City - Pomona State - CALIFORNIA Country - United States
About
This is a picture of what Top Fuel Dragster racing used to be at the end of the 60's. The engines produced about 3000 horse power and ran on exotic fuels. It was dangerous for the driver when there was an engine explosion and oil and fuel blew back on the driver. Oil on the goggles and the often accompanying fire has caused loss of limb and life. As a result, the rear engine dragster was developed in the 1970's. In this configuration, the engine is behind the driver. Today's engines produce upwards of 8000 horse power and consume 20 gallons of fuel for one round of racing. They are capable of accelerating from a standing start to 315 miles per hour in just 1000 feet. They do this in about 3.8 seconds. Talk about a wild ride. To stop, the driver deploys one or two parachutes and applies brakes to the rear wheels.
Hay Roger (got the name right this time!), This was taken February of this year at the Winter National races in Pomona, CA. There was a collection of old race cars there for display. During Sunday's races, they took the time to fire up about 20 of these old cars in what they like to call a "cakle fest". Oh, yes I'm old enough to remember seeing these cars run when they were "the show" in the 1960's. Thanks for writing. Darryl