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REAR-ENGINE FUNNY CARS
If nothing else, 50-year drag race veteran Jim Dunn deserves the drag
racing medal of honor for being the only racer to successfully campaign
a rear-engine Funny Car. In 1972, he won the NHRA Supernationals and
a slew of match races with his Woody Gilmore-built rear-engine mount.
However, he was the only racer to do so. Normally, they didn't handle
all that well and the attitude was, basically, why veer from the front-engine
set-up that was ruling the world anyway.
HYDRAZINE
A chemist friend of mine told me that hydrazine is what people in his
trade call a "Class A explosive." To the layman, loosely translated
that means if you look at it wrong, it could go off. It's been reported
that Chris Karamesines' first 200-mph run was fueled by the stuff, but
overall there were problems with it. For example, a Funny Car racer
was readying for a run in the staging lanes at Seattle Int'l Raceway
and put some hydrazine in the fuel. The two cars ahead of him made a
run and oiled the track, forcing this particular racer to sit it out
in the staging lanes for about a half-hour. When it came his turn to
fire his car and run, the engine exploded, firing the head through the
quarter panel. It turned out hydrazine could not sit mixed with another
fuel for very long. If it did, POW! Little things like that killed its
popularity.
SHORT-WHEELBASED DRAGSTERS
In the late 1980s, Top Fuel dragsters would launch and flex using a
lot of energy in the process. A few bold mechanics thought why not come
up with a shorter car that would act as one big spoiler and conserve
that energy. After all, 125-inch Funny Cars were going only 10 or 20
mph slower than Top Fuelers, so there was a basis for trying a shorter
wheelbase (200 inches, or less than the standard 250 to 260-inch cars).
Gary Beck, "Diamond Dave" Miller, Gene Snow, and TFX engine manufacturer
John Rodeck gave the shorter wheelbase a shot and met with modest success.
Miller's car actually ran in the 5.5s, but it and cars like it were
never a real threat. The thrust of drag racing technology favored the
longer cars and when the Frank Bradleys of the world started building
300-inch cars, the little guys had long been gone from the scene.
NON-CHRYSLERS ON FUEL
Chevrolets and Fords have made their contributions to drag racing. Name
a few? Jack Chrisman's "Twin Bears," Bill Martin's 400 Jr., Chet Herbert
and "Lefty" Mudersbach's dragsters, and Connie Kalitta's SOHC Ford that
won Top Fuel at the 1967 NHRA Winternationals, are just a few. However
... Bottom line? The leader is the Chrysler Hemi and its aftermarket
offshoots. The history of pro nitro drag racing is the radical history
of the development of the Chrysler Hemi engine in all its wild and inventive
livery.
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