Getting Started – Safety Features

Alright fellow dragsters, now that I’ve shared something about the background of bracket racing, let’s now dip into into something different. It’s time to dabble into something more important. Sometimes, motorists tend to overlook the safety requirements of drag racing, especially the ones in the underground. But everyone with the right mind would know that even before you hit the strip with that beast of a vehicle you have, you need to be equipped with the all the safety features and gadgets. So even if your speed demon would lose control and barrel into the wall or other automobiles, you might probably escape the inevitable. These things just might draw the line between “the racer escaped with minor bruises” or “he will need three months in the hospital to recuperate.”

Get all the right gears

When it comes to your vehicle’s safety features, it should be put in your utmost priority. Notice that in sanctioned races, the driver is well covered with all the safety equipments and gadgets needed. Well one thing you should definitely have it the helmet. Not just any helmet, though. Preferably, you need to have an SN 95+ helmet. That kind of helmet is required for the driver of any vehicle running 14 seconds or quicker in a quarter mile. Professional category and some alcohol burning vehicles require an SA rated helmet. It is important to note that the helmet rating must be designated on a tag INSIDE the helmet, or sewn to one of the helmet straps. The designation stenciled on the exterior of the helmet is insufficient for NHRA technical inspection. Also, some tracks require a helmet on ALL drivers, so check in advance. Moreover, it pays to have a set of racing leathers, (leather jacket and pants are still approved in some sanctions) full-face Snell some boots, gloves and glove as well.

Don’t let your belts choke you

Seat belts perform a central role in occupant protection. Properly designed seatbelts should restrain the occupant by preventing ejection. They also provide a controlled slow down of the energy and minimizing the occupant's violent movement within the vehicle during the crash. So when it comes to your seatbelts, you better make sure that it’s fully functional. Some seatbelt defects include: inertial unlatching, excessive seat belt slack, seat back failures and such. The bottom-line is, if your seat belts are starting to wear out and if it’s not tight enough to lock you in your car seat, have it replaced immediately.

No Leaks, No Problem

You should also make sure that your vehicle does not seep any fluids such as oil or antifreeze. You probably know that it’s not a good thing for any automobile, whether it’s built for the racetrack or not. These irritating leaks can cause engine overheating, and you don’t want to have that when you’re going 200 above. In these cases, putting a sturdy sealant is advised. Better yet, just replace the damaged part. If it’s a hose, it can be easily replaced. If the leaks came from the radiator, take it out and have it fixed. That way, you can isolate the problem. And oh, before I forget, you better insure that your coolant overflow system is in good condition too. You don’t want this system acting up while you’re zooming in incredible speeds.

Hubcaps are for the show, not for the strip

If you’re wheels have hubcaps, it would be wise to have it removed. Yes, hubcaps are great accessories if you want to give your ride a boost in its aesthetic appeal. But if your vehicle is meant for the strip, hubcaps are definitely a no-no. When your ride is moving in high speeds, hubcaps can possibly dislodge and it would compromise the movement from your tires and such. After that, you probably know what can happen next.

Strap your battery for crying out loud

Some people tend to overlook if their batteries are well-strapped or not. The fact is when your vehicle is going in high speeds, your battery can wobble and potentially extricate if not mounted properly. So in these cases, you better make sure that you have a sturdy battery hold down component. Battery hold downs ensure that your battery stays in place and doesn’t end up rocking back and forth when you’re in the heat of the race. They also help keep your battery from incurring dents and scratches.

Featured Car: Nissan GTR

NISSAN GTR


photos and car specification from Autopartswarehouse.com

Another import car will be my featured for today. Nissan GTR comes with engine spec 3.8L Twin Turbo (not 3.7L), VQ38VHRTT 473hp 58.0 kgm Torque, compare to Evo, this will be much lighter and have carbon parts all around and will be a 2 seater only. No rear bucket seats. These have been done to removed few kilos. Models of GTR which is available to the market will have Paddle Shift, No 6 speed manual! Nissan Japan is developing six speed manual transmission but only for the race version and will not be available in the market.

Factory tuned Nissan GTR can reach 11.7 seconds in the quarter mile. just imagined how fast it can be with a little modification from drag racer or from the street racers. the stock car can reach up to 473 horse power at 6400 rpms. This is really one hell of a powerful machine. GTR used Rear carbon fiber diffuser and Carbon fiber propshaft just to cut down its weight. stock rims at 20 inch and wrapped with a Bridgestone Potenza RE070s, 255/40 in front and 285/35 rears. surely got its racing look no need for any stripes this car will really caught you're eyes on the road.

