THE VIEW FROM AUSTRALIA
Interesting read, your article about racing 1/8 mile, slowing down fuel cars and making them safer. I would like to share some of my drag racing experiences. I live in Australia and in a very isolated part of Australia (Tasmania actually). We are not spoilt with 16-car fields in Top Fuel, and fuel funny cars don’t even have a championship here. We have a regional 1/4 mile in Tasmania where the quickest cars run in the high 6s low 7s at speeds about 200 mph.
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Once a year I travel to Brisbane for the Australian Winternationals just so I can see how the big dogs of Australian drag racing play the game. Although we have about two dozen fuellers in Australia and several of them can run 4.50s and .60s at over 300 mph, we rarely get more than half a dozen at these big events and most of the racing is one sided. Top Alcohol and our version of Pro Mod (Top Doorslammer) are always over subscribed, the qualifying is frantic and the racing is fast and close. Our alky cars run in the 5.50s and .60s at 250-260 mph and our doorslammers are the quickest and fastest in the world.
These two classes make our drag racing exciting, not the money gobbling, unreliable Top Fuel cars, most of which their owners can’t afford to race because they can’t keep up with the front runners. Top Fuel in Australia is actually driving itself into extinction by trying to emulate American performances and standards. Our rules for Top Fuel are the same as the NHRA.
I remember vividly the first fuel dragster I ever saw about 30 years ago, it was the Hussey brothers FED and ran something like low 7s at about 215mph. It blew me away -- I had no idea of how quick or fast it was, didn't care, it was the sound and the smell of that old 392 Hemi on nitro that got me in. Even today after all this time I can’t stand near the finish line and accurately say what speed any drag race vehicle is doing when it crosses the line, but I know immediately when a hemi on nitro comes to the start line. You only have to listen and smell the air.
I guess what I'm trying to say is drag racing is drag racing and although 4.5-sec quarter miles at 330 mph is a mighty impressive feat, 5.5s at 250/260 is pretty bloody exciting too, especially when the racing is close and you know that those guys racing on Sunday fought bloody hard for their place in the field. I'd rather good close drag racing than super quick and fast solos any day.
Leigh Palmer
Launceston, Tasmania
WIR SPECHEN DRAG RACING
Dear Drag Race Online, I am big drag racing fan and travel to America at least once a year and visit 2-3 events, usually one national and 2 divisional/local events. I am from Germany and am in a drag racing club, I even have my own website about the history of drag racing in Germany that was set up by American soldiers here in the early 1960s.
Drag Racing is getting bigger and bigger over here in Europe with the FIA European Championship and tracks like Santa Pod in England, Mantorp Park in Sweden and Hockenheim in Germany.
But we all still look to the USA for NHRA Drag Racing to us it is pure inspiration, we read and watch anything we can get our hands on.
A lot of Germans read the Drag Racing Online magazine. What we really want for the future is to be able to watch top drag racing on TV - Europe doesn´t offer that yet, hopefully the NHRA will take care of its European fans soon and find a partner to broadcast national events in Europe.
Best Regards
Andrea Kloss
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