Which type of drag racing car is commonly called a digger?

A dragster is the type of drag-racing car commonly called a digger.

“Digger” is established drag-racing slang for a dragster, a specialized vehicle built primarily for straight-line acceleration. Dragsters are typically long, narrow and open-wheeled, with a lightweight chassis, large rear slicks and an engine positioned to maximize traction and power delivery. Their exposed frame rails helped inspire older terms such as “rail” and “slingshot.”

The design has evolved substantially. Early front-engine dragsters placed the driver behind the engine and were often called slingshots; modern Top Fuel dragsters generally use a rear-engine layout. Don Garlits’s 1971 Swamp Rat XIV was the first highly successful rear-engine Top Fuel dragster and helped establish the configuration as the modern standard.

A digger is distinct from a Funny Car, sometimes nicknamed a flopper, because a Funny Car uses a bodied silhouette resembling a production vehicle. Gassers and Pro Mods are also bodied categories. The nickname does not identify a fuel type or a specific professional class; it is another word for the dragster form itself.