The Nissan GTR can really accelerate fast and to make its breaking system more effectively it uses Brembo brakes. it is the top choice for most car enthusiast and also with the top car salons. it ensures one surpassable braking performance. To sum it up a car that can reach 473 horsepower with a light weight parts it is really one hell of a race car.

all time favorites

all time favorite by most dragster

Honda Civic EG topped the survey for most newbie and professional drag racer.
Because if you're looking for your first project car you probably want it to be cheap yet reliable and good looking. And there is rumor that the American cars aren't as long lasting as the Japanese cars.

most common modification for civics is first increasing the horsepower by changing its stock engine or some modifying the engine and putting a little spray in it or simply call it a turbo engine. most Honda racers use B18 or B16 engine. factory tuned civics comes in 1200-1500 cc engines just imagined how much increased in horsepower will it have in swapping an 1200 engine into a b18 or type R engine which is around 1800cc and can reach up to 200 hp without any engine modifications.

photos from Autopartswarehouse.com

Next most common modifications are decreasing the weight of the car and the aero-dynamics
by putting wing at the back it improves the car's grip on the road. Normally the weight of a car is the only thing that forces the tires down onto the pavement. without this the only thing we can do to increase the grip is by increasing the weight which is not helpful at all. the wing generates a down force for the car.
with that the racer can now focus on decreasing the weight of the car without sacrificing the grip on the road.

image of a wing for Honda Civic Eg

No wonder most street racer choose Honda Civic EG as their project car because improving it or making it faster is easier than other cars because of accessibility for parts and of course the price of its parts are way incomparable to other car makes.

Getting Started – Bracket Racing

Among the things that give me excitement in this world, nothing compares to the thrill of hitting the drag strip and tearing it up. Whether it’s banging those power shifts like mad man (or woman) in your near-stock T-5-equipped Mustang or speeding up those amateur drag strips with your turbo-charged muscle car, there’s always a place in this sport for everyone. But of course, you have to start somewhere. You can’t just go out and spend big bucks on a nitro burning car to compete with the pros right away.

It is also important to remember that not all of us were born in the staging lanes. Based from my experience, most wannabe racers are afraid to ask the expert thinking that they’re going to look stupid in front of their peers. The important thing is that you start from scratch. Ask your way into knowing the ins and outs of this industry and be mindful about every detail. The good thing about drag racing is that you can get to compete in the same surface as the pros do. Imagine trying to rent Madison Square Garden for a Wednesday Ball game with your buddies. Of course that prospect might seem daunting for the novice driver. But don’t get discouraged though, millions of people go drag racing every year and you can too.

Preferably, you should go try the sanctioned strips first. With the rise in popularity of illegal street racing, you may wonder why you need to bother going to all the trouble of participating at a sanctioned strip. Yes, it can be exciting, but sometimes for all the wrong reasons. Based from what I saw in my trips to Southern California and even the ones here in Miami, the underground and illegal strips are mostly full of hustlers and wannabes trying to earn a buck for each race. Unfortunately, many people get killed in street racing every year, including a lot of innocent bystanders. I’m sure you’re not really up for the prospect of facing manslaughter charges. Besides, even if you wreck and only hurt yourself, you don’t want to get injured at the side of the road without an ambulance in sight. At the track, there are precautions taken to help ensure your safety and that of your competition. In a best case street racing scenario, you "only" get a summons from the police. And this wouldn’t bold well with you and your insurance agent.

Bracket Racing is always a good start for novice. Of course some you might not be familiar with the term. In a heads-up drag race, the first car to the finish line wins. Each car chooses a dial-in time before the race, predicting the elapsed time the driver will take his or her car to cross the finish line. In bracket racing, it really doesn’t matter how fast or slow your car is. The slower car in the race is given the green light before the faster car by a margin of difference between the two dial-in times. If the car goes faster than its dial-in, it gets disqualified. This eliminates any advantage that faster cars have from bending the rules by putting a slow dial-in time on the windshield to get a head start.

Bracket drag racing rules are implemented to place a premium on the consistency and performance of the driver rather than the raw speed of the car, which in turn makes victory more dependent on the mechanical aspect and the driving skills. Reactions times, shifting abilities and the ability to control the car are the skills being tested in bracket racing. So basically, the golden rule in bracket racing is, the more consistent you are, the more you’re going to win races.

On my next post, I’m going to touch on the safety requirements and other rules in drag racing.

