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Uh.... operational chutes are not an option, Dean

Lee Beard said: “Going 315 mph at 1,000 feet is safer than going 300 mph at a quarter mile. Here’s why. When they do 315 at 1,000, they throw the chutes out and are well under 300 at the quarter. They’re more in the 250 range at 1320.”

That statement is based on the assumption that you have operational parachutes, in which case you will slow down just fine even if you were going 325+ mph at 1,320 ft. Cars were doing it for years. The critical situation is when you DON’T have operational parachutes, in which case 315 mph at 1,000 ft is effectively the same as 300 mph at 1,320.

Dean Adams
Fountain Valley, California

Guess the days of racing on a shoestring is gone

Like your stuff, but just reviewed your Goodguys' coverage of Indy.

Same as always - a visitor from Mars would think the only cars that drag race are Funny Car and AAF ragsters. Dragsters.

Every story covers these classes endlessly. Plus they don't look very nostalgic to me. I think the end of nostalgia racing was in about 1998 when Simpson (Safety Equipment) showed up with an all black top fueler that must have cost $200,000, then the next year Western Winch brought an even higher-buck operation and I quit attending.

Sorry, this sport just looks like a place for overweight guys in gold chains to show how much money they have.

Butch Nassau