NHRA Nationals @ VMP this weekend 10/7-10/8

[JustinG]

Just thought id throw it out that my dad and I are going to the NHRA Nationals in Dinwiddie this weekend, well we are going sunday. Ill try and take some good pics and maybe some video. I whould have posted up on here, but didnt think there would be much interest due to the drive and the cost. Pictures and/or video soon to come.....

[Maengelito]

i was gonna go, but i'm goin to a wedding in dirty jersey this weekend. a friend of mine was really trying to get me to go saying that the nhra drag races are awesome because it feels like your chest is gonna explode when you watch one of those things take off

[BLINGMW]

because it feels like your chest is gonna explode

yes, that feeling is definately my idea of fun! :lol:

[Maengelito]

so explain to me how your heart feels after finishing one of these bad boys:

[Steve85]

i was gonna go, but i'm goin to a wedding in dirty jersey this weekend. a friend of mine was really trying to get me to go saying that the nhra drag races are awesome because it feels like your chest is gonna explode when you watch one of those things take off

Here's a few things to chew on..

(copied from web article)

ÔÇó One dragster's 500-inch Hemi makes more horsepower then the cars in the first eight rows at Daytona.

ÔÇó Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1┬¢ gallons of nitro per second, the same rate of fuel consumption as a fully loaded 747 but with 4 times the energy volume.

ÔÇó The supercharger takes more power to drive then a stock hemi makes.

ÔÇó Even with nearly 3,000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into nearly-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock.

ÔÇó Dual magnetos apply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

ÔÇó At stoichiometric (exact) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture (for nitro), the flame front of nitromethane measures 7050 degrees F.

ÔÇó 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 gases.

ÔÇó Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After halfway, 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 of its fuel flow.

ÔÇó If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in those cylinders and then explodes with a force that can blow cylinder heads off the block or blow the block in half.

ÔÇó Dragsters twist the crankshaft (torsionally) so far (20 degrees at the end of the track) that sometimes cam lobes are ground offset from front to rear to re-phase the valve timing somewhere closer to synchronization with the pistons.

ÔÇó To exceed 300mph in 4.5 seconds Top Fuel dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. But in reaching 200 mph well before half track, launch acceleration is closer to 8G's.

ÔÇó If all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and, for once, NOTHING BLOWS UP, each Top Fuel run costs $1000.00 per second.

ÔÇó Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have read this sentence.

ÔÇó Top Fuel Engines ONLY turn 709 revolutions from light to light!

ÔÇó The redline of a Top Fuel engine is actually quite high at 9500rpm.

ÔÇó To give you an idea of this acceleration, the current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 (Tony Schumacker 10-4-03) seconds for the quarter mile. This means that you could be coming across the starting line in your average Lingenfelter-powered "twin-turbo" Corvette at 200 mph (on a FLYING START) and the dragster would BEAT you to the finish line FROM A DEAD STOP in a quarter mile distance! Note, top speed is 333.0 by Doug Kalitta 9-28-03.

ÔÇó The fuel pump on a Top Fuel car delivers over 65 gallons of fuel per minute. Roughly equal to eight bathroom showers running at the same time.

ÔÇó Measured fuel line pressures in a Top Fuel Dragster operate between 400-500 psi.

ÔÇó Aerodynamics become life threateningly important to keep Top Fuel cars under control. The average wing on a Top Fuel car applies between 4,000 and 8,000 pounds of downforce, depending on angle and size.

[JustinG]

just as an update, the event was cancelled on the weekend posted, but was held this past weekend. OMFG that was a great time, when a top fuel car goes by and you feel like someone is beating on yoru chest, THAT IS FUCKING POWER. I took pics and video, ill try and get to em, I also was able to snag a rod and piston from a funny car for 10 bucks. these cars are insane, requiring 1500hp to just turn the supercharger. i hope everyone gets to experience one of these events at some point in their life, it was well worht the money. I am definately going next year. Ill try and post up some pics a little later.