Never been on one (none on my f**king island) but I would say u need the best protective gear u can get, even a neck protector, as its not like on the track that if u fall off u slide for some time and then thats mostly it, on the drag strips which I've seen on vid clips they have walls on the side and if somebody hits against one of them....
(do drag strips normaly have a checklist of minimum gear u have to wear ? thats what I think would be wise to do)