September 2011
Behind the astonishing spectacle of professional drag racing is extreme engineering that is ultra-tightly focused but compared to other forms of motorsport no less complex for that. If anything the puzzle gets harder, the fewer are the variables that make the difference between winning and losing. The challenge of engineering and controlling the fastest accelerating vehicles in the world is thus a fascinating one that is revealed annually by Drag Race Technology. This publication uniquely gets to the nuts and bolts of a range of drag race cars, bikes and boats from around the world representing the state of the art in straight-line engineering and reveals the technologies that provide the winning edge.
Contents are:
- Intro: THE EDITOR - Shock and awe is the only way to describe the sight of a Top Fuel car launching down a drag strip
- Grid: IN THE NEWS - The latest news from the fire-up lane
- Profile: DIE HARD DSR FUNNY CAR - Don Schumacher Racing made the first NHRA Funny Car pass in less than four seconds. Jeff Huneycutt reports on how they did it
- Insight: TOP FUEL ENGINES - Oliver Allan looks at the development of the Top Fuel dragster engine from a Formula One perspective
- Profile: STUDEBAKER PRO MOD - Daniel Cooper finds out what went in to making Andy Robinson’s Studebaker so successful on the drag race circuit
- Focus: CHASSIS - Lawrence Butcher takes an in-depth look at what it takes to design and build modern dragster and Funny Car chassis
- Profile: PRO STOCK SUZUKI GSX-R - Anne Proffit finds out how one Louisiana family won the Pro Stock Motorcycle competition – with its youngest champion ever
- Focus: TRANSMISSIONS - Lawrence Butcher examines some of the transmission technology in drag racing’s most popular classes
- Review: TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT - Lawrence Butcher details some of the aspects of drag racing hardware that have seen improvements in recent years
- DRAG RACE TECHNOLOGY DIRECTORY - The drag racer’s resource
- PS: LIFE WITHOUT RULES - What might happen if engineers were left to their own devices?