Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins
The part about shutting off fuel flow to cut the engine is kinda sorta true. Problem is, the driver cannot do it. The NHRA does not allow fuel control valves, nor levers to control them, in the cockpit for safety reasons. The motors run on mags and again, there is no driver accesible shut off. A crew member has to shut the car off. In the case of an aborted run, keep your eyes on the guy that walks up and shuts it off. At the end of the run, it just runs out of fuel somewhere in the shutdown area. You will see these cars wreck sometimes and rather inexplicably (seemingly) just keep running. I saw a top fuel car flop on its side after getting crossed up right out of the hole one day; it kept spinning like a top around the rear tire that was on the ground. No way to stop it; the driver just had to wait for it to run out of gas.
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Jeff, they absolutely control the fuel from the cockpit. When they pre-stage the car, the clutch is out. They move a lever to engage the second stage of the fuel pumps (you can hear the difference in the engine). Next it's stomp the gas pedal, steer like hell, let off, hit the parachute release, hit the fuel shutoff, breathe. If they ran out of fuel at wot they would grenade the engine every run. And I agree, I don't think they diesel. I think spark is very accurately controlled.