Top Fuel Dragster Facts

[John Morris]

 

I had no idea!

 

This is what 11,000 horsepower does to a top fuel dragster tire at launch!  And the speed record was set on October 2, 2022 by Brittany force!  She went 338.48 mph in her Flav-R-Pac dragster in the opening round of the NHRA Midwest Nationals at the World Wide Technology Raceway!  BullSnot proud driver!

TOP FUEL ACCELERATION FACTS!
* One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic-inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower (11,000 HP) than the first 5 rows at the Daytona 500.
* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1.2-1.5 gallons of nitromethane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.
* A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely drive the dragster's supercharger.
* With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.
* At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitromethane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.
* Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gasses.
* Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug.  This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.
* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.
* Dragsters reach over 300 MPH before you have completed reading this sentence.
* In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8 G's.
* Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!
* Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.
* The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.
* THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, & for once, NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000 per second.
0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the run)
0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run)
6 g-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land)
6 negative g-forces upon deployment of twin chutes at 300 MPH An NHRA Top Fuel
Dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on earth . . quicker than a jet fighter plane . . . quicker than the space shuttle.

[Grandpadave52]

Grew up with the sport during the 60's and 70's. Dad's garage both sponsored and helped maintain several cars back in the day. Not top fuelers, but lower classes i.e. SS/A & B, AA, BB, CC/ Gas classes as well as several street classes. Spent many a Sunday at the old Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) now Lucas Oil Raceway, both of which are home to the NHRA Summer Nationals held each Labor Day weekend. Less than an hours drive from here. John Force (Britanny's dad) Racing HQ is located close by.

 

I remember when top fuelers first broke into the 6's. That seemed insane at the time. Today's top fuelers make those days seem like racing covered wagons. Got to meet and know several great drivers who pioneered the sport. One of my all-time favorites was/is "Big Daddy" Don Garlits. I was continually amazed to watch him and his team completely rebuild the engine between runs while progressing through the staging area. Even with that Don would take time to talk, explain exactly what they were doing and why.

 

I haven't been to the Nationals for a lot of years. Last time I was there on finals day, several teams had trouble with their nitro ratio mix and blower pressure setting likely due to the notorious Indiana humidity. Anyways, lots of blowers and top engine explosions. After having shrapnel rain down around us a few times and carting several spectators off due to injuries from debris, I felt my odds were decreasing.

[Ron Dudelston]

Dave, being and Indiana corn fed native, the Nationals were a must go event.  Cut my teeth on Don Garlits, Connie Kalitta, Ramchargers, Stone, Woods and Cook’s Super Stock Willy’s, Color Me Gone and others.  Fond memories.

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

Man, do those names bring back memories. As a teen drag racing was my favorite spectator sport.

[Larry Buskirk]

Haven't been to G.L.D (Great Lakes Dragway) since "Broadway Bob's" days. 

Can sometimes hear them running from about 8 miles away. 

[Ron Dudelston]

4 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Man, do those names bring back memories. As a teen drag racing was my favorite spectator sport.

 

4 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Man, do those names bring back memories. As a teen drag racing was my favorite spectator sport.

My aged brain remembered a few more: Sox and Martin, Royal Pontiacs, Hemi Under Glass, The Hawaiian, Little Red Wagon, ChiTown Hustler. Ah, the good old days hanging out at the Muncie Dragway every weekend.  A friend of my is a car collector.  Last I knew he had one of the original Ramchargers.

[HandyDan]

[John Morris]

17 hours ago, Ron Dudelston said:

Dave, being and Indiana corn fed native, the Nationals were a must go event.  Cut my teeth on Don Garlits, Connie Kalitta, Ramchargers, Stone, Woods and Cook’s Super Stock Willy’s, Color Me Gone and others.  Fond memories.

 

[Ron Dudelston]

Yep, raw horsepower!

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

That may have been the incident that led him to putting the engine behind the driver.