NHRA Top fuel times

[GEJ]

I went to http://WWW.NHRA.com

There are guys that are running 3.8's.

I remember when the 4 second barrier was just broken and talk about how that was all there was.

Got me wondering where it will end??.Humm,by next yr 3.0's or high two's.

[wagonmaster]

They're only running 1000 feet. After Kalitta's death, they are concerned about shut down areas. This only applies to Top Fuel and Funny Car, all else runs 1320 feet.

[GEJ]

They're only running 1000 feet. After Kalitta's death, they are concerned about shut down areas. This only applies to Top Fuel and Funny Car, all else runs 1320 feet.

Your right.humm how did I miss that???. So 320 feet makes that big of a difference.

[Rebel]

So 320 feet makes that big of a difference.

Yep,,a long way in funny car world.

I think we're going to see alot of changes at the end of the strip and also times staying pretty much where they are now for awhile. I've thought for some time,,they were close to being maxed out on keeping weight down versus materials used to build which means you can increase strength and times go up or you come up with something out of the box which can only mean the design because there aren't any new metals out there to experiment with.
You can increase the distance which will give you a faster MPH and may satisfy the crowds for some time or you can shorten the distance and have a controlled steering ( attached to strip) like amusement park dragsters and go all out. The last statment may sound a little off the wall but if speeds continue to increase it has pushed all components almost to their limits. By controlling the steering part of the car,,you can eliminate alot of steering parts weight, chassis flex and increase speed with less structural stress than what is being seen today.
The faster you get,,the more down force you need. The more down force you have the slower you go meaning they are at the razor edge and have to decide what's next to move up to the 3 sec. or 2.? You can't do it with what they have now as far as equipment or mode of getting from point A to point B or strip materials and or design. Got to be something new out there and it will come, you can bet on that.

[wagonmaster]

I've been a racer myself (doorslammer) and fan for over 45 years. I can deal with the 1000 foot fuel cars. Hell, they STILL run over 300 mph!!! That's amazing to me!
I don't real care that much for the fuelers anyway, took time from my time to race, back in the day!! I'm a doorslammer kinda guy anyway. I Like big wheelies and 9-10 second Super Stockers!

[GEJ]

I've been a racer myself (doorslammer) and fan for over 45 years. I can deal with the 1000 foot fuel cars. Hell, they STILL run over 300 mph!!! That's amazing to me!
I don't real care that much for the fuelers anyway, took time from my time to race, back in the day!! I'm a doorslammer kinda guy anyway. I Like big wheelies and 9-10 second Super Stockers!

Super gas racers/Jr's for a long long time.Currently 8.90 digger & a Jr.Don't mind fuelers because at a national we all hurry and wait.Everyone gets their turn at the spotlight.

[wagonmaster]

Don't mind fuelers because at a national we all hurry and wait.Everyone gets their turn at the spotlight.

When I was in California my last year and a half in the Marine Corps, I raced at all the "Super Strips" I Had read about while I was growing up. OCIR, although pretty new, was the ultimate Drag Strip for the time, and I also raced at the famous Lions Drag Strip and Irwindale Raceway, Bakersfield and others. All great locales, but they all had one thing in common.....Fuelers, or a "booked in" show! I was used to that EVERY SINGLE WEEK! When we were sorting out acombination for Stock or Super Stock, we wanted passes...and NOW we would change some little thing and we wanted to see the effect at similar conditions, not hours later after the funny car qualifying or similar..... Drove us nuts! At these strips, we all waited in the staging lanes like everywhere else, and that's fine! But we would be there for HOURS between passes, and shame on you if after all that you happened to miss a shift point by 100 RPM or heaven forbid, miss a gear in a stick car!!! That's the was it was, the big strips needed "booked in" shows to draw a crowd, even though much of the time, the pit side of the tracks was full of us "litttle guys".. We would look for the big fuel shows during the weekly schedule and go elsewhere! We could race on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sundays. Bad thing was they ALL had booked in shows except for OCIR on "Grudge Race" night...Wednesday nights! Of course during the test and tune time (most of the night) there was an all inclusive E.T bracket (one BIG bracket) for anyone that wanted to pay extra to run on a dial in E.T. You might've found yourself running against Don Prudhomme in his street car, Or Dick Landy's Super Stock Dodge that they were wrenching on. I won more than once, but just getting to the semis against this group was a feat! One memorable night in early 1970, just before the Winternationals in Pomona (we raced one car there, too) Ronnie Sox, Bill Jenkins, Don Grotheer, Dick Landy ,and MANY more showed up tuning for the very first Pro Stock race in the world, Pomona, 1970!! (Jenkins beat Sox 9.98 to 10.01 in Pomona) You just never knew, but we NEVER had to stop for any booked in show then....Those were the days....

[GEJ]

Joe,
Don't know how current you are with the race deal.Electronics play a big part of the racing field even to the little guy.We collect data for almost all conditions and use a weather station for changes.Throttle stops,delay boxes,two steps,air shifters,tranny brakes, all play apart of it now.And yes I know the old timers will say that isn't racing.But yrs ago it was a way to hold off hp big dollars to level the field.

[astrozam]

Gary...
Now that you have that sweet little digicam,hows about takin some pics of this Drag-racing operation we've all heard so much about,i'm sure theres lots of members interested in seeing your car and set-up.

[GEJ]

Gary...
Now that you have that sweet little digicam,hows about takin some pics of this Drag-racing operation we've all heard so much about,i'm sure theres lots of members interested in seeing your car and set-up.

Going to try.Supposed to hook-up this month with them.(Aug)

Email sent-we'll see if the dates work out.

[wagonmaster]

Gary,
The "little guys" were "high tech" in my day if they had a barometer and could tell the altitude atmospherically to swap carb pieces around. Some cars were on the ragged edge and more sensitive than others. Mine you could have driven to the local drive in with a spark plug and timing change! I know with the heads up 9.90/8.90/10.90 groups all of the things that come into play can make or break a race, and that's technology. In my day we ran off the National record and were good "brake light" racers! WHen the went to the index system, it leveled the field and you didn't need to run a "mile" under it to be competitive.
Appreciate the info. I read as much as I can, and go out to Moroso and race brackets every now and then. I can still cut a light, but nowadays I have to work at it, since I don't do it like I once did...Still fun!!