Started By
Message

Top Fuel Drag Racers are quite amazing

Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:29 pm
Posted by Darth_Vader
A galaxy far, far away
Member since Dec 2011
64651 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:29 pm
Found this on the Facebook and was pretty impressed….

quote:

This is what 11,000 horsepower does to a top fuel dragster tire at launch.



And the speed record was set on October 2, 2022 by Brittany force! She went 338.48 mph in her Flav-R-Pac dragster in the opening round of the NHRA Midwest Nationals at the World Wide Technology Raceway! BullSnot proud driver!

TOP FUEL ACCELERATION FACTS!
* One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic-inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower (11,000 HP) than the first 5 rows at the Daytona 500.
* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1.2-1.5 gallons of nitromethane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate 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 lock at full throttle.
* At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitromethane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.
* Nitromethane 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 gasses.
* Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of 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 sufficient force to blow 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, dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8 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 off, the crew worked for free, & for once, NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs 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 An NHRA Top Fuel
Dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on earth . . quicker than a jet fighter plane . . . quicker than the space shuttle.


*NB4 “dear Facebook*

Posted by OWLFAN86
The OT has made me richer
Member since Jun 2004
176009 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:30 pm to
another fricking trans/drag thread
Posted by Darth_Vader
A galaxy far, far away
Member since Dec 2011
64651 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:32 pm to
I did find it interesting the top fuel speed record is currently held by a woman.
Posted by onelochevy
Slidell, LA
Member since Jan 2011
16540 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:32 pm to
I went to Wyotech back in '07-'08 and I remember the teacher in my chassis fabrication class telling us that if you lined up four 5 gal buckets of nitromethane, a top fuel car could burn 20 gallons before you could kick all four buckets over.
Posted by sqerty
AP
Member since May 2022
5032 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:34 pm to
Would be cool if a movie was made about these fellas! Maybe throw in some ladies doin' it too!
Posted by PrecedentedTimes
Member since Dec 2020
3128 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:35 pm to
My uncle tried to get into this as some kind of limited partnership investment scheme with like 6 other friends, but the costs these teams incur is absolutely insane.

It still amazes me how a simple contest from (I’d imagine) the 1920’s between fellow car owners turned into the current sport where flightless UFOs throw down.
Posted by TheCoastalMan
Member since May 2023
49 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:35 pm to
It's sad what's happening to NHRA. Drag strips are being closed just to put in another generic strip mall or a generic housing complex. Car counts in general are down.

I love all forms of racing and I follow Formula 1 the most but there is just something about a Top Fuel Drag Racer that is just untouched. Even Funny Cars are amazing as well.

I will always say that even if you aren't a fan of drag racing or racing in general, go to an NHRA event at least once in your life.

The sounds are incredible and every ticket get you back into their garage area. You can see them have to essential take apart and rebuild a Top Fuel Drag Racer or Funny Car after every run. It's truly one of the only sports left where you can be up close with many of the famous drivers.
Posted by Jones
Member since Oct 2005
90567 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:39 pm to
quote:

I did find it interesting the top fuel speed record is currently held by a woman.



She has good pedigree
Posted by rmnldr
Member since Oct 2013
38236 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:48 pm to
Insane
Posted by SomethingLikeA
Member since Jul 2013
1113 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:48 pm to
It’s science. They weigh less obv.
Posted by VernonPLSUfan
Leesville, La.
Member since Sep 2007
15862 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:55 pm to
Another CSB. During the summer before my freshman year at LSU, I took my cousin to to the drag track on Hwy 190 near Livonia. They had races once a month there and the draw this particular night was jet car racing. Before the main draw a thunderstorm blows thru dropping around a inch of rain. It blew thru fast and everyone returned from their vehicles to the stands. Blowers were used to dry the track but it would of taken an hour or so to dry it for racing. The track announcer comes on and says anybody wanting to run the quater get you vehicle lined up. The stands damn near emptied and you saw everything from moms station wagon to some gear heads souped up chevy. Most of em did mutiple runs. Good times.
This post was edited on 7/1/23 at 1:02 pm
Posted by DownshiftAndFloorIt
Here
Member since Jan 2011
66763 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 12:56 pm to
quote:

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


This is the most amazing part to me.
Posted by Mid Iowa Tiger
Undisclosed Secure Location
Member since Feb 2008
18684 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 1:02 pm to
quote:

I did find it interesting the top fuel speed record is currently held by a woman.


Her dad is a top fuel legend and she grew up at the tracks. She is also pretty hot all things considered.

Do your own homework and find your own pictures.
Posted by Jack Daniel
In the bottle
Member since Feb 2013
25497 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 1:08 pm to
State capitol had open races every Friday night.
Posted by CHEDBALLZ
South Central LA
Member since Dec 2009
21937 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 1:16 pm to
quote:

 It's truly one of the only sports left where you can be up close with many of the famous drivers.


My brother in law and I went to the Cajun Nationals a few years back. Some dude in a drag truck S-10 asked us to help him push his truck to the starting line! He ended up winning the race too. He said it didn't have an alternator and the battery could only start it 4 or 5 times before it needed to be recharged and he had already started it twice waiting to get to the line.
This post was edited on 7/1/23 at 1:19 pm
Posted by TigerFanatic99
South Bend, Indiana
Member since Jan 2007
27631 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 1:19 pm to
quote:

She is also pretty hot all things considered.



Relatively speaking, sure.

Posted by OU Guy
Member since Feb 2022
8375 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 1:22 pm to
quote:


I did find it interesting the top fuel speed record is currently held by a woman.


In NHRA the womens have to earn there way. Nothing is given and no quotas or forced drivers. She is the daughter of John Force who holds aboit every record there is in Funny Car. All 3 daughters raced and won but 2 of them stepped back to have families. They grew up in racing. And earned their way which is cool.

An old pic with daighters and wife

This post was edited on 7/1/23 at 1:26 pm
Posted by Pfft
Member since Jul 2014
3693 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 1:27 pm to
Stand next to one of these when they fire up the engine. It is an assault on your senses.
Eyes water immediately, ears must be plugged. Burning throat, nose burning. The vibration is incredible.
Almost better than sex.
Posted by wheelr
Member since Jul 2012
5147 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 1:34 pm to
It is crazy in person. I can see why watching it on TV is not nearly as exciting.

Was going to recommend people check it out in Baytown but looks like that shut down last year.
https://www.autoweek.com/racing/nhra/a37029343/end-near-nhra-affiliated-houston-raceway-park/
Posted by Pfft
Member since Jul 2014
3693 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 1:45 pm to
Yes, you have to go to Dallas or headrest.
No problem raceway might have a match race every once in awhile.
first pageprev pagePage 1 of 3Next pagelast page

Back to top
logoFollow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to get the latest updates on LSU Football and Recruiting.

FacebookTwitterInstagram