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Dragstrip

Car racing facility

Car racing facility

Looking down a drag strip. Note the Christmas tree countdown lights in the center
Drag racing vehicles ready to race
Bring your own cars waiting to run down the dragstrip
Snowmobile vs. Motorcycle

A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201 m) tracks, and the premiere classes will run 1,000 foot (304.8 m) races. The race is begun from a standing start which allows three factors to affect the outcome of the race: reaction time, power/weight ratio, and traction.

Features

A dragstrip is a straight, purpose-built racetrack, typically an eighth, ten feet longer than three-sixteenths, or a quarter of a mile long (660/1,000/1320 feet, 201/304.8/402 m), with an additional shutdown area to allow vehicles room to stop after crossing the finish line. Common features also include a 'water box' where vehicles and motorcycles start their burnouts for tire clean-up and also to heat up their tires to improve traction. There is a set of lights known as a 'Christmas Tree' that counts down to the start. There are also return lanes for the vehicles to return from the end of the track to the pit area.

Vehicle equipment requirements

Like all other motorsports, drag racing has many safety requirements for the vehicles that compete. These can be found in the applicable governing body's rule book. Most rules do not apply until the vehicle exceeds a specified time, such as 10.99 seconds. This allows anyone with a regular production vehicle to take part for very little cost, and encourages participation of many people who cannot afford a proper racing vehicle. The grassroots efforts are primarily bracket racing cars. Many classes allow drivers to drive their street cars and participate in an event.

Dragstrip locations

Quarter mile times

Acceleration times differ even between identical vehicles due to widely varying factors - vehicle tune, elevation, driver/rider differences, payload, track surface conditions, weather conditions.

VehicleElapsed timeNotes
Rocket dragster3.2 s at ~390 mphKitty O'Neil, 1977 in the Mojave Desert
Top Fuel DragsterET: 4.443 s at ~335.32 mphtitle=History Made in 400 Thunder Early Qualifyingurl=https://www.willowbankraceway.com.au/news/detail.aspx?ArticleID=599publisher=Willowbank Racewayaccess-date=15 January 2019}}
Speed: 4.485 s at ~338.35 mphtitle=Lagana's run at US 131 among the best in 1/4 Mile Historyurl=https://us131msp.com/laganas-run-at-us-131-among-the-best-in-%C2%BC-mile-history/publisher=US 131 Motorsports Parkaccess-date=20 April 2019}}
Top Fuel Dragster (1000 foot)ET: 3.701 s at ~328.78 mi/hurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904032000/http://www.nhra.com/points/national-records.aspxdate=4 September 2015 }}
Speed: 3.802 s at ~332.18 mphSpencer Massey, 15 April 2012, Concord, NC
Top Fuel Funny Car (1000 foot)3.901 s at ~325.69 mphJack Beckman, 22 August 2015, Brainerd International Raceway
Top Alcohol DragsterET: 5.103 s at ~284.75 mphBill Reichert, 1 April 2007, Houston Raceway Park
5.2 s at Speed: ~285.23 mphDonald St. Arnaud, 10 November 2016, Auto Club Raceway (Pomona)
Pro ModifiedTop Doorslammer in Australia5.745 s at ~252.24 mphJohn Zappia, 8 June 2013, Willowbank Raceway
Pro Stock6.455 s at ~214.48 mphJason Line, 29 March 2015, at zMax Dragway
Top Fuel Bike5.799 s at 245.36 mphtitle=Top Fuel Dragbike racing, fastest speedpublisher=Guinness Book of World Recordsurl=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/top-fuel-dragbike-racing-fastest-speedaccess-date=2015-07-02}}
Pro Stock Motorcycle6.75 s at ~199.26 mphEddie Krawiec, 10 March 2012, at Gainesville Raceway
Electric Motorcycle6.94 s at ~201.37 mphLarry McBride, 4 May 2012, at Virginia Motorsports Park

NOTE: Nitro Funny Car records set at 1000 ft, which since 2008 in the US by NHRA, 2012 internationally by FIA, and 2017 in Australia by IHRA is the official distance for both Top Fuel and Funny Car in the respective sanctioning bodies.

All official records must be backed up within one percent during the same race meet in order to be claimed. The official records for terminal velocity and elapsed time are different in the professional car categories, and only the elapsed time run (and respective speed of that run) is listed. There have been some cases where a car has run faster than the official record, but because they were not backed up within one percent during the same meet, they are not recognised by the NHRA, IHRA, or FIA. The Top Fuel record listed as the final quarter-mile record in IHRA prior to off-season rule change at the end of 2016–17 season that shortened Top Fuel to 1,000 feet.

References

References

  1. "History Made in 400 Thunder Early Qualifying". Willowbank Raceway.
  2. [http://www.nhra.com/points/national-records.aspx NHRA] {{webarchive. link. (4 September 2015)
  3. "Top Fuel Dragbike racing, fastest speed". [[Guinness Book of World Records]].
  4. [http://www.nedra.com/200mph_club.html NEDRA]
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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