The difference between Nascar and Drag racing

I was surfn around and ran across this one, figured yall might like this one

Why NASCAR Has Never Impressed Me
So this past weekend I had the opportunity to force myself to watch a NASCAR race from start to finish. Please allow me to recap the entire thing for you....

Green flag. Go! Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Crash. Yellow Flag. Go Slow. Green Flag. Go! Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Crash. Yellow Flag. Go Slow. Green Flag. Go! Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Checkered Flag. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Turn left. Stop.

Now to me, that's just not entertainment. What's the attraction? I can appreciate a good race as much as anyone... some nice Indy/CART racing where you're on a nice road track and you're zooming down straightaways, then turning both left -- here's a concept -- and RIGHT. I can even get into watching drag racing, where it all comes down to the honing of your reflexes and the size of your balls. (Or in the case of Angelle Savoie, the wonderful absence of balls. Never before have I wished so hard to be a motorcycle. Hubba hubba!)

Anyway, here's just a few facts for your NASCAR weenies to chew on...

- Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence.
- One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Daytona 500.
- Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitromethane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.
- A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster supercharger.
- With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.
- At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitromethane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.
- Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.
- Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
- Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After ½ way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.
- If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.
- In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8G's.
- Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!
- Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.
- The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (10/05/03, Tony Schumacher). The top speed record is 333.00 mph. (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta).
- The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000.00 per second.

Putting all of this into perspective: You are driving the average $240,000 NASCAR Winston Cup racecar. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the stock car hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment.

The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race course.

That folks, is acceleration.

[Lyle A]

Yep, That's awesome. I love nitromethane. But, I love all forms of racing. Still, nothing compares to Top Fuelers.

[86RedRocket]

Yeah, there's nothing like the gagging and eye watering sensation you get from nitromethane. I like both forms of racing personally. He gives you your typical comments on nascar about "turning left." I was always asked,"what's so good about watching cars run around a circle in the same direction" since I was little.

[86RedRocket]

Did you get the dragster specs off of the LA. forum on ls1.com b/c it's basically the same thing.

[FANTA-Z]

Just curious how much HP does a top fuel have? Also its true that the stock car only does 200mph but thats only because they are regulated not to go any faster for safety reasons. Is this true for a Top Fuel? The reason for the last statement I understand what he is saying about a top fuel catching the stock car before he got to the end of the track but let the car not be regulated and we would have a much better race I am with everyone else and I like all forms of racing and have been to all of them live and they all get my blood pumping bigtime.

[bowtieman]

Even though I can enjoy Top Fuel on ESPN, I personally would much rather watch a NASCAR race. There is more that meets the eye to the "just turn left" concept. There is strategy involved. When to pit, when to go for the pass, fuel economy. You will be very surprised to see how many drivers win a race (or lose a race for that matter) by taking a gamble and not going into the pit to refuel with 20 laps to go.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy all froms of racing, but when I hear somebody say that NASCAR is just about "turn left", I just ask that they watch the next race (Feb. 2004, this season just finished) and look beyond the cars "turning left" and that they go onto NASCAR.com and listen to the communication between driver & pit crew so that they can understand that there's more to NASCAR.
Just my two cents...

My Z is labeled with two "3"s, one on each quarter panel, just below the Z28 emblems...Dale Ernhardt "The Intimdator" one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time.

[FANTA-Z]

I have to agree on one of the greatest Nascar drivers of all time. I have an Intimidator liscense plate cover on the rear of my Z. I was actually at the Daytona 500 when he died I had always wished I would see him drive in person so I guess I got my wish, but I would rather be still seeing him drive on t.v. right now.

Originally posted by 86RedRocket
Did you get the dragster specs off of the LA. forum on ls1.com b/c it's basically the same thing.

No, I actually found it on another site, dont remember the name at the moment, but I will try to find it this afternoon.

[awsum69]

Hi Gang,

Altough I'm a big fan of Top fuel dragsters, I also love NASCAR. Like Bowtieman said, there is more to NASCAR than just turning left. I just happened to be at the Miami-homestead race last week. Let me tell you guys there is nothing like standing up for the Star Spangled Banner and watching those F-16 buzz the track while a huge 4 lane wide American flag is towed by tow trucks around the track for all to see. Just when you thought it could not be emotional or patriotic enough, here comes a B-1B bomber and it too buzzes the track. Then comes the famous "Gentlemen start your engines" and you hear the roar of 40 V-8s and you smell that sweet smell of hi octane gas. Oh yes, BTW, did I mention that NASCAR is the #1 FEMALE spectator sport? The girls go nuts at these races. Add to that the fact that they let you bring in one six pack of beer from home and whatever you can carry in a bottle in your hand. Tops will come off. You drink, you flirt, you watch the race and cheer for your favorite driver or team. Trust me, it is very addictive. Watching it on TV blows. My wife took me to the Pepsi 400 in Daytona Beach in 1993 and I have been hooked ever since. 3 years ago we came out on ESPN--very cool--. The crashes are also spectacular and if you get a scanner, you can hear all the juicy stuff that goes on between the driver and crew chief--lots of cursing--After the race there are allways tail gate parties

The only type of racing that i cant get into is F-1

Hey Bowtieman,

I also have #3s on all my cars