BRING ON THE EIGHTH!

7/8/05

ell, I used to be a doubter, but now I’m a believer—you can race Top Fuel cars on an eighth-mile strip. The recently completed Rocket City Nationals at Huntsville Dragway proved it beyond any doubt, where an eight-car field satisfied a packed house with all the nitro fire and fumes it could handle.

But don’t just take my word for it; to a man (and one woman) the drivers all agreed that racing over 660 feet is very “doable” in their 7,000-plus horsepower machines. In fact, several suggested it may be a better distance for the engines, with a lesser likelihood of top-end damage and subsequent delays for track cleanup.

“I actually like it better, probably because it costs a lot less,” Mitch King said. “Usually when something goes wrong it’s at the top end [of a quarter-mile pass], so as long as there’s not a problem to start with, you’re not breaking parts.”

Parts breakage aside, the fuel teams also agreed the actual cost to race the shorter distance is practically the same as a quarter-mile effort. It requires the same equipment and spares to show up, the same preparation, and essentially the same wear-and-tear on moving parts. About the only real change is a few gallons less fuel consumed, which taken alone will never spell the difference between profit and loss. Still, C.J. Nelson said the eighth-mile event offered racers like him “something to shoot for.”

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“It’s great for us; some of us just can’t afford to run the national event tour, but we sure love to get out our cars and race,” Nelson explained. “It’s quick, too. Things happen a lot quicker over the eighth mile, but you’re apt to blow things up a lot less.”

Indeed, I thought it quite significant that we saw no major mechanical carnage at Huntsville. And let’s face it, a few of the cars there would’ve been prime oildown candidates had they been running a full quarter mile on each pass. That we witnessed not one incident of oil-spewing destruction is a testament to the teams, of course, but also suggests that the shorter race distance contributes to a shorter, tighter, and ultimately, a more entertaining show.

No less than “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, a man made famous a quarter mile at a time, thinks the eighth is well-suited to nitro racing. “It’s more exciting because as a spectator you get to see the whole race,” he opined. “In a quarter mile, that last half they’re just driving away.”

The abbreviated distance also presents unique tuning challenges to the crew chiefs, as the average pass lasts just a little over three seconds, providing precious little time for a driver to react, pedal, and recover from any hint of traction loss. As T.J. Zizzo said, “you’ve got to do your homework or you’re not going to go down the track.”

On the other hand, Tim Gibson, a finalist in the cockpit of the Stevens’ Family entry, pointed out that not having to account for that final stretch means tuners have less decisions to make—but whatever decisions they do make have got to be correct.