NHRA Funny Car veteran Bob Tasca III has taken a peek behind the curtain, and he like what he sees.

The electric car is coming to the racetrack. Anyone who thinks otherwise need look no further than Sunday's results from the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and the dominant performance of the Volkswagen I.D. R.

And, yes, electric technology is coming to the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. After all, if the technology to dominate a field of internal combustion engines exists for an electric vehicle to make an eight-minute run up a mountain, it doesn't take that much of a leap to think that a competitive 1,000-foot drag strip run in an EV would be a piece of cake.

“You’re going to see it, and I’m all for it,” Tasca told Autoweek. “With the new electric technology in a drag car, it would be badass. It would be unbelievable.

“I would love to see it impact the NHRA, because the electric technology that’s here and coming down the road, it’s instant torque. It would apply unbelievably well to drag racing because we need torque, we need to move the car now. It’s definitely going to affect the NHRA. I don’t think it’s going to replace a nitro Funny Car anytime soon, but it would be fantastic.”

Glen Cromwell, first-year president of the NHRA, can also hear the less-than-menacing roar of the electrics coming around the corner of the NHRA’s future.

“We’ve been talking to our partners at Ford, Chevy, Toyota, Dodge Mopar,” Cromwell said. “Electric drag racing is a part of our marketing deck.

“Wally Parks’ mission was to provide a place to race. If the demand from the consumer is there, we’ll provide a class. We’re in the car business. The NHRA will evolve.”

Cromwell is careful not to put a date on when fans might see an all-electric class in the NHRA or even a time when a class of electric cars might replace today’s Funny Cars or Top Fuel Dragsters atop the series’ weekend schedule.

“We are watching it very closely,” Cromwell said. “It’s an important part of our future.”

Tasca is a third-generation Ford dealer and a 20-year member of Ford’s Dealer Product Advisory Committee.

“I’ve driven electric vehicles on Ford’s test track,” Tasca said. “I’ve driven the ones in the showroom. It’s incredible technology. It’s fun to drive. Obviously, it’s environmentally friendly, and you don’t have to go to a gas station -- and that’s pretty cool.”

Tasca says a class of electric cars for the NHRA is “a lot closer than you think.”

“The interesting thing is it makes noise,” Tasca said of a high-performance electric. “It makes a very cool sound. The real high-performance motors have a real whirl to it. It’s different, obviously, to a nitro Funny Car. You won’t need earplugs, but it’s a pretty cool sound.

“What I see in the pipeline: Tesla gets all of the rah rah, but truth be told, Ford, GM -- the big players -- are going to steamroll, as far I’m concerned. What Ford has coming in the pipeline is unbelievable. It’s probably going to be the most exciting five-year product unfold that I’ve even been involved with at Ford.

“I can’t say too much, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

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