American Couple Reacts to the Fastest Accelerating Vehicles on the Planet | NHRA Drag Racing 

Going to a race is an experience like no other. The horsepower, the sound, the ground rumbles under your feet! Your whole body rattles. I highly recommend going to a race. It’s incredible.

Brittany & Courtney's father is the legendary NHRA's racer, John Force. They grew up in racing watching their father racing. John Force is 16-time NHRA champion driver and 22-time champion car owner. Brittany stated I think stated she likes to drive Top Fuel because engines are in the back while engines in Funny Cars are in the front. She and other Top Fuelers have to give thanks to legendary NHRA Icon, "Big Daddy" Don Garlits. He and his people designed Top Fuel Dragster with its engine in the back. Because Don Garlits had a terrible accident with his dragster with the engine in front of him. Engine blew up during a run caused major injuries on Don Garlits' body.

If you ever get the chance to go see these in person... you will have a great time....pits open to everyone...drivers signing autographs....and sitting in the stands while one of these monsters goes down the track is simply amazing to see...and feel.....yes the air vibrates and the bleachers too....absolutely nothing like it anywhere.

As someone who has been to dozens of NHRA races, there is no other type of experience to compare it to. Maybe getting shot out of a cannon, might come close. Since the mid seventies the power has gone from 6,000 to 7,000 horsepower to 11,000 horsepower. You can feel the pressure in your chest as they pass by.

The Funny Cars are descended from the old Altered cars of the 1960s. The racers modified the wheelbases of the cars by moving the drivetrain and wheels forward to improve their performance. The fans liked seeing them and told the promoters they wanted to see those “funny cars”, since they looked “funny” with the modified wheelbase. They evolved into the cars they run now.

Nothing like top fuel. I grew up near Michigan International Speedway. 40 cars going by at 200 m.p.h. all bunched together is another sound that you never forget.

I used to go to NHRA events at the Texas Motorplex (at the time the only all-concrete track) in the late 80's thru mid 90's. At that time, Top Fuel dragsters and funny cars ran a full 1/4 mile instead of the shortened 1000 feet. To give you an idea of how fast these cars accelerate, if you stood even with the finish line, 1320 feet away, by the time you HEARD them hit the gas, they were almost at the finish line.

The nitromethane these cars use as fuel costs about $45/ gal. It can make for an expensive weekend, then things explode!

Nitromethane is unique among fuels because it carries most of it's own oxygen. Gasoline actually makes more power for the same amount of fuel, but here's the catch... it carries no oxygen, it has to be supplied with enough air to burn completely. Nitromethane doesn't. So even though nitromethane is weaker and cooler burning than gas, it doesn't matter so much anymore when you can cram something like 16 times the amount of fuel in, and still have complete combustion. You can spray so much in a cylinder that there's no remaining air space, which tends to break things quite violently (and is usually avoided). That usually only happens when the ignition fails. The engines run a little more nitromethane than can be completely burned because the extra fuel entering and leaving takes a lot of the heat away from the engine itself. That's important because these engines have no cooling system... at all. No water jackets in the block (they're solid billet aluminum) or head, no water pump, no radiator, none of that. The extra fuel is all it has to keep it from seizing in the short time it runs, but it's a system that works. The *problem* with nitromethane is that since it carries it's own oxygen it will burn over a very large range of concentration (stochiometry) so you get situations where an intake valve will burn part way into a run and ignite the fuel charge in the intake under the blower. At that point it becomes pretty obvious why the engines are run in race trim with ballistic grade kevlar blankets and kevlar straps loosely connecting the larger parts. It works. 12,000 horsepower isn't an exaggeration. They make so much power that a transmission to handle it is pretty much impossible, so they're direct drive. They run a special multiplate steel clutch that slips *just* enough to drag the thing up to speed before it welds itself together during the run. "Gearing" is actually provided for by the tires expanding under centrifugal force.

I'm not a car guy and don't really care much about racing but I'll tell you these cars are unbelievable to be near. There is a point where sound becomes a physical force that can move your body. That's how loud these cars are.

