NHRA Drag racing

[trekkor]

I am not a fan, but the wind is blowing in from Sonoma just right and I can clearly hear the Top Fuel dragsters from home here in the Napa countryside.

It's about 15 miles away and I'm getting these low tone 4 second rumbles as they throttle up to 320 mph.

Makes me want to watch it live.

I hear it is comparable to a space shuttle launch in awe factor.


KT

[Mo_Gearhead]

Different strokes...

I have loved drag racing for the last 40 years. Never been to a road race.

You should go at least once. T.V. does not do it justice. The brutal POWER those cars produce (Top Fuel and Funnys) has to be seen/heard in person.

And visit the pits, watch them completely overhaul an engine in 45 minutes!

Even sitting in the stands, you will feel like someone is thumping you in the chest when they make a pass. And to be there at night (Qualifying) watching the header flames, a sight to behold.

[dewolf]

Originally Posted by Mo_Gearhead

Even sitting in the stands, you will feel like someone is thumping you in the chest when they make a pass. And to be there at night (Qualifying) watching the header flames, a sight to behold.

+1, truly awesome machines. The guy's and gals that drive drive them are indeed brave people

[TerryH]

Avoid pain, bring ear protection!

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by TerryH

Avoid pain, bring ear protection!

Last time I went about 6 tears ago (nothing has changed), I had to hold my over-the-ear set tight. It's incredibly loud. I wonder what the decibel level actually is.

Schumacher blew his blower right in front of me at about half track. It scared me so much I haven't been back. Loudest noise I've ever heard. It literally pushed the people back. I've not heard of people getting hit by debris from these things, but it has to be possible.

Trekkor, it's on TV in a little while.

[trekkor]

I've been out to Sears on their wednesday nite drags several times. $10 to get in, $20 to run.
I even ran my 914 down the strip myself one night.

They only had it open for 1/8 mile passes due to recent rains.
The track was dry and cold. A run wasn't long enough to get on the power in third gear.

The top of third, upshift into fourth in my car is quite fun.
No drag car, mind you.

I watch a little bit on TV ( rarely ), but I don't know who's who.

When is it on TV?


KT

[Jeff Higgins]

I would encourage anyone who has never seen top fuel and/or funny cars run to go at least once. It is impossible to describe the sensation of having a couple of these go by at wide open throttle. These things have more horsepower in one cylinder than any single F1, Nextel Cup, or Le Mans LMP1 car has in the entire motor. They will burn almost 8 gallons of 85% nitro / 15% methanol in one burnout and quarter mile run. Seen the Blue Angels of Thunderbirds perform? One top fuel car at full melt will drown out all eight of them in a full afterburner low fly-by. No kidding. It's hard to overstate how loud they are; I wear foam ear plugs under full ear muffs and I still whince when they go by. Your whole body just shakes from it; it's like being in a low-level earthquake. Definitely a must-see, at least once in your life.

[450knotOffice]

I absolutely have to agree with all that's been said. These vehicles are utterly beyond comprehension when seen in person. I highly recommend going to a NHRA National race and getting seats abeam the starting line. TV in no way prepares one for the (and I'm not kidding) shock and awe these cars create. And yes, Top fuel drivers are some of the bravest people on the planet as far as I'm concerned. The violence they submit themselves to is unbelievable.

The first few passes you see of two of these cars racing a full tilt will cause you to question the seeming impossibility of what you just saw (and felt down to your core).

Great show. I'm going to try to get a few local Pelicans to get together at the World Finals here in SoCal this Fall.

[trekkor]

Now I'm really sorry I skipped the event

I was BBQing for some friends this evening and heard a few more passes.

How loud is it at the track in decibels to send the sound 15 miles?

Must be deafening.


KT

[450knotOffice]

LOUD!!!! But it's also a different, much deeper, more full sound than any gasoline engine.

[URY914]

When it so LOUD you can feel your bones shake and the ground move....it's loud. The first time I felt it I couldn't believe it.

