Drag racing is a competitive sport in which specially prepared
automobiles or motorcycles can compete to at a time to be the first to cross a
set finish line. The distance of the drag strip is usually ¼ mile (402 m) or ⅛ mile (201 m) and it differs depending on the
types of vehicles racing.
History
The NHRA, or the National Hot Rod Association, was developed
shortly after the introduction of the less expensive assembly line built
automobiles. The Association first started up when a few fans of drag racing
decided introduce and develop rules for the sport despite the fact that the
races were held in unsafe and illegal environments such as dry lake beds and
public two lane roadways. The sport was not truly born until the 1950 that a
man by the name C.J. Hart was able to open the first ever official drag strip.
By the 1960s the NHRA had multiple national events occurring throughout the
United States and continued to do so ever since.
Classes
There are more than 200 classes of drag racing vehicles
featured in NHRA competition. The four Professional categories are Top Fuel,
Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
·
Top Fuel
The Top Fuel Dragsters are among the fastest accelerating
machines in the world reaching a speed of more than 325 mph in less than 3.8
seconds. The Top Fuel cars can differ from on to the other but they all
ultimately have an average of 7,000-horsepower. All Top Fuel cars are 25 feet
long and weigh 2,320 pounds.
·
Funny Car
Similar in shape and dimensions to your day to day
production-based automobiles but closest to the performance of a Top Fuel
dragster, the Funny Car can reach up to 315 mph in less than 4 seconds. This
class of drag racing car is characterized by having a fiberglass or a carbon
fiber body that tilts off of the custom built chassis.
·
Pro Stock
Whilst also bearing a resemblance to the production-based
cars the Pro Stock, commonly known as the “Factory Hot Rods”, can run at the
speed of more than 210 mph in less than 6.4 seconds. The difference between the
Funny and the Pro Stock classes is that the Pro Stockers have smaller engines
(limited to 500 cubic inch), a different body and chassis and they have a big resemblance
to the stock NASCAR event cars.
·
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Pro Stock Motorcycles are simply highly modified motorcycles
with a chassis that is built with the main purpose of drag racing and
aerodynamically enhanced bodywork that is a usually a replicated off of the
production-based bikes. The Pro Stock Motorcycles can run across the drag strip
in under 6.8 seconds at a speed higher than 195 mph.
Safety requirements
The NHRA requires all drivers to wear specific protective
gear that is certified as quoted from the rulebook “Modifications to
helmet/shield are prohibited. All helmets must have the appropriate
certification sticker affixed inside the helmet.”
The Safety Safari, a crew of safety personnel trained to
extinguish car fires, clean accident
debris and keep the driver alive till
the ambulance arrives, alongside an ambulance are always on standby ready to
deal with any emergency.
Crashes
Drag racing accidents are an unavoidable occurrence and only
a small number of them happen to be fatal. There are a lot of reasons that can
lead to these accidents some of these are technical malfunctions, driver errors
and rarely some debris on the road.
Licenses
According to the official NHRA website if a driver wants to
enter any event conducted by the NHRA that driver must have a valid State or
Government-issued driver’s license or an NHRA Competition License. A current
NHRA membership is also required to participate in any NHRA-sanctioned event.
National and
International Events
} YAS PRO DRAG RACING
SERIES
} MOSCOW UNLIM 500+
} TX2k1x
} NHRA CHAMPIONSHIPS
World Records
Tony Schumacher crossed
the ¼ mile in 4.455 at a speed of 332.51 holding the fastest top fuel
run.
Tommy Johnson crossed
the ¼ mile in 4.729 at a speed of 328.30 mph holding the fastest funny car
run.
Greg Anderson 6/07 6.592crossed the ¼ mile in 6.592 at a speed of 210.57 mph holding
the fastest pro stock run.
Angelle Sampey
crossed the ¼ mile in 6.871 holding the fastest pro stock motorcycle
run.
REFRENCES:
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/the-history-of-drag-racing-ar110505.html
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