Fuel Racing at the Edge of Insanity

by Len Imbrogno

A guest column by Len Imbrogno -  Imbrogno is a veteran fuel coupe racer who also worked in management for Kenny Bernstein’s Cart and Winston Cup teams. Most recently Imbrogno served as the Vice President of Competition for IHRA until the end of the 1999 season.

In the eyes of many drag racing fans, nitro-methane burning dragsters and funny cars are the kings of the sport. With over 6000+ estimated horsepower and speeds in excess of 325 mph, these land-based rockets are a spectacle to behold while defying many of the basic laws of physics.

However, with several teams recently sustaining injurious engine explosions, there has been an outcry from fans as well as racers for something to finally be done to control the carnage. Fuel racing as it currently exists has reached a point of diminishing returns for the fans, racers and the sponsors.

From the fans standpoint, the lack of consistent side by side racing, has led many to depart drag racing events wondering why something can’t be done. From the fans prospective we need to eliminate, or at least significantly reduce, the dangerous explosions, oil downs and aborted tire smoking runs. These are not activities that portray drag racing in a positive light to prospective new drag racing fans or casual motorsports fans, many of who do not understand drag racing to begin with. I have overheard fans as well as potential corporate sponsors making comments such as; "Why do these guys have so many problems getting down the race track, aren’t they supposed to be professionals?"

From the racers standpoint, the rising cost to compete in the fuel classes has far exceeded the ability to procure adequate sponsorship funding for the teams to cover the cost to race. If the parts carnage can be brought under better control, its value will be equal to that of receiving an increase in sponsor funding or in some cases a new sponsor. However, we can’t forget that the inability of teams to get good corporate sponsors is partly the result of being "crowded out" by other forms of motorsports. NASCAR, CART and even the IRL have been able to provide better television packages and marketing support for their respective series.

From the sponsors standpoint it all relates to their measured return on dollars spent. The cost to sponsor a world championship caliber fuel car has escalated to a point at which many potential sponsors feel that drag racing no longer offers them a value. Currently there are other forms of motorsports that many potential sponsors feel offer a better return and more exposure for their dollars. Whether we drag racing fans disagree with that statement is beside the point. The fact remains that the spiraling costs to race a fuel car needs to be better controlled. Potential sponsors looking at motorsports marketing and advertising programs do their research and follow the numbers. Most sponsors expect 2.5 times the return on their marketing and advertising dollars spent. Better television packages from both drag racing sanctioning bodies will help the situation but it is still not enough. Positioning drag racing through more effective marketing that will appeal to a larger audience is also needed. Drag racing needs to be presented to the general public in a more palatable manner similar to the way NASCAR has done with great success. The marketing of drag racing is a subject all its own that perhaps we can get into in another article. All I will say now is there are a very few that are doing it right.

Recently, I took part in a meeting conducted by the IHRA to gather input from Top Fuel teams currently competing on the IHRA circuit. The meeting was a landmark event in that the sanctioning body realized the importance of input from those who would be most affected: the racers. As a result of the increasing level of technology that racers and the sanctioning bodies are now dealing with, meetings of this type are essential to the continued growth of the sport. Hopefully the IHRA Top Fuel meeting will be the first of many to be conducted with the professional ranks.

The subject matter discussed at the IHRA meeting was centered around ways to best increase the quality of racing, reducing the cost to race as well as reducing down time for the fans. Some of the more popular ideas discussed were as follows:

• Fuel pump size limitation to reduce the liquid volume of fuel ingested into the motor.
• A Pan pressure sensor tied to a throttle control that would close the throttle when increased pressure was sensed as is generally the case when an engine is ready to explode.
• A "black flag" rule that would disqualify a racer for oiling the track down.
• Crankshaft stroke reduction which would strengthen the crankshaft and allow less fuel volume to be ingested by the motor
• Blower size reduction

Surprisingly, traction control was not as popular as many thought it might be, especially in light of the fact that several teams through-out drag racing have "tested" it with great success. If the black flag rule were to fly (no pun intended) then perhaps the traction control issue would get more support. One of the more popular ideas discussed was the reduction of fuel pump size to a fixed maximum gallons per minute (gpm) flow rate. Although many of the more heavily funded teams may be against a reduction in fuel pump sizes, it would be an equalizer for crew chiefs who have a more conservative approach to tuning. As an example, several of the teams claim to have used 55 to 60 gpm pumps and ran high 4.60’s at over 315 mph without hurting parts. However, when they installed the 70+ gpm pumps in an effort to try and rotate the earth with a sub 4.50 run the real problems began.

The question really isn’t how fast is fast enough. If a fixed fuel pump size is mandated in IHRA Top Fuel it will not stop the progress of lower ET’s and increased speeds but rather it will require teams to more efficiently utilize there available resources. Nitro burning engines as we currently know them are the most inefficient racing engines in the world. What ever the cure is it needs to be something that requires crew chiefs to take a more scientific approach to getting their cars down the track. The old "put the can to it and spin the blower harder" approach has become much too costly.

Most every other major form of professional auto racing has placed limitations on fuel consumption. CART has done it with boost limitations and the amount of fuel given to each team per race, NASCAR has done it with restrictor plates at super speedways and lower static compression ratios, even Hydroplane racers have fuel flow limiting devices. Perhaps it is time to take fuel racing to a new level and refine the current technology in an effort to take drag racing into the next century.

The IHRA is currently evaluating the input from the racers and will more than likely make a decision on what changes will be made before the end of this year. Word has it that on the NHRA side the PRO organization has a technical committee that is currently looking at solutions to present to NHRA officials prior to the start of the 2000 season. For the sake of the fans and the sport in general, it would be nice if both groups could have gotten together and come up with a common solution. What drag racing doesn’t need is more disparity in the rules governing professional classes.

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