I had the good fortune of touring the Don Gartlis Museum with Don as the guide. This was 16-18 years ago. Don was 72. He had just returned from Indy, where he broke the 300 mph barrier for the first time. It was as much a stunt as a competitive run. He broke many speed barriers, but hadn't been to 300mph, so they built a car for that. The highlight for me was a tour of his race shop, where I got to see some of the disassembled and used motor parts. FWIW, Don tells a good story, and it was a fun afternoon.
Top Fuel dragster acceleration put into perspective
- Thread starter Bighammer
- Start date
man if y'all think thats fast you should see my 4cyl tj when I put 91 octane gas in it !!!! 
It's probably about 3 hours. Martin is less than an hour
This is a good short video on the engineering involved. It's insane.
We went to the NASCAR fall races for about 25 years, camped at Thunder Valley Campgrounds (on the creek) and got to watch trucks, Busch and Cup each year from 6 rows up near the end of turn 4. Great times, especially as a #3 fan...
But I gotta say, 43 cup cars rolling past you had nothing on two Top Fuel rails blasting by you. Your heart feels the pressure like a hand squeezing your chest.
TNHEADDUCK
TJ Enthusiast
My parents lived in Bristol TN in the late 80s and early 90s, we went to both the spring and fall races for cup and Busch. The truck division hadn't started then, I was a Bill Elliot fan. Haven't been to a Nascar race since then but do watch it on TV occasionally.
hey maybe we could start a new racing circuit 
drag racing rock crawling/ DRRC man this could be my 2nd million dollar ideer of the year !
drag racing rock crawling/ DRRC man this could be my 2nd million dollar ideer of the year !
I'd like to find more accurate data on how much fuel is used per run. The first post lists 11.2 gallons per sec which would be a minimum 45 gallon tank. I don't see that being accurate.
TNHEADDUCK
TJ Enthusiast
I thought they used between 20 and 25 gallons a run, I know they turn on a second fuel pump right before they pre stage. You can hear the difference in the sound of the motor when it is running on both pumps.
Brianj5600
TJ Expert
The vid said 17 gallon tank and burns 20 gallons of nitro in a pass. Maybe the our measurement system has his numbers off.
from the original post: " Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced."
The 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second is supposed to be 1 1/2 gallons of nitro methane per second - tank size ~17 gallons, 10 gallons for burnout and staging leaving just enough for a run and a margin of error.
The 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second is supposed to be 1 1/2 gallons of nitro methane per second - tank size ~17 gallons, 10 gallons for burnout and staging leaving just enough for a run and a margin of error.
Well that doesn't add up. So the dragster is stopping at 850ft for more fuel? Lol
Yeah. Numbers seem all over the place. Wiki says 12 to 22.75 gallons of fuel per run.From the NHRA website:
Still pretty crazy!
And, since 2008, they are doing all this in 1000 feet.
It is great how you can walk through the pits and get very close to the cars/drivers. We have met several of them just walking around looking at the teams.
I love watching people’s reaction when they fire them up on pit row. People crowd up on the rope, they start them, fumes hit and everyone starts backing up lol
It is great how you can walk through the pits and get very close to the cars/drivers. We have met several of them just walking around looking at the teams.
I love watching people’s reaction when they fire them up on pit row. People crowd up on the rope, they start them, fumes hit and everyone starts backing up lol
IIRC, they have 3 things that they use to limit the class. Tire size, engine displacement, and track length. They shortened the track after one of the driver's blew through the speed trap at the end and died in the process.
One thing I've never found a lot of detail on is how my namesake died. He switched from Top Alcohol to Top Fuel and was doing very well.