There is a vid that is an awesome representation of the fuel injectors and how much they burn with the throttle open for dragsters compared to normal cars. It's just gushing.

Just so you know, AT the races, you get access to the Pit area to see these cars up closer and the crowds can stand around and watch the rebuild process. Clay Millican has the best channel to experience the life of a Top Fuel Nitro Champion. (One of very few drivers at his level, who share the full love of the sport on video for his fans.)

Hopefully you've been to an event by now. All I can tell you is TV and YT doesn't come anywhere near doing that racing justice, it's something you have to experience in person. The sound is deafening, the ground shakes, the air vibrates, that is about the best way I can describe it. It actually does register at around a 2.2 on a richter scale, that has been verified at one of the races that lies on a fault line in East Tn. There is a YT video "top fuel vs. coke bottle" and "the power of top fuel dragsters" if you're interested in seeing the effects.

They used to run a quarter mile (1320 ft) but they were getting too fast and if something bad happened such as chute failing they would blast through the sand and crash barrier. Some drivers were killed so they changed to 1000 feet.

No other experience in the world is like seeing a race live

You need to go in person for a real experience, the sound is incredibly loud and the smells and the speed. My ex wife said it best when the first funny car race in Seattle touched off a few years ago - her first drag race event..... "no way!"

No matter what sort of media you have at home, there is nothing like being there when they take off.

National Hot Rod Association.... Nothing else like it.

Top fuel dragsters and funny cars put out 12,000 horsepower travel down the drag strip in 3.7 seconds at 350 mph. They are the kings of the sport. John force is a 16X funny car champ and at the age of 74 he's still trucking

To put the fuel tank size and fuel consumption rate into perspective the average 1990 Toyota Camry LE V6 has a 15.9 gallon tank and that's just a regular City goer kind of car

A Funny Car sometimes is called a Flopper.

the fuel they use nitromethane costs around 50 to 70 dollars a gallon it may be higher now as its been a few years since i last attended a drag race

The rear wing on a dragster generates about 12000 pounds of downforce at 325 mph.

If you attend a top fuel event, bring ear protection. You’ll need it. What a different kind of rush.

I highly recommend you find a way to attend a top fuel event. You have to hear it and feel it to appreciate it.

Indy racing, the cars go by and make a loud buzzing noise. F1, same. All other car racing, the same. Then you go to a Top Fuel meet. There you are standing at the fence at around the hundred foot mark. You watch as the cars do their burn out to heat the rear tires up. They stage. The tree flashes to green. Then the most awesome sight comes to life. But it's not just sight. It's sound like you've never heard before. Then the ground is shaking. The air is vibrating. Your gut wrenches. Then, you experience both the the most terrifying and the most exciting event of your life as these fire breathing monsters go blasting past you. Then it's over in just a mere 3-4 seconds. The awe and adrenaline rush begins to pass and suddenly you can't wait to experience it again. That's Top Fuel. There is no other form of motor racing that compares.

The Pro divisions extend way past the 2 top tier divisions. All the way from highly modified and stretched street cars down to all street divisions. Then .. there's all the dragster divisions... Open wheeled purpose built chassis with mega spoilers like wings oh, not forgetting all the bikes!! Again starting with Nitro Pro classes down to semi recognisable modified bikes then on down to straight street bike It's a full day/evening and usually 2 -2.5 day weekends for the type of NHRA sanctioned shows there are other sanctioning bodies which also host full championships, but The NHRA is easily the biggest and best, with the national tour covering a big chunk of the 50 states. It's a complete lifestyle/culture of its own and as the video shows, team crew members can sometimes be counted in the dozens. So it's just enormous all round.

NHRA stands for national hot rod association

NHRA = National Hot Rod Association

NHRA stands for National Hot Rod Association.

The speed of the run is measured over the last 60 feet before the finish line.

Top fuel car is 33-34 ft long. and by the time the back wheels cross the starting line the car is already going 100 mph!! Takes 700 hp just to run the supercharger.