From 1,320 to 1,000

So okay, from 1,320 feet, they made it to a thousand. This is a good idea by the NHRA, but will this actually change anything? As the inquiry continues about the tragic accident that took the life of renowned dragster Scott Kalitta (may God rest his soul), the National Hot Rod Association announced just a week ago that starting at the Mopar Mile High Nationals in Denver, Colorado, both the Top Fuel and Funny Car Classes will race to 1,000 feet from that traditional 1,320 feet or a quarter mile. NHRA is making this change as an interim step to analyze and determine whether a concrete change should be implemented to build upon the sport’s long stand safety record given the natural risks and dangers that will always be associated with the sport. NHRA believes that racing the top Fuel and Funny Car classes to a thousand feet will give the racing community the proper time to evaluate, analyze and implement potential changes based on their own set of safety initiatives.

Aside from the change of proximity, it’s nothing major rally. Fans will still be able to enjoy the sights, sounds and thrill of NHRA nitro racing with speeds around 300 mph and quick elapsed times to 1,000 feet. This stop-gap procedure is, after all, a part of NHRA commitment in implementing many incentives to enhance safety measure to limit speeds from enhancing protective gear, vehicle improvement and race track modifications such as sand traps, catch nets and concrete barriers in the entire length of the strop.

What happened to Scott Kalitta is indeed unfortunate. In that wake of the tragic series, Fastmachines.com wrote that the following technical issues are currently under inspection from the NHRA:

1. What might be done to reduce engine failures

2. Parachute mounting techniques and materials as well as identifying a parachute material that could be more fire resistant

3. Exploring weather there is a way to increase brake efficiency when cars lose down force.

4. Analyzing additional methods that might be developed at the top end of the race track to help cushion runaway race cars.

5. Considering whether current speeds should be further limited or reduced to potentially improve safety.

As for me personally, looking up in those factors is a good step towards preventing these mishaps from reoccurring. Engine failure is always a possibility. That is why auto manufacturers put this on their top priority so at least this could be controlled right away. A faulty parachute that wasn’t fire resistant is what caused the downfall of Kalitta, that’s why enhancing the mounting techniques and coming up with a fire-resistant chute are great ideas to prevent flames from engulfing the whole chute. An increased break efficiency is apparently a concern for auto makers, that’s a given. But one thing that might alternately affect the whole sport is whether the current speeds should be reduced or not. It is without a doubt that people pay to watch these speed demons zoom up to 300mph, something lesser might probably prompt these fans to lose a bit of interest.

As it is, the NHRA implements this temporary change and they themselves recognize that it isn’t that total answer. For now, they will carry on in working hard to evaluate these different methods of making Top Fuel and Funny Car competition a lot safer. I personally applaud the efforts of NHRA for being open to these change that might affect their popularity and fan base. It just goes to show how they prioritize the safety of their racers and their dedication to make the strips a lot safer to use, that of course, without sacrificing the excitement that the sport gives. Kudos to NHRA and as for Scott Kalitta, may you rest in peace.

When it all Started

What started as wild and crazy activity by some gangsters and hoodlums in hopped-up automobiles became one of the most popular motorsports today. Indeed, drag racing has gone a long way. After the Second World War, dragsters and other muscle car enthusiasts gathered on military runways and speed runs. It all started in sunny Southern California. Yes, SoCal. The responsible racers who created the first hot rods and raced on the dry lake beds prior to W.W.II could no longer direct the young crowds, those who were driving and racing on the streets. At places like Muroc and El Mirage, cars raced one another a dozen at a time. When Muroc became Edwards Air Force base the racers were forced to move. The first "dragsters" were little more than street cars with lightly warmed-over engines and bodies chopped down to reduce weight.

Wally Parks, a military tank test driver for General Motors who served in the military in the South Pacific of World War II, helped organize the Southern California Timing Association in 1947.

Many recognize Goleta Air Base north of Santa Barbara, California as the site of the first organized drag race in 1949. The first drag strips were temporary facilities with no safety barriers or grandstands. It’s all just a mesh of people, fast rides and the pavement of course. The Santa Ana Drags is just one of those early strips and it began operating on a airfield in SoCal in 1950. A great number of spectators turned out to watch these pioneers run 10-second elapsed times on the measured quarter mile – which is around the length of a city block. Open Trailers were the name of the game as most cars were driven into these pavements. At that time, sponsorships and all the other good stuff weren’t even imaginable.

