Leah Pruett  walked away from this insane crash. This is just amazing. jmho

 

 

Wow that thing folded in half... how did that happen?!

Amazing,

looks like air gets underneath it, lifts it up and it snaps in half at a high speed. 

Luckily it lands right side up on its wheels. 

That'll leave a mark...

It's actually due to air...... but not what you think

 

The Chrome Moly chassis are designed to flex, and the area in front of the driver compartment is where at lot of flex is meant to happen.  When the chassis bows..... it actually allows more pressure to be put down on the rear tires..... 

This weekend in St Louis the weather was beyond exceptional for making horsepower..... cold dry temps..... the air density was at or below sea level..... This is where these engines can make over 11,000 hp ...... add that to the dense air that will allows the rear wing to generate over 4000 lbs of downforce..... 

No usually .... even with all that downforce..... the rear tires will still have slippage .... its normal....

But with the unusual conditions teams were having trouble getting enough wheel slippage...... so with all that being said..... all these forces played a roll in just finding a weak link...... and bending the chassis beyond what it could take that day..... and the car snapped in half...

Thank god for all the safety precautions that the NHRA put out..... Leah walked away from this...... 

 

Now.... there have been times in the past where Top Fuel cars have had a " Blow Over" ..... it does  happen when the front wheels get in the air and it will catch the car and blow it over....... this was not the case here....

Truly the perfect storm of very high HP conditions, Dense cool air, and way too much track grip..... 

14 hours ago, Bklynracer said:

Amazing,

looks like air gets underneath it, lifts it up and it snaps in half at a high speed. 

Luckily it lands right side up on its wheels. 

these cars flex....or bow in order to help absorb the horsepower. it looks like it broke in the flex area.

this was a rough weekend. a pro-stocker(can't remember who it was) let his car drift to the center....he corrected(didn't look like he over-corrected), then next he knew he was airborne. then there was alexis dejoria......explosion near top end that just literally disintegrated her cars body. then in finals, schumachers engine backfires after  the burnout, ending his chance of a run.....

 

i think that it was cooler than they expected it to be, and for some reason the tuners didn't seem to dial the engines down.......

Meh, women drivers...

44 minutes ago, 1LtCAP said:

this was a rough weekend. a pro-stocker(can't remember who it was) let his car drift to the center....he corrected(didn't look like he over-corrected), then next he knew he was airborne. then there was alexis dejoria......explosion near top end that just literally disintegrated her cars body. then in finals, schumachers engine backfires after  the burnout, ending his chance of a run.....

i think that it was cooler than they expected it to be, and for some reason the tuners didn't seem to dial the engines down.......

Kenny Delco - didn't seem like much of a correction either - something just gripped up.

 

That was a violent explosion and the ride afterwards wow.

 

 

12 hours ago, 67gtonut said:

It's actually due to air...... but not what you think

 

The Chrome Moly chassis are designed to flex, and the area in front of the driver compartment is where at lot of flex is meant to happen.  When the chassis bows..... it actually allows more pressure to be put down on the rear tires..... 

This weekend in St Louis the weather was beyond exceptional for making horsepower..... cold dry temps..... the air density was at or below sea level..... This is where these engines can make over 11,000 hp ...... add that to the dense air that will allows the rear wing to generate over 4000 lbs of downforce..... 

No usually .... even with all that downforce..... the rear tires will still have slippage .... its normal....

But with the unusual conditions teams were having trouble getting enough wheel slippage...... so with all that being said..... all these forces played a roll in just finding a weak link...... and bending the chassis beyond what it could take that day..... and the car snapped in half...

Thank god for all the safety precautions that the NHRA put out..... Leah walked away from this...... 

 

Now.... there have been times in the past where Top Fuel cars have had a " Blow Over" ..... it does  happen when the front wheels get in the air and it will catch the car and blow it over....... this was not the case here....

Truly the perfect storm of very high HP conditions, Dense cool air, and way too much track grip..... 

Rear wheels push forward, front wheels resist that movement with the front spoilers down force. 

Its actually one of the most debated factors in all types or racing... how much down force to apply at various locations. Down force gives the vehicle its traction and stability at high speeds, but too much and it creates drag that works against the propelling forces. So they have to find that balance between traction and speed. Or in this case the structural integrity of the machine. 

