No other ground vehicle can out-accelerate a top-fuel dragster. The fastest class in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag-racing series, these cars can rocket to 300 mph in less than 4 seconds. That seemingly physics-defying performance is why Jim Oberhofer, the VP of operations at Kalitta Motorsports, calls top-fuelers violence on wheels. Add expensive too. One run down the strip consumes fuel, bearings, valve springs and other parts to the tune of $5800. Stand nearby when a “rail” car lights off and you can feel the ground shake. It’s unnerving. These machines are so fast—topping 330 mph—that the quarter-mile track (1320 feet) was shortened to 1000 feet after Scott Kalitta was killed in 2008 when  … Details & Video
Archive for the ‘Automobile’ Category
Four-time Cup champion is winless since ’09 and looking for right combination
CONCORD, N.C. — After averaging nearly six wins a season during the first 15 years of his Cup career, Jeff Gordon has won just once since 2008. How could a driver who seemed a lock for 100 victories — and perhaps even eclipsing the championship totals of Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt — not that long ago suddenly lose the ability to close the deal with the race on the line?
During the NASCAR media tour’s stop at Hendrick Motorsports on Wednesday, Gordon said  … More
Shaun White crushed it on the course.
A set of orange cones, that is, plowing over them after getting behind the wheel of a Viper drift machine as he took lessons from a rally car racer.
By his own admission, the two-time Olympic halfpipe gold medalist doesn’t have the best track record as a driver, once crashing his Lamborghini into a tree, totaling the car.
Still, he’s learning the ropes of auto racing with … More
NASCAR has thrown out the points system used since 1975 in favor of a straight scoring format based on finishing position.
NASCAR chairman Brian France made the change official Wednesday night. It will give  … Details