Army Dragster runs Quarter Mile 331.53 mph 4.476-seconds

NHRA Website ^ | 05/19/2005 | Rob Geiger

[Loud Mime]

Back-to-back Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher posted a 4.476-second pass at 331.53 mph Friday night to highlight a record-setting opening day of Pro qualifying at the 42nd annual Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals presented by Summit Racing. Seven of eight National Trail Raceway records fell by the wayside in the opening two sessions of the $1.5 million race, the eighth of 23 on the POWERade tour.

The elapsed times of Funny Car's Robert Hight (4.715), Pro Stock's Dave Connolly (6.693), and Pro Stock Motorcycle's Andrew Hines (7.038) placed them atop their respective fields, although they had to share the spotlight with Gary Scelzi (329.58 mph), Jason Line (206.16), and Chip Ellis (193.46) who all set NTR speed records under nearly ideal conditions.

Tony Schumacher Schumacher's run was a true crowd-pleaser as the U.S. Army rail lit up the night sky with a perfect header flame pattern all the way down the track. When his E.T. and speed hit the scoreboard, the capacity crowd erupted.

“I didn’t think that run would be as good as it was, but we certainly will take it given how we’ve been struggling lately,” said Schumacher. “The key will be to put together two good runs tomorrow so we have a good feeling going into race day.

Here's the TV Schedule:

Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals Columbus, OH
5/20/2006 Qualifying 10:00:00 PM-12:00:00 AM (ET) ESPN2
5/21/2006 Eliminations 8:00:00 PM-11:00:00 PM (ET) ESPN2
5/23/2006 Repeat Eliminations 3:00:00 AM-5:00:00 AM (ET) ESPN2

[Loud Mime]

Did you see that Scelzi's funny car ran 329.5 mph?

Looks like records may fall with this run.

[Loud Mime]

Drag Racing Ping - -

[joebuck]

I just can't get excited about this because it's MAY IN INDY! Spent all day yesterday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and most all the cars got out - it was a great day. Sam Hornish looks very strong for the pole. Penske and Ganassi are the two strongest teams by far. Andretti Green is having trouble getting it hooked up.

[Loud Mime]

Do we have an INDY thread on FR?

I've been to Indy three times, it's quite a race!

[the invisib1e hand]

that's a pretty fast quarter mile.

[joebuck]

"Do we have an INDY thread on FR?"

I don't think so. There's a pretty active NASCAR (racing taxies) thread, though. I usually catch the NHRA Nationals when they come to Indy in Sept. but don't follow the drags to closely otherwise. But May in Indy is racing Nirvana - no place I'd rather be. Haven't missed a race at IMS since 1973. That includes Indy car, Nascar and IROC.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

No fair! they get to use all that technology from alien space ship over at Area-51!

/h

Haven't follow drag in a while but the speeds recently are flat out scary. Could someone give me a brief synopsis of what is pushing them faster in terms of technology? What part of the motor (or car) are they squeezing the HP from?

Thanks to whomever replies.

K4

[WestCoastGal]

Thanks for the link ST, sad news to report as I was skimming the Nascar news this morning......

Scott Geoffrion, a two-time NHRA Pro Stock world championship runner-up and 9-time national event winner, died May 8 of an apparent heart attack in Southern California. He was 40.

Geoffrion was hospitalized Sunday night for observation with breathing problems and a fever stemming from ulcers in his esophagus and was stricken the following day.

Geoffrion is survived by his children, Kyle and Alexa; brother, Rick; sister, Michele; and parents, Richard and Jeanne.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to the Drag Racing Association of Women, www.drawfasthelp.org.

[SouthTexas]

Bad news, prayers for the family.

[tubebender]

AH HA!!! I just knew you were closet NHRA fan...

[SouthTexas]

Ah, but of course. The races are just over too quickly!

[tubebender]

Then you're not drinking enough...

[SouthTexas]

You can't reach for a beer in 4.476 seconds, you'll miss the whole race!

[Loud Mime]

Reliable engineering estimates puts the power of the nitro engines at 8,000 hp. The engine's greatest enhancements are in the fuel delivery systems; but the drivetrain's ability to get the ponies to the ground is what amazes me.

The tire/clutch combination is regulated, along with the engine, by a computer that is set up to deliver a certain fuel mix at a certain time (in 1/100's of a second, I believe) and a programmed clutch application. All this is set-up by the crew chief and driver. The bad thing is that sometimes the set-up is wrong and you'll have smoking tires or wheelstands, I prefer to watch the latter. It is at that point where the driver has to really do the driving.

Sometimes the driver will give the car a bit of braking during the run to slow the applications or cure a bit of tire-shake. Believe me, they have their hands full because they're reaching 270+ mph in the first eighth mile.

There's more to this sport than meets the eye.

[Loud Mime]

40? Darn, that's just too young to die of a heart attack.

[Loud Mime]

Ah, but of course. The races are just over too quickly!

I believe that drag racing is one of the best sports to attend with friends. We sit in the stands and bet a buck on each race when we have a disagreement.

Who the heck drinks a beer DURING a race? Oh.....NASCAR FANS; beer is a necessity there...

[SouthTexas]

Out track closed down here, but when it was open, we went quite often. I knew many of the drivers, so a trip through the pits was mandatory. Wife would get very perturbed and would ask, "Did you come to watch racing or did you come to work on cars?" :)

Nascar fan first and foremost.

[Supernatural]

They are getting a little quicker and a little faster all the time.

Let us see just how far they can get.

[Loud Mime]

Here's why I like Drag Racing above all motor sports. It's a shot I took of Cory a few weeks ago.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Thanks for your thoughts. I love the technicals about it all, I just wished I'd kept up.