[Mule]

There's some discrepancy about how much power they make. There's no good way to meaysure power at this level. Their announcers say 7000hp. Years ago I saw measurements using drive shaft deflection that showed over 9000 hp.

As far as the sound, once I saw a guy loose his balance & almost fall down.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by trekkor

Now I'm really sorry I skipped the event

I was BBQing for some friends this evening and heard a few more passes.

How loud is it at the track in decibels to send the sound 15 miles?

Must be deafening.


KT

Everyone has heard strings of firecrackers going off. Replace those little fellers with sticks of dynamite going off at the same rate. You are still less than halfway there... I know that sounds like an exageration, but it quite honestly is not.

Almost eight gallons of fuel in 4.5 seconds. The motor actually only makes 900 revolutions or so in an entire pass. To burn eight gallons of fuel - imagine the the force generated in just one ignition cycle in one cylinder. They run very close to full hydraulic lock when at full throttle. A Dodge Viper does not generate enough horsepower to run the blower and the fuel pump on one of these motors.

They have no way to reliably measure what one really puts out, but they have extrapolated by running the same motors on pure methanol on a dyno. Latest estimates claim they are close to 8,000 horsepower. Watching one run leaves little doubt as to the veracity of that estimate.

Your average GT3 could pass one at full speed while it is sitting on the starting line. The top fuel car's que to go is the GT3 passing it at 180-ish mph. The top fuel car will catch the GT3 at about 3/4 track and beat is easily to the finish line.

Yes, the sheer violence of the whole thing kind of leaves you a bit stunned; every time you see it. I've been watching since I was a kid and still find myself a bit surprised by it when I first return to a drag race. And to think there is a man or a woman sitting in that damn thing... wow...

[TheMentat]

I went to see these things in Kent, WA last year. After seeing the top fuellers run for the first time, I was pretty much convinced they were powered by the fury of God himself! It really is hard to magine how somebody would want to get close enough to brush off the tires on the starting grid, much less drive it!

[Superman]

You can watch these machines on TV, largely the same as seeing them in person. But listening to them on TV bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to the real sound. Some of the comments above will seem like hyperbole. It's not. The above remarks are understatements, and you will understand this better AFTER you have personally witnessed one of these events.

At one of these events, you will see street rods. Sixteen seconds. Then 14 seconds. Then twelve. Then eleven. Then ten and nine. By this time you're seeing cars that amateur racers have spend mega dollars to build. No mufflers. These would be the loudest cars you ever heard, but nothing compared to what comes later. Next, you will see the Pro Stock cars. These are the world's fastest gasoline-burning drag cars. The beginning of the professionals. A whole new level of noise and speed. And then they fire up the alcohol burning rails and funny cars. These are LARGE vehicles that are difficult to distinguish from the Big Boys (Top Fuel). The noise made by these alcohol burning cars, and their speed, can be misleading. They are a whole new world of noise and speed. But even at this point, you ain't seen nuthin' yet. When they fire up the first Top Fuel vehicle you will know why you brought the ear plugs. Again, the hyperbole above is understated. You really HAVE to see these cars at least one time. After you have done this, you will have a whole different perspective when you see them on TV.

[asphaltgambler]

Top Fuel Drag Racing (seen live) can best be described as "Unf**king believable !!" There is absolutely no motorsport that impacts the fan with sound pressure and noise that those things generate.

[Aerkuld]

Last weekend we had the Southern Nationals for drag boats down here in Augusta. Similar concept for the Top Fuel boats, running a quarter in the 4-5 second range and VERY loud. I was stunned watching these run. It was the first time I have ever seen a boat with a 'chute.
Even when they shut the motor down and punched the chute as they passed the finish it must have been a good half to three quarters of a mile down the river that the things were going slow enough to turn.

[trekkor]

Thanks for all the replies. sounds pretty exciting.

KT

[Red Baron]

That racing was great yesterday and I would have loved to have been there!

[Mule]

If you use the 9000 hp figure, 2 T/F cars make more power than the entire field at Daytona (400 hp * 34).