In what year did the NHRA adopt the 1,000-foot distance for Top Fuel and Funny Car? The NHRA adopted the 1,000-foot race distance in 2008.
The change followed the June 2008 qualifying-session crash that killed Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. In response, the NHRA announced that Top Fuel and Funny Car would run to 1,000 feet rather than the traditional 1,320-foot quarter-mile. The shortened course gave the cars more room to slow before the end of the track.
The new distance first took effect at the 2008 Mopar Mile-High Nationals in Denver. It was initially described as an interim safety measure while the NHRA evaluated additional changes. The move also changed the meaning of performance records: Top Fuel and Funny Car elapsed-time records thereafter used the 1,000-foot increment.
This does not mean every NHRA class races 1,000 feet. Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle, and many sportsman categories continued racing the full quarter-mile. The number 2012 can appear in international drag-racing discussions, but NHRA’s U.S. change occurred in 2008.