GO! GO! GO! For God's sake, Go! It's like nothing you've ever experienced. Not a video in the world can come close to scratching the surface of sheer intensity of an 11,000 h.p. car. Each race will be the most exciting 3.5 seconds of your life. Earplugs are a must, but you should experience at least 1 race without them. The earplugs help but they won't do anything for the 500 lb gorilla beating you in the chest when the car comes off the starting line. Beware though, it's like crack on wheels. It only takes once and you're hooked.

Check out NHRA FIRE BREATHING .NOTHING is like seeing it live.

Being able to take apart a car and put it back together in 30 min cant be done by just any pit crew. Remember seeing another video about nhra that mentioned these guys are some of the best mechanics in the US, if not the world

So you now 2 of these cars will register a 3 on the rector scale. You will feel it to the core.

this was a very tame primer and a bit of an ad for Force racing, but you get no idea of the sound and how the grounds shakes, hearing and seeing the top fuel cars - you need to watch some videos showing the actual runs with good volume - and dont forget to turn it up-!

NHRA stands for National Hot Rod Association 🔥 in all due respect 🙌 I don't care what you've seen , what you've done . . You have not lived until you witnessed , felt ( pounded into) the sheer unbelievable cannot be put into words or anything else , awesomeness of what top fuel is 🤘 nothing I mean nothing comes close !!! Stomponthatloudpedal 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Correction, these cars do NOT run on gas. They run on nitromethane, a high explosive.

Please try to experience a top fuel NHRA race.. TV does not do it justice. It literally makes your teeth/whole body vibrate!

Courtney Force is retired now, and married to Graham Rahal, the Indycar driver.

if you ever get to go I suggest you bring ear plugs, there is really nothing like it even in the stands the sound the feeling just can't be explained

National Hot rod association.

National hotrod racing association

...been to a race at Sonoma RaceWay.... it's intense to watch.

National Hot Rod Association...NHRA

Go to a race and you will be a fan forever

You should check the drag boats.

Double up on the ear protection. Those cars shake the Earth.

Please make your way to a national event one day it will change your life forever i grew up going to events everyweekend and now i drive an a/fuel front engine dragster and haven't looked back.

Check out a video with sound of the cars

How can you be American and not know about the NHRA?!?? I live in a completely different country and don't watch racing, and I've known since the 80s. Seems impossible

cool fact the fuel they use it over 40 a gallon

Zero to 60 mph in 0.1 sec, point one.

Watch the top fuel blowover

“DRAG” Racing…. Why is it called Drag racing? Where did that name come from originally? In the days of dirt streets even in the bigger cities the streets had ruts and were difficult to drive the new cars on. The streets had to be smoothed out by taking a heavy flat log pulled by horses down the street. “Dragging” the street was the term used for the process. It soon become common to call Main Street the “Main Drag” in any town. Soon cars were using the main drag because it was the best road for racing. That led to people saying they were “Drag Racing”…. The term stuck and is now used around the world to mean racing another car/vehicle side by side…. I Love Drag Racing.

eh hem...have you been to an NHRA race yet?

They use 700 worth fuel per run

It cost them about 25,000 a run

Reacting to a video of drag racing is like not having sex in person.....

Where are you from

Not really interesting when an American reacts to this kind of stuff. With foreigners drag racing is a complete mystery, which makes their reactions more interesting.

Just a quick reminder about the last rugby video...talk more about rugby video game bro

Do yourself a favour, go see a top fuel event,nothing else compares!!

Ni e video, ut less talking would be great. I know you missed some of the points.

how are you gonna live in the US and act like you dont know what NHRA is? kinda weird

Instead of reacting to a video, try attending one of the NHRA's events for a REAL reaction.

The Nitro won't burn if you put a match to it, however if you have on a bench and you hit it with a hammer it will explode! The supercharger on the top of an eleven thousand horsepower, top fuel engine consumes about six hundred horsepower, but without it would be difficult to make five thousand horsepower.

If you have never Ben go to a sanctioned event.till then turn on your phone press. U tube. Scroll the top of your screen. Down to drag racing. NHRA