![]() ![]() If it's hot outside, racers will keep their burnouts to a minimum. They may become even smaller still depending on the weather. When racing comes down to thousandths of a second, any issue with the clutch automatically spells doom.įor that reason, burnouts are shorter affairs than they were in the past. If the clutch, which transmits the engine's power to the car's wheels, gets too hot, it can burn out. Instead, Todd is trying to keep heat out of the car's clutch. I kind of miss those days, but now these things are so evenly prepared and finicky that we're not doing big, smoky burnouts." "More of a show than a purpose of the burnout. Nationals, you'd watch John Force doing half track burnouts," Todd said. It lays rubber on the surface of the track, giving the cars better grip on their start. The maneuver, which excites fans as the tires spew smoke in the air, actually serves a tactical purpose for the drivers. Once on the track, the racers will perform a burnout. "It's about 80 gallons per mile, what our car gets on fuel economy. "If you figure it out on a miles-per-gallon type of thing, it's not good," Langdon said. Every race requires between 13 to 15 gallons, each mixed carefully by the driver. Having too high of a nitromethane percentage can get a racer disqualified. Methanol evaporates faster than nitromethane, a process that accelerates once both come into contact with the engine. If they put the fuel in too soon, there is a chance their initial equations will be thrown off. ![]() Once the correct fuel mixture is created, the teams wait. In some cases, a change as little as 0.1% in the nitromethane can be the difference between Langdon's car achieving its full potential or running too slowly in the field. There is no set formula for the mixture, as the car's power level changes depending on the weekend. However, because the NHRA only allows dragster fuels to be made of 90% nitromethane, Langdon and Todd personally cut the fuel with methanol, creating a new type of fuel. Todd are in control of what goes into their cars.Īhead of each race, the drivers' teams buy a drum of nitromethane from Sunoco Race Fuels. In the hours leading up to the race, Shawn Langdon and J.R. More: After a long road to becoming a driver, Richie Crampton now races against cars he's built The Fuel Nationals drag racing crews make cars go 300 miles per hour With the help of math equations, weather forecasting and techniques learned in specialized racing gyms, this is how modern drag racers try to get the edge on their competition. The first to cross the finish line, which happens at over 300 mph in the Funny Car and Top Fuel divisions, is the winner.īut how the racers get to the point of speeding across the finish line is a much more complex challenge. ![]() Cars are rolled to a starting line and made to drive as fast as they can down a straight track. In concept, drag racing is a simple sport. Watch Video: NHRA Funny Car driver Shawn Langdon walks through his fuel mixing process ![]()
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