Ka-blooey! The NHRA drag racing season featured plenty of nitro-fueled drama in 2018. Here’s four minutes of motor mayhem courtesy of the NHRA video crew.
The National Hot Rod Association’s 2018 season boasted 24 national events and minted a new class of brand-new world champions in the pro categories, including Steve Torrence in Top Fuel, J.R. Todd in Funny Car, and Tanner Gray in Pro Stock. And for some reason, the year also produced an unusual number of spectacular engine failures in the nitro classes, more than we can recall in some time. We don’t know what caused the rash of engine explosions, and explanations vary. We do know that when you put radically tuned powerplants and nitromethane together, stuff happens.
Fortunately for us, the NHRA video team has captured all the mishaps in their annual year-end video review, with the extreme action distilled into a fast-paced four minutes. Also included here is the wild blowover suffered by A/Fuel racer Steve Collier at Topeka in May, a freakish occurrence at the strip these days, thankfully. While a number of engines, bodies, and chassis bit the dust this year, there are no serious injuries included here, we’re glad to report. Video follows.
When was the last dragster blowover? I can’t even remember.
Well, it’s entertaining to watch, but many of these are the same mishaps over and over. It doesn’t happen as often as you’d think by watching this, but it does happen. Thing that bamboozles me, is when this happens, very little is savable, and you’re looking at a $250-$300,000 dollar loss. Carbon fiber bodies alone, which are designed to turn into shreds, are over $50,000 dollars alone. In an interview, Robert Hight said, they are pushing too much fuel into these motors, in an effort to win. Remember, they only run for 90 seconds as it is. Thanks for footage.
why is the nhra still not using safer barrier like nascar? if hitting a wall at 180-200 mph can be fatal, hitting it at 250-300 plus will eventually kill someone.
Most simple thing to me is ban nitro. Or at least the amount being used. Straight methanol with a rpm limit would solve most of these dramas. And just maybe could run on the 1/4 mile again.
Someone is going to be killed. Plus do something with those dopey hankies they have instead of brakes, time after time they are tangling with another car in turn making a two car crash instead of one. And put brakes on the cars! A hand operated rear only brake is just stupid. Foot operated brakes with real tyres and wheels and suspension. 300+mph on bicycle tyres is just stupid and has been the history of drag racing