Frigging waste of gasoline. 

TOP FUEL and funny car run on nitromethane.

 

and a lot of it.

note, that's for just 1 cylinder. they use 8.

 

nothing goes boom like a funny car.  that engine in front of driver layout, combined with no shell really between driver and motor, and the concussion is just incredible.  bell rung doesn't even begin to describe it.

24 minutes ago, Sota said:

nothing goes boom like a funny car.  that engine in front of driver layout, combined with no shell really between driver and motor, and the concussion is just incredible.  bell rung doesn't even begin to describe it.

which adds to the job that....shit...who was it? that skidded his car sideways after shutdown to get out?

50 minutes ago, 1LtCAP said:

which adds to the job that....shit...who was it? that skidded his car sideways after shutdown to get out?

Ron Capps 

3 hours ago, 1LtCAP said:

TOP FUEL and funny car run on nitromethane.

Frigging waste of nitromethane.

19 hours ago, Sota said:

and a lot of it.

note, that's for just 1 cylinder. they use 8.

 

15 gallons per run 

On 10/6/2020 at 6:05 PM, Krdshrk said:

Wow that thing folded in half... how did that happen?!

11,000hp and probably a hairline crack in that chassis. That's how it happened. If you never experienced top fuel racing in person, it's really hard to describe. You need to go at least once in your lifetime. You can see the the tires expand and chassis bow as they accelerate down the track. It's almost physics defying and seems like a cartoon. In the words of my daughter her first time seeing top fuel dragsters go down the track at full power -"that looked fake". And the sound, oh the sound. 

 

And btw, FU Englishtown. Another American tradition cancelled.

On 10/8/2020 at 5:10 PM, Sota said:

and a lot of it.

note, that's for just 1 cylinder. they use 8.

 

Yep, appox 1,400hp per cylinder. Get you some of that!

22 hours ago, Handyman said:

Frigging waste of nitromethane.

I love the smell of nitromethane in the morning. Burns the eyes. Oh, so nice.

59 minutes ago, diamondd817 said:

11,000hp and probably a hairline crack in that chassis. That's how it happened. If you never experienced top fuel racing in person, it's really hard to describe. You need to go at least once in your lifetime. You can see the the tires expand and chassis bow as they accelerate down the track. It's almost physics defying and seems like a cartoon. In the words of my daughter her first time seeing top fuel dragsters go down the track at full power -"that looked fake". And the sound, oh the sound. 

 

And btw, FU Englishtown. Another American tradition cancelled.

ATCO'S been sold now too

1 hour ago, 1LtCAP said:

ATCO'S been sold now too

Maple Grove is a within driving range for a day trip. I went there last year. No pro mods though.

Scott Kalitta.

Died when his car crashed into a pole at the end of the sand trap.

Concussion of the engine explosion knocked him out; the crash killed him.

 

ATCO sold, as in no more track at all?

damn.

11 hours ago, Sota said:

Scott Kalitta.

Died when his car crashed into a pole at the end of the sand trap.

Concussion of the engine explosion knocked him out; the crash killed him.

 

yea. that's the incident that spawned the 1,000 foot races, rather than the full 1/4 mile(1320ft).

11 hours ago, Sota said:

ATCO sold, as in no more track at all?

damn.

my understanding is that it's gonna either be an auto auction site, and/or a storage facility for wrecks that the insurance companies buy.

I use to bracket race at Atco. 

I made 39 runs at Atco one year.  Buddy of mine had rented the track for the day to test the Red Sled.  $200, come play for the whole day.  So, I did.

slow FWD. 8.86 1/4

5 hours ago, silverado427 said:

I use to bracket race at Atco. 

i used to bracket race my 89 gt. used to run it in the gamblers race sometimes. we ran our shop camaro in the gamblers race every week.

miss alexis having a bad 2 weekends......thankfully she's ok. i ain't seen a funnycar burn this bad in years......

 

Have it recorded..... but did see that....

Del needs to take a serious look at things..... and he said as much....

I question the fire suppression system on that run..... but the body might have been too far gone for the system to put out....

Either way.... glad she is ok