Parks was basically the godfather who started organized drag racing. When he became the editor of Hot Rod magazine, he had the forum and the power to form the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) in 1951 to basically create some order from in the whole thing. Parks instituted safety rules and performance standards that helped legitimize the sport. If it wasn’t for Big Daddy Wally, there wouldn’t be any NHRA and drag racing would still be in its dark ages.

NHRA held its first official race in April 1953, on a slice of the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds parking lot in Pomona, Calif. Four decades later, that track has undergone a $6-million expansion and renovation and hosts the NHRA season-opening Winternationals and the season finale, the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. The aggressive upgrading of facilities to 'stadium' quality, with fan amenities, VIP towers, and tall grandstands, was the passion of NHRA President Dallas Gardner, who took the reins in 1984 when Parks became Board Chairman. In 2000, Tom Compton became just the third president in NHRA history as Gardner ascended to the role of broad chairman and Parks became chairman of the NHRA Motorsports Museum. In 1955, NHRA staged its first national event, called simply "the Nationals" in Great Bend, Kan. Six years later, as the Nationals hop-scotched around the country to showcase the growing sport before settling in Indianapolis in 1961, the Winternationals became NHRA's second event.

Racers then began to beef up bigger and newer engines and dropping them into Model Ts and other older bodied cars. Some were using pre-war V8s in striped down street cars, porting and polishing the manifolds, changing heads, cams and carburetors. Some were using newer cars, stripping off body panels for weight savings right down to the frame rails, giving the word "rail" a new meaning.

Safety and innovation paved the way to rear-engined Top Fuel cars in the early 1970s, and once drag racing legend Don Garlits - himself a victim of the front-engined configuration when his transmission, which was nestled between his feet, exploded in 1970, severing half of his right foot - perfected the design, the sport never looked back. Today's Top Fuel dragsters are computer-designed wonders with sleek profiles and wind-tunnel-tested rear airfoils that exert 5,000 pounds of downforce on the rear tires with minimal aerodynamic drag.

As racers became smarter, the speed barriers fell: 260 mph toppled in 1984; 270 in 1986; 280 in 1987; 290 in 1989: and the magic 300 mph barrier fell before the wheels of former Funny Car champion Kenny Bernstein on March 20, 1992. Just seven years later, Tony Schumacher became the first to top 330 mph in February 1999, in Phoenix, Ariz.

Drag Racing has truly become of the most popular motorsports across the world. It’s so popular that there are even underground drag racing circuits to cater to its horde of enthusiasts. It’s something we will always appreciate for the excitement and the rush it gives.

To Make Noise or Not to Make Noise

To make noise or not to make noise? That is the question. To some people, nothing is more agitating than having a noisy and raucous engine. Realistically though, as an engine begins its combustion process, it will inevitably release sound waves. As the fuel enters the engine, it creates sound that is channeled through the exhaust system. And if you don’t have a muffler to contain those sound waves, then the noise would definitely come out in a clattering fashion.

In essence, a muffler is a component where the exhaust gases pass, which eliminates the tremendous amount of noise coming from the engine. It is placed along the exhaust pipe of the engine. Inside a muffler, or what the British call a Silencer, you'll find a simple set of tubes with some holes equipped in them. These tubes and chambers are designed to reflect the sound waves that came from the engine in a way that they practically cancel each other out. As the sound waves from the exhaust gases enter the tubes, they spring back and forth through the wall of the muffler and reflected to another chamber. These chambers are called resonators that basically cancel out the sound frequency.

Recently manufactured mufflers can also reduce backpressure from the engine, allowing an increased engine performance, power output and decreased wear and tear on its components. For those people like you who prefer to have a little growl from their engines, mufflers can also be customized in order to achieve such sounds. Standard mufflers are crafted quality steel and aluminum materials to ensure that it will last for a good period of time.

But since you’re into the whole thing called drag racing, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that you like otherwise. If you really like that loud yet smooth sound from your engine, muffler are also the way to go. If you want to make your exhaust sound deeper and achieve that beast-like roar, you can get a muffler with a large opening or get an intake system so can really get into that street racing sound.

Another thing you can do is get bigger exhaust pipe from the cat to the back and then a bigger diameter tip. You want to start with at least a 2" system. Long, mid and short headers are also useful. Long tubes, also known as LT's, give the most horsepower gains. The smaller you go, the less you gain. Some cars, such as the Pontiac Camaro’s and Firebirds do not gain from shorties. Headers really open up your cars ability to breathe, and greatly affects the sound.