The be the world record holder, and going way over 300 MPH in under 1,000 feet is the sign of a real pro.

Look at it this way, if Hamilton took is car right from Mexico, and backup up 3/4 of a mile and went flat out to top speed, and she launched from a dead stop as he went across the line, she would beat him to the finish line 1,000 feet away.

But in drag racing there is no apex and no brakes?
Look at it this way a dragster can't turn or stop.
A short straight is all it can do. lol
After a 1/4 mile pass the end of track interviews are funny.
Dragstrip drivers get jacked up after a 5 second race. :D

If anyone thinks driving a 7000 HP dragster is easy and takes no skill they need to put down the crack pipe . They pull G's like an astronaut and the car fights you to go in a straight line . Yeah it's over in 5 seconds or less but certainly not easy . And don't overlook lightning quick reaction time .

Drag racing is a skill all its own. And the a top fuel levels the physics alone is just mind blowing. Only top speed runs go faster than many of the top speed racers at Bonneville, and they do it over many miles, not in a 1,000 feet.

At a Porsche Parade a few years ago Michelin held their "test and compare" event. No charge to run, and they put us in a brand new Cayman S and we did a launch control drag race and had to stop inside of a stop box. There were two identical Caymans, except on was on Michelins, and the other was on Continental tires. They had a human "flagger" drop his arms and all we had to do was release the brake pedal and hold on, and judge when to slam on the brakes and do a max stop. It was lots of fun, especially since it was not my car, not my tires, not my gas.

I won two drag runs, and then a guy beat me. They did an overall head to head and in the end with lots of Porsche owners, the winner was a "late 70 something" man that was a retired drag racer. It is all about reaction time, and experience.

Everyone needs to go see a top fuel dragster at least once in their life. Zero to 100 in under one second. They pull 5 Gs, They Consume 15 To 22 Gallons Of Fuel Per Mile, Their fuel pump system can pump out 77 gallons per minute at full throttle, and make up to 11,000 HP.

John Force could not survive 5 minutes in an F1 car, he is old, fat and lacks the physical qualities that are characteristic of athletes, such as strength, fitness, and agility road racing requires.
I've attended 20 TF races at Pomona, a spectacle yes.

Tony Stewart spent his prime racing years in Indy, Nascar and Sprint cars what automotive sport did he choose in retirement, drag racing.

I guess Alonzo is now the old man of F1 at age 41. Yea, John Force is never gonna race in F1 but few humans ever will. No doubt F1 is a league of their own in expensive high tech cars, and huge budgets. I love F1, but the FIA sure could be improved like many things French.

Drag racing and F1 have only the fact they run on four rubber tires and consume a petroleum derived fuel with a human driving it, and the object is to win. Not much else connects them.

Drag racing was traditionally the purview of back yard garage mechanics and home grown performance. Run what ya bung was the mantra. F1 has long since gone from the days of a small team building their own car and winning.

I have seen the clip of Richard Hammond trying to drive a older F1 car, and he could not go fast enough to keep the tires warm. He could not, like I suspect all of us, go faster to be able to make the corner as he was going too slow.

The highest Gee in drag racing is when the chute opens.
I drag raced for 25 years and then road raced for 25 years, do you have racing experience? :confused:

I'm a Euro racing snob at heart (WRC, Old style DTM, Le Mans style, F1).
Years ago a friend took me to Ocala to see drag racing, and it was the most impressive thing I ever witnessed. On par with a space shuttle launch or being buzzed by an F15 breaking the sound barrier.
The sheer force of the vibrations and noise going through your entire body, the noise/flames/takeoff speed, blowups, an amazing feast for all senses... Also the crowd in ocala was "interesting". I highly recommend it at least once in your life. I recently took my kids to Sears point to see an NHRA race once for that reason. Same experience (including "interesting crowd")

No I do not . Was what I said wrong ? Your expertise is valuable and would like to hear your comments .

Good to know. :rolleyes:

So, on an F1 topic, who thinks Gasly should do something to get 2 more penalty points and get his race ban with alpha tauri instead of next year ? I do ! Wait for a safety car, and drop back 20 car lengths, no danger, done... Everyone wins ! Alpha tauri gets to run Nick "Debris" (devries, LOL Carlos) during Gasly's ban - they are happy, and alpine gets a "clean" driver. Knowing the FIA they'd probably penalize him for self penalizing though !

On a side note, how is Gasly (fairly clean driver overall) at that point tally and Stroll is not ? Some of those penalties are a bit strange

Porsche F1 again

https://flatsixes.com/porsche-motorsports/report-porsche-is-almost-done-negotiating-a-deal-to-buy-50-of-f1-team-williams-grand-prix/?awt_a=8R0L&awt_l=bvzV9M&awt_m=3aHBQxEOkg5gG0L

I like the angle of the challenge of teaming with Williams versus teaming with Red Bull. It would not be an easy task with Red Bull, but it would be a great challenge to have success with Williams. I will be very enthused if this happens.

According to this article a top fuel dragster pulls 8 G's during acceleration vs the space shuttle pulling 3 G's . So I think my comment was valid . I really did want to hear your perspective because of your experience . But you chose not to . That's fine back to F1 .

https://www.hotcars.com/heres-what-a-top-fuel-dragster-and-the-space-shuttle-have-in-common/

there is a level of skill to control the wheel spin the hole shot the timing

the guy who built the austin healey with a v8 had that level of control

he never raced his car at the track
did not want others to know how fast it was
to protect his street racing cash flow

others in tight races would hire him at the track
as they knew he had the touch

This exactly!

I hope it goes through and over the first few seasons we see gradual results. The RB deal would not have looked good for Porsche.

+1,000!

I've seen all manner of professional racing and the one that really stands out it top fuel. The sound, the pressure on your chest, and the methane in your eyes (this part is not so bad anymore as the tuning is so spot on) is difficult to understand without experiencing it.

I took my wife a couple years ago. We were sitting row 2 at about 60 feet. She thought Pro Mod was loud. Then she thought Alcohol was loud. Then she thought the Top Fuel burn out was loud. She couldn't believe when the Top Fuel launched. She leaned into me and said, "I think I'm gonna be sick!" Of course everyone sitting around us busted out laughing.

I miss the good old days of Williams being a top team. Still have my Ralf Schumacher Williams team hat.

Maybe the Captain can opine on what it would take for Williams to ascend to the throne again. But one thing for sure is they need Latifi gone, which is happening so that's a plus

I still have my pit shoes from when I worked at Nike.
Relegated to yardwork duty, now. :rolleyes:
I just can't have nice things.

(I really should have just stashed these in a box and brought them out for special events but I used to get so many shoes that this was just another pair.




http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1667489866.jpg

on a board like this,
unless you were world champion there is probably
someone else here who has BTDT just as much.
Maybe more.

a top fuel dragster pulls up to 8 G's at the hit of the throttle
and averages 5 G's through the 1000 yards.
If the drivers felt more than 8 G's NEGATIVE from the chutes,
we'd be seeing a lot of detached retinas.
That's just about the physical limit (without injury).