[Chris Williams]

Clearly many others will have advice on this. It seems you have three options in NHRA (I don't know diddly about IHRA): TD, SC, or SP.

Although Top Dragster seems custom-made for people who want to run full-out in a dragster, a car that runs 7.91 is going to have a tough time qualifying in TD fields. Anything much over 7.50 is not going to make a lot of fields, and even much over 7.30 is tough. So TD's out.

Super Comp is the likely choice, a car that can run 7.90s would be good in an 8.90 class. It is, however, a tough class, and you'll have to brush up on those .030 lights if you want to ever see the win light on the other end. You'll want to be able to get your packages (ET difference and RT) under that .030 to be competitive. But, IMHO, SC is the most fun. The racing there is tight, and if you want to race with the best, that's the place. I'm not familiar with your area, but see if there's a local SC Association around. That's a great way to get going without the pressure of a divisional or national event.

SC isn't hard to get started in, just hard to excel in. Get a handheld weather station (lots of options, check Biondo's site for some options), read Biondo's FAQ on throttle stop racing, and give it a shot. If your car already has a delay box and throttle stop on it, you're just a bit of testing away from your first race.

Another option is just to race Super Pro at your local track. No, you won't compete for a Wally, but when starting out, it's great. With a good delay box you can leave off the top yellow (good practice for SC later) and get some laps in, maybe even take home some bucks at your local track. There are a whole lot of people who love that and never venture beyond it.

Finally, if I were you (and we were you just a few years ago), I'd put my focus on test and tunes. Go to every one you can, just put in some laps. Get the whole thing down to a routine. Everything, not just the race part, but things like your "back at the trailer" routine. Fill the fuel, charge the car, check the CO2, etc., etc. Get it down to a pattern. It will pay huge dividends when you are finally ready to actually race. We made a pact to make 50 T&T passes before our first race. Best decision we ever made.

Hope this helps, I'm sure others will chime in.
Chris