Richard Rawlings in a Hellcat...

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by john70t

Mr Garlits did about 4Gs for a few seconds.
Oh my.
But his challenger went on to pull sustained 9Gs in a full-on fight to the death while calculating time to lock-on, and every combination of opponent maneuvers, watching stall speed and radar and other instruments, co-coordinating with communications protocol, analyzing advantages vs disadvantages while also investigating other potential threats on the horizon.

Yeah, well there are two in that cockpit!

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I can't imagine anything a human can sit in (maybe a rocket sled) that can accelerate faster than a top fuel dragster. When they go a 1/4 mile. 3.58 seconds at 386.26 mph (621.61 km/h) was set by Sammy Miller in his Vanishing Point funny car in July 1984!

So fast they changed the rules to slow em down. 386 MPH after less than 4 seconds is nucking futz.

I remember that run by Sammy Miller, it was in a rocket car.
Crazy.

Nowadays they have top fuel dragsters running in the high 3.6 second range at 330 mph or better, but they only run 1000 feet now as 1320 was too dangerous

This pass was made by a buddy of mine a couple years ago:

[ted]

Drag racing can’t be too difficult.
John Force taught both his daughters how to do it.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I remember that run by Sammy Miller, it was in a rocket car.
Crazy.

Nowadays they have top fuel dragsters running in the high 3.6 second range at 330 mph or better, but they only run 1000 feet now as 1320 was too dangerous

This pass was made by a buddy of mine a couple years ago:

Yea, just stop and think. In just 1000 feet they are going 100 MPH FASTER than the fastest road legal street car on the planet can manage. Not just a few MPH but a lot MPH faster. And they get there in dang near an instant.

I remember one comparison. Take the Porsche 911GT2RS and back it up a mile further and give it a go, as it crosses the start line at full bore the dragster starts. The dragster will be at the finish line first.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by ted

Drag racing can’t be too difficult.
John Force taught both his daughters how to do it.

Force taught three of his daughters to do it. Ashley retired a few years ago to make babies.


Anyone can drag race. Not everyone can do it well. Ask Troy Coughlin Jr.
I jokingly call it "motorized bowling".
IIRC Force is 67 years old and never was in what most would consider good shape, so it isn't as physically demanding as most sports. But those G forces have got to be something else.


The NHRA is shooting themselves in the foot by over-promoting female drivers, sending the impression to the world that it ain't no big deal.
They are spending way too much time and effort reaching out to new fan-base that doesn't care about drag racing and never will.
All the while alienating their true fans that gave them the success they have.
The NHRA is dying and they know it, it'll be gone in 5 years unless they get their act together.

[sammyg2]

Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, & for once, NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs about $1,000 per second.

Top fuel dragsters reach 100 mph in about 8 tenths of a second in about 60 feet and 200 mph in a little more than the length of a football field.

[flipper35]

John's wife must be pretty nice looking. Force may not be in the best shape, but he has good reaction times and a good head for making it down the strip quickly. He is also entertaining in his interviews.

Drag racing is like any other sport. Some have the knack, some don't. Sammy Swindel or Steve Kinser make going in circles seemingly out of control look easy but I doubt they would do well in a rail, just as any of the drag racers would not do well in a WoO car.

Most televised motorsports are not doing well. NASCAR has steadily gone downhill as they have gotten farther from their roots.

I have not been to a live top level race (Other than the vintage stuff at Road America) in years.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by flipper35

John's wife must be pretty nice looking. Force may not be in the best shape, but he has good reaction times and a good head for making it down the strip quickly. He is also entertaining in his interviews.

Drag racing is like any other sport. Some have the knack, some don't. Sammy Swindel or Steve Kinser make going in circles seemingly out of control look easy but I doubt they would do well in a rail, just as any of the drag racers would not do well in a WoO car.

Most televised motorsports are not doing well. NASCAR has steadily gone downhill as they have gotten farther from their roots.

I have not been to a live top level race (Other than the vintage stuff at Road America) in years.

I talked to John force a few times at his shop when it was in Yorba Linda, he held charity car shows and would hang out with the regular folk just like he was one of us. What you see in the interviews is really him, just turned up a notch.
His wife is not bad looking for a woman who is "mature" but IMO she had way too much cosmetic surgery done.




Doug Kalitta is a good drag racer who used to do the roundy-round thing and was pretty good at it too. Probably the exception tho .....

Kalitta formerly raced in USAC events. He was the 1991 USAC rookie of the year in the midget series, and won the 1994 championship in the sprint car category. Kalitta won 21 USAC events: 14 in midget races and 7 in sprint competitions.

[flipper35]

I was just thinking his girls didn't get their looks form him.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by ted

Drag racing can’t be too difficult.
John Force taught both his daughters how to do it.

Actually 3. But if you think handling 12,000 HP and having to steer left to go straight (just how much might be the difficulty here) under enough g's so that you can't breathe is easy, then you ought to be driving Top Fuel. I hear the pay is pretty darn good.