Drag Illustrated Issue 145, June 2019 | Page 86

DR AG I LL U S T R AT ED R OUN D TABLE ON TOP OF THE WORLD How Top Sportsman and Top Dragster became the hottest classes in sportsman racing — and why they plan to stay there BY JOS H HACHAT Photographs by Tara Bowker, Roger Richards, Cole Rokosky, Scott Arnold, and Alex Owens O n his own, Sandy Wilkins doesn’t have the high-end budget required to run a professional class. But in his mind, he’s doing the next best thing. Wilkins is a veteran standout in Top Sportsman, a thriving class in the sportsman ranks because of how much it resembles a professional class – in this case, Pro Mod – without having to break the bank. “You can almost go as fast as a Pro Mod if you want to,” Wilkins says. “I look at the economics. I can never race Pro Mod with me paying the bills. But I can run the same car and go within 7-8 tenths of a second of a Pro Mod car. It’s something I can do, I can work on and I can do that without having the expense of trying to run a pro class. Top Sportsman is the fastest non-professional door car there is.” While some sportsman classes are searching for answers when it comes to participation, Top Dragster and Top Sportsman have aced the quiz. Their golden ticket – at least for now – is impres- sive participation in both classes. Both are quick and fast, going in the low 6-second zone at nearly 240 mph in the case of Top Dragster, on a reasonable budget with limited wear and tear on parts. To find out why both classes are thriving, Drag Illustrated talked to a panel of compet- itors in both Top Sportsman and Top Dragster. The five drivers have their fair share of accom- plishment over the years, reveling in the fact that each class is flourishing. What made it interesting were the varying viewpoints on the status of the class, different rule changes and what – if anything – should be done about a maximum dial-in. The answers showcased a diversity much like the classes them- selves, and it’s a variety that has kept each class on the up and up, with most agreeing there’s no reason why both Top Sportsman and Top Drag- ster can’t continue to prosper. Wilkins has Top Sportsman racing in his 86 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com blood. With two decades of experience in the class, Wilkins has done it all and won it all. He’s a multi-time national event winner and divisional champion, and in 2017, he drove his Camaro to seven final rounds, winning five of them and claiming the NHRA Division 2 championship. Joe Fisher is no stranger to sportsman racing, having compiled a strong career that dates three decades in Division 3 Top Dragster. His wife and son also race in the class, while his business, Rac- ing RVs, is a class sponsor for both Top Sportsman and Top Dragster. Zach Sackman is a rising star in the Division 3 Top Dragster ranks. The 23-year-old fabricator picked up his first NHRA national event win in 2017, winning the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. He’s since added success at divisional races in Division 3, and qualified No. 4 in Top Dragster with a 6.161 at 226.32 to open the year in Pomona. Hailing from the Denver area, Steve Johnson is a veteran and championship-winning driver in Division 5 Top Dragster, bringing his family along for the ride as well. His wife also competes in the class, and Johnson, who is the vice president/ general manager at Fineline Graphics, has an active schedule in 2019. Glenn Butcher has a wealth of experience and success in Top Sportsman, seeing success in every sanctioning body. He won his first NHRA national event last September in St. Louis, and has achieved success at all levels dating back to the original heyday of the class in the IHRA. We’ve seen both classes pack the pits no mat- ter the sanctioning body or location. Why have these classes been able to thrive? Steve Johnson: I think it’s the diversity and challenge. Most of the Top Dragster, Top Sports- man guys are ex-Super Gas, Super Comp guys, and this gives them something new and excit- ing. Although we’re not at the level of the pros or even Top Alcohol Dragster, we’re getting a lot closer. Obviously, speed is in all of our blood, so we all want to go faster. It’s still probably cheaper than Comp. The power adders are a little cheaper way to go fast. The bumps are dropping and the classes are thriving. Issue 145