Any drag race fans?

[W2DR 1,860]

A Top Fuel dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on earth . . quicker than a jet fighter plane . . . quicker than the space shuttle....or snapping your fingers !!   Imagine this...........You are driving a new Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z-06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to 'launch' down a quarter-mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard, on up through the gears. You blast across the starting line and pass the dragster at an honest 200 MPH. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that exact moment. The dragster departs and starts after you. You keep your foot buried hard to the floor, and suddenly you hear an incredibly brutal screaming whine that pummels your eardrums and within a mere 3 seconds the dragster effortlessly catches and passes you.  He beats you to the finish line, a quarter-mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it – from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 MPH.....and it not only caught you, but nearly blasted you off the planet when he passed. And all of that within a mere 1320 foot long race !!!! That, I proclaim, is acceleration.

* One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch replica Dodge (actually Keith Black, etc) Hemi engine makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows of cars at NASCAR's Daytona 500. 
 
* Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at about the same rate  but with 25% less energy being produced.

* A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely drive the dragster's supercharger. 

* With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lockup at full throttle.

* At the stoichio metric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.

* Nitro methane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.

* Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. Which is typically the output of a small electric arc welder in each cylinder.

* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way thru the run, the engine is 'dieseling' from compression and the glow of the exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.

* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with enough force to blow the cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half !! 

* Dragsters reach over 300 MPH +... before you have completed reading this sentence.

* In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, a dragster must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH well before reaching half-track, at launch the acceleration approaches 6 G's.
  
* Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

* Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.

* The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM. 

* THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid for, the pit crew is working for free, & NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run will cost an estimated $1,000 per second. 0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the run) 0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run) 6 g-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land) 6 negative g-forces upon deployment of twin 'chutes at 300 MPH  
 

Edited April 3, 2021 by W2DR
kant spel

[mattn 45]

It always amazes me that in all of that split second chaos after the green light that a human can keep the thing going straight down the track under those g forces. 

[martin-w 3,234]

No, but I am going to our annual hill climb tomorrow. 

[n4gix 4,947]

While I enjoy watching drag racing, I actually prefer tractor pulls!

[Howellerman 104]

I started attending drag races with my brother back when Don Garlits and Shirly Muldowney were leading the pack. The local Fremont drag strip was one of the fastest in the world because it was at sea level, and in the day you could freely roam the track outside the barriers. We used to alternate between the stands at the starting line and standing at the finish line, where the whine of the blower was the sound that came at you. Sadly, the Fremont complex which encompassed the drag strip, a quarter midget track, and a Speedway track is all gone, replaced by office/industrial buildings. 

After the demise of Fremont, we went to Sonoma, which back in the day was called Sears Point (nee Infineon). We watched John Force and his personality ascend to the Funny Car throne. Sears Point was a pain to get in and out of, but once you were inside it was a blast since you could freely roam the pits. It was always entertaining to watch a fuel car get started up after a rebuild. They start the engine on alcohol, everyone gathers round, and then they switched to nitro. Everybody's eyes immediately start watering because Nitro Is Nasty! Being that close to one of those beasts as they blip the throttle (instant RPM!) is enough to hammer your heart in your chest. After the test the mechanics switch the engine back to alcohol and then cut the fuel supply - the engine takes a surprising amount of time to wind down.

That much horsepower was just mind-boggling. Watching the various classes (Pro Stock, Bikes, Alcohol, etc) run earlier in the schedule still did not fully prepare me for Top Fuel. It made my hat flutter and my eyeballs rattle from the sonic assault!

I remember reading an article from a Top Alcohol racer that graduated to Top Fuel. He (long since forgot the name) said that Alcohol was fast but that past the half-track point the engine stopped pulling as hard. Top Fuel, though, never stopped pulling, and I understand that is the main reason why they no longer race the full quarter mile, but instead cross the lights at 1,000 feet. The speeds were just getting too high, and the loss of Scott Kalitta in 2008 sealed the decision. Still, Fuelies are getting close to 340 mph in 1,000 feet, in a little over 3.6 seconds (just looked it up: record is 338.17 mph @ 3.659 seconds, set by Britney Force, John's daughter).

Sadly, after my brother passed away my interest in motor sports waned and I have not been to a race in the intervening decade. But it was great fun while it lasted!

[W2DR 1,860]

Ah, the memories I have of Fremont John. Back in 1961-62 I spent more Sundays there than I can count. I lived in Monterey then  and was running a 1961 Super Stock Pontiac Catalina. We'd hook up the tow bar on Saturday afternoon, tow up to Half Moon Bay, run there Saturday night, stay at a cheap motel in South San Francisco, and then go on down to Fremont for the races on Sunday. And you're right about Fremont being a fast ride. I ran that car at probably 15 different strips and the fastest time I ever turned was at Fremont. Wow, where have the years gone?