THE BASICS OF DRAG BOAT RACING ARE VERY SIMILAR TO THOSE OF LAND DRAG RACING.  IT IS AN ACCELERATION RACE OVER A MEASURED QUARTER MILE STRAIGHTAWAY ON WATER, BETWEEN TWO HIGH PERFORMANCE RACE BOATS.  HOWEVER, DRAG BOATS USE A SLIGHT MOVING START.

TWO BOATS ARE "PAIRED UP" ON THE HOLDING ROPE. A COUNTDOWN CLOCK BEGINS BEFORE THE BOATS GET A GREEN LIGHT.  DURING COMPETITION, IF EITHER BOAT CROSSES THE STARTING LINE BEFORE THE GREEN LIGHT IS ILLUMINATED, IT "RED LIGHTS", AND IS DISQUALIFIED.  THE STARTING SYSTEM WAS IMPLEMENTED BY THE IHBA AS A SAFETY PRECAUTION, BEING THAT IT IS DIFFICULT FOR A DRIVER TO DETERMINE IF THE BOAT WILL LAUNCH STRAIGHT FROM A STANDING START.

EACH BOAT IS ALLOWED TO QUALIFY FOR ELIMINATIONS BY MAKING AT LEAST ONE QUARTER-MILE TIMED RUN.  EACH OF THE BOATS IS CLOCKED FOR AN ELAPSED TIME (ET) THAT IS DETERMINED FROM THE TIME IT TAKES THE BOAT TO COVER THE QUARTER-MILE RACECOURSE FROM START TO FINISH.

QUALIFYING IS GENERALLY HELD SATUDAY WITH ELIMINATIONS ON SUNDAY.  (LARGER CLASSES MAY RUN SOME ELIMINATIONS ON SATURDAY).  THE WINNER OF EACH ROUND OF RACING ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND, UNTIL ONLY ONE BOAT REMAINS AS THE CLASS WINNER.