give hot-rodders opportunities to race their souped-up cars legally instead of on city streets or deserted highways, has come full circle. Acceptance of the NHRA was solidified in 1953 when Ralph Parker, then police chief of Pomona, agreed to have his department help supervise races at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds--still the site of the NHRA's Winternationals in February and Winston Select Finals in October.

In drag racing, a sport where winning is measured in thousandths of a second and margins of victory are inches, pro stock driver Greg Anderson stood out last year with a remarkable pattern of consistency. For winning 15 times in 23 National Hot Rod Assn. events -- and clinching the Powerade title earlier than any other driver ever had in a professional category -- Anderson was selected Speed Channel driver of the year for 2004.

Four enthusiastic Southern California hot-rodders, in a red Dodge station wagon pulling a camper-style Viking trailer, set out 50 years ago on a 17-week odyssey to spread the gospel of organized drag racing -- National Hot Rod Assn. style -- to the street racers of America who had gone car crazy after World War II. "Speed we take for granted. Safety is our goal," was their slogan.

A year ago, Brandon Bernstein was a rookie on the rise, the hottest driver in drag racing. A second-generation driver with very little experience, Bernstein had won at Bristol, Tenn., becoming the National Hot Rod Assn.'s leader in top fuel. This year, Bernstein is the NHRA's comeback driver of the year, winner of two of five national events after missing the final 15 races last year. And next week he will be back in Bristol.

In its purest form, racing is about two competitors lining up side by side to see which is faster. Few are faster than the drivers of the National Hot Rod Assn., who travel more than 300 mph down a short stretch of asphalt. Still, Wally Parks has a soft spot for the sportsman classes and the shade-tree mechanic.